2019 OCAA Provincial Champion and former George Brown Huskies basketball player Kingslee D’Silva has signed his first professional contract. The forward inked a deal with Portimonense in Proliga in Portugal.
“It means everything for me to play professional basketball. It’s a dream come true,” he explained. “The pandemic has made things especially difficult in starting my career these last two years, but to finally start playing, I’m very grateful.”
D’Silva joined the Huskies ahead of the 2018-2019 season but made a name for himself in his final collegiate season during the 2019-2020 campaign. The forward was a consistent staple for the Huskies. He filled up the stat sheet averaging a team-high 14.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and a block per game while also shooting over 50% from the field. Kingslee was a crucial piece on offence, hitting double-digit points in all but two games this year. He was named an East Division first-time All-Star for his effort.
He kept his foot on the pedal in the playoffs as he averaged 13.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.6 blocks in three games at the OCAA Provincial Championship. His best game came in the OCAA Final when he put up a game-high 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to help the men’s basketball program capture their first OCAA Provincial title since 1976. Thanks to his stellar performances throughout the tournament, the forward was named Championship MVP. He was also George Brown Huskies Male Athlete of the Year.
“George Brown helped me develop my game so much in that last year. Head Coach, Jason Dawkins, gave me all the confidence I needed. I learned a lot from him and the assistants in terms of understanding basketball,” he said.
Porliga is a second-tier basketball league in Portugal under the Portuguese Basketball League (LPB). The league was created in 2013 and now has 16 teams. D’Silva earned a spot on the roster after an impressive tryout week at the EuroProBasket program in October.
He’s incredibly proud of himself for getting to this point but wants to continue to build on this success.
“My goals haven’t changed since I was 19, which is trying to be the greatest player I can be. I hope to make as much of an impact as I did with the Huskies and help the Portimonense club as much as I can.”
This achievement by D’Silva only proves that one can take the next in their athletic career after their time at George Brown College.
