Huskies basketball alumni and 2018 graduate, Aprille Deus, has constantly strived to continuously improve her crafts - both as a player and as a young coach.
Since grade seven Deus’ goal has been to become a basketball coach in the NBA, and for the last seven years she has juggled several coaching jobs in an effort to keep paving her way towards that. In June of 2020, her work ethic and passion was rewarded and another milestone hit towards that end game when she was named Assistant Coach and Director of Sports Performance & Off Court Development for the Ryerson Rams Men’s Basketball team.
“It was one of the best things to ever happen to me. With the little and restricted time we had during the summer [due to the pandemic] I got to really show my knowledge of the game in a short amount of time. The best thing about all of this is that it has come full circle. I remember reaching out to Ryerson coaching legend and now NBA Coach, Roy Rana, in 2016 or 2017 about joining his staff in a more managerial position. As timing would have it, I thinking that this is exactly the right time for me to be where I am,” she stated.
Deus is excited to use this amazing opportunity to continue to hone her coaching skills, and it is yet another accomplishment of her young career that checks another box on the list.
“A goal of mine was to get onto a post-secondary coaching staff, but specifically a mens [team] staff. The reason is because I am pursuing opportunities that put me in gyms [so I can] show my ability and capability to coach men’s basketball,” she explained. “My dream is to be a coach in the NBA, and it will take time, but I know I am capable. Some of us just need to show that we can [get it done] with the type of athletes that can get into the league.”
Deus is hoping to continue breaking down barriers in the male dominated area.
“To help continue paving a path for women coaching in men’s sport is extremely important. Every day I wake up and think of my “why”; I think about all of the young Filipino girls in the world, who dream of doing something great in their lifetime. No one I idolize looks like me. It is the young Filipino girls that I continue to do this for, because while I may be one of the first, I definitely will make sure I am not the last,” the coach said.
Deus’ lengthy resume and history of putting in work includes internship opportunities and a position as Video Coordinator with Canada Basketball; Player Development Coach with Nike Bounce; Director of Basketball Operations, Assistant Coach and Director of Marketing with Canada Elite Women’s Basketball; and Assistant Convener & Basketball Clinician with the Toronto Raptors, just to name of few. In 2014, she even got the opportunity to get behind the scenes with an NBA team as part of a mentorship program under former Raptors head coach Dwane Casey and the then-Coach Protege Program. To this day, she still works with some of these organizations. Juggling numerous positions and managing one’s time can be difficult, but for Deus, it’s just part of the process.
“Anything is difficult if you think and say it is. There’s never been a moment where I thought I couldn’t handle something. The rare moments when life proves me wrong, I actually back out of something that doesn’t completely align with my coaching goals,” she said. “Currently, I have actually cut a lot of my non-coaching activities and commitments, so all of my coaching jobs are a lot more doable.” 
After playing three seasons at Acadia University and graduating in 2015, Deus went to work. One of her jobs was an assistant coach for the George Brown Huskies Women’s Basketball team under Warren Williams in 2016. After the first half of the season, where the team went 2-7, the point guard decided to come out of retirement and enroll in the Sport and Event Marketing post-graduate program at George Brown. She was impressive in the back end of the season, but it was in her second season where she made a massive impact for the program, helping the team go 15-2 and finish first in the East Division after finishing 6-11 the season before. She was named an OCAA East Division First-Team All-Star after averaging 14.6 points, 4.7 assists, 3.8 steals and 3.6 rebounds. The squad went on to make the OCAA quarter-finals and placed sixth overall in the conference.
Looking back at her time with George Brown, Deus believes the overall mentality that one has on and off the court is what being a Husky is all about.
“To be a Husky means to be a champion. It does not matter if you have won OCAA gold or CCAA gold… what matters is all the responsibility that comes with being a champion – having class, respecting your teammates, giving back to your community and to the program that has helped you,” the point guard explained.
Deus will continue to follow her dream and do whatever it takes to accomplish her ultimate goal of coaching in the NBA one day. Her mindset hasn’t changed since day one.
“Never have I ever settled. It is not in my nature to stand still. Being still one of the younger professional coaches in the country, I have to stay current and I have to stay active in my field of work,” she explained. “There is no blueprint to coaching, and there are no set rules on how to be successful as a coach. You must continuously learn and find mentors. If anyone is lucky, they will have more than one. I guess I am one of the lucky ones – Coach Warren, as well as other coaches in this country mentor or have mentored me in some way along the way. The saying “it takes a village” could not be more true in my situation.”
