MVP and national champion David Kapinga named new Griffins MBB head coach
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – With a national title and U SPORTS tournament MVP award on his mantle from an all-star playing career – mixed with an upbringing of resilience as part of a refugee family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo – David Kapinga has all of the tools needed to succeed in the next chapter of his life.
The former Calgary Dinos star player is the new head coach of the MacEwan University Griffins.
Effective May 15, Kapinga will begin his first U SPORTS head coaching job.
"We are thrilled to welcome David Kapinga to the Griffins family as our new head coach of the men's basketball team," said MacEwan Athletics Director Joel Mrak. "Throughout the search process, it was clear that he brings not only a strong basketball IQ and ability to develop student-athletes, but also a deep commitment to our values on and off the court.
"We believe Coach Kapinga is the right leader to build a winning culture, foster academic excellence, and take our program to the next level."
Kapinga played four seasons in Canada West (2015-19), leading the Dinos to the 2018 U SPORTS national championship, while being named tournament MVP. He was also part of two national championship silver medal winning Dinos teams (2016 and 2019).
He was named to the Canada West all-star team twice (first all-stars in 2018-19 and third team in 2017-18) and won the Dinos' Male Athlete of the Year award in 2017-18.
"It means a lot," said Kapinga of being named the 17th head coach in MacEwan's 51-year basketball history, and fourth of the Griffins' Canada West era. "It means a lot for someone that played in Canada West and was actually recruited initially by MacEwan. To have done all the little steps – an assistant coach and head coach in college to finally getting a chance. To have your work be seen, I think it means a lot.
"MacEwan is in a great city, in a great area of the city. Just being able to create something, create a program there, it gives me a lot of joy and I'm super excited."
Yes, Kapinga was once a potential Griffins recruit. Former head coach Eric Magdanz brought him through for a visit in 2014 after an opportunity didn't work out south of the border. At the time, though, after being away in Kentucky for high school, he wanted to be close to his family in Calgary, so he chose the Dinos instead.
Initially, he made the team as a walk-on fourth-string point guard before impressively fighting to get to the top of the depth chart and forge an all-star tenure.
After his U SPORTS career ended, Kapinga suited up for Team Canada at the Commonwealth Games, winning a silver medal.
Then his coaching career began with assistant coach jobs for Calgary Surge and Cape Breton University, before the Dinos brought him back as an assistant from 2022-24.
Kapinga landed his first head coach position last season with the Olds College Broncos in the ACAC, where he inherited a program in transition and implemented a high-performance culture, nearly doubling their win total. His ability there forecasts what he might be able to do for the Griffins, who are coming off a 2-18 campaign.
"While recruiting, what you learn, all players will need to improve once they get there," he explained. "They're not the final product and they need to understand that. The big word I use is you might not be there YET.
"You have to go and work and work, and figure things out. It might not pay off (immediately), but you've got to keep doing it because the only way to improve is to keep doing it. That's the only thing. The only promise is if you don't try, you won't get it done.
"That's the mentality that I'm trying to bring to the Griffins next year – for them to understand whatever happened in the past, is that," he added. "Now it's new. It's a new program, it's a new coach, it's a new system. We're not there yet, but we're going to get there. And I need everyone that's here in the gym to believe that and know that we're going to have to put in the work to get there."
Stay tuned for a full feature on MacEwan's new men's basketball head coach in the coming days.
