Know Your Team: Joel Friesen
KW Titans
6’5
Guard
From Abbotsford, British Columbia
3xNBLC Champion
The KW Titans have plenty to be happy about, having once again secured the services of highly skilled native Joel Friesen, this time for his fifth season in the NBL Canada.
In his USports days, Friesen earned two All-Canada West conference selections with the Fraser Valley Cascades, then followed coach Branaby Craddock to the Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton. Here he earned another all-star selection and was the scoring leader of the CIS West conference in the 2014-15 season.
Friesen signed first professional contract in 2015 with the Halifax Hurricanes. Starting in 44 games, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, going on to help the Hurricanes to their first NBLC championship win.
He joined the London Lightning the following season, where he averaged a career-best 10.8 points per game and 41% three-point shooting. Winning his second NBLC championship in his first year with the Lightning, he stayed on with the team and helped retain the title in the following season.
For the 2018-19 season, Friesen signed with the KW Titans, playing in 28 games and averaging 11.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest. Even so, it would be an anomolous season for Friesen, as it would be his first where he did not win a championship at its end. In the NBLC off-season, he played with the Fraser Valley Bandits in the CEBL, averaging 9.4 points in 19 games played.
He began the 2019-20 season with Ukrainian team BC Odessa, where he played 17 games, starting in 10, where he put up 8.3 points per game. In March he made the move back to Canada, rejoining the Titans to help them end the regular season in style.
Outside of league basketball, Frisen has also represented Edmonton in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour and helped lift Team Canada to victory in the 2017 William Jones Cup, their first in 21 years. He helped the Canadian team to repeat this success the following year. In 2019, he made his first appearance for the Canadian national team in a World Cup qualifier against Chile.
Picture: Mark Pare
