Promising CTA West, Sir Winston Churchill product Shukla brings strong overall game to Griffins
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – With a high hoops IQ and a full array of skills needed to impact the play on both sides of the court, Calgary's Khushal Shukla will enter play with the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team in the fall with great promise for an impact Canada West career.
The 6-foot-3 CTA West product is already showing advanced understanding for the game, bringing a solid shooting touch and playmaking ability to the Griffins.
"Khushal's a very intelligent basketball player," said MacEwan head coach David Kapinga. "He understands where the ball should be going offensively and what type of shot to take. He never really goes out of his way to force a shot. He's very conscious of what kind of impact he's having offensively.
"Defensively, for someone who's just turning 18, he's very, very smart, knows rotations already and has the knack defensively for help side. And he's also very lengthy and is able to guard 1, 2 and 3."
His 6-foot-7 wingspan helps in that regard.
"He's a very solid player," said Kapinga, who plans to use him at either the shooting guard or small forward positions.
"My goal is for him by Year 3 to become more of a 1-2, be more comfortable with the ball."
After being named MVP for his Sir Winston Churchill high school team in 2023-24, he spent last season with prestigious prep team CTA West, where he earned several honours including being named MVP of the TopGun Invitational championship game and MVP of Dime Session 2.
"He played for one of our good friends, Adam Huffman, at CTA West," said Kapinga. "When you get a recruit from him, you know you're getting a player who has high character and understands basketball. Those things are huge to me.
"I've known Khush a long time. I was recruiting him last year, but he decided to do a prep year."
Shukla is also a strong student, making the honour roll with distinction at Sir Winston Churchill from 2021-24.
"The things that really attracted me to him were his IQ to his calmness in big moments to his selflessness and the whole culture of his family," said Kapinga. "He's a very good culture guy. The freshmen coming in are high character guys with great skills.
"Those skills will be sharpened by the older guys that we're bringing in so that when it's their turn, they're ready, they're seasoned and they're ready to keep going."
