TMU power forward Ziolkowski transferring to MacEwan, reuniting with former Edge coach Kapinga
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Making a return to Western Canada after two seasons at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), Ryan Ziolkowski will be reuniting with his former coach David Kapinga on the Griffins men's basketball team next season.
The 6-foot-6 power forward is from Regina, Sask., but played the 2023-24 season under Kapinga with Edge Prep Basketball in Calgary.
After seeing action in seven games off the bench over two seasons with the TMU Bold, Ziolkowski will bring experience to the Griffins. He was a part of a TMU team that captured the 2026 Ontario University Athletics championship and finished fourth at U SPORTS nationals.
"For us, Ryan brings great leadership, culture and he understands and plays good basketball," said Kapinga. "He's intellectual. At his size, he can still defend multiple positions. He's very strong, so he can guard the 5 or the 1.
"For me, Ryan is a great addition to our team because we're looking for versatility – someone who can play multiple positions and guard multiple positions. He has U SPORTS experience, which is something that we're lacking with a lot of our new guys coming in and the veterans that graduated.
"I think Ryan coming here is going to really, really benefit us."
Ziolkowski is a product of Regina, Sask. high school Campbell Collegiate where he won MVP and coaches awards in 2023. He also won the Sask Dedication award in 2023 and represented Team Saskatchewan at the 2022 U18 Canada Games.
Kapinga is excited about how he can use Ziolkowski's skills next season.
"For us, having someone who can grab the rebound and just pass it right away to a head man to fuel our transition is going to be something Ryan's going to be able to do for us really, really well – almost like Kevin Love used to do for LeBron James back in the Cleveland days," he said. "He's also a great passer. He can be a hub. If I want our guards to move off ball, he can bring it up and we can do that also.
"He's someone who's going to be very useful when our guys are being pressured or when we want to invert the floor, meaning our bigs are on the perimeter so there's more room for us to attack the paint."
