NPH CIS Team Previews: Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
The Laurier Golden Hawks are improved and intend to make the OUA Final Four this season.
Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Head coach: Peter Campbell 
Record in 2014: 7-13 (Third in OUA West division)
Playoffs: OUA quarterfinals
Points scored per game: 76.2
Points allowed per game: 81.7
Key players: Will Coulthard, Garrison Thomas, Luke Allin, Simon Mikre
Key losses: Aiddian Walters, James Agyeman, Kyrie Coleman
Schedule breakdown:
Despite a first half that included games against the No. 3 Ryerson Rams, the No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees and the No. 1 Carleton Ravens in 2014-15, it’s the second half that proved almost fatal for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks: the team followed a 4-3 start with a 3-10 run. This season, though his team will be improved, the task could be even harder. “It looks like, if anything, Ontario is stronger than last year,” head coach Peter Campbell tells NPH. “It’s a little deeper than it was. I think we still have good teams and we may have more good teams.” Count Laurier among those good ones, says Campbell, a year after making the OUA quarterfinals. “It’s been lots of close games, but that’s what you want. You’re looking for games where everybody has a chance.”
Key games: at Waterloo, Nov. 21; VS Waterloo, Feb. 27
VS Guelph Gryphons, Feb. 12
VS Lakehead Thunderwolves, Feb. 13
CBG’s take: 
Wilfrid Laurier head coach Peter Campbell is confident that the moves he’s made this offseason will pay off. “We knew we needed a point guard and we thought this guy was pretty good,” he says, “and he’s lived up to our expectations.”
This guy is rookie Simon Mikre, a six-foot-three athlete from Scarborough. Throughout this preseason, Mikre has shined against the likes of Laurentian and Saint Mary’s. “He’s been pretty good. He’s a freshman so he’s going to have games where he looks like a freshman,” his head coach says of his pupil, “and he’s had a lot of games so far where he’s looked quite good.”
Mikre will be the steady hand that runs the Laurier ship and that allows Will Coulthard, Garrison Thomas and others to run wild—because the Golden Hawks do want to run. “I like it to be entertaining, so I like a quicker pace with a little more tempo to it,” Campbell says. “And that’s how we’ve tried to play.”
It demands a lot out of the point guard position, and Campbell likes what he’s seen. “I think we’ll be right in the middle of it,” he says. “If we could qualify for the Final Four, that would have to be considered a successful season for sure.”
