I’ve had the privilege of watching Munroop Gill grow into his game for years. We grew up in the same neighbourhood, and long before he became a key piece for the Brandon Bobcats, I was seeing him in pickup runs, competing with older players, and finding his way through the kind of hoops environment that builds real feel. That early foundation shows up now in a different setting. He has stepped into university basketball looking comfortable, and he is a front runner for Rookie of the Year in the Canada West Conference.
Early Days
Munroop Gill did not start with basketball as the plan. He told me he began with soccer, saying, “I started off playing soccer. I was in love with soccer for so long, all the way until Grade 3, Grade 4.” The switch happened when he started watching his older brothers play. Two of his brothers were seven years older, and he was always at their high school games, which pulled him toward basketball in a way that felt natural. As he put it, “That’s when my brothers started becoming good at basketball… I used to always go to their high school games. [They were] really fun to watch… and that made me fall in love with the game.” By Grade 5 and Grade 6, he was playing, but what stood out right away was that pickup was the main thing driving him. He said it plainly: “I didn’t even really like playing games that much. I just loved playing pickup.”
That pickup foundation becomes even more important when he talks about quarantine. He described a huge group chat where runs would get organized constantly, and he and his brother spent that period just hooping nonstop. “Some people hated it; I kind of loved it because the pickup basketball during quarantine… there was just, like, a huge group chat with about 50 people… and they’d just mark a location down, and everyone goes to hoop there.” What made it valuable was the level of competition. He was young, but he was playing up, and the older guys did not treat him like a kid. “These are grown men, and I’m in Grade 8, Grade 9, playing against these grown men, and they ain’t taking it easy on me.” When he described his game now, he connected it directly back to those runs: “If you see my game, it has like a little street ball game to it.”
When we got into his high school years, he spoke about the enjoyment first. “High school basketball was really fun.” His Grade 9 year was a standout, even with COVID disruption, because he was able to play a ton and play up. He talked about getting put into the DRIVE Basketball Circuit and playing constant games, describing it as almost a pickup-like grind because of how nonstop it was. “That whole summer I just played senior and junior… I used to play up to 8 games in a weekend.” The rhythm fit him, and he emphasized stamina as a strength, saying, “I never get tired… I could play 40 minutes and I could go play another game of 40 minutes no problem.” Grade 10 kept that momentum going, and he said that was when people started recognizing his name.
He also shared a low point in Grade 11, where he felt the team was on the edge of something and fell short. Then he described Grade 12 as the payoff year, highlighted by a moment that still surprises people when they hear it. He told me that at the RCMP Basketball Tournament, the tournament where all the best teams in the city play, he set a finals scoring record. “In Grade 12… I had the most points in the finals in the history of the tournament… with 44 points.” He also spoke about reaching provincials for the first time in Grade 12 and how meaningful that experience was, even if it did not end the way they wanted.
Prep School (CTA West)
After high school, he moved into prep, and he made a point of defending the value of that route when it fits the player. “I advise to go to prep after finishing high school… if you need a year just to grow 100%.” For him, it was about physical development and being able to handle bigger bodies consistently. “Physically, I needed to… get a little bigger, get a little size on me.” He pointed to how that growth changed what he is able to do now against strong matchups. “I don’t think I could do the same things I’m doing right now… because I would have been smaller last year playing these bigger guys.” He also shared a highlight from prep: winning the Top Gun tournament in Ottawa. He brought up beating a team (WCPA) led by his friend and current teammate Arjun Hehar, a moment he still takes pride in.
When I asked him about mentors, he started with family. “All of my brothers have been my mentors.” But he also went out of his way to credit one coach for shaping him as a player and a person. He talked about his high school coach, Raj Bagry, and how much of his foundation came from that relationship. “All the footwork, all the skill work… all of that is from him, and he taught me so well.” He did not stop at basketball either. “He made me a better basketball player, but he also made me a better human.” He also made it clear that connection is still active. “Whenever I need, I can just always give him a call… he’ll drop anything.”
College Career
From there, the conversation shifted to Brandon and what has helped him settle in quickly with the Bobcats. He gave a lot of credit to the freedom and trust he gets from Coach Gil Cheung. “The one thing I would give Coach is that he lets you rock out.” He shared a recent example where he felt he played poorly, but the message from his coach stayed the same. “I shot 5 for 14 last game… and every single time… he’s like, yo, still be aggressive. I don’t care if they’re not falling—aggressive, aggressive.” For him, that trust becomes fuel. “It reassures me… I’m always confident that my coach always trusts me, and it just keeps me going.”
The bigger theme throughout our talk was readiness. He kept circling back to the idea that when opportunity comes, you cannot hesitate. “I’ve always been one of the guys who’s like, if I’m ready for my opportunity when the opportunity comes, I’m gonna go for it.” When he explained why he looks comfortable playing against bigger and older players, he connected it back to those same runs. “Being prepared to play against people who are much bigger than you, much older than you… this brings me back to quarantine… we just go play against random guys who are like, you know, 20-30 years old.” To him, that repetition made the transition feel normal. “I’m used to this. This is nothing new to me.” Even the high school jump was part of the same pattern. “In Grade 10, I was playing senior and I was doing the same thing… they were much bigger than me… but I’m always figuring out what to do.”
He also talked about what he wants his identity to become on the defensive end, especially as a smaller guard. “By next year, I wanna be guarding the best player on the other team every single game.” He wants to pick guards up full court and make it uncomfortable. “I want to be picking him up full court, chest to chest, bump, bump him every turn.”
When we discussed his future in basketball, he kept it simple. “I wanna play basketball as long as I can.” He wants to play professionally somewhere, and he wants to learn from whatever level he reaches. “I wanna go play pro somewhere… I would love to have the opportunity to experience other countries and soak in knowledge.”
Munroop Gill has shown that he is ready for the spotlight. The team here at True Evolution has no doubt that he will be a star, regardless of the path he chooses.
