By Chris O’Leary, Special to The Journal April 12, 2009 8:09 AM 

One year ago, Rashaun Broadus used the Edmonton Chill’s open tryout to walk on to the pro basketball club’s inaugural roster. On Saturday, his brother William took the first steps towards duplicating the task for the Edmonton Energy.

Playing against a number of pro-hopefuls and a handful of players from last year’s Chill team, the 25-year-old William made a good impression on Energy head coach Paul Sir.

"Knowing Rashaun, you can see (William) has that same sort of athleticism, that ability to take his speed up to another level," Sir said. "He shoots the ball extremely well, he’s got all of the physical tools. He’s just a little rusty."

The team will give William two weeks to practise with them to shake that rust off and to determine if the guard will have a place on their permanent roster. Like his brother Rashaun, a foot in the door was all the Hawaiian was looking for from the International Basketball League team. Last season with the Chill, Rashaun became the team’s starting point guard and averaged better than 20 points, five rebounds and four assists, earning team rookie-of-the-year honours.

Having not played organized basketball since 2007 when he was a senior at Oklahoma Baptist University, the elder Broadus said that the pace of play was his toughest challenge.

"Guarding some of these guys, you don’t see a lot of these kind of players in Hawaii," he said. "Coming in and guarding a guy like (Chill MVP) J.R. Patrick was real challenging. It’s a real good workout too."

William said he had received advice from Rashaun, who was named an all-star in the Romanian professional league he’s currently playing in, before he went to the tryout Saturday morning. "He was telling me, ’You know what you can do; you know what you can’t do. Just relax, be confident. Just come out there and do your thing,’ " William said.

While he wasn’t auditioning for a spot on the roster, Energy centre Kevin Shand gave a glimpse of an inside toughness that the Chill didn’t know last season. The 34-year-old, six-foot-ten, 285-pound Toronto native and Duquesne University alum did whatever he pleased in the low post. When he wasn’t scoring inside, Schend was winning the Energy coaching staff over with his passing ability.

"I haven’t run like this in a long time, it was pretty good," Shand said. After a year away from an eight-year run as a pro in Europe, the big man said he was working hard to get back into playing shape.

The day didn’t have a rosy outcome for the majority of the two-dozen bodies that showed up at the tryout. Thirty-eight-year-old Paul Gottenbos made his second consecutive appearance at the tryout, but was one of the first players to head out of the gym at Louis St. Laurent high school. The clean-domed self-professed gymrat had no hard feelings.

"I just like basketball," he laughed. Gottenbos said that the speed and size of Energy players were tough to deal with.

The Energy’s season tips off with a trip to Los Angeles to play the Lightning on May 2. Their home opener takes place May 8 against the Vancouver Titans.

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