Small led the Stingers to earn the top seed of the CEBL Summer Series following the round robin portion of the competition with a record of five wins and one loss, granting them a bye into the semifinals where they beat the Ottawa BlackJacks. Edmonton went on to defeat the Fraser Valley Bandits in the Championship final, August 9, finishing the Summer Series with a seven-game win streak.

Earning the honour over fellow award finalists Ryan Schmidt of the Hamilton Honey Badgers and Osvaldo Jeanty of the Ottawa BlackJacks, Small is the winningest head coach in CEBL history with a 17-4 record with the Stingers. Upon taking over as Edmonton’s head coach midway through the 2019 inaugural CEBL season, he won nine straight games, a CEBL record for a team’s longest win streak. 

Small will receive a custom-designed ring courtesy of CEBL’s award partner, Jostens, for earning coach of the year honours.

The CEBL Summer Series tipped off July 25 and became the first professional sports league in Canada to return to play since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in mid-March shut down sports across the country. Games were televised live nationally on CBC, the CBC Gem App, and on cbcports.ca. They were carried to more than 130 million people internationally thanks to distribution agreements secured in Australia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan by MEDIAPRO Canada, the international media rights and production partner of the CEBL. All Summer Series games were also livestreamed on Twitch. 

A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 80% of its current rosters being Canadians. Players come from the NBA G-League, top international leagues, the Canadian National Team program, and top NCAA programs as well as from U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season typically runs from May through August. More information is available at www.cebl.ca