The opportunity was perfect. So, Lauren Lamont jumped at it.
Lamont, a 17-year-old Maple Ridge product, has committed to the UNBC Northern Timberwolves women's basketball team for the 2012-13 season. The five-foot-11 forward will join a club that will be a new entry in the Canada West conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Away from the hardwood, she'll pursue a bachelor of science degree, with a major in biology.
Until the Timberwolves expressed interest in Lamont, she had been planning to attend Victoria's Camosun College, where she would have played basketball at the provincial level for the Chargers.
"UNBC is just better for me, academically and athletically, so that's the reason I decided to go there," she said via cell phone on Saturday. "Just the fact that it's a university and I can stay there for four or five years and get everything done without transferring is awesome. It was better for me that way, and also the chance to play CIS is amazing."
Lamont was scouted by the T-wolves while she was playing for the Maple Ridge Ramblers at the triple-A high school provincial championship tournament, held in North Vancouver in March. At provincials, she helped the Ramblers to a 3-1 record and a sixth-place finish. In those four games, she hit for 44 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and was a standout player on defence.
A couple weeks later, Lamont was on the UNBC campus for an identification camp. At its conclusion, she was offered a roster spot by head coach Loralyn Murdoch.
Murdoch, a former CIS player herself, likes Lamont's size and overall potential.
"The fact that she is so long, that's what we need to start to look at -- with going CIS, we need to be a bit bigger in all positions," Murdoch said. "As she develops physically and gets some experience, I think she'll fit into that role very nicely."
Right now, Lamont is a solid mid-range shooter but, according to Murdoch, offensive production is an area of her game that needs some work.
"Offence wasn't something that her high school team needed her to do so I think this summer is going to be huge for her to develop her offensive abilities and get her outside shot going all the way out to the three-point line," Murdoch said. "Then she has to use her length defensively to keep on getting better."
Lamont, a former soccer player who didn't take up basketball until Grade 8, will be pushing herself as hard as possible to get ready for her first year with the Timberwolves. When the season starts, she'll be happy with whatever role she is given.
"If I get minutes that's great but I'm not all about that," she said. "I'm about fitting in and just getting the feel for everything and slowly progressing. I think that's the way to do it."
Lamont is UNBC's second off-season recruit as Murdoch prepares her team for Canada West competition. The other new addition is point guard Jordyn Rabbitt, who has two seasons of post-secondary experience with the SAIT Trojans of Calgary.
A minimum of five players from the 2011-12 Timberwolves won't be back in uniform next season so Murdoch still has at least three roster spots to fill.
"We're continually looking," she said. "We've got a couple girls back east still, we're in contact with a girl from Manitoba, we're looking at some Americans and we're looking at a couple girls overseas. It's never-ending. We need to still get some bigs."
To date, players not returning are posts Erin Beckett and Maria Neumann, forward Jennifer Clyne and guards Danielle Steel and Ashley McMillan. Beckett, Neumann and Clyne have all completed five years of eligibility, Steel is transferring to Grande Prairie Regional College and McMillan has decided that playing in the CIS isn't a good fit for her.
"That's completely fair enough," Murdoch said. "I have nothing but good things to say about her and what she provided for the program this year."
