At six-foot-11, he's a scoring and rebounding whiz. And, next season, Alex Hart could be a member of the UNBC Timberwolves men's basketball team.
Hart, currently in his Grade 12 year at Immaculata secondary school in Kelowna, was one of four potential recruits who watched the Timberwolves battle the Trinity Western University Spartans last Friday and Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre. He liked the facility and the electric atmosphere inside it, created by the large and vocal crowds that cheered the Timberwolves to a 109-87 win and a 103-100 overtime loss.
Hart can picture himself playing here in 2012-13.
"Definitely," he said. "I can see this being one of my bigger options."
Hart is also considering opportunities at UBC, UBC Okanagan, Simon Fraser University, Washington State University and Wofford College in South Carolina. UBC and UBCO are in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association -- the same league as UNBC. SFU, meanwhile, competes in Division 2 of the NCAA, while Washington State and Wofford are both Division 1 schools.
UNBC head coach Todd Jordan would love to see Hart wearing the green and gold of the Timberwolves.
"Size is something you can never have too much of," Jordan said. "And the interesting thing about Alex is that he's actually a very good perimeter player. He shoots the three-ball really well. He's a bit of a rare commodity for a 6-11 guy because he does have a lot of skills outside, and not just inside the paint. Any time you can add size, it adds shot-blocking, which changes things defensively. It adds rebounding, which makes things easier for you. Absolutely he'd be a huge pick-up for us."
Also on hand for the weekend games were Vancouver's George Mija, Richmond's Jamie Madewan and local star Montell Lindgren. Mija is a six-foot-three guard/forward who attends King George secondary school, Madewan is a six-foot-four shooting guard from R.C. Palmer secondary and Lindgren is a six-foot-one point guard who is a Duchess Park student. All four players were members of the Under-17 provincial team in the summer, a club coached by Jordan and one that claimed bronze at the national championship tournament.
"I wasn't allowed to recruit them directly because of my contract with Basketball B.C. but it was a great opportunity for me to get to know those guys and learn a lot about them and what they can do and what they can potentially bring," Jordan said. "The big thing with that group of guys is not so much just what they are now but the potential they have. I think a number of them are still up in the air about what they're doing next year but if we were able to get a group of them up here, it would be great. We're losing a number of veterans next year and it would be a fresh group to take us forward."
Next Canada West season, the T-wolves will be missing at least four players from this year's squad -- guard/forward Sam Raphael and guards Francis Rowe, Joel Rybachuk and Jose Araujo. All are currently in their fifth and final years of playing eligibility.
Lindgren has other teams interested in him for next season, namely UBCO and Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. He said, however, he'll "most likely" end up at UNBC and he'd relish the opportunity to play alongside Hart, Mija and Madewan.
"I would love to see us all play together," Lindgren said. "We have great chemistry, so it would be awesome."
The Timberwolves (2-2) will be back in action Friday and Saturday when they host UBC Okanagan (1-3). The games will start at 8 p.m. at the NSC.
Both nights will begin with the UNBC and UBCO women on the court. Those contests will tip off at 6 p.m. On the women's side, UNBC also enters the weekend sitting at 2-2, while UBCO has a 1-3 record to date.
