Novell Thomas’ recruiting efforts in Regina continue to pay off.
The new Brandon University Bobcats head coach officially signed his second recruit out of the basketball hotbed when Maeghan MacKay committed to his women’s team on Wednesday.
MacKay is a 5-foot-10 guard who played four years of varsity high school basketball at Balfour Collegiate, where she was named her team’s top rookie in her Grade 9 year and received the Redmen’s leadership award when she was in Grade 10.
She is an athletic perimeter player who can drive to the hoop, and Thomas hopes she will help the Bobcats’ offence.
“She’s more of a wing player, although she’s played lots of post,” Thomas said. “After conversations with her, she’s most comfortable on the perimeter and that’s where we’ll play her. She can shoot the three well and she can go to the hoop, so I think that’s where we’ll use her.”
Thomas, who signed Regina’s Ambrea McDonald-Okoro last week, is happy to land some players from Regina, especially since the Regina Cougars and Saskatchewan Huskies recruit heavily out of the Saskatchewan capital. The Cougars had 10 players from Regina on their roster last season, while the Huskies had three.
“I think we’ve laid a little bit of foundation there with people in the basketball community who I’ve met,” Thomas said. “I think there’s a lot of talent there. They can’t all go to U of R and they can’t all go to U of S. We’re the next closest university to that basketball hub for girls basketball, so why not try and steal some from the Regina area?”
For MacKay, there wasn’t much doubt about coming to Brandon. Thomas impressed her right off the bat and she’s looking forward to help rebuild the Bobcats.
“I talked to Novell and really liked him as a coach when I first met him,” MacKay said. “I got a good vibe from that and he knows what he’s talking about and I want to learn from him and go to a team that’s not already discovered yet.”
» cjaster@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition May 10, 2012
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Posted by:Dallan
May 10, 2012 at 10:31 AM
I think Novell needs to look at Local recruiting as well! Promote the Manitoba Talent to draw the support. It is nice to see some recruiting actually happening there for once however.