BU adds size in Swan River forward Liam McArthur

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This article was published 27/04/2024 (787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Liam McArthur is ready for his second bigger-pond, smaller-fish transition.

The Swan River native, who spent two seasons with the Western Canada Basketball Academy in Edmonton, has committed to the Brandon University men’s basketball team for the 2024-25 Canada West season.

Jumping from rural AAA basketball in Grade 11 to prep the following year was a shock.

“All the guys on my team were better than anybody I’d ever played against. It was a big confidence killer when I walked in the gym and saw all the guys there,” McArthur said.

“The biggest thing was definitely adjusting to the skill level and pace, coming from a small town in Manitoba and playing against farmers.”

Odds are U Sports teams wouldn’t have noticed McArthur if not for WCBA. The six-foot-seven forward had the opportunity fall into his lap after impressing coaches at a summer camp in Orangeville, Ont. He went in 2021 and said he didn’t stand out but returned the following year.

“I kind of killed it. They were wondering if I wanted to play at the prep level and they referred me to my coach at WCBA,” McArthur said, adding the two years helped him prepare not only for the transition to U Sports but for life away from home.

“It was hard at first but it wasn’t as bad as I thought after I got used to it. I became better friends with all my teammates, kind of had a second family there.”

Like many tall teens, McArthur was urged to play ball and started in Grade 7. Coaches planted him in the paint as a traditional “five,” to rebound and defend the rim.

WCBA completely flipped the script and turned him into a three-and-D player.

Those who’ve watched the Bobcats for the past few years know coach Gil Cheung wants to play fast and is comfortable without a player taller than six-foot-four on the floor for extended stretches. The bigger guys like Australian Jack McDonald and Gimli’s Blake Magnusson are expected to play on the perimeter and shoot three-pointers.

For now, Cheung sees McArthur as a long-term investment, noting he’ll likely redshirt his first season.

“He’s live, he just gives us a bigger guy that can probably end up playing a small-ball four, or a bigger four for us,” Cheung said.

“He can actually shoot it a little bit. He’s athletic, he’s live, the game’s just too fast for him still. He’ll be a little bit of a project down the road but we like his upside.”

McArthur didn’t make an official campus visit but is familiar with the Healthy Living Centre from his high school days and chose Brandon to get closer to home and study physical education — with plans to complete a master’s degree in physiotherapy.

He’s joining WCBA teammate Nathan Saldo in the rookie class, along with six-foot-eight Crocus Plains star Noah Mulaw, who Cheung said is in a similar spot.

“I like what these two guys bring to the table. I like their athleticism, they’re young, it’s really hard in Canada to bring in a big that’s already polished and ready to play,” Cheung said.

“Both these guys I see as face-up guys that can get up and down the court. They’re athletic, play above the rim and hopefully we can develop them to where they can face up and shoot too.”

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