Harbour players at American Colleges
During my time as the Harbour Basketball Director of player & coaches development I had the privilege of being a part of these players journeys and it’s great to see how they’re going. Big thanks to Mike of Lacey Lowdown for the stats.
With the U.S. college season just about to get crackin we take a peak at the players from Harbour that will be suiting up in the States this season. No fewer than sixteen former Harbour players will be ballin out in the USA during the 2017-18 season with nine of the players seeing action at NCAA Division 1 universities. We break the list down by college years.
Seniors (4th season)
Division 1
Brooke Blair was due to complete her college career last season but she went down with an ACL injury in the opening game of the season for Idaho State. As a result the 2016 Tall Ferns final year at college was deferred to 2017-18. In 2015-16 Blair started all 33 games for the Bengals finishing second on the team for scoring with 12.4ppg.
Juniors (3rd season)
Division 1
Jack Salt performed consistently well for Virginia last year starting in all 34 games for the Cavaliers. That in itself was a remarkable feat given Salt played almost the entire season with a niggling back complaint. He has been named as a co-captain of the Cavs for the upcoming season. Last season averaging 3.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game Salt tallied a career high 10 rebounds v Florida in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Yanni Wetzell
As per NCAA rules he'll have to redshirt this upcoming season unfortunately, having transferred from Division 2 school - St Mary’s Texas, to Vanderbilt. He will still retain a further two years of playing status but will have to content himself with training and bench warming duties this season. Last season Wetzell averaged 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for St Mary’s – numbers that impressed Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare and gained him selection for the New Zealand Select tour of China.
Division 2
Denhym Brooke has headed to the University of Hawaii at Hilo after the unfortunate elimination of the athletic program at BYU-Hawaii. The 6'8" forward listed second in the Pacific West Conference last year in blocked shots with 48 and also pulled down seven rebounds a game (seventh in the PW Conference). In addition he averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds per outing.
Alex Talma
Also in his penultimate season at Biola University. Another 6'8" forward Alex played all 32 games last season for the Eagles averaging 8.4 points and 5.2 rebounds and will be hoping to crack a regular starting spot this season.
Sophmores (2nd season)
Division 1
We had the pleasure of seeing Matt Freeman and Oklahoma Sooners in action in Auckland earlier in the year. Matt started his college career with a hiss and a roar scoring 15 points on debut against Northwestern State, the most points by a Sooner freshman debutant since 2009. Matt will be looking to increase his production this year after averaging 2.7 points and 1.5 rebounds per game during his first season.
Division 2
Ella Fotu is looking forward to another good season at Hawaii Pacific. Ella was a big contributor to the Sharks last season averaging 7.5 points and 5 rebounds per game. Her performances placed her on the All-PacWest Conference honourable mention list.
Junior College
Katie Diakhaby returns for a second season at Northeastern and will be joined for the upcoming campaign by Waitakere guard Darci Finnegan.
Georgia Perrott-Hunt is at North Dakota State and will have a leadership role this season as the Wildcats are stacked full of freshmen. Georgia received Mon-Dak Academic Honours last season.
Freshmen (1st season)
Division 1
2017 Tall Blacks debutant Isaac Letoa has headed to Ivy League school Dartmouth. Letoa made his full international debut for the Tall Blacks at the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon in August and will be pressing for playing time for the Big Green.
Sam Waardenburg
Waardenburg has had an interesting start to the season as his Miami team had to relocate for three weeks to avoid the impact of Hurricane Irma. The move from Miami not only disrupted team preparations but also put academic classes on hold for three weeks.
There are three former Harbour women, all Junior Tall Ferns in 2016, beginning their Division 1 college careers this season.
Zara Jillings, after making her Tall Ferns debut earlier in the year, has joined another couple of Kiwis at Fordham University. Jillings will play alongside international teammate Kendell Heremaia and Cantabrian Mary Goulding at the Rams.
Tiarna Clarke will also have the benefit of some Kiwi company at Northern Colorado where Waikato guard Krystal Leger-Walker is entering her second season with the Bears.
Tera Reed after completing her high school education in the States has joined Virginia Commonwealth Rams playing in the strong Atlantic 10 Conference.
Division 2
Charlotte Armstrong has headed to Barry University in Florida playing for the Buccaneers in the pleasant sounding Sunshine Conference.
Junior College
Olivia Bell begins her career in the States playing alongside ex Westlake teammate Georgia Perrott-Hunt at North Dakota State.