Healthy Van Hutchinson Jr eager for Knights return

by RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

After playing much of last season recovering from an injured ankle, Van Hutchinson Jr is healthy and eager to return his Niagara Knights to the top of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association.

Despite the injury setback, the 6'5" guard averaged 16.9 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game and led the Knights in several statistical categories.

"If I was able to put those numbers up injured, I'm excited for what I can do now because this is by far the best I've felt since I stepped foot in Canada so the expectations are very high this year," he said, "From what I've seen at workouts and tryouts we have a group of guys coming in hungry and as a team we look forward to making some noise."

Last season, they concluded the OCAA Championship with an 89-83 win over the Lambton Lions in the tournament's consolation final and did not qualify for the CCAA Championships.

In 2016, the Knights finished fourth in the OCAA tournament and did not advance to the National Championship.

They finished the three-day event in fourth place after losing in the bronze-medal game and were forced to play without Hutchinson for the duration of the tournament after losing him to an ankle injury.

That season, he led the team in scoring at 14.6 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

The team finished in second place in the OCAA West and were also ranked No. 4 in the CCAA national rankings for the majority of the second half of the season.

"Every year has been a growing process," Hutchinson said. "Last year was different because I had that injury at the end of year one and I dealt with that all year. I'm healthy now so I'm really looking forward to big things from myself and from my team.

"The programme itself, every year I've had a different head coach, different system, so it was a constant learning process. We also had a new Athletic Director so the whole department had changes."

In July, Phil Mosley was announced as the new head coach of the Niagara Knights men's basketball programme. Mosley is the 12th head coach is Knights men's basketball history. Most recently he spent 2017-18 as the first chair assistant under interim head coach Mike Hurley.

Mosley's post-secondary experience includes a two-year stint as head coach of the Niagara College women's basketball team from 2004 to 2006 and most recently as lead assistant coach of the men's programme in 2017-18. Mosley competed for the Knights from 1981 to 1983, and is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University.

"The Knights men's programme has a strong tradition of excellence and it will be my goal to continue this tradition and build a culture of success both in the classroom and on the court," Mosley said. "I believe in this programme. And with hard work and the constant pursuit of excellence, this programme will continue to grow and develop to reach its maximum potential."

Mosley inherits a Niagara Knights men's basketball programme that in recent years has climbed into the top-tier of the OCAA elite. The Knights are a combined 38-16 over the last three seasons.

Hutchinson is a part of a strong Bahamian connection at Niagara that last season also included Jordan Wilson, Kevin Cooper, and Jarrad Richardson. This year the team will welcome incoming freshman and fellow Noble Preparatory Alumni, Stephone Augustine.

"We head to Canada as a brotherhood and that's the way we keep it," Hutchinson said. "We basically treat it like fraternity brothers. We're family, so with us together, we're even more excited for the season as a unit. I'm ready, everyone's ready and we're just excited to get it going right now"