After a lengthy selection process, young Rupertite Justin McChesney has been named to B.C.’s under-17 provincial team for 2015.
The roster, announced on Jan. 5, is comprised of 12 athletes from all over the province and other than Tyrell Laing from Prince George, McChesney is one of the only representatives from Northern B.C., let alone the Northwest. He’s also part of a core of under-16 players from 2014 moving on up the age brackets in B.C.’s provincial development program.
“Yeah, there’s quite a few of us,” said McChesney over the weekend.
“I think [the team] will be good and I think the new guys coming in will be able to add on and fit in well with the team.”
Last year’s B.C. under-17 squad took sixth place while McChesney’s under-16 brethren brought home the national championship in Edmonton in August.
In terms of what he can bring to the heavily-scouted under-17 division, McChesney said he can crash the boards with the best of them.
“I think I can do pretty well on the defensive glass. I can score pretty well.”
The head coach of Team B.C. will be Rich Goulet, a 49-year basketball-coaching veteran who regularly coaches Pitt Meadows Secondary in Vancouver.
Goulet noticed the sheer size of the six-foot-nine Rupertite and his skill level on the court through training and practicing regiments with the provincial team.
“We’re looking at all the attributes he brings to the game. He has an inside game, but he also has a nice mid-range game so there’s a little bit more to the package than just a big guy,” said Goulet last week.
“I see him at both ends. One, I think he can contribute a lot of points and we’re really going to work on his finish and post game and perimeter game … one of the goals of the elite program is to get people ready for the next level and at the next level nobody is really geared in or pigeonholed as a post player.”
McChesney joins his Charles Hays mates in the Pitt Meadows Air Show Tournament hosted by the Vancouver school this week after nursing a sore ankle that forced him to miss last weekend’s action versus Queen Charlotte.
It helps the athlete that he knows so many of his teammates going into the season, being on the under-16s last year.
“Yeah, I know a few guys,” said McChesney.
“Nationals is going to be fun.”
The national championship, that Team Manitoba took in 2014 for under-17s, will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia from Aug. 2 – 9.
“I know what the potential is for him in the future and somewhere we [the B.C. provincial program] have got to be a bridge in that potential for these kids to get to the next level, which is their university careers,” said Goulet.
