Larry Read
TRU Media
KAMLOOPS – Pat Hennelly may be a sabattical working on his Masters degree but that doesn’t mean he isn’t thinking about the future of his Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s volleyball team.
Hennelly has secured his first recruit for the 2017-18 season: the campaign which will see him return to the helm of the program which has led since its inception.
He and the WolfPack announced Wednesday the commitment of highly sought after libero Landon Currie of Vernon. The 5-foot-9 Currie will graduate in June, 2017 from Clarence Fulton Secondary.
“Everything about the school caught my eye,” said the personable Curri, who actually does some managing of his parent’s Tim Hortons outlets in Vernon from time to time. “I really like all the facilities, the team and the coaches are awesome. I especially like the small class sizes that Thompson Rivers offers.”
Currie will be taking courses aimed at earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at TRU.
“When I played Team BC U-16, we stayed at TRU for three weeks to train and I enjoyed everything about it and Kamloops.”
Currie is a multi sport athlete: excelling at hockey, baseball, basketball and rugby. He has been playing volleyball for seven years and has been a member of Team BC the past two summers.
“I would say I am very vocal and a leader on the court,” he says when asked about his strengths.
Currie was an all-star last season at three tournaments including ones held at UBC and at TRU.
Richard Bedard is his coach at Fulton:
“Landon’s intensity on the court is second to none. He puts extra effort into every play and fights for every rally. He is a skilled player with a defensive prowess, has great ball control and an ability to read the game. I look forward to seeing Landon play at the next level.”
Currie’s coach with Team BC last season was Brad Hudson and he offered: “Landon was very good this summer with Team BC. Despite being relatively new to libero, he is an intuitive defender and has a good second touch.”
Currie grew up dreaming of a Major League Baseball career.
“When I was introduced to the game of volleyball, I immediately fell in love with it.”
He knows it’ll be a big jump to CIS from high school. “I will have to get used to a new ball, harder serves and hits and I’ll be playing with guys that are five years older than me but I will be ready.”
Currie is also looking forward to learning from the veterans. “I will definitely listen to what they have to say and hope to learn a lot from them because they already have so much more experience at the libero position than I do.”
Says Hennelly about his first signing for 2017-18: “We have been recruiting Landon for over a year. A couple of things have really stood out, Landon’s competitiveness on the court and how polite respectful and serious he is off the court. Landon strikes me as a young man with a vision on and off the court. I have had the chance to meet his parents, both from Prince George, and I had a great feeling that our core values aligned.
“Landon’s dad Dan Currie was a volleyball player and coach (OUC in Kelowna in the BCAA). Landon is very athletic and dynamic, I like the fact he has hit and set at the high school and club level. We like to recruit multi sport athletes and Landon is also an accomplished baseball player. I think Landon will fit in immediately here at TRU and compete right away for court time while enhancing the culture of our team. Landon is our first recruit for 2017 and he has started, what I think, will be another excellent group. We are very excited Landon chose TRU and WolfPack Volleyball.”
