Hoop dreams

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This article was published 15/04/2019 (2546 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Since 2012, Orangeville Prep has been developing some of the best young basketball players in Canada.

But next season, for the first time in the basketball academy’s history, a Winnipegger will make his way to small town Orangeville, Ont., in the hope of taking his game to the next level.

Vincent Massey Collegiate star athlete Kyler Filewich, a 6-9, 250-pound giant who helped lead the Trojans to provincial football and basketball titles this year, has agreed to play for Orangeville Prep.

The 17-year-old Grade 12 student had several offers to play U SPORTS basketball next season, but opted to take a year to work on his game in hopes of earning a scholarship from an NCAA Division I school.

“I just think it’s the best opportunity to pursue my dreams of playing NCAA Division I basketball and also hopefully going on to play pro somewhere and ultimately becoming the best player that I can be,” Filewich said, two days after Basketball Manitoba named him high school player of the year.

“They know how to train their players over there to make them elite and that’s what I want to be. I think it was a pretty good decision.”

Players take classes at Orangville District Secondary School full time, but outside of the classroom, their lives revolve around basketball. They work with strength and conditioning coaches and have access to state-of-the-art training facilities — including a 12,000 square-foot fieldhouse that serves as their home court. But arguably the most attractive part of the program is the exposure it brings to the players. The team travels across North America, playing in high-profile games and tournaments against some of the top competition south of the border.

The program helped launch the careers of Jamal Murray, who starred at the University of Kentucky before getting drafted by the Denver Nuggets seventh overall in the 2016 NBA draft, and Thon Maker, a seven-footer who was selected 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the same draft.

The team plays around 50 games a year, including a 20-game season in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association.

“It allows him to come in here and train and compete against other guys that are going to be going Division I,” Orangeville Prep head coach Tony McIntyre told the Free Press in a phone interview.

“It exposes him to the opportunity of college coaches from the U.S. coming in here watching our team play and practise. I think that would be appealing to him. At that point, if he’s good enough, he’s going to get a Division I scholarship and if not, he would start a lot more prepared than what he is right now for U SPORTS or whatever he’d do after that. But I think there’s a pretty good chance with his size, and what he brings to the table, that he’s going to get the opportunity to be in front of a lot of Division I coaches.”

Filewich made it onto McIntyre’s radar last spring when the coach saw him playing for Canada Elite — a prep team based out of Toronto that Filewich played some tournaments with.

When you look at Filewich’s family tree, it’s no surprise he has the talent to stick out to coaches such as McIntyre. His parents, Keon and Arlyn, played basketball for the University of Manitoba Bisons from 1988-93, and his older sister Keylyn is a star forward for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. She was named a second-team all-Canadian this season. Younger sister McKenna is currently in Grade 10 at Vincent Massey and making a name for herself in volleyball.

“It’s just always good to talk about when we’re hanging out as a family,” said Filewich, who had 26 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in a 100-60 win over St. Paul’s High School Crusaders in this year’s provincial final.

“Basketball is always a common subject and we really enjoy it and we can work together, me and (Keylyn), to get better with the help of my parents.”

But for Filewich, becoming a NCAA Division 1 player and eventually a professional isn’t the only thing he hopes to gain from his upcoming year in Orangeville. He hopes the academy can give him a platform to showcase Manitoba’s basketball talent.

“I love playing with the provincial team and I love representing our province and showing that the basketball here is really good,” Filewich said. “I want to try and make sure everyone knows around the country and around the world that we can play good basketball here in Manitoba. It’s definitely an honour.”

 

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31