Sea Bears’ Hildebrandt spurns U.S. schools to return to Bisons

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This article was published 10/08/2023 (801 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Simon Hildebrandt spent the last two years of his high school basketball career at prep schools in Toronto and Connecticut, chasing a NCAA Division I scholarship that never materialized.

A superb three-month run with Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Winnipeg Sea Bears has helped to change that perception. The 6-9, 220-pound forward, who was named the CEBL’s U Sports player of the year Wednesday night, is believed to have received interest from multiple NCAA Division I schools in recent weeks.

The 20-year-old Winnipegger is choosing to say at home, however, instead of transferring to a U.S. school. He will be returning to the University of Manitoba Bisons for his sophomore season in fall.

“For me to leave the U of M it would have to be the most perfect situation ever,” said Hildebrandt Thursday. “Because if you look at the situation I’m in now, I think our team’s kind of built around a really young core, we just went 18-2 in a really good conference and now I’m playing in the CEBL, I won this award and I have the (CEBL) for the next few years. There’s no reason for me to want to leave.”

Hildebrandt, when asked if the University of Oregon was among the interested schools, gave a polite “no comment.”

Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp was happy to have his star player remain in the fold but encouraged Hildebrandt to explore his options.

“We want all of our guys to go to the highest level that they possibly can and… my perspective is it’s our job to try to get them to where they want to go,” said Schepp. “That’s a really big piece of that. So if you wanted to go down (to the U.S.), I’m going to help you do that.”

In fact, there is question as to whether Hildebrandt, who received scholarship money as compensation for playing in the CEBL, would even be eligible for NCAA basketball.

“I think there were some (NCAA) schools that didn’t think he was eligible and some schools that thought he is and if he wants to go there, great — more power to him,” said Schepp. “We’re going to try to help him get to where he wants to go. But I don’t want him to go and have to sit out a year and just literally watch practices, which is what he would do if he was ineligible.”

The NCAA previously ruled that former UBC forward Grant Shephard was not eligible to suit up at Florida State after playing in the CEBL. Shephard eventually transferred to Carleton University, helping the Ravens to a pair of national titles.

The NCAA’s online eligibility centre outlines its policy this way: “Prospective student-athletes may accept compensation from their club team while in high school provided payments do not exceed costs for the individual to participate on the team. However, after full-time enrollment at a collegiate institution, student-athletes may not play on or accept compensation or expenses of any kind from a professional team.”

Hildebrandt said the prominent roles past and current U Sports players are filling in the CEBL speaks to the quality of play at the university level in Canada.

“I think a lot of people don’t really think that U Sports is that high of a level,” he said. “This just kind of helps show that yeah, U Sports isn’t probably on that same level as those high major March Madness teams or anything like that. People think of it as junior college or it’s nothing but in reality, the best U Sports schools can compete with some of the some of the decent Division 1 schools.”

Added Schepp: “I think people have the perception that everything in the U.S. is at a much higher level than it is in Canada. That’s just not the case. We have guys who are current and former NCAA players come to our practices in the summer and they don’t stand out.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14