Fresh off of his strong play at the 2011 CCAA Men’s Basketball championships in Oshawa, Ontario, 6-1 guard Lenny Austin of the Vanier College Cheetahs has signed a letter of intent to join the North Dakota Sioux.
Vanier College surprised many in capturing the 2011 Canadian Colleges Men’s championship despite being seeded #7 with a 102-85 blowout victory over the Lethbridge College Kodiaks of Lethbridge, Alberta. Austin dropped 24 points, 6 rebounds in the Gold Medal game and was selected a First Team All-Star.
Montreal native and current assistant coach with Sioux Nate Phillipe played key role in bring Lenny Austin to North Dakota
“Coach Philippe is from Montreal and we had a great bond,” Austin said. “Right away I could relate to him and they’ve been recruiting me since day one. That was important. Coach Nate was at my first game of the season and let me know that he liked my game and was planning on tracking me.
(Philippe) and the head coach came to watch my game, met with me and my family and asked me to come visit. Once I did, I knew it was where I wanted to play.”
Austin will join a team that finished 19-15 last season, an 11-game turnaround from the previous season. The Sioux won the Great West Conference postseason title and qualified for the CollegeInsider.com tournament, losing to Air Force in the first round.