The Ottawa Gee-Gees continue to tap into the Toronto High School basketball pipeline. Head coach James Derouin announced the addition of 6-1 PG Mike L’Africain (Oakville, ON/Loyola Hawks) to the mix.
“Mike is a great kid, and excellent student and has a passion for basketball that is unlike any young player I have been around.“ expressed Coach James Derouin who is quietly putting together another strong recruiting class in only his second season at the helm.
L’Africain a member of the Loyola Hawks capped off his Halton High School Basketball career with a provincial/state bronze medal at the 2011 4A OFSAA championships in London Ontario. The Hawks magical run came to an end at the hands of Canadian phenom Andrew Wiggins and the #1 ranked Vaughn Voyageurs in the finals.
In L’African the Ottawa Gee-Gees are getting a leader with a proven high school resume and a player who’s played major minutes in pretty big games.
“I’m excited to play for the UO Gee-Gees and we all plan the exact same thing… Winning, and Hard-work” stated Mike via his twitter account.
Expect L’African to challenge for a starting job and plenty of minutes in his freshmen season. The Gee-Gees have struggled to fill the gap left by the graduation of 6-5 standout PG Josh-Gibson Bascombe. Mike can potentially be the guy to restore orders at the position for years to come.
The starting back-court for the Gee-Gees could look like this: Mike L’Africain, along side Johnny Berhanemeskel and 2011 BasketballBuzz All-Canadian Warren Ward at the small forward position.
“I’m excited to play with Warren Ward in my mind he’s an All-Canadian and I think he will be for the next two years no doubt”
Coach Derouin couldn’t agree more – “Putting Mike in between Warren Ward and Johnny Berhanemeskel has everyone here at Ottawa U extremely excited about next season.”
