Basketball: Hutzler to leave the Clan, join the Mustang family?

This site doesn't take itself seriously enough to break stories, but there is something rather interesting that may go down soon, so we might as well get ahead of it and see if we're right.

You'll recall the Simon Fraser Clan women's basketball team just played its last CIS game and four players have one year of CIS eligibility left. Which is obviously no good to them unless they transfer elsewhere in Canada.

The rumour that's been going around for a while is that 6-foot-2 centre Matteke Hutzler, the Ontario native among the Fourth-Year Four, is looking at a particular Ontario school. Based on a few conversations I had this weekend, including one with someone close to that team, there's a very good chance that Hutzler will be a Western Mustang in 2010-11.

Officials from both schools involved in this potential transfer wouldn't give anything other than a no comment and an extended version of a no comment. I didn't get a chance to talk to SFU sports information director Scott McLean about Hutzler while we were both in Hamilton, but he wrote in an e-mail, "I leave it to the school getting a transfer to make an announcement."

It didn't take a detective to notice that, barely fifteen minutes after the gold medals were awarded, Hutzler was up in a corner of the stands shaking hands and talking with Western coach Steph Barrie. (After Hutzler celebrated with the Clan, she excused herself from the ceremonies and talked with Barrie for a few minutes, before coming back down to give an interview to SSN. That sequence of events makes you sit up and pay attention.)

It's not completely confirmed or official, otherwise there wouldn't be a question mark in the title of this post. However, it does sound credible. The Mustangs have a good team, especially with point guard Jenny Vaughan (who helped lead Canada to its best-ever finish at the women's U19 worlds last summer) becoming eligible after sitting out as a transfer. Western has been often been able to make it work for transfers who played four full seasons at another school (witness receiver Joshua Svec in football last season).

Besides, the Mustangs need some good news after this game.

We'll keep an eye on the situation, as usual, and see if it develops further in the coming week.
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12 comments:

  1. This one is a done deal and has been for months. Hutzler confirmed her plans to UWO's Coach Barrie but obviously had to keep it on the down-low. Western should give Windsor a run next year with all the new talent, but someone should remind the Western Coach that calling these recruits who are at other schools is against the regs, even if they are encouraged to call first by third party contacts.

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  2. Looks like Barrie really had to 'Hutzle' to nab another star recruit away from the other schools...

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  3. Hutzler might not have as great an impact on Western that some are implying. She is more of an athlete than a basketball player and benefitted tremendously from playing with great players. That's not to say that she won't be a welcome addition to Western, just that she alone wouldn't get them over the top.

    Of the four players who could transfer from SFU, I think the order that most coaches would choose would be Laurelle Weigl (a big polished post), Robyn Buna (CIS player of the year), Kate Hole (big body with good touch offensively), and then Hutzler.

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  4. i asked about this in one of the live chats about a rumour of the SFU girls heading to Western...had a feeling this was gonna happen...western will be dangerous as well as windsor - and only one of them will be able to qualify next year unless the rules get changed.

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  5. If everyone returns who should for Windsor, they will be tough to beat. They lose their point but Miah Marie Langlois was fantastic at nationals and will step right in and they already have one of the best PG prospects in Ontario committed to come next year. Should be a two team league next year with Windsor and Western as everyone else loses key players and will take a step back. Actually might be those two for a while as both seem to have players with lots of eligibility.

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  6. I ALSO SAW HER TALKING TO THE WATERLOO HEAD COACH, WINDSOR HEAD COACH, ALBERTA HEAD COACH, REGINA HEAD COACH, B.C. HEAD COACH, SO TAKE YOUR PICK. ANYONE OF THE TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY WOULD TAKE HER. SHE IS CONSISTANTLY ONE OF THE BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYERS IN THE COUNTRY. IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT OFFENCE AND STATS.

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  7. AND YOU BETTER READ THE REGS AGAIN AND GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT, YOUR TOTALLY WRONG

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  8. Please enlighten us about the regulations around transfers.

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  9. Wether Hutzler decides to go on to a different team or not she has proven to be a very valuable asset to have on any team.
    You aren't awarded MVP of a tournament for simply being an "athlete". And isn't it obvious that when playing with a good team players will get better....having said that Western could only benefit from acquiring such a well rounded and versatile "basketball player" like Hutzler.

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  10. The regulations, as a few people here have alluded to, basically say "athletic department reps can't talk to other CIS athletes about recruiting," with no exceptions. (It's in 40.10.something.something.) But I guess you could talk to that athlete about Sunfest or Richmond Row or other things that have nothing to do with joining the Mustangs, nothing at all.

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  11. Windsor didn't win...but they have a terrific future. Their best players are their youngest.
    Jessica Clemencon and Miah Langlois are first year, while Bojana Kovacevic is in 2nd. As a previous poster stated, a local point is committed...who will eventually be a better point than Reaney. The development of 6'6" Jessica Gordon into a solid post will give fits to other OUA west teams. Good luck matching up with this team over the next 3 years.

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  12. Technically it is OK to keep recruiting athletes that are at an NCAA school, which is what Coach Barrie did with Jackie Selfe and Jenny Vaughn, as he kept in regular contact with both while they were enrolled at US schools. It's not against the letter of the regs but certainly a little shaky on the spirit of the rules regarding contact with athletes who are at another school. I don't think Coach Barrie would appreciate if Canisius or Niagara contacted one of his players about transferring out of UWO. It strikes me as kind of slimy, but it seems within the current CIS regs.

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