LACEY LOWDOWN

What better way to start 2018 than taking a look at how the record numbers of Kiwis on NCAA Division 1 basketball rosters are performing this season.

This mid-year report card is broken into four parts and we begin with the Men (A-R). Tomorrow we will look at the remaining seven men playing in Division 1 and on Thursday begin our review of the women running the pine in Division 1

Flynn Cameron

• Year: Freshman
• University: DePaul University Blue Demons
• Division: 1
• Conference: Big East

In a rather unusual move Flynn Cameron has been signed mid-season by DePaul and is eligible to debut for the Blue Demons in early January. It will be a tough ask for Cameron to jump straight into Big East Conference play with a group of players he has only just met. The Blue Demons are 7-7 overall but have dropped their opening two conference games.

Like his brother Tobias, Cameron was a member of the Junior Tall Blacks team that attended the 2017 FIBA U19 World Cup in Cairo. Interestingly it looks as if seventeen year-old Flynn will make his college debut before his older brother as Tobias has opted to redshirt this season at Abilene Christian University.

Tobias Cameron

• Year: Redshirt Freshman
• University: – Abilene Christian University Wildcats
• Division: 1
• Conference: Southland

Tobias Cameron was a member of the 2017 Junior Tall Blacks team that attended the FIBA U19 World Cup in Egypt. In 2016 he was MVP at the Queensland Secondary Schools State Championships, the tournament won by his school Hillcrest Christian College. Cameron is opting to sit-out this current season at Abilene where the Wildcats are 1-1 in Conference play and 9-6 overall this season.

Tobias and Flynn are of course the sons of Tall Blacks legend Pero Cameron.

Takiula ‘Taki’ Fahrensohn

• Year: Redshirt Freshman
• University: University of Portland Pilots
• Division: 1
• Conference: West Coast

Having had to undergo a second round of knee surgery Fahrensohn has opted to redshirt this season in order to be fully fit for the 2018-19 campaign. The former Auckland Grammar guard was part of the 2016 Junior Tall Blacks team that won gold at the FIBA Oceania Championships in Fiji. He was ruled out of the 2017 JTB’s campaign due to that knee injury.

Portland are 6-9 overall this season but 0-2 in West Coast Conference play.

Matt Freeman

• Year: Sophmore
• University: University of Oklahoma Sooners
• Division: 1
• Conference: Big 12

The Sooners, with rookie sensation Trae Young at the point (he leads NCAA Division 1 in scoring, averaging 29.6 points per game and assists – 10.7apg), are 11-1 for the season and ranked inside the top 10 teams in the nation for the first time in Sooners Men’s basketball history. Freeman has come off the bench in all 12 games contributing 4.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. The former Westlake swingman is shooting the three ball at a handy 40% having converted 12 from 30 attempts.

Having seen Freeman and the Sooners up close in their game against New Zealand Select back in August it is little surprise they are travelling so well.

Isaac Letoa

• Year: Freshman
• University: Dartmouth College Big Green
• Division: 1
• Conference: Ivy League

Playing his first season for the prestigious Ivy League school, Letoa has appeared in 10 of the 11 games played by the Big Green this season. Gradually earning more minutes in the Dartmouth rotation, Letoa has averaged ten minutes per outing accumulating one point and 1.3 assists per game. Dartmouth is 4-7 for the season with Ivy League Conference play opening next weekend with a trip to Harvard.

Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa

• Year: Sophmore
• University: Sacramento State University Hornets.
• Division: 1
• Conference: Big Sky

Le’afa has started in 11 of the 14 games played by the Hornets who have a 4-10 record. Well regarded for his defensive capabilities the former Tall Black showed he is no slouch at the offensive end when scoring a career high 23 points against Portland in December.

He is averaging a team high 3.4 assists per outing. In addition he averages 7.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and a steal per game whilst logging 29 minutes per fixture.

Harrison Meads

• Year: Junior
• University: Pepperdine University Waves
• Division: 1
• Conference: West Coast

Meads is in his first season at Pepperdine after spending two years at Laramie County Junior College where he averaged 9.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in his sophomore year. This season the former New Plymouth Boys High forward is averaging 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds for the Waves who are 3-11 this season including their opening two fixtures in West Coast Conference play. It is a relatively small sample size but his 66% field goal shooting percentage (21 made from 32 shots) is the best on the team.

Angus ‘Gus’ Riley (Senior)

• Year: Senior
• University: Bryant University Bulldogs.
• Division: 1
• Conference: Northeast

Riley is averaging 2 points and 2 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs who have won just one of 15 games this season and will be hoping for a change of fortune in the New Year. His career best is 18 points, scored against Siena in November 2015. Between college seasons the Nayland College alumni played for New Zealand at the 2017 FIBA 3×3 World Cup in France.