Hoop Axemen nab top recruit

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

One of the top high school basketball players in the province of Ontario will suit up for the Acadia basketball Axemen this fall.

Acadia Varsity Athletics and Axemen head coach Les Berry announced last week that Justin Boutilier of Niagara Falls, ON has committed to attend university at Acadia.

Boutilier, a 6’6” forward, will graduate in June from A. N. Myers Secondary School and is one of the most sought-after recruits in Ontario.

He played on the Ontario provincial team in 2007 and, in addition to playing for the A.N. Myers Marauders, also suited up for the Hamilton Wildcats’ club team. He was MVP of his high school team for the past three years and recently won the George Hilleshiem Award as the best male basketball player in Niagara Falls for a second straight year.

Excited by his decision

Boutilier, who will be studying toward a B.Sc. degree majoring in mathematics,

is pleased with his decision to attend Acadia, considered by many to be one of Canada’s top undergraduate universities.

“I’m really excited about coming to Acadia this fall,” he said in an April 29 release. “It’s one of the best basketball programs in the country, and it’s still on the rise. Coach Berry is an excellent coach and they have a great bunch of guys.”

Besides basketball, “Acadia is one of the best academic schools in the country, and has a small-town atmosphere, which I really like.

“Everything I’ve seen on my recruiting trip, read or heard about Acadia has been outstanding. I’m looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life in Wolfville.”

Berry views Boutilier as one of Acadia’s top recruits this off-season. “I’m so excited to have Justin join our family at Acadia,” he said in the release. “He is an outstanding student-athlete who excels both on the court and in the classroom.”

In basketball terms, “Justin is an extremely versatile player who will make an immediate impact on our program in a number of different ways,” Berry said. “It will be a real pleasure to work with him over the course of his career at Acadia.”