After a breakthrough high school season at Ridley College, Shamar Burrows will continue his career at Wilfrid Laurier University. From left: Burrows, head coach Justin Serresse and NPA President Geno Bullard. (Photo: Shamar Burrows)
After a breakout senior campaign at Ridley College, Shamar Burrows is set to take his game to the next level in the fall.
Burrows signed his letter of intent to play at Wilfrid Laurier University for the upcoming collegiate basketball season.
The 6'2" combo guard recently graduated from Ridley College in Ontario, Canada, where he and fellow Bahamian Livingston Bromwell led the Tigers to a historic title run.
The two former Noble Preparatory Academy (NPA) players anchored Ridley's boy's basketball team to their first Canadian Independent Schools Athletic Association (CISAA) championship, ending St. Michael College's longstanding reign at the top of the division.
Along with the CISAA title, the duo led the Tigers to a number of other regular season tournament wins including the Standard Tournament, The Can-AM shootout, the Crusader Classic and the Doriand Tournament.
In their first year at Ridley in 2014, the pair led the Tigers to an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Class A boys basketball championship, their first provincial title in school history.
Burrows will look to build on his high school success this season and make an immediate impact at Laurier.
"My expectations coming to Laurier, I want to succeed in the classroom and on the basketball court and I want to create an impact right away," he said, "I know it's going to take a lot of hard work being a first-year rookie but my expectation is to be the rookie of the year and help my team get as far as they can."
Since leaving New Providence to go to Canada, Burrows' game has improved by great leaps. He's developed a reliable midrange jumper and has also shown an improved handle and better decision-making.
"My game is more under control now and I'm more accustomed now to running an offence," he said while at home playing in a series of exhibitions last December," he added. "My jumpshot has really improved but I just want to keep that improvement going, to continue to get my teammates involved, to continue to work on my areas that aren't as strong and to just be whatever my team needs me to be on the floor."
Newly hired manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Justin Serresse said that they're excited to see what Burrows will bring to the team next year.
"We are extremely excited about having Shamar in the programme. I recently got the job so its new to me but my lead assistants recruited Shamar last year really hard and as I soon as I got the job they advised me that he was the number one priority," Serresse said.
"He was something we didn't have on our roster. He's a very good athlete, someone that can get to the paint and create a shot or scoring opportunity. We have big expectations for him definitely to come in and bring something to the team right away. I'm looking forward to him developing his shooting, his decision making but something that I'm not worried about is his passion and his love for the game."
The Golden Hawks finished last season with a 13-17 win/loss record. Located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Wilfrid Laurier University is a member of the OUA, a collegiate athletic conference for universities in the region.
Randy Smith, Guardian Sports Reporter
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