The University of Calgary Dinos didn’t have to make too much of a stretch to select former Estevan Comprehensive School basketball standout Carter Kuchinka to their roster, starting in the 2018-19 USports season.
The Dinos have had a good long look at the 6’9” stretch forward who plays a physical game inside.
“I’ve been talking to them since last year but the scholarship just came up in the last couple of months,” Kuchinka said just before leaving for Notre Dame after Christmas break.
Kuchinka has been part of the Notre Dame Hounds men’s prep basketball team in Wilcox for the last two years after a sterling career with the Elecs. The Hounds are 7-0 playing in the National Preperatory Association in a division with Mississauga, Ont.’s GTA Prep, the London Basketball Academy, St. John’s Kilmarnock in Waterloo, Ont., B.E.A.S.T. Prep in Hamilton, Ont. and B.C. Christian Prep in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
The Hounds started the building process last year with a young team and a 7-10 season but really took off this year. At the end of the year, the league will have a national tournament to determine the champion.
“It’s been a recruiting process and they’ve been checking in on me once in a while, texting with the coaches,” said Kuchinka, who is averaging 5.7 points, 0.9 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game this year. “They emailed the scholarship and left it there and said ‘It’s up to you’. I accepted it.”
Kuchinka has really appreciated the training opportunities he’s gotten with the Hounds program, taking his fitness to another level.
“We have access to the gym basically 24-7,” he said, adding that the Hounds will also go to tournaments over the course of the year, including one in California and another in Arizona.
When it came to deciding where to go, Kuchinka was focused on the one location.
“I wanted to stay in Canada and that’s just the place I wanted to be,” Kuchinka said. “They’ve been really good to me and Calgary is a great city and they have a great program.”
The Dinos are tied with the highest winning percentage in Canada West with a 9-1 record for .900.
“It’s just a really good fit, basically,” he said.
When it comes to the education when he gets to University, Kuchinka will be starting with classes in sociology and move into criminology in his five-year degree program. He’s not sure about how much time he’ll be able to get on the court in his first year.
“That’ll be something, that however I do will determine that,” he said.
