6’4 Combo Thomas Chalmers Makes Commitment To Laurentian Voyageurs
SUDBURY, ON–Coming into the 2012-2013 CIS season, Thomas Chalmers is one of the most physically ready freshman on the scene. At 6’4, he brings a great deal of size, strength and athleticism for his position. Whether he’s nailing shots from deep or attacking the hoop, he’s bound to be another scoring option for the Laurentian Voyageurs in the upcoming season.
Chalmers finished his final high school season averaging 28 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while playing for ODCVI (Orillia District Collegiate Vocational Institute). This powerful guard recognizes that while living in Orillia; a city with a population of just over 30,000, there wasn’t a lot of competition and therefore does not boast his stat line. Instead, he is focused on further progressing and evolving his game.
“As always, I’m going to continue to work on my shooting this off season and improve my ball handling so that I’m well prepared for next year.”
Chalmers can be a potent scorer if he is needed for this role, because he can knock down threes and hit the pull up jumper, however his true strength is in his ability to create off the penetration and set up teammates for easy scoring chances. He has a knack for getting to the rim and finishing with contact. His physique as a freshman will separate him from others considering he has developed lean muscle beyond his years.
This commitment to Laurentian gives Chalmers a feeling of contentment. Ryerson, Queen’s, Lakehead, University of Toronto and York are all OUA programs that showed interest in Chalmers but in the end his decision was to voyage to Laurentian.
“I picked Laurentian because I feel most comfortable there. I feel my chances of being successful both on and off the court are good with more hard work. Coach Swords assured me that this would be a good place for growth.”
There are comparisons that can be made between hometown Orillia and Laurentian University that also played a part in this decision. The atmosphere around the campus has serene lakes and forestry that allow for an environment where students-athletes can be completely focused on their tasks because of minimal distractions; whereas, big city universities have a lot of commotion surrounding them.
The Voyageurs finished off this past season at an even .500, winning 11 games and losing 11, even with the CIS’ leading scorer, Manny Pasquale averaging 26.3 ppg. The addition of Chalmers will be adding a player to the roster that enjoys the challenge of D-ing up the other teams best player. Having this type of player on the team will come handy to the Voyageurs and will make a difference in close games, such as the losses in the beginning of this past season.
NPH would like to extend a congratulations to both Thomas Chalmers and the Laurentian basketball program.
