Vlad Zasmolin and Simar Bajwa – MVP Status in Alberta #NPHShowcase
OLDS, AB–Whoever told you that Alberta lacks basketball talent was sadly mistaken, and to be honest, we at North Pole Hoops have said this for years.
This past weekend, we made the trip to Olds, Alberta for our first NPH Showcase Camp at the home of the Olds College Broncos.
It was a learning experience for the scouts as much as it was for the prospects in attendance. New names on the radar extends the NPH National Rankings for graduating classes from 2015-2018.
The first NPH Showcase in the province held a strong pool of young talent swimming in potential.
Vlad Zasmolin and Simar Bajwa shut down the show in the Top Prospect game with incredible performances to earn MVP for the upperclassmen and underclassmen respectively.
Zasmolin has never seen a shot that he didn’t like; he comes up the floor and looks for a launching pad. He shot it effieciently throughout the week, and in the top prospects game, registered the only double-double — 26 points, and 10 rebounds. #GameSpeaks
Bajwa is a new name on the scene that you will be hearing about moving forward. This 2017 point guard has a package that challenges any point guard in the country, for his age group.
In the final game which combined both under and upperclassmen, the incoming tenth grader recorded a team-high 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Despite how dominant these guy’s performance were, Aiden Saunders and Terence Crisostomo refused to be overshadowed by their younger peers.
Saunders put up 18 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals, while Terence Crisostomo added 18 points,4 rebounds,5 assists,4 steals.
Saunders and Crisosmoto earned a spot in the top prospect game through their consistent play in the showcase games on day two and three.
Saunders is an explosive combo guard that produced some highlight worthy crossovers and showed dynamic scoring skill set.
As a defender, you can’t take your eyes off of Crisistomo for a second. He knows where everyone is on the floor can make plays due to his feel for the game and vision.
Give this guy a pick and roll postman to work with and he will create scoring for everyone. It’s becoming more rare to find guys who know how to use everyone on the floor and still find a way to get their own on offense.
For some student-athletes this event served as a wake up call for a new mental approach to their preparation towards, workouts, skills training, games…and life.
After every NPH Showcase many participants garner interests and offers from post-secondary institutions both in Canada and the U. S. This time will be no different, follow @NorthPoleHoops for recruitment updates and highlights from Alberta.
Top Prospects – White Team
| Name | School |
| Manyang Tong | St. Martha |
| William Igbokoyi | St. Francis |
| Atem Ateam | Father Lacombe |
| Max Bearman | |
| Simar Bajwa (MVP) | Lester B. Pearson |
| Chad Chessall | St. Peter the Apostle |
| Abner Monteiro | Holy Trinity |
| Jacob MacKay | Bellrose |
| Tre Ross | Strathcona Christian Academy |
| Bradley Mateuchev | Strathcona Christian Academy |
Top Prospects – Team Black
| Name | School |
| Michael Ogoms | St. Paul’s |
| David Asebiode | Bishop O’Byrne |
| Lual Tong | Father Lacombe |
| Aiden Saunders | Ernest Manning |
| Vlad Zasmolin | Sir Winston Churchill |
| Terence Crisostomo | Bishop McNally |
| Tobi Adelodun | Dr. E. P Scarlett |
| Matthew-Daniel Uponi | Calgary Christian School |
| Vinnie Ma | Springbank Middle School |
| Manbir Parmar | Foundations for the Future Charter Academy |
