King George's Max Astak is a player to watch in 2020-21. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Part 1: B.C. Boys Basketball Players to Watch in 2021-22! Double-A, Single A plus rising Grade 11 talent at Quad-, Triple- and Double-A tiers!

Today, with three more official days official pondering remaining in a 2020-21 B.C. senior boys basketball season that wasn’t, we begin a three-day countdown of sorts.

From today through Saturday, Varsity Letters will reveal  the Players to Watch in 2021-22 with our back-to-back-to-back tip sheets, compiled by a committee of B.C. Boys High School Basketball Association coaches, sages and spies.

Varsity Letters did not take part in the selection process.

Our schedule?

Today, we’ll unveil some top Double-A and Single-A rising Grade 12 talent, as well as letting you know about a select group of rising Grade 11 underclassmen in the Quad-A, Triple-A and Double-A ranks.

On Friday, we’ll give you the list of top rising Grade 12 Triple A Players to Watch.

On Saturday, we’ll look at the top rising Grade 12 players at the Quad-A tier.

We gave it our all to get photographs of as many players as possible, yet in year in which no games were played, that provided to be a tall order.

Yet we have many, and our huge thanks go out to Wilson Wong for being able to provide so many images, allowing us to honour as best we can, the student-athletes who forever make our game so special. More importantly, out hats are off to the Class of 2021 seniors for whom there was no season. You will all have better days ahead.

King George’s Max Astak. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)

DOUBLE A

MAX ASTAK

King George Dragons (Vancouver)

6-foot-1 guard

KOLE JONES

Charles Hays Hurricanes

5-foot-11 guard

JEREMY PAGDIN

Nechako Valley Vikings

6-foot-2 forward

ADAM SPANO

King George Dragons (Vancouver)

6-foot-6 guard/forward

Mulgrave’s Kaiden Talib. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)

KAIDEN TALIB

Mulgrave Titans (West Vancouver)

6-foot-1 guard

REUBEN WRIGHT

Gulf Islands Scorpions

6-foot-6 forward

McBride’s Seth Hulka. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)

1A

SETH HULKA

McBride Mustangs

5-foot-9 guard

Mitchell Crosina (left) of Cedars Christian. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)

MITCHELL CROSINA

Cedars Christian Eagles (Prince George)

5-foot-9 guard

GRADE 11

Maddox Budiman of Surrey’s Semiahmoo Totems. (Photo by Brendan Graham property of Joy Photography2021. All Rights Reserved)

QUAD-A

MADDOX BUDIMAN

Semiahmoo Totems (Surrey)

6-foot guard

LIAM DAYCO-GREEN

Vancouver College Fighting Irish

6-foot-1 guard

Holy Cross Crusaders Ose Ehizode (right). (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)

OSE EHIZODE

Holy Cross Crusaders

6-foot guard

Enver Creek’s Ajay Hayer (right). (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)

AJ HAYER

Enver Creek Cougars (Surrey)

5-foot-10 guard

MIKYLE MALABUYOC

Vancouver College Fighting Irish

5-foot-8 guard

Fleetwood Park’s Gurshan Sran (right) will play at Enver Creek next season. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)

GURSHAN SRAN

Enver Creek Cougars (Surrey)

6-foot-5 forward

St. Patrick’s Kaden Carrion. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)

TRIPLE-A

KADEN CARRION

St. Patricks Celtics (Vancouver)

5-foot-4 guard

Irish Coquia of the St. Patrick’s Celtics. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2021. All Rights Reserved)

IRISH COQUIA

St. Patricks Celtics (Vancouver)

5-foot-11 forward

BEN HERBERT

Okanagan Mission Huskies (Kelowna)

6-foot-1 guard

BOBBY KELLY

College Heights Cougars (Prince George)

6-foot guard/forward

Brentwood College’s Dylan Gage. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)

DOUBLE-A

WESLEY AINU’U

R.C. Palmer Griffins (Richmond)

6-foot-6 forward/centre

DECLAN CUTLER

St. Thomas Aquinas Fighting Saints (North Vancouver)

6-foot-9 forward

DYLAN GAGE

Brentwood College (Mill Bay)

6-foot-4 guard

DARIUS WILLIS

Hugh Boyd (Richmond)

5-foot-9 guard

If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com

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