Former Carleton Ravens all-star basketball player Tyson Hinz has taken his talents overseas to play professionally in the Dutch Basketball League (DBL).
In five seasons of play at Carleton, Hinz averaged 17 points and six rebounds per game, while anchoring a Ravens team that won four straight championships from 2011-2014.
Now that his career at Carleton has finished after his final championship in 2014, where he was named player of the tournament, Hinz is playing with Landstede Basketball in Zwolle, Holland.
Hinz said playing in the DBL is not as different from the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) as one might think.
“It’s fairly similar. They have the same shot clock as the CIS. The coaching beliefs are also very similar to Dave Smart’s, which is nice,” he said. “The most important is the fundamentals of the sport match up to how they were in Canada.”
Hinz said the players are more skilled at this level than in the CIS, but he is adjusting to his role on the team.
“CIS was a great prep, but there is definitely some talent in this league . . . That said I think I am playing my role effectively to what the coach is looking for.”
His former team will now have to move on without their six-foot-seven forward and leader, who scored 30 points in the CIS gold medal game to lead the Ravens over their cross-town rivals in the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees for their 10th national title.
Hinz said he still maintains contact with the players on the Ravens team, who have begun their exhibition play for their 2014 season.
“I definitely miss things about Carleton. I see the guys dominating in their pre-season and I miss playing for Ravens,” he said. “I keep up with them a bit, like a message here and there, usually through Snapchat or stuff like that.”
Even with the loss of Hinz, the Ravens still have perennial all-stars Philip and Thomas Scrubb on the roster to buffer his loss, and no shortage of depth in Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles and Connor Wood.
The Ravens won all three of their games in the Guy Vetrie Memorial tournament in Victoria from Oct. 3-5, and will host the House Laughton tournament for their next pre-season competition.
Carleton will end its pre-season by taking on the Syracuse Orange from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Nov. 2.
