Laurentian basketball lands prized big man

One of the top high school basketball players in Greater Sudbury has joined the Laurentian University men's program.

George Serresse, who played for College Notre-Dame this past season, is the latest local prospect to bounce into the Voyageur's fold. (In recent months, Lasalle's Andrew Lalonde and Cambrian College's Mitch Mallette have also come on board to be a part of head coach Shawn Swords' program.)

Serresse was born in Quebec City, but raised in Sudbury. He's coming off his best season leading College Notre Dame to a SDSSAA championship in which he scored 21 points in the Division I final against powerhouse Lasalle Secondary School.

The six-foot-three, 205-pound guard has worked extremely hard in the past couple of years to develop his skills at both ends of the court; however, it is his defensive presence that he feels he can bring to the team immediately.

Serresse has also become known as a good team player with a great deal of drive to improve. He finished second in Division I scoring with 188 points in 12 games, and averaging 16 points-per-game.

"For now I will concentrate on being a defensive presence to the roster and I will let my offensive skills follow" said Serresse in a news release. "I would just like to be a role model for my teammates and bring a lot of intensity from wherever the coaches decide to put me."

Laurentian is thrilled to land the big blue chipper.

"George is coming off a great high school season in which he led his school to the Sudbury City championship and showed great leadership throughout the year," said head coach Shawn Swords. "George is a great all round athlete and at Laurentian, he will have a great opportunity to improve his skills."

Serresse credits his family as being a major reason for his success in the classroom and on the court.

"My family has been very supportive with what I've been trying to accomplish" said Serresse. "My dad always pushes me to do a better job in the classroom and, ever since my cousin came to Canada, he has pushed and taught me more about the game of basketball."

Mallette and Lalonde add a great deal of skill and experience to the Laurentian line-up and could impact players right away.

Mallette is coming off a stellar college career with Cambrian College. He has been the team's offensive leader for the past few seasons. Last season Mallette finished second overall in OCAA scoring with 407 points. He also finished third overall for points-per-game (PPG) with 20.35 PPG. Mallette played in the OCAA All-Star game, helping Team East beat Team West 98-94. Mallette won the All-Star three-point shooting contest as well. He was named co-winner of Cambrian's Male Athlete of the Year, the second time in a row he has won the distinction.

Lalonde is coming off a superb season with the Lasalle Lancers. Lalonde was the top scorer in the Division I league with 208 points in 11 games. He also finished first overall in PPG with 19. Lalonde helped Lasalle go 11-0-1 in the regular season.