Barker lauds U of C cage star Bekkering’s athleticism
By Allen Cameron,
Calgary Herald
In a Calgary Stampeder draft full of maybes, hopefullys and we’ll-sees, the biggest gamble could produce the biggest rewards.
After getting every player they wanted through the first three rounds of Wednesday’s Canadian Football League draft, the Stamps went after a player owner Ted Hellard’s been dreaming about for nearly five years when they selected University of Calgary Dinos basketball stalwart Henry Bekkering in the fifth round.
That’s despite knowing Bekkering still has at least two years of CIS basketball eligibility, not to mention a solid chance of playing professionally in Europe, where his skills and non-import status — his dad has Dutch citizenship — will make him a hot commodity.
But his sheer athleticism — six foot six, 240 pounds, 40-plus-inch vertical leap — made him worth the risk, insisted Stamps GM Jim Barker.
“Henry Bekkering is as talented an athlete as probably has ever played in this league,” said Barker. “He’s not going to play here for three years, but he’s a guy we believe is better athletically than anybody in this league. Now, can that translate onto the football field? We’ve worked him out a few times, and we believe he can. He’s a freak.
“Will we ever see him? I don’t know, but if we do, he’s a guy who could do some incredible things.”
Bekkering’s was the biggest name in a Stamps draft crop that featured three picks in the top six — left tackle Mike Gyetvai at No. 3, linebacker Justin Phillips at No. 5 and receiver Jabari Arthur at No. 6 — and another selection at No. 14, receiver Kevin Challenger, that the Stamps had rated much higher.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats took Regina Rams receiver Chris Bauman first overall, while the Edmonton Eskimos, in the No. 2 slot, chose placekicker Warren Kean of Concordia.
Fans will have to wait to see the majority of this year’s eight Calgary picks, as just three — Phillips, linebacker Ian Hazlett (fifth round, 39th overall) and slotback Greg Hetherington (sixth round, 45th overall) — are expected at training camp.
Bekkering will be playing hoops, Gyetvai (Michigan State), Arthur (University of Akron) and Challenger (Boston College) have another year of NCAA eligibility, and defensive lineman/long snapper Patrick MacDonald from the University of Alberta just signed a free-agent deal with the New Orleans Saints.
But the Stamps’ wealth of Canadian talent afforded them an opportunity to look to the future. And if Hellard has his way, that future will include Bekkering, a two-sport star at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, who spent two years on scholarship at Eastern Washington (where he spent a year kicking for the football team) before transferring to the U of C.
“Athletically, Henry’s in another world,” praised Hellard. “I’ve been following him since he was 17 years old. I was coaching high school basketball (in Cochrane) the first time I saw him, and we played his team in a tournament. He was six-foot-six, and he got the ball underneath, and he just went absolutely straight up and hammered it in with his left hand. That showed me something.”
Bekkering, who showed up at McMahon later Wednesday to have his picture taken in a Stamps uniform, was caught off guard by the selection.
“I’m surprised, but it’s definitely something I can look forward to in the future, I guess, after I’m done my basketball,” he said. “I loved football growing up, too, but basketball just kind of fell into my lap because my dad played basketball, my whole family plays basketball. But I still love football, and it’s an opportunity that maybe I can pursue in the future if everything goes right. I’m not going to rule it out.”
Gyetvai, a six-foot-seven, 307-pounder from Oldcastle, Ont., is coming off an injury plagued junior season at Michigan State, but he’s still rated highly as a prospect for next year’s NFL draft.
“It’s a great feeling,” said the 22-year-old mechanical engineering major. “I know people always say, ‘Oh, you’re in the States, you have the NFL draft.’ But no, trust me, it’s an incredible feeling to be drafted, especially in the first round so high. You’re playing high school and you never think you could make it that far, but the day comes and something like this happens, it’s great.”
Phillips, meanwhile, has a good shot at cracking the Stamps roster, with the departure of injured linebacker Cam Yeow. He also has the benefit of having played in a three-four defensive system at Wilfrid Laurier. Barker compared his style of play to that of Scott Coe.
“I’d been hearing top-five all week, so I was expecting to go there, and I was hoping it would be Calgary, and at the end of the day, it worked out,” said the 22-year-old Phillips, who’s finishing off a political science degree. “I just felt the system they play with the three-four defence suits what I do best, and I just felt it was the best situation for me to be able to go in and contribute right away.”
