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By Devin Heroux - U of S Sports Information Student Assistant

It’s a story usually only witnessed in the movies. The hometown boy playing for his hometown team, quickly becoming the hometown hero. For the University of Saskatchewan’s fourth-year forward, Andrew Spagrud, he is playing that role quite nicely. After spending his high school career at Aden Bowman Collegiate, and becoming a dominate player from an early age, Spagrud then made the jump to the ‘big leagues’ having dominated the high school scene , as he was now in Huskies green.

Andrew Spagrud

In his first year as a Huskie, Spagrud was incredible, turning the heads of players, coaches and fans across the Canada West. In fact, in Spagrud’s first year with the Dogs, he had one of the best seasons a Huskie rookie has ever had, and was voted the National Freshman of the Year. Now, after three seasons with the Huskies, Spagrud has found himself the leader of this team, but never really expected to be.

"I never really thought that I would be in the role I am now; I started developing my skills in high school here in Saskatoon, and as I started getting better and better I wanted to take it to the next level," says Spagrud, a two-time All-Canadian. "When you’re giving the opportunity it’s up to yourself to get better and work hard and get to the position I am; I guess it’s a testament to my hard work."

All one has to do is ask any player or coach across Canada, and they will all tell you the same things about Spagrud’s game. In fact, the University of British Columbia’s head coach, Kevin Hanson, who will face Spagrud’s Huskies this weekend, had nothing but praise for this outstanding athlete.

"This guy is so athletically gifted that perhaps there only a handful of guys across Canada that can guard him. He rebounds, scores, plays defense; he does it all, and makes everybody around him that much better," says Hanson. "Because of his tenacity he is the toughest match-up in the CIS."

How about asking Mike Connolly, head coach for the Lethbridge Pronghorns, how he feels about Spagrud, seeing that the Huskies 6’8 forward burned his team for a career-high tying 41 points earlier in the year.

"I mean Andrew does it all, and that makes him so difficult to defend. Right when you think you have him guarded, he’s able to pull out of it and make people miss. This guy has matured incredibly, especially in his mid-range jumper. When we prepare to take on Andrew Spagrud we just try and double team him the first night to wear him down for the second night; he’s just one explosive player."

If you don’t believe how good Spagrud really is, then perhaps have a chat with the Alberta Golden Bears head coach Don Horwood, who got a courtside seat to the Spagrud show last weekend; he’ll be the first to tell you that this guy is good.

"He is the best player in this conference if not the whole country. I mean when you go up against Andrew you just know he’s going to do damage to you; you just have to limit it. The one thing he’s really great at is giving his team second and third offensive chances. He’s just one of those guys you love having on your team, and hate going up against."

With such sparkling comments being made about his game it would be hard for anybody to keep a level head; Spagrud continues to maintain to remain humble as he tries to lead his team back to Nationals for the second straight season. In conference play this season, Spagrud has once again taken his game to another level, averaging nearly 35 minutes of court time a game, while scoring on average 23.9 points for his team. This guy just does not take a night off.

Now, as he heads into a crucial weekend at home, Spagrud sits with 1,655 career conference points, and needs just 53 points between the two games at the PAC to become the Huskies all-time leading scorer in conference games, surpassing Roger Ganes who finished his conference career as a Huskie with 1,707 points. Spagrud isn’t worried all that much about records right now; the main goal for him and his team this weekend is getting the two wins.

"We’re two games behind Alberta right now and our first objective as individuals and as a team is to get two W’s this weekend. If we can do that, with a little luck, we may just end up first. We’re just looking at putting in two very good efforts against very solid teams."

You can be sure that as Spagrud steps out on the court against Victoria and UBC this weekend, he will once again have a target on his back, drawing double teams every time he gets the ball down low. That’s nothing new to the Huskies hero, who continues to rise to the challenge whenever called upon.

It’s usually a story only witnessed in the movies... the hometown boy playing for his hometown team, who has become the hometown Huskies hero, continues to captivate audiences across the Canada West. Take a look at the scheduled line-up, Andrew Spagrud may be coming to a gym near you, very soon.