Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Heading into their final weekend of the 2022-23 Canada West season, the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team is honouring graduated senior Mason Hunter, who wrapped up his university career after last season.
MacEwan hosts Regina on Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV). Saturday is Senior Night.
Hunter played at MacEwan from 2019 to 2022, recording 205 points after transferring to the Griffins from UAlberta-Augustana Vikings in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
Mike Connolly's coach's quote:
"I think he was your prototypical student-athlete. He was 4.0 every semester he was here, he was always on time, he always showed up and worked hard, worked on his craft. I think he did the best that he could. He combined the best of everything and now it's empowered him to move on to bigger and better things. When he was here, he added a lot of leadership to the young guys because he was older. He played two years (in the ACAC), he was an all-star there, he was a very good player in the ACAC. He torched our NAIT team. That's one of the reasons we recruited him because we couldn't stop him. He tried to do everything he could to help us win."
Graduated with …
Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing in 2022
You're already graduated and working. Where are you working at?
"I currently work for Strathcona County."
Do you have a career goal in mind?
"I want to transition and start my career in marketing. That's the plan, with potentially trying to go back for a master's in marketing. That's in the back of my mind. If I could find a career where I could advance by getting my master's that would be one of my goals."
Do you still play basketball?
"I play more just for the enjoyment. I'm in a couple different men's leagues, but nothing too serious."
Obviously, it's been a year since you played for MacEwan, but what are some of your favourite memories of your time as a Griffin?
"Honestly, just my teammates. I've made a lot of great friendships. I still hang out with these guys on a weekly or daily basis. My roommates are guys I played with at MacEwan. Just all the memories I've made with those guys on road trips – traveling to Victoria and all those places. Those are probably the best memories I've made."
Any personal highlights stand out to you?
"I guess my last year when we had a playoff game, I thought I had a decent game. The U of C weekend my last year, second semester was a good performance as well. There was a play at the end of the game against the Dinos where Colton Halbersma was giving me the ball and I asked him 'do you think I should just put it up from three' and he said, 'why not?' We just went down, and I ended up making the shot. It was kind of a funny memory that the two of us had."
Academics were always a big priority for you at MacEwan. You won the Griffins' Top Academic award for your faculty and had three U SPORTS All-Canadians. How important were Academics to you as a Griffins student-athlete?
"For me, I always wanted to keep all my doors open academically. Getting the best grades possible would allow me to pursue anything. At the time, I wasn't 100 per cent sure what I wanted to so in the future, so I just thought if I could achieve the best GPA I could then I would always keep all those options available to me. Like with other things in life, it was 'do the best you can.' So, I gave it my best shot academically and ended up being quite successful."
Do you have a legacy that you left to the program?
"With a developing program like that, being successful academically while working as an athlete to do the best you can is kind of what I wanted to leave. Hopefully (it's a testament) to our younger guys that are there right now that they can pursue their academic goals and be academically successful while being a student-athlete."
Anything else you'd like to say about your time as a Griffin?
"Overall, I just appreciated the time I had. Not everyone gets to be a college athlete and have that experience. I really do value the experience I had with all my teammates throughout my whole career. I'm just very appreciative of being able to be a university athlete."
