March was quite a month for Tamanawis Secondary basketball phenom Miguel Tomley, and April is shaping up to be just as busy.
The Newton hoops star – who last month set a new scoring record at BC High School Basketball Championships, capped by a 66-point outburst in the bronze-medal game – left Thursday for Ontario, where he’ll take part in tryouts for Basketball Canada’s under-18 national team this weekend.
Upon his return home, Tomley will hit the court in the Surrey high-school all-star game – scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 5 at Enver Creek Secondary – and then hop aboard another eastbound plane for Toronto, where he’ll play in the Biosteel All-Canadian game April 9.
He is the first-ever player from the Surrey school district to be selected for the All-Canadian game, which will feature the country’s top 24 high-school players – that either play in Canada or are Canadian citizens playing abroad.
Congratulations to Miguel Tomley on being named an All-Canadian. He is the only @Surrey_Schools student to ever be named an All-Canadian. He will be playing in the @BioSteelAllCdn game April 9 in Toronto. Miguel has also been invited to @CanBball national team tryout this week🏀 pic.twitter.com/Jgw6SNO87g
— Tamanawisbball (@tamanawisbball) March 26, 2018
Of the 24 players, Tomley is the only one to come from a public-school background, notes Tamanawis Wildcats senior boys basketball coach Mike McKay; the rest play in prep schools and basketball academies in eastern Canada and the United States.
McKay said Tomley is “collecting his due accolades” when asked by Peace Arch News about the national attention he has received of late.
Tomley’s travel schedule doesn’t lighten any after the Biosteel contest, either. He’s also scheduled to play in both Dallas and Atlanta with his Drive Basketball team during April’s two NCAA “viewing periods” where college coaches can scout and recruit.
Tomley – who was named MVP and a first-team all-star at Fraser Valley championships in February – had originally committed to the NCAA’s California Baptist University, but he de-committed to the school in February, and will play next season at prep school before committing to a new college.
Despite all Tomley’s accolades both this season and earlier, McKay said it’s tough to quantify exactly how big of an impact the talented guard has had on the Wildcats basketball program.
“The true impact he has left in the local basketball community will be seen in the years to come,” McKay said.
“The amount of kids we had at our games this year to watch and cheer for Miguel was pretty cool to see. Hopefully, his hard work has inspired younger players to put in that same amount of time and effort.”
Though he tore through the record books at high-school provincials and was an easy choice for the first all-star team, Tomley did not win the MVP award, likely due to the fact the ‘Cats did not play in the championship game.
However, McKay said Tomley’s performance this season left little doubt as to his place on the provincial hoops landscape.
“I don’t think you could find many people in this province who would say he isn’t the best player.”