SARNIA – From the Red Devils to the Lions comes our latest Men’s Basketball recruit.
Wing Jaxson Halward has officially announced his commitment to Head Coach James Grant and the Lambton Men’s Basketball Program for the 2024-25 season, and beyond.
Halward is the fourth player in the 2024 recruiting class for Coach Grant and his coaching staff. When the new season opens in September, Halward will join Loghan LeBlanc (New Waterford, N.S.), Owen Newell (Brussels, Ont.), and Cory King (Toronto, Ont.) as newcomers in a Lambton uniform.
“I’m super excited,” said Halward after making his commitment official inside the Cestar Group Athletics & Fitness Complex. “I’ve known a lot of the guys who have committed here, and just to be able to continue that relationship with them and develop new ones with a competitive group next season is going to be awesome.”
“I’ve wanted to play at the next level for a while, and it’s always been a dream of mine so it’s nice to make that official.”
Halward, a six-foot-six wing from Woodstock, comes to Lambton College from Woodstock Collegiate Institute where he currently plays for the Red Devils. Outside of WCI, Halward plays for the Oxford Attack U19 Program in his hometown.
Halward will once again play alongside Newell at the collegiate level, as both currently suit up for the Attack. Both players attended the Men’s Basketball Winter Showcase Event back in December, and they were part of the team that came away as tournament champions.
Coach Grant is excited to add another member of the Attack to his group going forward.
“Jaxson is a big guard with tremendous basketball IQ,” said Grant. “Our hope was to really improve our overall team size moving ahead, and with Jaxson coming in, we are doing just that.”
“He’s a key piece of a really good group of players we are adding that will be at Lambton College for three or more years.”
For Halward, the Winter Showcase Event gave him a taste of what life was like at Lambton College and the sense of family within the Men’s Basketball Program. That’s what ultimately led him to commit to the Lions.
“Coming down for the Winter Showcase Event was a really fun atmosphere to be part of,” added Halward. “It was really the sense of family when I met Coach Grant, and I got the sense that this was something that I really wanted to do.”
Academically, Halward will be enrolled in the Sports & Recreation Management Program at Lambton College.
The Lions are coming off a 2023-24 season that saw the group finish 9-9 during the regular season, good for seventh in the always-competitive OCAA West Division. They were unable to replicate their post-season magic from the 2022-23 season, one in which they finished seventh in the regular season but made a run to the OCAA Final Four. This year, the Lions dropped their OCAA Crossover Game on the road at George Brown, bringing a premature end to their season.
Now, Coach Grant and his staff have turned their focus to building the roster for the 2024-25 season, and the addition of Halward checks multiple boxes as they prepare for the future.
Halward is looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead of him, and he’s excited to show Lambton fans what he can do on the hardwood.
“I’m excited to challenge myself,” added Halward. “Especially being from a smaller town, you don’t get as many opportunities to demonstrate your abilities since there’s not the same talent pool, so I’m looking forward to what lies ahead.”
“I’m confident in my own abilities, and you’ll definitely see me give it my all. One thing that I promise you that you’ll see is some good shoe game.”
Welcome to The Den, Jaxson!