June 25: Former point guard and all-time assists leader leaves for Europe in August
LONDON, Ont. - Western Mustangs men's basketball alumnus
Matthew Curtis (Hamilton, ON) has signed a professional basketball contract in Germany with TV Werne.
Curtis, the all-time assists leader in Mustangs men's basketball history, will leave for Germany in August. He served as an assistant coach to Western head coach Brad Campbell during the 2009-10 season.
A native of Hamilton, Ont., Curtis guided Western to back-to-back national championship tournaments as a point guard.
"I am just really excited to still be able to play competitive, organized basketball," Curtis said. "Playing basketball professionally was a dream of mine ever since I started playing."
"This is obviously a great start for me, but I would love to take basketball as far as I possibly can and play for as long as my body will allow me."
Curtis is the second Mustang in recent years to sign a pro contract after forward Brad Smith (Innisfil, Ont.) signed in England with the Kent Crusaders two years ago.
"It is great to see Matt reach his dream of playing pro basketball," Campbell said. "He has worked very hard to become a better player and congratulations to TV Werne for signing an outstanding point guard."
"Our program is very proud of Matt and his accomplishments."
TV Werne won their division (Division 1 Regionaliga) last year going 22-0 and is coached by Ivan Rosic. Werne is located in northwest Germany, with a population of about 32,000.
More information on TV Werne's team is available at
www.bergenthum.com/tvwerne/
"After I failed to find a team last year, I thought my chances were dire of finding a team. But I continued to press on and eventually TV Werne and coach Rosic decided that they liked what they saw and gave me a huge opportunity."
In his final season as a player in 2008-09, Curtis and the Mustangs qualified for the CIS semifinal, losing on a buzzer beater to the host and eventual champion Carleton Ravens.
That season, Curtis led Western with 30.4 minutes per game, 43 steals and 124 assists.
He is a former Ontario University Athletics West division rookie of the year and he reached the 1,000 career point mark in 2008-09 season.