VANCOUVER – On the eve of the U SPORTS Final 8 opener, University of Calgary Dinos fourth-year guard Nate Petrone has been named the U SPORTS Men's Basketball Player of the Year.

Petrone was presented with the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy Wednesday evening at the annual All-Canadian Award Ceremony in Vancouver, the site of both the men's and women's Final 8 tournaments.

"(I'm just thinking about) the journey to get here. It was not an easy one," Petrone said. "I was recruited by one school out of high school and to be crowned the best player in university sports is honestly something that I didn't even know that I could accomplish. Just the journey getting here...all the late nights and early mornings. It's a crazy feeling. It's hard to put into words how awesome this is."

After a breakout performance in his first season on the court with the Dinos a season ago, Petrone took his game to yet another level, establishing himself as the top player in all of U SPORTS this season. The 6-foot-2 guard was simply dominant every time out, scoring 484 points on the year in 20 games – the most in the country. His 24.2 points/game average saw him finish second in U SPORTS, while also shooting at an incredible clip for a guard at 56.8 percent – ninth best in the nation. 

The Calgary product also dished out 99 assists on the year, ranking him in the top 10 in U SPORTS in that category, as well. He also finished his fourth year going 98-110 (89.1%) from the free-throw line and 50-116 (43.1%) from three-point range.

When the lights shined the brightest, Petrone continued to deliver. In this year's postseason games, he tallied 24 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the opening win over Trinity Western and added another 23, nine and five while knocking off the three-time defending champion Victoria in the semifinals. But Petrone saved his best for the Canada West Final, erupting for 19 points in the first quarter alone before finishing with 38 on 15-21 shooting to go with 10 assists in leading the Dinos to their latest conference banner.

"There are a lot," Petrone said when asked who helped him get to this level. "First, my mom and my dad. My dad coached me a while growing up. My brother helped me so much. My club coaches, my high school coaches, the McFarlands...there are so many people that I could thank along my journey that have believed in me at each step of the way. I thank them so much. All those people mean the world to me."

Petrone is the fourth Dino to be named national player of the year, following Brett Layton (2020), Richard Bohne (1996) and Karl Tilleman (1982 and 1983).

The other nominees for this year's MVP award were D.J. Jackson (StFX), Charles Robert (Bishop's) and Aaron Rhooms (Toronto Metropolitan).

In addition to his top honour, Petrone was also named a First Team All-Canadian selection, becoming the first Dino to earn that honour in back-to-back seasons since Thomas Cooper (2016 & 17).

"Hearing (my coaches and teammates) cheer for me when my name got called was awesome," Petrone said. "Just being in the locker room and sharing meals with those guys everyday – that's what it's all about. This (winning this award) was amazing, but that's what I'm going to miss the most about all of this, for sure."

The Dinos open this year's Final 8 when they take on Queen's in a national quarter-final showdown Thursday evening at 6 p.m. MT from UBC's War Memorial Gym.

-UC-