Earlier this year, if you asked Fonthill native T. J. Hurley what he needed to improve before his sophomore men’s basketball season with the University of Vermont Catamounts the answer would have been pretty standard: Get stronger, increase his range in the offensive zone, and take the lessons learned over the past year to become louder on the floor and in the dressing room.
Hurley averaged 5.1 points for the Catamounts in his freshman campaign. At 6’ 5” he’s a big shooting guard with a great touch from beyond the three-point arc. In 31 games, he posted a 41.2 three-point percentage. Considering the average Division I percentage is somewhere in the mid-30s, he is a well above the grade already.
“My expectation is to have a really big impact on this team,” the 19-year-old former E. L. Crossley Cyclone said following one of his summer workouts with the Catamounts earlier this month. “I want to be one of the leaders on this team — to be a go-to guy.”
That outlook hasn’t changed since the Catamounts ended their season in the first round of the NCAA men’s championship tournament, but it has received a quite a boost.
Selected to represent Canada at the U-19 FIBA World Cup in Hungary earlier this summer, Hurley took the opportunity against the best players in the world to gauge his weaknesses and strengths.
“It was really cool to play with the best players from Canada and to play against the best players from other countries. Just the extra game reps over the summer and getting different coaching was so helpful. It was really a good challenge and really pushed me to improve.”
Canada finished the tournament out of the medals with three wins and four losses. Hurley’s best game was against Argentina in an important semi-final contest where he was six-for-nine from the three-point line, finishing with 18 points. Canada lost the game 106-101.
With his shooting abilities from outside proven, the next step is to complete his game from all areas of the court. His size is one of his best attributes and needs to be exploited. Adding an inside game with that big frame could put him into the elite, if not within Division I ranks, certainly within the American East Conference.
“Being more physical on the court is a goal this year. I’ve spent a lot of time in the weight room over the summer and put on a little more weight. Last year I feel like I really only showcased my three-point shooting ability, but this year I want to take another step to show I can score at all three levels: around the basket, mid-range, and from three-point range.”
The Catamounts will begin defense of their conference title in October with the hopes of another league title and March Madness appearance.
Of note: Hurley was the first Catamount player since 2019 to be named to the conference All-Rookie Team, and the Catamounts were 17-0 against America East opponents when Hurley was in the lineup last season.
