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Falcon flying off to Prince George

A Falcon will fly north in the fall.
Foothills Falcon Adam Pahl, here rebounding between a pair of Chestermere Lakers, has signed with the UNBC Timberwolves for the fall of 2017.
Foothills Falcon Adam Pahl, here rebounding between a pair of Chestermere Lakers, has signed with the UNBC Timberwolves for the fall of 2017.

A Falcon will fly north in the fall.

Foothills Falcon forward Adam Pahl accepted a scholarship last month to play basketball for the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves following graduation from the Foothills Composite High School in June.

“I thought it would be a really good fit for me,” Pahl said of the university in Prince George. “When I went there I liked the school, my visit was fun, I liked the coach and the program is up-and-coming. It just seemed like a good place for me to be.”

At present the T’Wolves are 4-6 in the Canada West CIS standings. The six-foot-six Pahl also looked at the University of Alberta Golden Bears, Mount Royal Cougars as well as the McEwan Griffins.

“I’m glad I could do this (sign) now, so I can focus on the rest of the high school season,” he said.

The T’Wolves are getting a player who has been on the Falcons’ senior boys squad all three of his high school years. He averaged more than 20 points a game in his Falcons MVP season as a Grade 11 student.

He is on pace to do that again and more midway through the 2016-17 high school season.

UNBC coach Todd Jordan called the signing of Pahl one of the biggest in the school’s young sports history.

“There aren’t a lot of players out there with his size and has the guard skills he has,” Jordan said. “For us to recruit a player of his level — who is being recruited by some of the bigger schools in our conference — it’s a big moment for our program.”

Although a top recruit, he has to prove himself

“We always tell our players they are responsible for their playing time — they have to earn their role,” Jordan said. “Adam definitely has the potential to play as a freshman though. If he comes in and plays hard, and commits to doing things the right way, he has a real good chance to have an impact as early as his first year.

“At the 3-4 position, we do have some opportunities next year, and Adam has the opportunity to step in with some hard work and get some big minutes right away.”

If academics are any indication, the honour student has proven he’s not scared of a little hard work.

Pahl is an honours student at Foothills. He plans to major in chemistry at UNBC with a long-term goal of teaching the science subject in the future.

“It is just good for our team culture to have a guy in our program who is committed to the classroom and doing things the right way off the floor as well,” Jordan said. “Adam is a high-character guy. My interaction with him and his family has been very positive.”

None of this comes as a surprise to Falcons head coach Amron Gwilliam.

“Adam had several CIS schools look at him and he felt this would help him achieve what he wants to do academically and athletically,” Gwilliam said. “He is also one of the hardest working guys on our team.”

Pahl got an assist from a Holy Trinity Academy grad in choosing UNBC.

Kylie Pozniak, a former guard for HTA now playing the T’Wolves, gave Pahl the tour of the scenic campus in northern B.C. last year.

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