Richmond native and former Vancouver College standout Isaiah Solomon will be continuing his basketball career with the UBC Thunderbirds men's team this fall.
The six-foot guard is one of three recruits, along with Conor Morgan and Jordan Jensen-Whyte, who will be making the jump to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) play directly from high school.
"I chose to come to UBC because I feel like the school has a lot to offer me," said Solomon, who began his high school basketball career at Hugh Boyd before moving to the Fighting Irish program.
"I believe I will grow not only as a student, but also as an elite basketball player.
"It is exciting playing for the Thunderbirds because throughout the past years of watching UBC play, I knew I would fit right in with their system and being coached by Kevin Hanson will definitely help me grow as a player and hopefully win a few championships along the way."
Solomon's basketball sense earned him high praise from the TBirds' coaching staff.
"Defensively, he does things that I just haven't seen a lot of players do," said Hanson.
"His ability to get deflections, his ability to get steals and he's always making something happen defensively. That kind of work ethic is going to bode very well."
Solomon helped his Vancouver College team to a fourth place finish at the 2012 B.C. "AAA" Boys' High School Provincial Championships in March.
In four appearances at the tournament, he averaged 16.3 points, 7.2 assists and 5.8 steals a game. During the regular season, he scored 21 points a game, while dishing out eight assists and recording four steals.
In 2011, Solomon's team advanced all the way to the "AAA" Provincial final before falling to R.C. Palmer of Richmond.
"He's a pass-first kind of guy and makes the people around him a lot better but he can score when he has to," said Hanson.
UBC will open the 2012-13 basketball season with a nonconference home game against Eastern Washington (NCAA Division I) on Sept. 8 at War Memorial Gymnasium.
