Devon van Oostrum receives England U16 Player of the Year 2008 Award
At the Sureshot National Cup finals in Manchester, Devon van Oostrum was recognized for being named England U16 Player of the Year 2008. At the European Championships August 2008 in Sarajevo where England finished 11th out 23 teams, Devon led the team in four categories, scoring (11.2), assists (3.0), steals (3.2) and minutes played (33.7). His steals tally was second in the entire competition and in assists he was fourth. He was also in the top ten in 3-point field goal percentage (40.9%), averaging two per game. At the time of the tournament, Devon was actually an U15 player and he will be competing in the England U16 team again in 2009.
For the Sheffield Junior Sharks player and Silverdale School pupil, the award was the culmination of an immensely successful 2007-08 basketball season, with a national championship at U15 and U16, an U16 national cup, and receiving the Most Valuable Player Award at the U16 Final Four at RAF Cosford.
(Photo: Devon is presented with the Player of the Year trophy by Levis Tovey from Ransome Sporting Goods, sponsor of the Sureshot National Cup)
Devon currently plays for Junior Sharks U16 and U18 teams, as well as for Garnet Gayle’s Division 3 Sheffield Saints. He can also be spotted at Sheffield Sharks practices, learning from Sherman Rivers and Perry Lawson, and benefiting from the experience of coaches Atiba Lyons and Todd Cauthorn. Devon recently practiced with Spanish powerhouse DKV Joventut and will be returning there for another trial later this month. It is an exciting time for the Sheffield youngster, who has to work hard to balance his school work in his GCSE exam year, while also continuing to improve his basketball skills.
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Dave Ransom Sheffield Junior Sharks Chairman says "The entire Junior Sharks club can take pride in Devon van Oostrum’s player of the year award. It has been achieved through Devon’s talent and hard work and also the support and coaching he has received from many individuals in the club.
I feel sure that he realises this award is part of his journey toward becoming a more complete player and that there is still more to come from him. Congratulations to Devon, we all wish him well for the future
Postscript
Devon’s been selected to the Jordan Brand Classic in Vilnius , Lithuania March 7-8, as one of 40 top European players born in 1993. England team mate Joe Hart will be the other representative from Great Britain .
Link here:
http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/classic/pdf/09InternationalTour.pdf
and here’s the big site:
http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/classic/index.html
