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Capers rookie point guard finding his role with top-ranked team

John Proctor

Cape Breton Post
By Greg MacVicar

SYDNEY — Rookie guard Cameron John-Proctor had some catching up to do when he started playing with the Cape Breton University Capers men's basketball team back in the fall of 2009.

"I was working, so I didn't really have time to work out," said the 6-3 native of Mississauga, Ont., who lost 25 pounds since the start of the 2009-10 Atlantic University Sport season, bringing him down to 220 pounds. "It was kind of hard at the beginning."

The Capers recruited John-Proctor out of high school, but he ended up attending junior college in Indiana for a year after graduating from high school in 2005. After that, he took a couple of years off from school to work.

But last spring, he decided to email an application to CBU.

John-Proctor had two words when asked why he decided to pursue a university career with the CBU men after years away from the sport: Phil Nkrumah.

"I played with him before," John-Proctor said of his fellow Capers player. "That's what my decision was based on. There was a comfort level."

John-Proctor, who turned 23 in December and is in his second year of eligibility, is sixth in team scoring with an average of 7.8 points per game, fifth in team rebounds with an average of 4.1 per game and fourth in team assists with an average of 2.9 per game.

"He's quite multidimensional as a player," Capers head coach Jim Charters said of John-Proctor, who's enrolled in the bachelor of arts community studies program. "And he's got a lot of competitive fire . . . sometimes too much. But I think his competitive fire is what makes him a good player. He's had some real big games for us. As he matures as a player, hopefully he'll continue to give us some of the positive things he has."

The Capers, who lead the league with a record of 14-1 for 40 points, will be looking for some positive things from everyone when they host the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers for a pair of games this weekend.

"We're in the dog days right now, almost in the middle of the term," said Charters. "It's a matter of trying to motivate the team and get the players to motivate themselves. We're going to strive for consistency from individuals and from the group the rest of the way."

The Capers faced the Panthers once already this season, Nov. 21, with the CBU men winning 105-85.

"They have one of the best post players in the league in Manock Lual," Charters said of the Panthers forward.

"He runs the court real well for his size and he's a good rebounder. So we have to key on him. And they've got some perimeter shooters who can hurt you if you don't close them out. They're maybe not as deep as we are. Hopefully, we can try to wear them down over the course of the weekend."

The matches at CBU's Sullivan Field House are slated for Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

gmacvicar@cbpost.com