Mitch Calvert
A stand-out Muskie basketball player has been lured across the river to play for the Rainy River Community College Voyageurs this coming season.
Travis Stromness, who spent last season as a fifth-year addition with the senior boys’ team at Fort High, was recruited by RRCC at the power forward position.
“Me and a couple of my buddies, Morgan Anderson and Jeremy Strain, went on July 4 two years ago across [the river] for a 3-on-3 tournament,” Stromness recalled.
“The [Voyageurs’] coach, Dieter [Humbert], was one of the referees. It was my Grade 12 year, and he had asked me if I ever thought of playing college ball.
“I put a little thought into it and I figured I would like to, but I had explained to him that I was going to stay back [in high school] one more year,” Stromness noted.
“He came and watched a few of my games [this past season], and I went over and watched a few college games and found out what it was all about,” he added.
“Then I recently had a chat with him and a few of the guys who were going to be back next year, and went over to sign with them [RRCC].”
Stromness signed along with fellow recruits Jack Phetsanghane from Warroad, Mason Imhof from Littlefork, Matt MacKenzie from International Falls, Evan Ziegler from Sartell, and Ray Walker from Bemidji.
Stromness said the interest shown by Humbert was both humbling and surprising at the same time.
“I really didn’t expect it,” he admitted. “I expected someone like Morgan or Jeremy to have better opportunities than me, but the position I play is in demand [centre/power forward], I guess.”
The Voyageurs usually begin play in mid-November, with tryouts starting earlier in the school year.
“There’s still a tryout so it’s not a guarantee,” Stromness stressed.
“[But] I got to play a little bit of ball when I went over there [to sign], and I’m playing with a few of them in a summer league every Tuesday night, as well,” he noted.
Stromness presents an imposing force on the court as much for his size as his tireless work ethic.
He scored exactly half of the Muskies’ 44 points in a Game 2 loss to the Westgate Tigers in the best-of-three NWOSSAA finals back in March that ended Fort High’s season.
He’ll be taking a full course load in general studies in his first year at the RRCC.
“I had planned to take electrical engineering, but recently I got a job with the Ministry of Natural Resources so I kind of had a change in career and have decided to be a conservation officer now,” Stromness said.
“For now, overall, they are allowing me to do is just the generals because it’s my first year, so the basic math and science and so on,” he explained.
