rward for the Durham Wildcats, a team of the British Basketball League, scored a career-high 32 points in a nationally televised game last week, helping him earn a spot on the BBL “team of the week.”
The 32 points included eight three point shots, assisting the team in an important 98-81 win against the UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders for the Wildcats in their first televised game and on their journey to the playoffs.
Guinane signed with the Wildcats during the summer of 2011, beginning his career with them in September of last year.
“Playing in Europe is a lot of fun; the crowds are great, and I am really enjoying my teammates,” Guinane said.
After playing basketball since he was a toddler, Guinane became wildly successful in his time at Hillsdale.
He is ranked 23rd in the 1,000-point club with 1,165 points in his career here. He also had a .801 free throw percentage as a student-athlete, ranking him seventh in Hillsdale’s record books.
Guinane was the first Hillsdale student to become an NCAA Division II All-American honorable mention. He received this honor his senior year with an average of 14.3 points and six rebounds a game.
“Brad was an absolute goofball, he always loved to joke around but when he stepped onto the court he was all business,” said senior Ryan Choiniere, Guinane’s teammate from an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team in high school and also Hillsdale basketball. “Brad was a great teammate when he was here, he was an easy person to look to as a leader because he was always working so hard and cared so much about winning and about our team.”
Choiniere commented that he is not surprised Guinane has been successful in his current professional career due to his high skill level and style of play. Head coach John Tharp agreed.
“He had one of the greatest senior years that I have ever seen. He was a great leader and had a tremendous amount of mental toughness,” Tharp said. “We are really proud of the year that he is having with Durham and knowing that he is making progress for his master’s degree is terrific.”
“Hillsdale really helped me in preparation of this year through providing me with great work ethic and time management skills,” said Guinane. “Coach Tharp has also been a big influence for me; his competitive nature has really helped me in taking my game from the collegiate level to the professional level.
“He also always made sure we were having fun, which has been very important in my success because, at the end of the day, basketball is just a game and if you aren’t staying loose and having fun it adds a lot of unneeded pressure to the way you perform.”
