Kathleen Bélanger-Finn To Play With Mountaineers Next Fall

Kathleen Bélanger-Finn (5’7″, PG, Champlain, 2013) has committed to play with the Mount Saint Mary’s University Mountaineers in the Fall of 2013.

Bélanger-Finn, who currently plays with Champlain College in Montreal, Quebec, has opted for the Baltimore, MD area, NEC (Northeast Conference) school primarily because the search for a high academic institution was very high on her list.

And, according to Champlain College Lady Cavaliers Head Coach, Georges Germanos, it will be a refreshing change from all of the familiarities that she had been accustomed to.

“I’m very happy for Kathleen. She deserves it,” proudly said Germanos. “It’s a nice change of pace for her. She says she wants to move away from the kids that she’s played against her whole life in Montreal. So, it’ll be a great experience.”

Germanos views Bélanger-Finn as a cornerstone of his team, leaning heavily on her development. In his eyes, she has risen to the occasion, through hard work and focusing on improving the efficiency in the way that she takes care of the ball. He speaks glowingly about how far she has come under his guidance.

“She’s improved dramatically for us. One of the rare point guards in the league that put in that put in over 35 minutes a game, which is a lot. What she’s worked on over the past two years is her turnover-assist ratio. She’s been taking care of that ball.”

In the classroom, Bélanger-Finn appears poised for great things. Last season, she was the Lady Cavalier’s nominee for the RSEQ award for the student-athlete with highest academic average. At Mount Saint Mary’s, she will be leaning towards an undergrad in Biology and is likely to return back home when her four years have been completed in order to finish off a fifth and perhaps a Masters.

Being able to also get things done in the classroom definitely helped with attract schools interested in landing her.

“She has been approached by McGill and other schools in [Montreal],” recalled Germanos. “She’s been approached by a couple schools in the U.S. other than Mount St Mary’s, like Colgate and some other schools from the NEC.”

Loosing Bélanger-Finn at the end of this school year will be a tough blow for Germanos, making this a bittersweet bit of news for the Montreal-area Head Coach who still had more kind words for his starting Point Guard.

“I don’t know what I m going to do without her next year. When you get used to a point guard like her, you count on her.  She’s one of the players that have been there for us, and she’s really turned into a leader.  Hopefully, she’ll bring those nice qualifications and attributes with her to the U.S.”

“She’s got what it takes and we know, she’ll do well.”