Giles fitting in at HutchCC

By Rebecca Carney
Co-Sports Editor

For sophomore basketball player Chris Giles, coming to Hutchinson Community College, or attending any junior college, was never the plan.

Giles, a Dallas native, had his college plans set after graduation from Findlay Prep in 2017: Attend the University of Oklahoma and play basketball there, just like his dad did.

That’s exactly what Giles did for the 2017-2018 basketball season, until he and his family decided that playing basketball at Oklahoma wasn’t quite the right fit for him.

“I had a great time there, but things obviously didn’t work out,” Giles said. “As a family, we decided to come here to Hutch. We felt like that would be the best situation for my future down the road.”

Coming to HutchCC has worked out so far for the sophomore guard. The coaches expect a lot out of Giles, but mostly, they just want him to be a leader on and off the court.

“Lead the team and be a coach on the floor. Obviously, he wants to score some points, but I told him I don’t care if he scores at all. Just lead the team and the points will come,” coach Steve Eck said.

This is not the first time this century a basketball player from Oklahoma has transferred to HutchCC. Bobby Maze, who played for former Blue Dragon coach Ryan Swanson during the 2006-2007 season, also transferred to HutchCC.

Maze played for the Blue Dragons for 2007-2008 season and was named the Most Valuable of the Jayhawk Conference West Division. He also set a school record with 16 assists in a game against Barton Community College.

With basketball season starting to gear up, Blue Dragon basketball fans are starting to get excited. The Blue Dragons have played three regular season games so far, winning all three of them.

Giles has started in all three those of games and has been a huge strength on the court. In the three games the Blue Dragons have played, Giles has averaged 11.7 points, has three assists, two steals and six rebounds. ;

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