But the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference is another level in the sport, and it would have been easy for the Briercrest Clippers first-year guard to just bide his time learning the game.
Instead, a spate of injurues forced Seaborn into regular action – and by the time the campaign had concluded, the Clippers had most certainly noticed.
The team announced recently that Seaborn had been named their rookie of the year for the 2019-20 campaign.
“I was surprised when I got it, we had a lot of good rookies this year who really played well, so it was a really nice honour,” Seaborn said.
“I didn't expect to play as much in my first year, but we had quite a few injuries at the start and that helped me get more playing time and pick up the game a little more, which helped a lot.”
Seaborn would start 11 games and average 6.7 points a game while seeing 18 minutes a night. Those numbers were tops among all the Clippers' first year players.
As one might expect, the level of play at the ACAC is a large departure from provincial-level ball in Saskatchewan, and even a player with Seaborn's skill needed some time to adjust.
“It's a lot different than high school, everyone is so big and physical and the game is so much faster than high school,” he said. “I liked it, though, it was hard to adjust at the start but once you get used to it it becomes the new normal... I think after the first month or two of practicing I was able to get a better feel for it, and the first couple games were a bit tough at the start, but you get used to the pace and the physicality.”
The Clippers ended up missing the playoffs after taking a mid-season run at a post-season spot, and therefore had their campaign come to a close before the COVID-19 pandemic took full hold. That's not to say things haven't had an effect, though, as Seaborn and his teammates have spent the last month online distance learning.
That's taken away some potential gym development time, but it's all part-and-parcel with today's times.
“You can't really get into the gym all, but I I have a court at home so I can go and shoot out there, you just can't really play games or anything,” Seaborn said. “It's just shooting and doing what you can to develop your skills.”
