Rowan Power - a transfer from the Concordia Stingers - and Junior Moaku-Mattia, a transfer from the Cape Breton Capers, will join the team in practice but neither will be able to compete immediately for the Axemen.
Born in Montreal, Moaku-Mattia played at Academie Catholique Mere-Teresa in Hamilton and spent time at the Chicago Hope Preparatory School before attending the University of Cape Breton.
“Junior is a great addition to the Axemen. He has the ability to stretch the floor with his shot, put pressure on the front of the rim and guard a variety of players on the defensive end,” said head coach Kevin Duffie.
The six-foot-six wing will be heading into his fourth year of university and looks forward to completing his academics at Acadia.
“I chose Acadia University because of its academic and athletic programming. It has established a great reputation and I wanted to be a part of a rich African-Canadian history,” said Moaku-Mattia.
Nineteen-year-old Rowan Power of Dartmouth will also make Acadia his home to complete his academics and athletic pursuits.
The six-foot-two guard attended Concordia University last season. Power was a member of the 2015 Team Nova Scotia basketball team that won the Under 17 National Championship hosted by Basketball Nova Scotia at Saint Mary’s University.
Power has been part of the provincial Basketball Nova Scotia program from 2012 onward.
“We are excited to add a player of Rowan’s caliber to our program. He is an elite defender at the U SPORTS level and has a motor that won’t quit. His attitude and work ethic are an instant ‘value added’ to the Axemen and we look forward to having him join the team,” said Duffie.
Power played 14 games with the Stingers and won’t be eligible to play this season.
Asked why he chose to return to Nova Scotia and join the Axemen after a year out of province, Power noted that he was quite familiar with the players and staff at Acadia and felt much more comfortable with the Acadia program.
“I chose to return to Nova Scotia and Acadia because it is a great school full of great people. The coaching staff and team are people I’ve played for, with, and against throughout my career, and they’ve been nothing short amazing,” said Power.
The Axemen open the exhibition season at the Calgary Cup hosted the Calgary Dinos Oct. 5-7, then head to the Carleton Raven’s House-Laughton Tournament Oct. 13-15 before a home exhibition game against Nipissing Lakers on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. The AUS regular season opens Nov. 4 with the Axemen and Axewomen hosting Memorial.
