Tchuente clicking for River Lions
For the past two seasons, Jordan Tchuente has been a developmental player for the Niagara River Lions of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
This season, the developmental tag has been taken off the 23-year-old Ottawa native and he is simply a player.
“He has been excellent and I apologized to him twice in the first four games that I didn’t play him more than I did,” River Lions head coach/GM Victor Raso said. “But Dino (Tchuente) has absolutely earned it and I have all the confidence in the world in him.”
In a recent home win over Winnipeg, Tchuente had 10 points in his first shift and was on the floor during most of crunch time.
“The only reason I took him off at the end was because we needed another shooter but he’s tough.”
Raso feels maturity is the biggest difference this season in Tchuente, who was Niagara’s first pick in the 2024 CEBL draft.
“He plays for a great coach in Willy (Manigat) at Brock and he finally figured it out late in the Brock season. He is an elite rebounder and an elite defender and he is a good post player. Now he has added the ability to handle the ball and stand still and shoot threes. He is just good and things just click for guys at different times.”
Tchuente clicked in 2024.
“I always believed in myself but this year towards the end of the season at Brock things really really began to slow down and I figured out what I wanted to do. I continued to work to perfect it and if I do that, not too much can stop me.”
The aha moment for him came Feb. 21 in a 70-69 victory over Carleton in the first round of the OUA playoffs.
“One thing Carleton does is load up and I am pretty physically gifted. When I am driving it is basically slowing down and seeing things before they happen,” he said. “Once that game was over, I went back home and watched the film. It was ‘OK cool.’ Now I know what to do and if I do that no one is going to stop me.”
Tchuente feels things aren’t that much different from his first two seasons with Niagara.
“I am just getting an opportunity and I am taking advantage of it. That’s really it. Nothing crazy.”
The Ontario University Athletics Second Team All-Star and leading rebounder is not surprised with his increased responsibilities this season.
“The work that I have been putting in has been getting rewarded. I have been listening to my coaches who are telling me the weaknesses I need to work on and I am in the gym working on them day in and day out and being consistent with it.”
Raso began recruiting Tchuente in earnest in February.
“I was all over him about coming back, that it was going to be different and his role was going to be bigger. I told him I valued him and I thought he is good. He had options to go other places but he trusted the situation and he is only going to play more.”
Tchuente bought what Raso was saying.
“It was the opportunity to play. He put everything on the table with my familiarity with the coaches, the program and how everything was run. It all made sense and it it what I am looking for in the future.”
He enjoys being a River Lion.
“It is the winning environment. From what I have heard, other teams don’t practise like we do. Teams don’t pay attention to the details like we do. Vic comes from the Carleton program and I hate Carleton but being around it and kind of seeing how it works, I understand how they win so much. I believe with my skillset, ability and upside if I came into the right environment that I could use it to my advantage and improve myself as a player.”
Tchuente has one year of eligibility left with Brock and he is in the process of figuring out what he want to do next.
“I don’t know yet, to be honest.”
The River Lions are at Montreal Thursday and Ottawa Saturday before returning home to host Scarborough next Wednesday.
Visit www.riverlions.ca/tickets for more information.
