From Classic MVP to Big East Conference

Before Sully Menard laced ‘em up for DePaul University, the former Colony star got a taste of Chicago-style basketball at the Alaska Airlines Classic.

It came in last year’s tournament when Colony faced St. Rita from the Windy City.

“It was funny going into the St. Rita game my assistant coach Jon Coon came by me and said, ‘Alright, Sully let’s see how you do against athletes and players who you’ll see next year.’”

He didn’t disappoint.

The 6-foot-3 guard poured in a team-high 17 points to lead the Knights to a 53-45 victory, which propelled Colony to the Classic championship; the first Alaska team to win the tournament in nine years.

“It was definitely a boost in the coaching staff’s eyes (at DePaul) when we beat St. Rita,” Menard said. “That’s a team that locally produces D1 talent who they were familiar with.”

Menard went on to win Classic MVP honors – the first Alaskan to win tournament top player honors since Service’s Adam Klie in 2013.

He averaged 19 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games. He made 8-of-15 3-pointers (.533) and 13-of-16 free throws (.812).

Menard today is a freshman guard at DePaul.

It would be any basketball player’s dream to get a chance to play in the Big East Conference, especially from Alaska.

So when DePaul offered a preferred walk-on spot, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Even if it meant giving up a chance to play more at another school.

He turned down other offers from UAA, UAF, Western Washington and Dallas Baptist.

“I chose to take this offer because of the upside it presented,” Menard said. “Choosing D2 to D1 for me was hard, but in the end, I wanted to play Division 1 basketball.”

The 2020 Alaska Airlines Classic starts Thursday. Colony is part of the field.