Graduating Senior Q&A: Fullerton a testament in perseverance after injury bug strikes in his final season
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Many times, graduating senior classes are quite large, but for the men's basketball team, they will be honouring just one student-athlete on their annual Senior Day this Saturday.
Jordon Fullerton, who transferred in from the University of Windsor for his final season of eligibility, will be feted prior to their final home regular season game of 2024-25.
MacEwan will host Manitoba on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
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Fullerton is injured and won't be playing, unfortunately, but he'll be in attendance to be celebrated in a Saturday ceremony.
The 6-foot-3 wing from Brampton, Ont. share his thoughts in a graduating senior Q&A below:
Jordon Fullerton with a huge steal and layup to keep the @MacEwanGriffins close in the opening quarter against @BUBobcats. It's 22-18 visitors after 10 minutes.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/E81KtXYTSH
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Basketball Team (@Griffins_MBB) November 29, 2024
Mike Connolly's coach's quote:
"He brought leadership, perseverance and commitment. He worked with a lot of the young guys. He was supposed to be an impact on the floor with his experience, but injuries didn't allow that. Off the floor, he gave a lot of guidance, a lot of work. It's just an example of our student-athletes' perseverance going through adversity. No other student has gone through in a year what he's gone through and here he is maintaining his school, maintaining playing and maintaining his commitment. I think this is all about his perseverance, his commitment to the team and to the game. We're just happy he was able to have his last year with us, even if it was limited minutes. His presence and what he brought to the table will be missed."
Jordon Fullerton Q&A:
What are you going to be graduating with?
I'm just completing my program in Bachelor of Arts with a minor in Business.
Do you have a career goal in mind?
I've never really had a super career goal. I really want to continue basketball and see about playing professionally. In terms of a career goal, I want to pursue something with youth and giving back. Maybe being a trainer or a coach later on. But my main focus is to see if I could play some professional basketball or get into the lane of playing professional.
Have you explored any avenues towards that?
First off, I want to get better and see where everything takes me from there. I want to see if I can navigate some stuff this summer and try to see if I can get into some lanes where it's a couple Pro-Ams or something like that – see if I can get some film going and communicate with some people to see where opportunities lay. Right now, the first thing is just about getting healthy.
You've certainly battled some injuries this year. How frustrating has that been, and what have you learned about yourself?
Super frustrating because I definitely came here with a goal in mind to just get better and get back into the environment of basketball. I'm proud of myself for doing it coming from where I was coming from last year. What I've learned is that I'd like to say I'm a strong individual. It's not easy going through everything I went through this year. It definitely shows I have a lot of strength in me to still want to pursue something in the game after going through all these injuries and still have the determination to stay positive and navigate while I'm hurt at the moment. It's been difficult. This was definitely not in my plan.
You've had an interesting path going to a few different places. Can you take me on your journey since high school and how you ended up here?
I went to David Suzuki high school in Brampton, Ontario. I played well over there, leading my team to a championship in my 12th grade.
I ended up going to junior college for two years to see about going to Division 1, playing at the highest level. At my junior college (Western Texas College in the NJCAA), I ended up getting a couple Division 2 and NAIA offers, but I didn't end up getting Division 1 offers due to a couple grades I ended up getting (in Ontario).
I chose to come back home and establish myself and work for a year. Then I ended up going to Windsor the following year where I was picked up as a high recruit coming out of junior college. My first year at Windsor was a good year. I averaged 12-13 points, four rebounds, two assists, a good shooting percentage. Everything was looking good, then COVID happened. That shut everything down, we weren't able to play … and it set us back for a year. The year after COVID, I ended up getting hurt at the University of Windsor. I didn't really like the way they went about recovery and the fixation on knowing what the actual injury was because I was hearing different things from different people. I ended up leaving the University of Windsor because of that and due to stuff the coaching staff was saying and not saying.
I ended up having an opportunity to come to MacEwan to play with one of my good friends Justace Byam. Me and Justace had plans to come in here and make an impact, trying our best to establish ourselves as quick, gritty guards. My first semester was tough because I didn't get my apartment that I'm living in now until the third month of me being here. It was a lot of running around and a lot of things I had to get done to get into a comfortable position. Once I did get into a comfortable position, I felt everything was good and everything was going. Then we went to Regina, and I ended up getting hurt. That kind of where it takes me right now.
Jordon Fullerton averaged 6.0 points and a team-leading 1.5 steals/game in four contests for the Griffins in 2024-25 (Gerard Murray photo).
What are some of your favourite memories of your time as a Griffin?
My favourite memory is just being in practice with the team and competing. Taking my time away from the game, you never really appreciate something until it's gone. Being able to come to MacEwan University and play on the team, be on the team with some guys who were willing to learn from me and willing to listen to me, was very nice to be a part of. I never took it for granted once – just being able to have team camaraderie again.
If there anything else you'd like to say about your time with the Griffins?
I appreciate Coach Connolly for picking me up. I was supposed to come here the year before and I ended up not coming because it wasn't right for me financially to come to Edmonton. But this year he took a chance on my vision and Justace's vision to come out here and play. He really gave me the opportunity. Any time I asked him for anything or any time I really needed him, he was there. Also, just my teammates. Being around them, working hard. The physiotherapy staff was great during my time at MacEwan. I'd just say everybody was good in my year here. I don't have any complaints, at all.
