{"id":6974,"date":"2022-02-22T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T14:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6974"},"modified":"2025-08-22T19:06:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:06:29","slug":"from-wildcat-and-warrior-to-owls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/02\/22\/from-wildcat-and-warrior-to-owls\/","title":{"rendered":"From Wildcat and Warrior to Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rookie UMPI Athletes Continue Playing Basketball in the County<\/b><\/p>\n

After High School<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Playing high school basketball in Aroostook County is a way of life. But rarely do county athletes go on to play in college for UMPI. Two rookie basketball players from local high schools just wrapped up a memorable season. First-year Hattie Bubar of the women\u2019s team and sophomore Jace Rocheleau of the men\u2019s team both went to high school in the County. Hattie went to Presque Isle High School. Jace attended Fort Kent Community School. Both players had great experiences playing basketball for their respective high schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hattie Bubar fires up a three in a game her senior year at PIHS. Photo by: Dave Allen<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hattie played three varsity seasons for Coach Jeff Hudson. She made two appearances at the Cross Insurance Center for the state tournament. Hattie also was a starter her senior year. Her team finished as Aroostook County Runners-up in a COVID shortened season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jace made two appearances at the Cross Center. He became a 1000-point scorer during his senior season. \u201cMy favorite memory in high school was when I reached 1000. I needed four points going into the game against Southern Aroostook and ended up playing the best game of my life with 45 points,\u201d Jace said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jace and Hattie were determined not to make their high school careers their peak. Both have gone on to play basketball at the NCAA level at UMPI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI wanted to challenge myself and see how big the difference was from high school to college. Basketball is like home to me, and I wasn\u2019t ready to give it up,\u201d Jace said. \u201cI have always loved playing basketball. And when I was given the opportunity to play, I knew I could not pass on that opportunity,\u201d Hattie said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Playing at the collegiate level, however, brings forth a lot of challenges. The competition is more skilled, bigger, stronger and faster. Both Hattie and Jace had to make adjustments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI was told I wouldn\u2019t be able to play at the next level because of my height. And that always makes me more determined to prove them wrong,\u201d Jace said. But he also acknowledged the challenges he has faced in college. \u201cMy biggest adjustment was getting used to the speed of college basketball. At first, I rushed my shots and couldn\u2019t really defend well because of the speed of the players. After a lot of time on the court and in practice, I\u2019ve adjusted better. Now I\u2019m hitting my shots and playing better defense,\u201d Jace said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jace Rocheleau creates space from his defended in a game from his freshman year of high school at Fort Kent. Photo by: Lisa Charette<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For Hattie, it was the physicality that she noticed the most. \u201cThe toughest challenge transitioning into college competition was that I needed to become more aggressive. The college level is a lot more physical than it was in high school,\u201d Hattie said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With the increase in competition comes more demand. \u201cYou have to be really committed if you want to be a college athlete,\u201d Jace said. Playing in college requires a lot more time and hard work. \u201cIt takes up a lot more of your time and dedication. Especially putting in the extra work by going to the gym outside of practice times,\u201d Hattie said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Playing at a high level also comes with a lot of cost as well. \u201cHaving time management is key for being an athlete. After your late practice or a game, you have to go home and do homework until midnight. It also puts a toll on your body playing against bigger, stronger and faster players,\u201d Jace said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In their first seasons for UMPI, both Jace and Hattie\u2019s teams have had great success. Jace is academically a sophomore. He had his first season cut to just six games due to the North Atlantic Conference cancelling championship play over COVID-19. Both teams this season captured the three seed in the NAC East standings. Both earned a home playoff game against Thomas College. Both won.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The experiences from the teams\u2019 recent successes have brought out the best in the UMPI community, as well. \u201cIn high school, the atmosphere was exciting. With the band playing, having cheerleaders on the sidelines and the student section full. The past couple of weekends playing at Wieden have made me feel like I was back at the PIHS gym,\u201d Hattie said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This exciting first season has had no shortage of great memories as well. The women\u2019s team has had some great wins. They finished their division games on a five-game win streak, after beginning 0-5. \u201cOne of my favorite memories was celebrating the win against Lyndon on senior night by spraying silly string on Coach Kane,\u201d Hattie said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On Feb. 8, the men\u2019s team defeated Husson for the first time since 1998. They erased a 20-point second-half deficit. \u201cMy favorite memory of college basketball so far is when we beat Husson. After we won, we poured our water cooler over coach and started yelling and celebrating in the locker room,\u201d Jace said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Playing high school basketball in Aroostook County no doubt contains many great memories. It can bring many important life-lessons for those who compete. But continuing to play basketball at UMPI can be a fantastic way to take those experiences to the next level. As Jace and Hattie have proved, with the right work ethic and time devotion, playing in college is most definitely worth it. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rookie UMPI Athletes Continue Playing Basketball in the County After High School \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Playing high school basketball in Aroostook County is a way of life. But rarely do county athletes go on to play in college for UMPI. Two rookie basketball players from local high schools just wrapped up a memorable season. First-year Hattie Bubar of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8203,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6974\/revisions\/8203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}