Chilliwack's Micah Cockrill has signed on to play with the UBC-Okanagan Heat men's basketball team this coming season.

Cockrill, who went to school at G.W. Graham, led his team to a fourth-place finish at this year's AA provincials, and was named to the tournament's 1st All-Star team.

At 6-foot, 4 inches, Cockrill has the height to play either a post or a forward position, but with good hands and a killer shooting touch, Cockrill is a force at guard, where his size makes for some tough match-ups for the opposition.

Cockrill had a superb senior year, averaging 29.2 points a game to go with 7.9 rebounds and 2.4 steals. He also went on a tear at the Chilliwack Storm Invitational Tournament, scoring 44 and 48 points in back-to-back games against two difficult opponents in G.P. Vanier and Sa-Hali. However, during the tournament, Cockrill showed that he's an accountable player as despite scoring 48 points, he was still unhappy with his team losing 81-78 to Sa-Hali, saying, "I expect myself to hit every shot, and when I don't it's frustrating.

"We would have won that game if I hit one or two of those last shots."

Aside from being a stand-out player, Micah also gets it done in the classroom with a 3.3 GPA despite taking a heavy academic load. He has now set his sights on post-secondary life, aiming for a bachelor of science degree before heading off to medical school to become a doctor. But before that he will lace up his sneakers for the Heat.

Micah became familiarized with the UBCO program and Heat head coach Darren Semeniuk through attending recruitment camps and looks forward to joining the squad.

"I am very excited to be coming to UBCO to play basketball," he said. "One of the reasons why I have chosen UBCO is that I can get a UBC education in a smaller town setting.

He added: "One great thing about choosing UBCO is that I will be coming into a well-developed program with experienced and knowledgeable coaches. I am excited to play for Darren because he only accepts a player's best and knows how to develop solid university athletes."

Semeniuk was pleased to welcome Cockrill into the fold.

"Our coaching staff watched Micah at the AA provincials and we definitely noticed his size and how effortlessly he can get the three off," Semeniuk said. "I then watched Micah compete at two ID camps and I was convinced this kid will be able to play basketball at a post-secondary level.

"Even when he was playing with guys he was unfamiliar with, his basketball IQ always seemed to have him with the ball in a good position to score. I expect he needs work on improving foot speed in the beginning, but once he gets used to the speed of the post-secondary game he will definitely have a chance to contribute in his first year."