Simon Hildebrandt of the Winnipeg Sea Bears. (CEBL / HANDOUT)
Simon Hildebrandt of the Winnipeg Sea Bears has been named the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s (CEBL) Developmental Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The 6-foot-9 University of Manitoba standout averaged 5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game during his second CEBL campaign. Hildebrandt was one of only two collegiate players to appear in all 20 of his team’s regular-season games.
The award, previously known as the “U SPORTS Player of the Year,” was rebranded to include Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) athletes following changes in the CEBL Draft. Hildebrandt, who was selected first overall in 2023 and eighth overall in 2024, has now solidified his position as one of the league’s top players from the Canadian collegiate ranks.
Sea Bears smash single-season attendance record
The Winnipeg Sea Bears have surpassed the league’s single-season attendance record, their own mark set in 2023. In 10 regular season games in 2024, the Sea Bears saw a total of 86,275 fans attend Canada Life Centre. The team’s previous mark, then a CEBL record, was 55,029 in its 10 regular season games in 2023. The team reached 65,609 total fans that year after its playoff game on August 4, 2023.
The team also set a new single-game franchise record in its final match of the 2024 regular season with 11,051, besting the previous mark of 10,580 set in the team’s playoff game in 2023.
