Balderson makes his mark in Horns Hall of Fame

By Dale Woodard - Lethbridge Herald on January 27, 2022.

This southern Alberta boy has made his mark.
Judging by his career with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team, you could say Danny Balderson is a slam dunk.
Pronghorns athletics certainly thinks so and on Saturday night at the 1st Choice Savings Centre the Magrath product who played for the Horns for five seasons, ultimately becoming their all-time leading scorer, was inducted into the Pronghorn Hall of Fame in the athlete category.
Joining Balderson is fellow southern Albertan Jim Steacy (track and field) – also in the athlete category – along with the 1985-86 Pronghorn women’s basketball team in the team category.
“There’s something about being a southern Alberta kid and growing up watching the Pronghorns play. Then having the chance to play is pretty neat,” said Balderson, who joined the Pronghorns in the 1993-94 season. “It’s a really big honour because the Hall of Fame is not just athletes, but it’s people who are part of the Pronghorn family who have contributed in so many different ways. You have former coaches and builders and people who have meant so much to the community in Lethbridge and the university. It’s just really an honour.”
Joining the Pronghorns in the early-90s, Balderson had an immediate impact, finishing second in team scoring while being named both the Canada West and CIS Rookie of the year.
“I knew I wanted to try and play as far as I could and Lethbridge gave me an opportunity and it was great,” said Balderson. “Dave Crook, the coach, gave me all the opportunities I could have used to do it.”
He was a key piece in a three-year run from 1997-2000 which saw the Pronghorns finish among the best teams in Canada West each year.
“Being the underdog, we had a pretty good team,” said Balderson. “We beat a lot of big schools and had a lot of fun. We had a lot of respect and pride for southern Alberta basketball.”
Balderson was twice named the Canada West Player of the Year, including in his final season where he led the Pronghorns to an 18-2 record and earned his first CIAU Player of the year award. During that season, the Pronghorns spent seven weeks ranked as the top team in Canada.
Over two decades since his final game, Balderson remains the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,000 points, ranked 10th best all-time in Canadian university sport history.
His 20.4 points-per-game is the highest in Pronghorns’ history.
Balderson is also the Pronghorns all-time leader in three pointers made (239) and free throws made (435).
He did all of this in front of an appreciative home crowd.
“The gym would sell out in half an hour, there was a lot of excitement back then,” said Balderson. “Southern Alberta is a special place to play basketball.”
Throughout all of it, Balderson said there wasn’t one particular moment that stands out.
“It’s just mostly gaining the respect of Canada, coming from southern Alberta and being able to play really good basketball with a lot of local guys. Our team was made up of mostly guys around this area and we had a lot of pride in what we did and I think the community rallied behind us.”

Follow @DWoodardHerald on Twitter

Comments are closed.