Scout Truman has committed to UMass Lowell and is set to join the roster for the 2021-2022 season. NZ scouts have noted Scout’s ability to compete against players several years older than him. He has a knack for setting up his line mates and is an unselfish player.
Scout’s gives his older brother Roc credit for getting him into hockey:
“I remember I didn’t want to play and then after watching him play for a year I wanted to take a shot at it, it looked pretty fun.”
Roc has also committed to UMass Lowell and set to start in 2021, same as Scout. Scout takes us through their NCAA recruiting journey:
“When I got drafted I was pretty excited about that, I wanted to pull the trigger and sign. But I talked to former coaches and they told me not to sign and look at a university before making any decisions. My grade 10 year, which would have been last year, we went for a visit in Colorado and it opened my eyes. We both kinda loved the facilities and the rink, I was still 50/50 and wasn’t 100% sold on that university. And this year we were talking to Juliano Pagliero, he was with Colgate at the beginning of the year, so we thought we would end up there. He got the the job at UMass Lowell and he kept talking to us and recruiting us, he seemed the most interested. So we took a fly down there and we fell in love and made our decision to go there.”
Scout was drafted in the 2nd round of the WHL draft in 2017 and had a big decision to make between the WHL and NCAA:
“Draft day was pretty exciting, we knew more about that route than NCAA. Especially exciting to get drafted at that young of an age, I was really pumped and I was fortunate enough to go pretty early in it. And then it made it really exciting when one of my good buddies and teammates, Kadyn Chabot, got drafted later that day. We were both happy for each other and excited that we would be future teammates. But then I talked to my family and coaches, and decided to hold off on the signing and check out the other option we didn’t know much about.”
He takes us through his final decision to go the NCAA route:
“I remember watching WHL games and you always dream of playing in the WHL. But we didn’t get much exposure to the NCAA at a younger age. After going [to the States] and watching a couple games, seeing the facilities, and meeting with the coaches it seems like the best route. You get a longer time to develop, you get an education, and get do something you love. The fans we saw at Denver, CO and UMass Lowell were really into everything and it was just a different perspective.”
Scout has a close relationship with his brother, he tells us what it means to go on this journey with him:
“[Roc’s] second year bantam and my first year bantam we thought would be our last year playing together. Originally, I was going to go to Yale Hockey Academy and he was going to stay in Lethbridge. But he ended up going too and we ended up getting put on a line, things started to click and we carried that into Juniors. We actually thought about it a lot and we both had our minds set. We thought going to the same university, playing with each other, and living it the same city, that’s something pretty cool to do with your brother. We are always competing and wanting to do better than the other. Knowing that this is a pretty huge accomplishment and are excited for it, but I still want to do better than he does and he wants to do better than me. I think that pushes to do better more than anything, spend more time in the gym and do well in the classroom.”
Being from Alberta, Scout will move cross country to Massachusetts, he tells us how he is feeling about the move:
“Definitely a little nervous about it, I am more excited than anything. I really excited to see what UMass Lowell has to offer. Im sure I’m going to love it, it’s just getting into the flow of things and I’ll be a little less nervous and more comfortable.”
With 2 full seasons to prepare for the transition to NCAA hockey, Scout tells us his plan:
“Definitely focussing on the last stretch going to playoffs but looking further down the road, looking to spend lots of time in the gym and on the ice. Make sure I keep my grades up so it will be a little bit easier transition going into university.”
Scout has 26 points in 43 games with the Drumheller Dragons of the AJHL. With 7 of those points being goals and 19 being assists.
Photo Credit: Broken Curfew Photography
