After a year away, Jordan Horobetz-Simpson appears to be here to stay with the Lakeland Rustlers.
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The six-foot-seven forward from Winnipeg is one of the leaders with the men’s basketball Rustlers in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC).
“We’ve definitely needed him, and I think he’s a big part of why we’re 11-3 right now,” said coach Sheray Thomas, whose Rustlers are atop the North Division standings.
“Jordan does a little bit of everything. He’s agile, he’s big, he’s rebounding, he’s finishing down there, he can stretch the floor, he can shoot the three. As you saw tonight, he shot a big three for us.”
WEEKEND SWEEP OF KING’S
Horobetz-Simpson scored a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds in Lakeland’s home gym Saturday night as the Rustlers defeated the King’s Eagles 81-69 to sweep the home-and-home weekend series with the Edmonton school.
“Defensively, he’s versatile, so you can switch out on guards,” Thomas said. “And he’s kind of an old-style big where he can run the floor, get some easy layups and finish, which he did today as well.
“His game is huge. Hopefully, he continues that, because I think he has first-team all-star potential, for sure.”
Lakeland opened the weekend with an 85-76 victory over King’s (2-10), which is tied for last in the North.
Horobetz-Simpson, 22, returned to the Rustlers this season after playing one year of university basketball with the Carleton Ravens, the Ottawa school with a renowned history of U Sports national championships.
In going to Carleton from Lakeland, he followed the same path as his older brother Noah, who also played with the Rustlers under Thomas.
“Jordan played and developed here and got to play,” Thomas said. “He went to Carleton and (decided) to come back here, because playing time and things weren’t the greatest there. Oh, we’re happy to get him back. His development, from where he was three years ago, is through the roof.”
LAKELAND WALL OF FAME
On the decorative walls of the Lakeland athletic centre, just outside the Rustlers’ dressing room, is an action photo of a younger Horobetz-Simpson, sporting short hair at the time. The psychology student, now in his third year at Lakeland and his fourth season of eligibility, believes that image was from his second year on the Lloydminster campus.
“Every year, I’ve had long hair, and the year I cut my hair, they took a bunch of pictures of me and plastered them all over the school,” Horobetz-Simpson said with hearty laughter.
“It doesn’t even look like me. But I appreciate coach for that (recognition), for sure.”
Either way, Horobetz-Simpson and the Rustlers have been a cut above the crop for most of the 2025-26 season. They’re in line to possibly host the ACAC championship tournament, if they can secure the North Division pennant in the final month of the regular season.
“I’ve had a couple of games where I’ve scored more points, but I think just in terms of impacting the game, this could be one of my better games,” Horobetz-Simpson said after Saturday’s victory, for which he was named the Rustlers’ player of the game.
“I feel good. Time flies, to be honest with you. I remember being here in my first year, not playing, just like some of these young guys here. I just like to tell them, ‘You’ve just got to wait for your opportunity.’
“It’s all about opportunity, even if you’ve got to wait one year, two years. You go to U Sports, and some guys wait five years before they play. They play in their last year. It’s all about opportunity. You’ve just got to make the best of it.”
BROTHER ACT
Horobetz-Simpson took a page from his brother’s collegiate travel book in coming to the ACAC, and eventually Lakeland in particular.
“My brother was playing in the ACAC before me,” Jordan said of Noah. “He played a year, maybe two years, at Keyano, and then coach Sheray (Thomas) gave him the opportunity here at Lakeland.
“I just kind of hopped on with him. I didn’t have a Grade 12 season (because of the COVID-19 stoppage), so I didn’t really have any film. I sent coach some film of me training and he was, like, ‘We’ll see what we can do. We can work with that.’ I’m a big frame and I can shoot the ball.
“All props to him. I really appreciate him for giving me the opportunity to come out here and prove myself. Now, I’m in Year 4, I’ve got good numbers, hoping to get a ’chip. We’re rolling.”
The Rustlers weathered a worthy weekend performance from the Eagles, who played at a higher clip than their last-place standing would suggest. After its nine-point loss at home Friday, King’s battled for the first half of Saturday’s contest and led 39-38 at the break.
After owning the fourth quarter, Lakeland celebrated its latest win and made short work of a batch of homemade cookies from hometown Rustler Tyler Gartner’s mother.
Along with Horobeck-Simpson’s heroics, the Rustlers received 17 points from Seth Johnson, 16 from Taleh Wade and 14 from Matthew Bryant, who also nabbed 13 rebounds.
Crai Rushfeldt collected 18 points for King’s, while Jonathan Barwegen and David Loki each added 14. Benjamin Thess picked up 11 points and nine boards.
In Friday’s game, Wade paced Lakeland with 23 points, while Horobetz-Simpson added 19 and Bryant 17. Johnson’s double-double included 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Barwegen meshed a game-high 30 points for the Eagles, and Brock Stupar added 11.
Horobetz-Simpson attributed veteran experience to the Rustlers’ ability to finish the job twice last weekend and in almost every other game this season.
“I think definitely just the maturity,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are experienced — fourth year, fifth year, third year — and we’re pretty much obligated to come out here and to get these wins against these guys.
“All props to King’s. They’re a great team. Shoot, they outworked us for two days in a row now. We went off our maturity and just being better individually. They’ve got a lot of guys that just go — they’ve got engines, they were knocking down shots today. Props to them.
“That just goes to show that in this (Alberta) league, any game is a battle. You can lose any game. It doesn’t matter the record.”
ACADEMICS AND ATHLETICS
Schoolwork matters at the collegiate level, so the Rustlers welcomed this week’s bye weekend to rest, recover from injuries and focus on studies.
“Schoolwork is always a priority,” Horobetz-Simpson said. “I mean, I’ve got to go back and do schoolwork today, and it’s 10:13 (at night) right now.
“This bye week couldn’t come at a better time. Guys are banged up. We played this weekend without one of our starters (Bahaeddin Salma) and without our sixth man (David Dimaano). Both of them are out with injuries.
“This bye means the world to us, probably to get a lot of good rest. I’m pretty banged up, I know that. After the bye week, we’ve got Augustana (for two home-and-home games Jan. 30 and 31). We’re going to be a full team again and we’re just going to be rolling after that.”
Horobetz-Simpson senses cohesion is a catalyst in the Rustlers’ success.
“We’ve got a good group of guys,” he said. “The locker-room is great. It’s all love out here.”
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