Surrey, B.C. – The Surrey Eagles are proud to congratulate Eagles captain and defenseman Jimmy Darby (01) on his NCAA Division 1 commitment to the University of Alaska Anchorage. The BCHL veteran joins Eagles players Grayden Slipec, Jacob Slipec, and Jacob Bonkowski as players who have earned a NCAA Division 1 scholarship this season while playing with the Eagles.
The BCHL veteran defenseman has played in the BCHL full time since the 2018-19 season, but made his debut as an affiliated player all the way back in the 2017-18 season. Darby began his career with the Trail Smoke Eaters before he was traded to the Surrey Eagles in the 2019 off-season in exchange for forward Corey Clifton. Since being acquired by Surrey, Darby has played in 87 games with the Eagles. In those 87 games, Darby has scored 5 goals and 27 assists while being a terrific defensive defenseman every season. In Darby’s only playoff series with the Eagles back in 2020, Darby played in all 7 games and had 1 assist and 6 penalty minutes helping the Eagles beat the Chiefs before the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For his entire BCHL career split between the Eagles and the Smoke Eaters, Darby has played in 129 BCHL games, and has scored 6 goals, 32 assists, and has racked up 101 penalty minutes.
When Darby was asked about how it felt to lock up his commitment, he was happy he found not just a scholarship but a good fit for him to continue his development moving forward. “I feel great. It was a goal of mine to find the right fit, and the coach at Alaska Anchorage has been great to me and I’m looking forward to joining them.”
Darby’s move northwest above Canada is exciting, and Darby is ready for the challenges he’ll face next season with UAA. “It’s exciting! Non conference is pretty cool, and we’ll get to play the best of every division. It’ll be cool to fly from Alaska as well and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Darby hasn’t just been a strong shutdown defenseman, he’s been a force offensively for Surrey as he currently leads Eagles defenders in goals (2) and points (12) in just 22 games played so far this season. When asked about how he feels about his game, he brought up his goals heading into this season.”I feel good about my game. Being a two-way defender was my goal this season, so to be able to contribute both offensively and defensively was a goal I feel I’ve completed. We’re doing everything we can to win coming down the stretch; we’re in a good spot but we know we can be a little bit better so if I can be better and contribute a bit offensively it’ll be really good.”
Eagles Head Coach Cam Keith has watched Darby grow from a young defenseman to a veteran leader with Surrey over the past 3 years. When asked about Darby’s commitment, Cam had nothing but praise for his team’s captain as he moves on to the NCAA after this season. “We are extremely excited and happy for Jimmy who has been a pillar of strength and compassion for our program in the past 3 years.”
Congratulation on your NCAA Division 1 commitment to the University of Alaska-Anchorage Darbs!
