Player Review: Maud Huijbens

the junior forward continues to progress

After coming thru the ranks in her homeland of Holland, Maud Hujibens was the 12th ranked post-player in the 2019 recruiting year and earned a 90 ranking by the scouts over at ESPN. Those scouts described her as an agile low-post prospect with skilled interior footwork that finishes plays in traffic, rebounds, and initiates the fast break. Representing the Netherlands at the U18 Women’s European Championship, Hujibens averaged 11.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game

With her strong pedigree, Maud took a scholarship at at Syracuse for the ‘20-21 season, but unfortunately, only featured in a single game midway through the season because of various injuries. She would eventually transfer to Gonzaga the following spring possibly for better playing time, but also to avoid the dumpster fire within Syracuse basketball program that saw 11 additional players also transfer after the season’s completion.

After earning spot minutes in her first year at Gonzaga, the 6’3” forward looked poise for strong minutes off the bench the following season, but ultimately was limited to just 16 games because of various injuries. During that time, she showed some promise in her 16.6 minutes per game as she averaged 3.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, but she struggled with her shooting efficiency, just 41.9%, failed to put up a three pointer all year, and finished the season with an A/T ratio of 0.375 so there was still work to be done.

So heading into the ‘23-24 season, Hujibens seemed to be at a crossroads with the program as the team’s starting roster was all but set with 5 seniors set to reclaim their starting spot. So while a starting spot was unlikely, an increased role of the bench also wasn’t guaranteed as she was facing competition from senior Destiny Burton and dynamic freshman transfer, Naya Ojukwu.

As it turned out, Destiny wasn’t going to provide much competition with her knee injury prior to the season and Naya, after getting some spot minutes early in the season, disappeared from the team as she took a leave of absence and eventually transferred out following the completion of the season. With those pieces absent, Hujibens took her opportunity and ran.

Despite only starting two games, Maud featured in 35 contests and clearly showed signs of promising progression as she set career highs in nearly all statistical measures. She averaged 19.7 minutes, 6.3 points on 54.8% two pointers and 40.9% three pointers, 3.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.4 blocks, and 1.1 turnovers. The only major statistical category Hujibens didn’t break this year: free throws as she dipped from 81.8% the year prior to 70.8% this past season.

While she reached her career high in points (15) on three occasions this year, including the big upset over Stanford, I personally think her best game of the season came against USF on January 27th in which she came off the bench to play 27 minutes during which time she secured her only double-double of the season as he scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds (season high), and dished out 5 assists (season high) while shooting 5-7 overall.

The clip above may not feature Maud making a particularly notable play, but it is the only one available of her from that match and, in my opinion, it does show her toughness to play through contact against skilled bigs (her defender was none other than Debra Dos Santos, an All-WCC selection that finished with 15.3 points and 10.6 rebounds). She doesn’t have the cleanest catch on the inbounds play from Kaylynne, but Hujibens keeps her body in a good position to secure the ball, realizes she’s likely unable to get into the pain, and immediately finds the cutting Brynna Maxwell for the nice three pointer.

I’m looking forward to Maud’s upcoming season. I think she brings a high motor, willingness to stand strong in the post, and her ability to stretch the floor with an occasional three pointer. I see her as a nice replacement for departing senior Eliza Hollingsworth and believe this Dutchwoman can pair nicely in the front court with Yvonne Ejim. Let’s hope Hujibens continues her upward progression she’s shown across her college career heading into her fifth, and likely final, season of college basketball.