LANGLEY, B.C. , May 14, 2022 – The Fraser Valley Bandits announced Saturday that the club has signed former Canada West all-star and University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Cascade guard, Sukhjot Bains, for its upcoming season at Langley Events Centre (LEC).

Bains played at UFV from 2018-20 and recently completed his first season of professional basketball with Helsingborg in Sweden’s Superettan where he led his team in scoring, averaging 15.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game on 47.1 per cent and 37.6 per cent shooting from field goal and three-point range.

The 6-foot–6 guard is no stranger to the Fraser Valley. After leading Tamanawis Secondary to the B.C. 4A Final Four in 2013-14, Bains was voted B.C.’s top Grade 12 high school boys basketball player in a poll conducted by The Province newspaper. The accolade was earned after Bains averaged 28.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in his senior high school season.

Following Tamanawis, Bains’ basketball journey took him to Peddie Prep in New Jersey. His solid play led to an offer from Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. In his second season at Northwest College, Bains averaged 13.4 points and eight rebounds per game, which prompted an offer from NCAA Division 1 school, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Bains averaged 15.7 minutes per game and shot 43.2 per cent from the field in his lone season at Wisconsin-Green Bay before transferring to UFV for his final two seasons of university basketball.

The Bandits signed Bains as a U SPORTS Development Athlete in the summer of 2019 after his first season at UFV.

"I have spent a lot of time playing basketball in the Fraser Valley and I am looking forward to rejoining the Bandits organization after being part of the team in 2019. Playing professionally in Sweden has helped me develop my skills and I know this summer is a strong opportunity to continue adding to my toolkit and will help me elevate my game to the next level,” Bains said.

A native of Delta, B.C., Bains flourished upon returning to his home region. At UFV, he reunited with his brother Navjot as members of the Cascades. Bains’ three-point shooting jumped from 24.8 to 38.3 per cent between his two seasons at UFV and in 2019-20 he posted impressive averages of 16.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and one steal per game. For his efforts, Bains was named a Canada West Third Team All-Star for the 2019-20 season.

Fraser Valley opens its fourth Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season on the road on Wednesday, May 25 at 4:30 p.m. PT against the Ottawa BlackJacks. Following a three-game road swing to start the year, the Bandits will debut at Langley Events Centre (LEC) for their home opener against the Rattlers on Saturday, June 4.

Full and partial season ticket packages, as well as group and single game tickets are available for purchase at thebandits.ca/tickets . Fans are kindly asked to call (604) 866-0529 or email [email protected] for any questions or ticket related inquiries.

Fans can also fill out this form to register their interest for tickets and to arrange to be contacted directly by a team representative.

All CEBL regular season games will be livestreamed on the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca , the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices and CEBL+ .

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