How Sean East II’s Basketball Journey Led Him to the CEBL Scoring Record

Over the course of a 20-minute conversation, Sean East II’s eyes light up over two topics: the CEBL scoring title — and hot yoga.

In fact, the Edmonton Stingers star guard says the two are closely related.

“I'm a big yoga guy. Been there for about two or three years now. I think that went into my three-point percentage, my game going up a different level for sure. Just being with my body in certain situations, places that maybe others can't,” East II explains.

Whatever East II is doing during his rookie season, it’s working. The 25-year-old from Louisville, Kent., smashed the single-season scored record by pouring in 546 points while playing all 24 games this year.

Now, he’s set to lead the Stingers back to the playoffs as the franchise looks to capture its first championship since going back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.

Edmonton visits the Calgary Surge in the Western Conference Play-In on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT / 9:30 p.m. ET, with the winner moving on to face the Vancouver Bandits in the conference semifinals on Saturday.

“All these close games we've been having throughout the season, ups and downs, it's all for the playoffs and hopefully we can just take it one game at a time and shock the world,” East II said.

East II’s journey to the CEBL began when he was just two years old.

During Christmas that year, his mom bought him a Fisher-Price children’s hoop. He immediately started working on his jump-shooting form, someone in the room made sure to snap a picture and the rest is history.

“Ever since then, it's just been basketball, basketball, basketball,” East II said.

After he graduated from Fisher-Price, East II moved onto a high school in New Albany, Ind., where he starred on a team with future NBA lottery pick Romeo Langford.

It’s there where East II understood that basketball could become more than a recreational activity.

“[Langford's] Batman. I'm Robin. At that point, it's like, ‘OK, I know I'm not there yet, but you know, I can get there.’ And probably by my senior year of high school, I was like, ‘OK, I think I can do something with this.’ It was always a dream, but like really understanding that I could was probably like senior year,” East II said.

His NCAA career, however, wasn’t so linear. He attended three school over four years, spending one each at the University of Massachusetts and Bradley before transferring for two years to the University of Missouri.

East II competed once in March Madness during the 2023 tournament, scoring 16 points over two games as his Tigers were eliminated by 15th-seeded Princeton.

During the season, East II was more of a role player at 23.4 minutes per game while shooting just 22.1 per cent from three-point range. He also averaged 7.3 points and 2.6 assists per contest.

But those numbers jumped in his senior year as East II doubled his three-point mark to 45.8 per cent while his scoring average rose to 17.9 points per game. He credits coaches Dennis Gates and Charlton Young for working with him to improve, though the increased opportunity also played a role.

After going undrafted in 2024, East II signed on with the South Bay Lakers of the G League, where he played alongside Bronny James. He spent the final three months of the season playing professionally in Romania.

“I've learned so much in this whole past year, but just understanding the business side more of things and just how everything operates and the hierarchies and it's just a whole bunch of things that have nothing to do with basketball,” East II said.

While in Romania, his agent connected him with Stingers head coach Jordan Baker.

“And ever since he FaceTimed me, he's been telling me his vision and I respected how he played. He won some championships and he's just adamant about trying to bring one back. And he seemed like a good dude,” East II said.

“Once I knew that, I knew it was a no-brainer to come and hopefully give me a better shot for whatever's next in my career.”

He said he initially didn’t know what to expect from the CEBL, but now, following a successful regular season, he’s happy with his choice to come to Canada.

“I maybe heard a little bit about the league, but I mean, ever since I got here it's just been nothing but great. Just as far as the fans in each arena, the media coverage behind it all, it's definitely something great to be a part of,” he said.

For his part, Baker’s been happy to have East II on his squad.

“He’s a guy where sometimes we’re a little stagnant offensively and he can create his own shot. … His ability to mature into that point guard that we’ve been looking for has been tremendous,” he said.

Championship Weekend could provide the perfect stage for East II as he looks to advance his basketball career.

The Stingers face a tall task to get there as a team — though, as a mid-season winning streak proved, they are more than capable.

East II, however, may get there all on his own. He is among the leading candidates in a strong MVP race after averaging 23 points per game to go with 4.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds and a 43.1 per cent mark from three. The awards gala is slated to take place in Winnipeg alongside the final three games of the year.

“It's not often that you put work in and you get rewards from it. Sometimes the work goes unseen. It's hard that sometimes, you gotta do blind work. You wake up, you put in effort every day and you might not see [any] results,” East II said.

“So for that to happen [to win MVP], it would be like, ‘Dang, I finally got something from the work that I put in.’”

The last Stingers player to win MVP was Xavier Moon, who did it three times before landing a contract with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.

East II said he’s been in touch with Moon, who spent two weeks in Edmonton earlier this season.

“We both have kind of the underdog story and the same kind of mental space. … I'm a sponge. So I immediately went to ask him about a whole bunch of things. So it's just, I appreciate him,” East II said.

For now, however, East II has team goals to focus on as the playoffs begin before he can worry about individual honours.

From Louisville to Indiana to Los Angeles to Romania, his basketball journey landed him in Edmonton — and a championship could be the crowning achievement.

But he’s not looking too far ahead.

“You can't take it for granted or think you're missing out on something,” East II said of his path. “You just gotta be where your feet are and enjoy the moment.”

Spoken like a true yogi.

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