The Vancouver Bandits tipped off their fifth season in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) with a pair of road games. But the camp’s big announcement was the signing of head coach and general manager, Kyle Julius, to the first multi-year, year-round coaching contract in league history.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Julius regarding his appointment. “It’s an honour, it’s a privilege. It’s really special and for me, it took a long time to get to this point. I think this is the best coaching opportunity that I’ve ever had and quite frankly, I think it’s one of the best coaching opportunities in the country. My family is moving here to the Vancouver area. They’re thrilled, I’m thrilled, and I look forward to being a small cog in the wheel here for a long time.”
The Bandits host this year’s CEBL championship weekend in August at the Langley Events Centre. Julius says he and the team don’t see that as any added pressure. “When I’m doing my planning at night when we’re talking with our staff and the players, the word we used was “urgency” and that’s the vibe we’re going for.”
The Bandits have signed an impressive roster of returning players and sought-after new talent. DJ Steward, a former Duke freshman starter, averaged 13 points per game, two assists, and shot 42 per cent in his single year as a Blue Devil before he declared for the NBA draft. He maintained his NCAA averages while playing for the Stockton Kings in the NBA G League before coming up north. On coming to the CEBL, Steward is excited to develop more of his talent in the high-energy environment that the Bandit’s home crowd brings.
“I’ve heard the fans bring a lot of energy,” said Steward. “I have heard about this league for a while now and am excited to be here. We’ve got a lot of talented players and great shooters, we got “dogs” here.”
Joining Steward in Vancouver from the NBA minors are Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Nick Ward, both in their second seasons in the CEBL. Bezhanishvili is a six-foot-nine forward who’s a consistent rebounder and a good second-chance finisher in the paint. Ward led his previous team, the Ottawa Blackjacks, in points and rebounds per game.
Returning to the Bandits are the team’s top three-point shooters, Alex Campbell, Malcolm Duvivier, and Shane Gibson, all returning on year-long contracts in 2023. The trio have been critical players for the Bandits on both offence and defence. Each has led the Bandits in scoring and overall shooting percentage at some point in time. All three averaged a 40 per cent field goal ratio and more than 10 points per game last season.
From USports comes Kelowna’s Grant Shephard, Surrey’s Brian Wallack, and Diego Maffia from Victoria. Shepherd and Wallack will give the Bandits some needed power and size in the paint, and Maffia brings another set of fast handles and court IQ.
Despite the Bandits’ mediocre 2-4 start, they are showing promise; Maffia has been a standout playmaker; the team has been scoring in clutch moments; they are fighting back with exciting comeback pushes in all their games. At the very least, the team has shown the tenacity to stay in it.
Teryn Midzain is an English Major with ambitious goals to write movies and a full-time nerd, whose personality and eccentrics run on high-octane like the cars he loves. More importantly, Teryn loves sports [Formula One], and doesn’t care who knows. When not creating and running deadly schemes in his D&D sessions, Teryn tries to reach the core of what makes the romantic and dramatic World of Sports, the characters and people that make the events so spectacular.
