On Saturday, May 14, the Fraser Valley Bandits announced that they signed Sukhjot Bains, the Cascades’ former guard, for the professional Fraser Valley team’s upcoming fourth season in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).
Bains transferred to finish his university basketball career here at UFV from 2018 to 2020 after a fantastic high school career. Bains started his university basketball career in New Jersey for a short time, before moving on to Northwest College in Wyoming. After a solid season with Northwest, Bains earned himself a position playing at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in the NCAA Division 1. Bains transferred and returned home to B.C. in the 2018/2019 season and finished his university career at UFV.
During his time with the Cascades, Bains played alongside his brother Navjot Bains while his basketball game stats erupted. In the 2018/2019 season, Bains averaged 12.8 points per game and had an overall 32.3 per cent field goal average. His game improved in his senior 2019/2020 season, with an average scoring of 16.1, and his overall field goal shooting percentage jumped to 42.8. Bain’s overall presence was felt on both the offense and defensive ends of the court, getting 36 offensive rebounds and 151 defensive rebounds. Bains earned a Canada West third-team all-star in the 2019/2020 season as well.
Bains initially signed as a U Sports Development Athlete with the Fraser Valley Bandits in the summer of 2019 between his UFV seasons.
After university, Bains coached in Abbotsford’s AthElite Basketball Academy while he honed aspects of his game that continued his growth as a guard and player before he got the call to play professional basketball in Europe in Sweden’s Superettan basketball league for Helsingborg in 2021.
Bains led Helsingborg’s scoring by keeping his scoring average to 15.8 points per game in his first season with the Swedish team. With Bains, Helsingborg managed to score a lower seed team in this year’s Superettan playoffs with a 10-12 win-loss record, but lost in the quarterfinals to KFUM Kalmarn on Apr 3. A sad ending, but a far better result than Helsingborg’s abysmal 3-22 season in 2020 and their canceled 2021 season due to COVID-19.
“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 tells Fraser Valley reporters on his return to playing professionally.
Bains’ return to the Bandits is exactly what the team needs — another familiar face for fans to cheer on and experience another level of professional sports making a home in the Lower Mainland. Bains is a powerful, consistent scorer that sees growth in every department of elite basketball whenever he decides he wants to improve. The Bandits will be a part of the CEBL’s tripleheader to tip off the 2022 season on May 25 against the Ottawa Blackjacks. June 4 is the Bandits’ first home game against the Saskatchewan Rattlers at the Langley Event Centre, as well as the first of five theme games the club plans to host for fan enjoyment.
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.
