Fraser Valley team joins new basketball league in giving locals a shot at the pros

“All I want is a bedroom and a kitchen,” the just-announced coach and general manager of the Fraser Valley Bandits said on Tuesday.

The Bandits will begin play in Abbotsford in May, one of six teams in the fledgling Canadian Elite Basketball League, a new professional circuit that unlike any previous Canadian league has a partnership with Canada Basketball to develop Canadian players.

Maybe even more important, it is sanctioned by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as a top-tier league.

“This is basically the Division 1 of basketball in Canada, it’s a FIBA league,” Guarasci said.

“I think that’s going to go a long way in terms of gaining some global recognition, and hopefully, down the road, continue to make the athlete who participates in this more robust and strengthen the league.”

One pro who thinks, if handled correctly, the CEBL could be a boon to Canadian hoopsters with pro ambitions is Levon Kendall, a former standout high school player who led the Simon Dykstra-coached Kitsilano Blue Demons to back-to-back provincial championships, and then starred at the University of Pittsburgh.

“I’m as curious and as excited as the next basketball fan,” the 34-year-old power forward/centre, a pro player in Europe since 2007 and a former member of the Canadian national team, said.

“They seem to be approaching it in a good way. The clubs in Europe have a history (in their communities) and if (the Bandits) are able to emulate that, to give kids something to look forward to, that could change the basketball landscape locally.

“It gives players something to strive for. There really is a trickle-down effect.”

Kendall’s former high school coach agrees.

“It’s good they push (the Canadian) aspect of it,” Dykstra said. “I never had that opportunity; I had to go overseas and grind it out there.

“There is a group of kids in their early 20s who don’t want to go to university who want to play. They’re good enough, but they can’t find their way to Europe. I’d say every year there are 10 or 15 boys (in that category).”

Taking a cue from Major League Soccer and the Women’s National Basketball Association, the league owns all the teams, the seed money provided by Niagara Falls businessman Richard Petko.

The league’s CEO is Mike Morreale, a former football receiver and president of the CFL Players’ Association, while Lee Genier, who founded the successful Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League, is president and COO of the Bandits.

Games are played in spring and summer, and the Fraser Valley entry joins teams in Edmonton, Saskatoon, St. Catharines, Hamilton and Guelph.

The Bandits will play out of the Abbotsford Centre, it’s 7,046-seat capacity being the third biggest in the league, after Hamilton’s First-Ontario Centre and Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre.

“To work with Canadian players, to make sure they develop and further their careers, just to have an opportunity to make an impact with these athletes after they’ve graduated from university and are trying to extend their careers, that’s the biggest thing to me — the Canadian content, working with them day in and day out to help these guys to further their careers,” Guarasci said.

“This makes a lot of sense. It puts the puzzle together for me and I want to be a part of it.”

Gordon McIntyre | January 30, 2019 | Vancouver Sun