How the Bandits season-opening win is a stepping stone toward exorcising last season's demons
By Contributing Bandits Writer: Grant Vassos • July 28, 2020
In the final moments of a season opener that appeared all but wrapped up for the Fraser Valley Bandits, it all came down to one last point. What was once a 22-point lead at the start of the Elam Ending quickly evaporated to just a 10 point lead within minutes. On the sidelines, head coach Kyle Julius continued to preach calmness to his players.
“Execute, execute,” he said during a stoppage of play in the game’s closing moments.
A slight misjudgment during the dying minutes of the fourth quarter gave the Edmonton Stingers an opening to come back after Julius opted to take a whistle by fouling. With the time remaining, a pause would force the game into the Elam Ending and give the Bandits a chance to close out the win. Upon reflection, however, the strategy was a mistake.
“When you have such a big lead, there’s no point in letting them score on another possession. So, we tried to foul, and then I didn’t know the next foul was a bonus situation (for the Stingers),” Julius said.
“And then our guys relaxed in Elam, they totally let up. It was good, it was good teaching. It’s nice when you can go through a teaching moment and win at the same time because most of the teaching occurs when you lose.”
The call was out-of-bounds against the Stingers and Bandits guard Marek Klassen was responsible for inbounding the ball to set up a potential game-winner. The pass was inbounded right to a wide-open Jahenns Manigat outside the arc. Standing in front of an onlooking Bandits bench, Manigat quickly glanced down at the floor, composing himself, before sinking a dagger three-point shot to seal the 113-100 victory.
“He didn’t play in the fourth quarter because that group was playing quite well, so I was saving him for the Elam,” Julius said on Manigat’s 16-point performance. “And then he comes in the Elam and then coincidentally he makes the last shot. I can’t say enough about Jahenns, to be honest.”
The celebration remained brief – a few fist pumps from Manigat and an emphatic yell from Cameron Forte after everyone had cleared the court. More importantly, the win marked the official transition into a new era of Bandits basketball, one which is fueled by defence, shooting, and an unrelenting motor to compete.
“My dad kind of raised me on the game that way. I coached that way. All of our teams, we try and find that switch, that toughness switch,” Julius said. “I want to be able to rely on that, not shooting and other things.”
As if coming into a new season with a completely restructured roster and coaching staff after finishing the previous season with a 4-16 record wasn’t enough motivation for the Bandits, it was the noise from people outside the locker room, which caught Julius’ attention.
The team he handpicked was too small, prone to mismatches, and was pegged by everyone to finish last or second-last coming into the CEBL Summer Series. All of it served as motivation.
“I always took offense to that because I watched the CEBL last year. I didn’t see any really big teams or anything like that, so I was confused, and then I started to take it personally, and it became a chip on our shoulder,” Julius said.
Julius expected nothing less but maximum effort from his players against the Stingers and execute they did. Forte led the team with a game-high 28 points, using his assertive 6-foot-7 frame to grab offensive rebounds and work against defenders in the paint. Kyle Johnson, who put up 19 points, set the pace from the start after sprinting for a loose ball on the opening tip-off and laying up a smooth finger roll to take the lead, one the Bandits never looked back on.
“We’ve got a bunch of hungry dogs on our team that are going to compete. We’re never going to give up,” Johnson said. “And even though camp has been short, we’ve been getting after it, man. We’re really ready for this and hungry for this.”
Marek Klassen remains the only player on the current roster from that 2019 Fraser Valley team, which finished its inaugural season on a six-game losing streak and posted the worst record in the league.
For every team that year – nonetheless, an entire league – it was a feeling-out process of figuring out how the season would play out. Klassen never felt stressed about the lack of results on the court. In their final appearance of the season, they lost 95-85 to the eventual second-place Stingers. They were a team that couldn’t seem to close-out games when they mattered, many of them going into overtime.
“As a professional, you gotta take it one day at a time. I wasn’t there for the full season, neither were the rest of our guys,” Klassen said.
“So coming back here, it’s a lot of pride playing for my home city, and I think that we’ve instilled that same thing within this group. And the unfinished business sort of thing is here, so every team is circled on our schedule. We’re ready.”
With their previous loss against the Stingers avenged, the Bandits now set their sights on July 28 against the defending champion Saskatchewan Rattlers, who also won their season-opener against the Niagara River Lions in impressive fashion. Julius tempered expectations by saying how he believes no team will go undefeated this summer. Unbeaten or not, one thing has been made clear: these are not the same Bandits from before.
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The Vancouver Bandits announced Monday that the club has re-signed American guard Zach Copeland for his third consecutive Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season. A 6-foot-4 guard from Oakland, Calif., Copeland has logged 37 games for the club averaging 16.8 points, 3.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game across the past two seasons. Having built a reputation as an elite sharpshooter and clutch scorer, Copeland led the CEBL in total three-pointers made during the 2024 season with 67 and ranked second overall in 2025 with an average of 3.5 three-pointers per game. Most recently, Copeland played professionally in Italy during the 2025-26 season splitting time between New Basket Brindisi and Tramec Cento where he averaged 15.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 39 games played. His overseas career also includes stops in Germany, Finland, Ukraine and England. Copeland began his post-secondary career at City College of San Francisco, where his performance in the 2016-17 season earned him both the Coast-North Conference Player of the Year and the California Community Colleges Men's Basketball Coaches Association Co-Player of the Year awards. His impressive play at the junior college level led him to transfer to Illinois State University, where he played two seasons of NCAA Division I basketball from 2018-20. In his final year at Illinois State, Copeland became the Redbirds’ leading scorer with 14.5 points per game, also ranking 7th among Missouri Valley Conference leaders and establishing himself as one of the conference's top players.
The Vancouver Bandits have announced that forward Miller Kopp has signed an NBA Summer League contract with the Houston Rockets. The news was announced by the Rockets on the club’s website in a release .  Appearing in 14 games (13 starts), Kopp quickly established himself as a key Import player for the Bandits during the first half of the 2026 CEBL season, tallying 13.9 points The Rockets' roster will be headlined by 2026 NBA Draft selection Bruce Thornton (31st overall), who will begin NBA Summer League play on July 10 with scheduled games running through July 16. The Bandits have placed Kopp on its Reserve Roster in order for him to participate in NBA Summer League play while also retaining his CEBL rights, with the option to return to the club at the conclusion of his commitments.
The Vancouver Bandits failed to hold a fourth-quarter lead as they lost to the struggling Calgary Surge. Hosting the Surge on Envision Financial Court at Langley Events Centre on Sunday afternoon as part of their Indigenous Heritage Game, the Bandits failed to make a single field goal in Target Score Time – settling for just three free throws – as they fell 92-84 to the Surge. Calgary led 83-81 heading into Target Score Time. It was the second consecutive loss for Vancouver and a fourth defeat in six games as they fell to 9-6 and second place in the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Western Conference. Calgary picked up just their second win of the season at 2-14. Vancouver had a great opening 10 minutes as they put up 33 points in the first quarter. But from there, the offence slogged, scoring just 51 points the rest of the way. “We’re working on that. I think getting all the guys to understand the play package, understand that, you know, we're going to be playing with different lineups. And when we do, what are the best plays to run with those lineups,” said Bandits interim head coach Rans Brempong. “We're still working to get comfortable. I think that's a big thing that we just need to clean up and we just got to continue to understand and work on our pace.” For Calgary, the victory was a nice reward for a team which has been close in its last few games. “When they went on their runs, we had to just maintain our composure, not getting too up or getting too down, just staying solid,” said Surge coach Dave Deaveiro. “I thought we fought through that, and every time we needed to get a bucket, we got a bucket. Every time we needed to get a stop, we got to stop it. We just stayed solid throughout.” And that was clear down the stretch when Calgary held Vancouver without a field goal on five consecutive possessions. “Tremendous effort. That was about willpower. We talk about imposing our will on the other team, especially in target time, where it has been other teams have been imposing their will on us. Today, I thought we did a little bit of that ourselves,” Deaveiro said. Another key was sharing the ball as the Surge finished with 27 assists on their 35 field goals. “We started swinging the ball twice, attacking from the corners, and that opened up a lot of options for our offense. So I just think when the ball started moving, we really took off,” Deaveiro said. Jarkel Joiner and Lloyd Pandi led the Banders with 16 points apiece with Tyrell Samuel and Tevin Brown adding 15 and 14 points, respectively. Calgary’s Adderson Pattison led all scorers with 19 followed by Mathieu Kamba’s 17. The Bandits now embark on a three-game, five-day road trip with stops in Saskatoon (July 7), Calgary (July 9) and Edmonton (July 11). The team’s next home game is July 17 against the Montreal Alliance as they celebrate Country Night. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm.
The Vancouver Bandits have announced that Kyle Julius has stepped down as head coach to accept a head coaching position in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Julius, who has been an integral part of the organization's success since 2020, will remain with the club as general manager for the remainder of the 2026 season. The Bandits organization fully supports Julius in this next chapter of his career, with the opportunity to lead at the CBA level exemplifying the Bandits as the top development organization in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) for both players and coaches. A two-time CEBL Coach of the Year (2024, 2025), Julius guided the Bandits to two CEBL Finals appearances in 2020 and 2024 while leading the team to the postseason in each of his five seasons at the helm. In 2025, he propelled the Bandits to a .792 winning percentage (19-5), the highest by any CEBL club across a full season. "I want to thank our tremendous coaches, president Dylan Kular, our ownership group Kevin Dhaliwal, Bryan Slusarchuk, and Milan Mann, the entire Bandits organization, our players, and the incredible fans for everything we have built together over the past seven seasons. Coaching the Vancouver Bandits has been one of the greatest experiences of my career. Together, we established a culture built on energy, effort, accountability, and player development. I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished on and off the court, but even more proud of the relationships that were built along the way. This opportunity to become a head coach in the CBA is one that is very important for my family and my career and, while it is difficult to leave a place that has meant so much to us, I believe it is the right next step. I will always be grateful to everyone who believed in me and supported our journey. I will be cheering for the Bandits from afar and wish the organization nothing but continued success. Vancouver will always hold a special place in my heart,” said Julius. Julius’ relentless commitment to building a championship culture transformed the Bandits into the CEBL's premier organization, earning its status as a true destination for world-class talent and top basketball development. The Bandits have advanced players to NBA two-way contracts directly following their time with the club in each of the past three seasons, more than any other CEBL organization. "Kyle has become family. He believed in this organization and poured his heart into building something special here. His vision, passion, and commitment to developing players and people have set a standard that will define the Bandits for years to come. Beyond wins, he gave us a foundation built on passion, accountability, and genuine care for every person in our organization. I am grateful for every early morning meeting, every late-night phone call, and every moment we shared chasing this dream together. This isn't goodbye; we will be cheering louder than anyone when he succeeds in China and beyond in the next chapters of his career,” said team president Dylan Kular. Off the court, Julius participated in the Bandits' youth sports development efforts primarily through the Bandits Community Foundation School Tour. Since 2023, the free-of-charge initiative saw Julius support training and skill development directly with nearly 200 school teams across British Columbia. In addition, through the Bandits Community Foundation, Julius has hosted countless youth skill clinics and coaching seminars with athletes and volunteer coaches across the province. In a corresponding move, the Bandits have appointed Lead Assistant Coach Ransford Brempong as Head Coach for the remainder of the 2026 CEBL season. A former Canadian Senior Men's National Team member, Brempong has represented Canada at the highest level for eight years. He also played professionally for six years in Europe and was a standout NCAA DI player at Western Carolina University, where he graduated as both the program’s and conference's all-time leader in blocked shots, a record that still stands today. "The Vancouver Bandits have high expectations for our roster, and I am excited to lend my decades of experience and skills developed at the collegiate, international, and national team levels to help our players get better and to achieve success this summer,” said Brempong. Fans will have an opportunity to connect with Julius in August after he returns from training camp in China, with details to be announced in the coming weeks.
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Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Mamba on May 14, 2026.
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Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Calgary Surge on August 16th, 2025.
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Winnipeg Sea Bears on August 3rd, 2025.