Vancouver Bandits Announce 2023 Training Camp Roster for 5th CEBL Season

LANGLEY, B.C., May 14, 2023 – The Vancouver Bandits announced Sunday its 2023 training camp roster ahead of the club’s upcoming Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season at Langley Events Centre (LEC). 

Vancouver’s roster features a total of 14 athletes; including six Canadian veterans, four Americans, one non-American overseas import and three U SPORTS development athletes.

Media availability to attend Bandits training camp has been scheduled for Friday, May 19 at 10:30 a.m. at LEC. Journalists interested in attending are kindly asked to RSVP to Andrew Savory (asavory@thebandits.ca) to request credentials. Accreditation will be required.

The group will be led by head coach and general manager Kyle Julius, who is returning to the CEBL sidelines for the first time since he led BC’s professional basketball team to the brink of championship glory in 2020 when the Bandits fell to the Edmonton Stingers in the Summer Series finals.

“We are all really excited about this year's training camp roster. The goal is to build a team the province of British Columbia can be proud of. We are committed to competitive greatness, toughness and playing together,” Julius said.

A trio of sharpshooters are returning to LEC this summer; including Alex Campbell, Malcolm Duvivier and Shane Gibson. Together, the three guards nailed a combined 130 three-pointers last season on 316 attempts. The combined 41.1 per cent clip from long-range fueled the Bandits’ attack from distance. Both Duvivier and Gibson finished in the top five in league-leading three-point percentage. 2023 will be Campbell and Duvivier’s third and fourth season with the Bandits, respectively. Gibson will arrive late to training camp due to current obligations with his overseas club, TED Ankara in Turkey.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili, DJ Steward, Nick Ward each bring NBA G League and Summer League experience. A native of Rustavi, Georgia, Bezhanishvili is a mobile power forward that played for the College Park Skyhawks this past CEBL offseason and suited up for the Guelph Nighthawks in 2022. He averaged 15 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game on 53.2 per cent shooting from the field over seven CEBL regular season games last summer.

This upcoming season will be Ward’s second CEBL campaign after earning an all-star nod in 2021 with the Ottawa BlackJacks. Ward was named a member of the All-CEBL First Team after leading the BlackJacks in both points (17.3) and rebounds (9.1) per game.

Steward brings flash and scoring to the Bandits. Formerly a Duke Blue Devil, Steward played 28 games during the 2022-23 season for the Sacramento Kings’ G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, averaging 12 points, 4.1 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game on 45.8 and 40.9 per cent shooting from field goal and three-point range, respectively. 

Two decorated Canadian NCAA Division I exports in Stefan Jankovic and Duane Notice bring poise and talent to the Bandits. Notice’s career has seen him earn Southeastern Conference sixth man of the year honours and has taken the 6-foot-2 guard to the NCAA Tournament Final Four, the Raptors 905 and the international stage with Canada’s senior men’s national team. Notice previously played two seasons with the Brampton Honey Badgers (then known as Hamilton) in 2019 and 2020. 

The CEBL’s fifth season marks Jankovic’s debut in the league. An elite 6-foot-11 sharpshooter, Jankovic left the University of Hawaii as the reigning Big West Conference player of the year and has since built an esteemed career that has seen him play at the highest levels of pro basketball; including the EuroLeague and EuroCup. His most recent stop was alongside Julius as former members of the Formosa Dreamers during the 2021-22 P.League+ season. In 12 games played with the Dreamers, Jankovic averaged 25.9 minutes, 18.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. 

Added size in the frontcourt arrives in the form of Kelowna’s own, Grant Shephard, and 6-foot-9 forward Kur Jongkuch. Shephard makes his first return to the Bandits since debuting as a U SPORTS development athlete in 2019 and now brings a hard-earned championship pedigree thanks to back-to-back U SPORTS national championships (2022, 2023) won at Carleton University. Jongkuch recently completed a five-year NCAA Division I career that saw him start 126 out of 151 games split between the University of Northern Colorado and Temple University.

Alongside Shephard, this year’s construction of the Bandits roster features three other local hoopers in 2023 CEBL U SPORTS Draft selections Diego Mafia from the University of Victoria and Brian Wallack from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Rounding out the local contingent is Gus Goerzen from UBC Okanagan, who signs as a U SPORTS Development Athlete.

Julius’ rosters have a reputation for their versatility and 2023’s training camp corps is no different. Champaign, Ill., bred Jaycee Hillsman brings his 6-foot-7 frame to the wing for the Bandits. Hillsman played three years at San José State before transferring to Illinois State for his final season of NCAA Division I basketball in 2019-20. Since turning pro, Hillsman is averaging 17.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game on 40.1 per cent shooting from three-point range over the course of 66 career games played in Finland, Hungary and the United Kingdom.

“We have established a culture of toughness and we have worked hard to bring in a gritty group of like-minded guys. We know we have a rocky mountain to climb and we can't wait to start,” Julius said.

The Bandits tip-off the 2023 CEBL campaign on Saturday, May 27 when the club takes on the Winnipeg Sea Bears at Canada Life Centre. Fans will have their first chance to watch the Bandits on home soil at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday, June 3 when Vancouver welcomes the Calgary Surge for its first-ever visit to LEC.

Single game tickets for the highly anticipated fifth season of Bandits Basketball are available for purchase at this link. Season tickets are available for purchase and can be accessed by clicking here.

A key highlight of Vancouver’s fifth CEBL campaign will be its hosting of Championship Weekend, which takes place between Friday, August 11 and Sunday, August 13. An annual celebration of the highest level of Canadian professional basketball, Championship Weekend features a postseason format that combines three games of playoff basketball as part of a multi-day festival experience designed to celebrate the intersection of arts, culture and sport. As hosts of Championship Weekend, the Bandits receive an automatic semifinal berth.

Individuals interested in learning more about tickets for the Vancouver Bandits’ 2023 season are kindly asked to call (604) 455-8881 or email tickets@thebandits.ca. A complete regular season schedule can be found by clicking here.

More information is available at thebandits.ca and @vancouverbandits on Instagram and TikTok, as well as @vancitybandits on Facebook and Twitter.