Vancouver Bandits Announce 2024 Training Camp Roster

LANGLEY, B.C., May 14, 2024 – The Vancouver Bandits announced Tuesday its training camp roster for its sixth season of professional basketball, which tips off on Thursday, May 23 when the the club welcomes the Montréal Alliance to Langley Events Centre (LEC) for its highly anticipated home opener.

Single game tickets for the home opener are on sale now at this link.

Vancouver’s 2024 Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) training camp roster features 15 athletes; including 12 Canadians, 7 British Columbians, three Americans and five U SPORTS development athletes.

Media availability to attend Bandits training camp has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 14 at 11:30 a.m. at LEC. Journalists interested in attending are kindly asked to RSVP to Andrew Savory (asavory@thebandits.ca) to request credentials. Accreditation is required.

The upcoming summer campaign will be head coach and general manager Kyle Julius’ fifth season with the club. Julius coached the Bandits to a CEBL championship finals berth in 2020 and the franchise has qualified for the CEBL postseason in each of the past four consecutive years.

“This group is special. We have a new core and we are headed in a new direction. We are all really excited about the roster this summer. We have a tremendous opportunity to work with homegrown players and help them develop while also growing the game locally,” said Bandits head coach and general manager Kyle Julius.

“We have some high-level talent with very high-level experience. We want to make our amazing fanbase proud and we can't wait to come together and compete for a championship.”

Returning members from 2023’s Bandits roster are Kur Jongkuch, Diego Maffia, Duane Notice and Nick Ward. Rounding out the returning cast is James Karnik, who missed the entire 2023 CEBL season due to injury. Together, the five players bring a mix of energy, shooting and size to the Bandits’ new roster.

Nick Ward, a 6-foot-9 forward from Gahanna, Ohio, averaged a team-high 18.5 points and 7.9 rebounds (second on the team) through 19 regular season games with the Bandits last summer. Among CEBL leaders, Ward’s field goal percentage and offensive rebounding prowess ranked him first and fourth among the league’s top players, respectively.

Jongkuch made his pro debut with the Bandits last summer after wrapping up his NCAA Division I career at Temple University. He appeared in nine regular season CEBL games and recorded season-highs in minutes played (18), points (nine), rebounds (six) and blocks (two) against Montréal on July 16, 2023. 

Joining Jongkuch in the frontcourt is Karnik, who shone in his lone 2022 season with the Bandits. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 15.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in 10 regular season contests. 2022 marked the debut of Karnik’s professional career. He followed up his promising summer with the Bandits by later suiting up as a member of Czechia’s national team in its pursuit of qualifying for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Bolstering the backcourt are Notice and Maffia, who emerged as key guards in the team’s rotation last summer. Notice averaged 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 25 minutes per game while nailing 40.6 per cent of his three-point attempts to lead all Vancouver players in accuracy from long-range and to also rank among the top 10 marksmen in the entire CEBL last summer. Notice scored three target score game winners in just his first season with the club, which ties him for fourth all-time among Bandits players.

2024 will be Maffia’s second year with the Bandits. He was announced as a standard player but signed a ‘U SPORTS development athlete’ contract to allow him to retain his eligibility for a potential final season at the University of Victoria. His 2023-24 U SPORTS season saw the talented guard and Oak Bay Secondary alumnus be named the most valuable player in all of U SPORTS men’s basketball. 

Added firepower at the guard position are American guards and newcomers Zach Copeland and Tazé Moore as well as Canadians Koby McEwen and Glen Yang, who join the Bandits after previously playing for Brampton and Winnipeg, respectively. 

McEwen brings a championship pedigree to Vancouver after winning a CEBL championship with Brampton in 2022 (then known as the Hamilton Honey Badgers) – a season that also saw him named CEBL Sixth Man of the Year for his efforts. McEwen currently stands as Brampton’s all-time franchise leader in minutes played (1123) and assists (155).

Also swapping CEBL jerseys to join Vancouver is Yang, who was born and raised in Burnaby, B.C., but moved to Hong Kong at a young age before eventually spending his teenage years as a Calgary resident. The versatile 6-foot-4 guard started all 20 regular season games for the Winnipeg Sea Bears in 2023 and scored in double figures five times throughout his first CEBL stint; including a season-high 15 points versus Calgary on July 16 and Vancouver on July 23.

Copeland is a prolific shooter who is enjoying his most decorated professional season to date as a member of Bamberg Baskets. In 34 games played in Germany’s renowned Basketball Bundesliga, Copeland averaged 17.7 points and 4.2 assists per game on 37.8 per cent shooting from three-point range.

Moore appeared in four games for the Portland Trail Blazers this past year, scoring an NBA career-high 12 points, eight rebounds (four offensive) and four assists in 30 minutes of action on April 14 against the Sacramento Kings.

In addition to being called up to the NBA, Moore played 22 games for Portland’s G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix, where he averaged 15.6 points, 7.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game on 49.8 per cent shooting from field goal range.

A late arrival for Vancouver’s 2024 season is Josip Vrankic, who is currently playing for Gipuzkoa in the LEB Oro where he is averaging 8.6 points per game in 33 contests. The LEB Oro is the second highest division of professional basketball in Spain, which as a nation boasts the second best national team FIBA ranking in the world behind the United States. Vrankic will report to Vancouver upon the conclusion of his current season.

A recognizable name also attending Bandits training camp is Vancouver’s own, Drew Urquhart, who at 6-foot-8 brings an ability to stretch the floor with his long-range shooting. Urquhart attended St. George’s School in Vancouver before finishing high school in Washington and later playing at the University of Vermont between 2014-18. He appeared in one game with the Bandits in 2019 when he scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting in nearly 20 minutes of action at the club’s inaugural home opener on May 9.

Three CEBL Draft selections will also be at training camp; including Adam Olsen (first round, fourth overall), Jerric Palma (second round, 17th overall) and Connor Platz (third round, 24th overall). Each of the BC-natives were selected by Vancouver in April at the annual draft. Olsen starred at Elgin Park Secondary before taking his talents to the University of British Columbia where he just wrapped up a solid freshman season that saw him average 8.5 points per game in 2023-24.

Palma is also a St. George’s alumnus and has made a name for himself as a deadeye shooter at Western University. Through 77 games (55 starts) with the Mustangs, Palma is averaging 24.2 minutes, 13 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game on 41.2 per cent shooting.

Bringing additional size to Vancouver’s training camp roster is Platz, who at 6-foot-11 has emerged as one of Canada West and U SPORTS’ best shot blockers over the course of his three years at Trinity Western University. Platz nearly averaged a double-double in 2023-24, posting imposing averages of 34.4 minutes, 12.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 2.9 assists per game.

The 15th and final member of the Bandits’ camp roster is Sam Maillet, who hails from Monton, N.B. and has been a key cog at Dalhousie University during his four years with the Tigers from 2019-2024. Dalhousie has advanced to three U SPORTS Final 8 tournaments during Maillet’s tenure; including a second place finish in 2020. Maillet’s points, minutes, rebounds and assists totals have increased in each year that he has played at Dalhousie. His steady progression was rewarded in 2022 when he was named the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference’s defensive player of the year. In his most recent 2023-24 season, Maillet averaged 8.7 points, 6.6 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 30.4 minutes per game.

Vancouver will play a total of 10 regular season home games in 2024 between Thursday, May 23 and Thursday, July 18. The Bandits wrap up regular season action on the road against Montréal on Sunday, July 28 at 1 p.m. PT. 

All CEBL regular season games including playoffs will be live-streamed on TSN+, as well as the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on CEBL Mobile, the official app of the CEBL (available on Android and iOS devices).

Individuals interested in ticket flexibility or purchasing a bundle of tickets are invited to consider a flex pack or season tickets. More information can be found at thebandits.ca/tickets or by speaking with a  Bandits representative by calling (604) 455-8881 or emailing 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.