Abbotsford’s Marek Klassen is back in orange with the Fraser Valley Bandits.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League team, who now play out of the Langley Events Centre, made his 2022 debut on Sunday (July 3) at the LEC in the Bandits 102-99 loss to the Niagara River Lions.
Klassen returns to the CEBL for his fourth season and recently finished up a strong season playing for Czarni Slupsk in the Polish Basketball League.
BREAKING: The Bandits have re-signed @marekklassen💥
— Fraser Valley Bandits (@FVBandits) July 3, 2022
The former @YaleLions & @plnusealions is the Bandits' all-time assists leader and is second in games played and 3-pointers.
The Abbotsford product will make his 2022 @cebleague debut this afternoon.
🗞️https://t.co/xs3hYLSqQ6 pic.twitter.com/FxfU8yMxQE
Over 41 games played, Klassen averaged 13.7 points, 6.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 31.4 minutes per game for Czarni, who finished atop the league with a regular season record of 23-7. Klassen led Czarni in three-pointers made and attempted, nailing 116-of-303 attempts (38.3 per cent).
Klassen, who was the club’s captain, finished first in the league in assists, second in three-pointers made, fifth in points and 12th in steals.
RELATED: Abbotsford’s Marek Klassen re-signs with Fraser Valley Bandits
Klassen most recently represented the Bandits in 2021 when he suited up for six games for the club and averaged 11.8 points, 4.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds on 44.7 per cent shooting from three-point range in six games played.
The 30-year-old has also played professionally in Sweden, Ukraine, Turkey, Great Britain and Romania.
He is a former B.C. provincial player of the year and was named the B.C. AAA high school tournament’s most valuable player when he helped lead the Yale Lions to a provincial title in 2010.
Following high school he played for the San Diego-based Point Loma Sea Lions where he was one of the top point guards and three-point shooters in the NAIA. He graduated from that school with an MBA.
The Bandits are currently tied for second place in the 10-team CEBL with a record of 8-4. The team embarks on a road trip three-game road trip starting on Tuesday (July 5) before returning home to host the Guelph Nighthawks on July 15.
For more on the team, visit thebandits.ca.