Three members of the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s basketball team have been chosen by the Fraser Valley Bandits in the 2020 Canadian Elite Basketball League U Sports draft.
The Bandits selected guards Parm Bains, Daniel Adediran and Kenan Hadzovic in the second annual draft.
Fresh off the best season of his university career, the Bandits selected Bains in the first round. Bains converted on 36.9 per cent of his attempts from three-point range this season, which helped the sharpshooter solidify his place as the career recordholder for Canada West three-pointers per game at 3.24. He also finished fourth in points per game in Canada West with 19.4, while also dishing out 4.5 assists.
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Bains’ 79 three-pointers this past season ranked him first in all of U Sports, first in Cascades history, and third-most in Canada West history. For his efforts, Bains was named a Canada West first team all-star.
Both Bains and Adediran are natives of Surrey. Bains starred at Tamanawis Secondary while Adediran attended Pacific Academy where he became one of the Fraser Valley’s top recruits of the 2016 high school class
Adediran started 17 of the 18 games he played for the Cascades this past season. He averaged 7.3 points and six rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game. Adediran’s best game of the season was on Jan. 4 when he scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, while also grabbing five offensive rebounds (13 total) and recording two blocks against the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds.
The Bandits selected Abbotsford’s Kenan Hadzovic with their final pick in the draft. The W.J. Mouat grad averaged career highs in minutes (21.1), points (6.1) and rebounds (2.5) per game this season with the Cascades.
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Hadzovic was a star at Mouat, and averaged 21 points per game and won three tournament MVP awards on his way to solidifying Fraser Valley first-team and B.C. 4A second team all-star honours in his grad year.
“It is important that we are committed to drafting and developing local talent,” stated Bandits head coach and general manager Kyle Julius in a press release. “We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with U Sports and UFV toward building a lineage for post-secondary and professional players. Surrey and Abbotsford are well-known hotbeds for skilled and gritty players as Parm, Daniel and Kenan each bring a toughness of character that fits the mold that we are building with the Bandits.
All three players possess qualities we value. All of our players from our imports to our Canadians to our U Sports athletes must come to work every day and earn their opportunities. I’m looking forward to working with the U Sports players and helping them become better players and laying the foundation for becoming a pro.”
The Bandits are scheduled to open the CEBL season at the Abbotsford Centre on May 8.