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Totems’ Mihaila signs with UFV Cascades

Semiahmoo’s all-time leading scorer set to join Abbotsford-based basketball program

Semiahmoo basketball’s all-time leading scorer is heading a few miles east to continue his hoops career.

Last week, Vlad Mihaila – a key member of the Totems’ senior boys team – signed on to play next season with the University of Fraser Valley Cascades. The six-foot-four guard signed on the dotted line the same time as Dhivaan Bhogal, a six-foot-eight forward from W.J. Mouat Secondary.

“They’re both excellent players who we think will have very good careers,” Cascades head coach Adam Friesen said in a news release.

“The fact that they are local is big, too. That’s a goal of our program – to keep the best players in the Fraser Valley.”

This past season, Mihaila helped lead the Totems to a second-place finish at BC High School 4A Boys Basketball Championships. He averaged 26.5 points-per-game, 8.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists, and along the way become the program’s top all-time scorer, the release notes.

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“The passion and determination he plays with jump out first,” Friesen.

“He’s a competitor who really loves the sport, and he has a desire to see how good he can become. He can handle the basketball, shoot the basketball, and make good decisions.”

During the 2017/18 season, Mihaila was named an all-star at the Surrey RCMP Classic, the Legal Beagle, the Western Canada tournament, Vancouver College’s Emerald Tournament and the Kodiak Classic. He was also earned all-star nods at Fraser Valleys and provincials.

Mihaila, who was born in Romania and came to Surrey with his family at the age of two, said he was happy to his post-secondary future figured out.

“It was a tough choice for me, looking at all the schools and considering it,” he said.

“But I put a list together of what I value, and at the top of that list was my development and becoming the best player I can be. Adam and Trevor (Pridie, Cascades assistant coach) are going to be in the gym with me a lot… I know they’re good people, and I trust in their ability to develop me. And I know they trust in me as a player as well.”

Mihaila is the second member of the Totems to agree to a basketball scholarship since the season ended earlier this spring. In early April, Adam Paige – a six-foot-seven forward – signed with the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

Ed Lefurgy, Semiahmoo senior boy’s basketball coach, called the two signings “very exciting” and heaped praise upon both seniors for what they’ve done to boost the school’s hoops program in recent years.

“They brought our program to new heights in their careers,” Lefurgy said.

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Semiahmoo’s Vlad Mihaila drives past Rutland’s Brandon Porter during a first-round game at BC High School 4A Senior Boys Basketball Championships. (Nick Greenizan photo)
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Left to right: Semiahmoo Totems head coach Ed Lefurgy, Adam Paige, Vlad Mihaila and assistant coach Les Brown. (Contributed photo)