The pro-league Vancouver Bandits are about to start another basketball season with a pair of six-foot-nine forwards who have Surrey roots.
The latest signee is Majok Gum, added to the training camp roster after a five-year university career with Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo, Ont., and a single season with Basket Schwelm of Germany’s Bundesliga ProB.
In high school Gum played for Byrne Creek Secondary in Burnaby where he helped the Bulldogs to a second-place finish at the 2018 BC 3A Boys Basketball Provincial Championship, earning Best Defensive Player honours at the tournament.
In March the Bandits announced the signing of Surrey-raised James Karnik, who has become one of the Canadian Elite Basketball League's premier power forwards "thanks in part for his thunderous dunks and tenacious defensive presence," a Bandits news release raved.
The CEBL team plays home games at Langley Events Centre, where the Bandits opened training camp Tuesday (May 6), followed by pre-season games Thursday (May 8) and Saturday (May 10). The latter game is against Sikh Warriors, competitors at the 2025 edition of ESPN’s The Basketball Tournament, starting at 5 p.m. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Bandits Community Foundation.
Their season gets going for real on Thursday, May 15, when the team hits the road to battle Saskatchewan Rattlers in Saskatoon.
The Bandits' first home game is Thursday, May 22 against Niagara River Lions, in a rematch of the 2024 CEBL Final.
Posted on thebandits.ca, the team's training camp roster features 15 athletes including 11 Canadians, six British Columbians, four Americans and two CEBL Development Athletes.
The coming season will be the sixth summer with the Bandits for head coach and GM Kyle Julius, who coached the team to a CEBL championship finals berths in 2020 and 2024. The franchise has qualified for the CEBL postseason in each of the past five consecutive years.
The CEBL season runs from May to August with games broadcast live on CEBL+, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+ and Next Level Sports & Entertainment.
