Huskies basketball star Suraj Gahir is coming home after signing on to play for the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades this fall.

The 6′ 5″ guard is returning to B.C. after spending last season redshirting with California Baptist University’s NCAA Division I program.

In his senior year, Gahir led North Delta Secondary to a B.C. High School Boys 3A Basketball Championship title in 2019, breaking a 29-year dry spell for the Huskies.

Along the way, Gahir dropped a buzzer-beater three-pointer to lift NDSS past the Duchess Park Condors 62-61 in the semis, before putting up a game-leading 18 points as the Huskies’ defeated the Vernon Panthers 46-44 in the championship game.

READ MORE: North Delta Huskies battled the odds to win B.C. basketball title (March 25, 2019)

A four-time B.C. high school all-star, Gahir added a Fraser Valley tournament MVP honour to his resumé in 2018. He spent the 2019-20 season at Edge School, a prep school for athletes based in Calgary, before heading stateside to redshirt at Cal Baptist in 2020-21.

For the upcoming 2021-22 season, Gahir decided to transfer back to Canada in search of greater opportunity to make an on-court impact.

“As I started looking at Canadian schools and coming back home, I was in touch with Coach Joe [Enevoldson] and Coach [Jason] Price and I just liked what they were about,” Gahir said. “It was a good fit for me and my style of play, and if I was going to come back to Canada, it was going to be somewhere close to home so my family could watch me play. The staff and teammates are one family, which is ideal in a team sport, to have that chemistry.”

Cascades head coach Joe Enevoldson described Gahir as a versatile “Swiss Army knife” who can play the point or the wing with equal efficiency due to his size and athleticism.

“For the direction of our program, in terms of talent level and winning the local area (in recruiting), Suraj is a huge signing for us,” Enevoldson said, noting assistant coach Jason Price was instrumental in recruiting Gahir.

“Suraj won a title at North Delta, he hit a game-winning shot along the way, and as far as long-term projection goes, this is a player who could be a future Canada West all-star. He was at a very high level at Cal Baptist, and for us to be the program he ended up at when coming home is huge.”

Gahir will have all five years of eligibility at his disposal when he makes his Cascades debut this fall, where he’ll join other 2021 recruits including Spanish forward Dario Lopez (Movistar Estudiantes U18, Madrid, Spain), Chilliwack point guard Clay Kurtz (G.W. Graham Secondary), Surrey-raised combo guard Dylan Kinley (a transfer from the Douglas College Royals), Mississauga, Ont. guard Jomel Puno (John Polanyi Collegiate/Toronto Basketball Academy) and Saskatoon, Sask. guard Daniel McCulloug (St. Joseph High School/CTA West).

The UFV Cascades are set to open their 2021-22 Canada West season on Oct. 29 with a home game versus the UBC Okanagan Heat.

SEE ALSO: North Delta Huskies honour former captain as provincial banner unveiled (June 19, 2019)

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