The Fraser Valley Bandits have won the first overall pick in the first-ever Canadian Elite Basketball League entry draft.
The draft will take place March 16 and will be streamed live on CEBL.tv
The Bandits will be followed in the draft order by the Edmonton Stingers, Guelph Nighthawks, Saskatchewan Rattlers, Hamilton Honey Badgers and Niagara River Lions.
The draft will run over 14 rounds with the following format.
Rounds one to four are the Canadian regional rounds, where the six teams load up on ‘homegrown’ players.
According to cebl.ca, ‘the three eastern clubs must select players based in Ontario and east, while the three western clubs must select players from Manitoba to the west.’
Rounds five through 11 will be for selecting any player from anywhere in the world.
Rounds 12 and 13 will be for selecting players who are currently playing at the U-Sports level.
“This is a special moment in the development of Canadian basketball and an amazing opportunity to shine an important light on how strong our pool of domestic talent truly is,” said Bandits head coach and general manager Peter Guarasci. “I look forward to selecting an exciting crop of players that will reflect the basketball talent base that has been developing in British Columbia and Canada at large with regards to the national and U SPORTS levels.”
The Abbotsford-based Bandits begin play in May.
The regular season schedule runs through mid-August, followed by some kind of playoff to determine the inaugural CEBL champ.
Get more info online at cebl.ca
