As a fifth-year point guard with the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, Parm Bains has been lights-out from beyond the three-point arc.
In just eight games with the Abbotsford-based team this season, the five-foot-10 Surrey resident has hit 37 three-pointers, putting him on pace to break a league record.
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel like I’m hitting that many (three-point shots), it just feels normal,” said the humble Bains, a Tamanawis Secondary product.
“But I’ve been putting in a lot of work,” he added. “With game shots, I’ve been working on that a lot with one of our assistant coaches, Harp (Grewal). We’ve done a lot of work together.”
🀠MBB | @ParmBains_ with the second of back-to-back triples to give the Cascades an early lead! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZcpynfBTMx
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) December 1, 2019
Heading into the league’s holiday break, Bains was fourth in Canada West scoring, averaging 20.4 points per game. He shoots 45.7 per cent from beyond the arc while leading the conference in makes (4.6) and takes (10.1) per game, according to Dan Kinvig, communications co-ordinator for the Cascades.
“He is the closest thing in Canada West men’s basketball to Steph Curry,” Kinvig said, “with the way he can shoot from well beyond the arc, and get his shot off (despite his diminutive size) almost at will.”
Through 40 per cent of the team’s 20-game Canada West regular season, Bains’ 37 three-pointers puts him on pace for 92 this season, which would smash the current Canada West single-season record of 82.
The current record is co-held by Nathan Dixon (Manitoba Bisons, 2008-09) and Daniel Ferguson (Alberta Golden Bears, 2010-11). The CW regular season was slightly longer in those days; Dixon played 22 games the year he set the record, and Ferguson played 24 the year he tied it. “So the fact that Parm is on pace to break the record in just 20 games says a lot,” Kinvig noted.
Not surprisingly, Bains is a go-to guy for Cascades head coach Adam Friesen.
“He definitely wants me to shoot a lot, and gives me freedom to shoot,” Bains said.
Last season, Bains led the Cascades in scoring with 16.1 points per game and was voted a Canada West second team all-star – an impressive rise for a player who went un-recruited by a U Sports program after he graduated from Tamanawis in 2014.
“That always put a chip on my shoulder to prove something every time I play, for sure,” Bains said.
He’s been with the Cascades since late 2017, when another Tammy grad and friend, Navjot Bains, encouraged him to play for UFV.
Last season, Parm was part of a Tweedsmuir-to-Abbotsford pipeline of basketball talent that also included Sukhman Sandhu and brothers Navjot and Sukhjot Bains (no relation to Parm Bains). This season, only Sukhjot and Parm remain with the team.
• RELATED STORY, from 2018: Surrey pals help power Abbotsford university team on winning streak.
During the 2018-19 season, Cascades assistant coach Manny Dulay (also a Tamanawis grad) said it was probably a Surrey first to have four players from the same high school on the same team at the U Sports level.
Currently, stats posted to canadawest.org show the Cascades with three wins and five losses on the CW season.
“Every game we’ve lost has been very close,” Bains said. “We’ve played some good teams and we just have to figure out how to close out games better right now.”
Coming out of the break, Bains and the Cascades play a doubleheader at home against rival UBC Thunderbirds. Game times are 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4 at Envision Financial Athletic Centre, 1395 McKenzie Rd., Abbotsford. For ticket information and more, visit gocascades.ca.
Said Bains: “There should be a lot of people out for those games because a lot of locals are playing in that one.”
