Bandits Annual School Day Game – Huge Success

The Vancouver Bandits again hosted their annual “School Day” game in front of several schools from the Langley area that saw local talent challenge the pro’s which we should note that the pro’s easily pulled out a 143-66 win.

It should be noted that the media (myself and Jagraj with Sportswave) were the only two in the press box to enjoy the action in addition to listening to each school  cheering section.

If we were to speculate on the crowd size I don’t think we would be too far off if we took a guess at 3,500 given that the lower bowl was complete.

It seems that more and more teams and leagues are venturing beyond (in this case) the court to attract and grow the game to the families hoping to attract more fans to home games, which for the Bandits is working.

Not only should we thank the Bandits but also the School District for working to arrange this but mostly the teachers who were in control of their students sitting in their specific area.

We inquired about if this will be an annual event and from all indication we can only assume that this will be bigger next year but to do that they’ll have to out due this years event!

Thanks to the Vancouver Bandits for the press release:

In addition to the school day game the Bandits have signed Curtis Hollis (6-foot-6 guard) for the 2025 season noting that he calls Arlington, Texas home in the off-season.

He returns after appearing in six games during the 2024 campaign, where he averaged 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists in 22.0 minutes played.

He made his debut June 7/2024, which was his lone appearance setting a game-high 21 points, 6 rebounds and five steals against the Calgary Surge. 

He then signed with the Montréal Alliance suiting up for five additional games closing out the season.

Hollis mentioned “I am super excited and thankful to be back in Vancouver to get the chance to play high level basketball with great people and compete to win a championship; I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” 

He continued to say “I take it very seriously that Kyle and the organization believes in me as a big contributor and I am more than ready to get started. I can’t wait to see all the great fans back in Langley.”

Most recently, Hollis played overseas during the 2024-25 season with Helsinki Seagulls in Finland’s Korisliiga, posting averages of 16.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 27.6 minutes in 38 games played.

His global career also includes stops in South Africa, the Dominican Republic, the Central African Republic, Germany and NBA G League training camp invites with the Detroit Pistons’ affiliate, Motor City Cruise (2022), and Golden State Warriors’ affiliate, Santa Cruz Warriors (2021).

He played post-secondary at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas where helping the Blue Dragons to a Round of 16 appearance at the 2018 NJCAA DI men’s basketball championship. 

In his lone collegiate season, he averaged 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists across 34 games played. 

The Bandits tip-off the 2025 CEBL campaign on Thursday, May 15 when the club hits the road to take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers. 

Fans will have their first chance to watch the club at home on Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. PT when Vancouver hosts the Niagara River Lions in a rematch of the 2024 CEBL Final. 

Vancouver plays 12 regular season home games between Thursday May 22 and Sunday, August 3 wrapping up their regular season in Ottawa Sunday, August 10 with the tip-off set for 12 pm, BC time.