Abbotsford – The Fraser Valley Bandits announced that Tanner Massey, Tony Scott and K.J. Smith will serve as the club’s assistant coaches for the upcoming Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season.
The collection of Massey, Scott and Smith will join interim head coach David Singleton, who recently won coach of the year after leading Bima Perkasa to the playoffs in the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL). Massey and Smith will serve as assistant coaches, while Scott will play a key role as a senior advisor to Singleton and general manager Kyle Julius. The three supporting coaches draw upon several decades of combined experience in the NBA G League, Japanese B.League, the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB), as well as British Columbia and Manitoba’s high school and provincial ranks.
“I am extremely proud of our coaching staff. We have a very unique blend of young and hungry coaches who really care about player development and building winning habits. Tanner and K.J. are special. They’ve been coaching all over the world and winning in some really tough environments. I can’t wait for them to get on the floor with coach Dave and all of our players,” Julius said.
“Coach Scott is a very important piece to our puzzle. He has the experience, basketball IQ and temperament to balance our young coaching staff and connect with our players in ways a young staff can’t. All great coaching staffs have senior advisors like coach Scott to help pump the brakes and hit the gas when needed.”
The Bandits open the 2021 season on the road at Edmonton on Thursday, June 24. The Bandits welcome Saskatchewan for Fraser Valley’s home opener on Saturday, June 26. All regular season games will be live streamed on the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices and on a new OTT streaming platform that the CEBL will unveil this spring.
