A former Delta Pacer basketball star had a leading role in Saturday’s Buchanan Cup rivalry game between SFU and UBC.
Jasdeep Singh scored a game-high 24 points and added six rebounds to pace host SFU to a 92-80 victory in front of a sold out crowd of 1,600 at the Burnaby Mountain campus. It was the first women’s or men’s varsity game played at SFU in 637 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 6-foot-8 Singh electrified the crowd with a blazing start, hitting his first five shot attempts, including a trio from three-point range. He finished the night going 9-for-13 from the field.
"He came to play in the first half," said SFU coach Steven Hansen. "Those shots are what we see in practice, and they're not always my favourite shots but he's such an outstanding isolation player, and when he's feeling it, you have to let good players go. He just steps up to the moment. It was huge game for him.”
Now in his senior season, Singh was an unanimous selection to the 2021-22 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team.
He averaged 16.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game with a 46 per cent field goal percentage during the 2019-20 season, the last time SFU competed. His work earned him Second Team All-GNAC honors.
"Jas has really grown in our program," added Hansen. "From being a bench player to becoming an All-Conference player and No. 1 on a lot of scout reports. What makes me most proud is that Jas doesn't care about the personal accolades. He wants to do what is right for his team to win. That is the greatest growth I've seen in him and our team is ready for a big year with him leading us.”
Singh likely would have closed out his high school career at DSS by leading his team to a provincial berth if not for a post-season ankle injury that kept him out of two key qualifying games.
The DRIVE Academy product then took his career to Northwest University in Kirkland before transferring to SFU.
