A basketball player from Surrey, B.C., just made NCAA history.<\/p>\n
Fleetwood Park Secondary alumnus Eesher Singh Sarai recently committed to Winthrop University in the NCAA\u2019s Division I, making him the first turbaned Sikh player in college basketball\u2019s top division.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-9 Sarai just completed his freshman season with Ellesworth College in Iowa. He averaged 11 points and six rebounds during Conference action.<\/p>\n
His 1.25 blocks per game ranked second in the Conference, while his 59.5 per cent shooting from the field ranked fifth among all players. He was named to the Conference\u2019s All-Defensive team.<\/p>\n
Sarai is just the second turbaned Sikh player in NCAA Div. 1 history to play in the circuit. The only other was Illinois native Dipanjot Singh, who played for the University of Illinois\u2013Chicago in 2009.<\/p>\n
His ascension isn\u2019t just a historic victory for the Sikh community, but it\u2019s another footnote in Canada\u2019s rise as a basketball force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, billionaire Mark Cuban invested in the Brampton Honey Badgers<\/a> of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.<\/p>\n His main rationale? Canada\u2019s rise as a basketball powerhouse.<\/p>\n