The Hamilton Honey Badgers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Thursday that they have signed standout Rio Grande Valley Vipers guard Christian Vital. The 6-foot 2 Queens Village, New York native averaged 12.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and shot .401 from three-point range in 45 games with the NBA G League Champion Vipers this past season.

"Christian is a dynamic scorer who has the ability to shoot from anywhere on the floor. He proved that he can produce and contribute to a championship team as a first-year pro,” said Hamilton General Manager Jermaine Anderson. “More importantly, Christian is eager to develop and expand his game – we’re definitely looking forward to having him join our family this season."

Vital posted impressive two-way stat lines with the Vipers, recording five steals twice, and scoring a professional career-high 31 points on January 25 in a win against the Santa Cruz Warriors. His team was 16-4 when he scored 15 or more points. He came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points in 20 minutes to fuel the Vipers to a 131-114 victory in the G League title game.

Graduating from the University of Connecticut in 2020, Vital led the Huskies with 16.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game in his senior season. He set the all-time American Athletic Conference record for career three-pointers with a total of 265 in his four-year tenure at UConn, and was awarded All-AAC First Team honours for his performance.

Hamilton opens training camp for the 2022 season Tuesday at the training centre for the men’s Canadian National team at Humber College North in Mississauga. The Honey Badgers tip off their fourth CEBL season Wednesday, May 25 when the expansion Montreal Alliance visit FirstOntario Centre. It will be the first of 100 regular season CEBL games played in 69 days for Canada’s official national professional basketball league. Tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.ca or 905-522-BALL.

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Media Contact:

Maria Suriani

Director, Operations and Community Engagement

msuriani@honeybadgers.ca