Come May 21, the Calgary Surge home opener will also be a hometown return for six-foot-five veteran CEBL guard Mathieu Kamba.
Kamba, who played for two Championship seasons with the Edmonton Stingers in 2020 and 2021, and more recently in Spain with Zunder Palencia in the Liga ACB, got his start at Bishop McNally High School in northeast Calgary.
He also played for four seasons in the NCAA at the University of Central Arkansas, where he averaged 11.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 28 minutes a game.
“Mathieu is an important signing for us. His story will be a great one to tell. Being a local son of Calgary, while also being a CEBL champion is special,” said Surge General Manager Shane James.
He said that Kamba had been a target for the team to sign since their inaugural season last year.
“We expect him to bring that championship mindset, while doing a little bit of everything on the floor that will contribute to our success.”
That sentiment was echoed by Calgary Surge Vice Chairman and President Jason Ribeiro, who said that the team was looking to have a Calgary player join the team.
“From Bishop McNally, all of the associations that he’s had to get to where he is in his career, to come back home is a special day for him, his family, and for the organization,” said Ribeiro.
“I even had to check with our basketball ops folks to say, ‘you sure he really lives here like he’s really from here?’ We couldn’t be more thrilled. I think to have that additional role model, who walked the same streets played the same courts, grinded the way he needed to to reach the highest levels of basketball, is just truly special.”
Ribero said that signing Kamba spoke to the team’s basketball operations, and especially James, to building a team with attention to detail.
“I think the mandate leading into year two was even more how can this team reflect Calgary—all four corners of the city,” said Ribeiro.
“I think for him, it’ll be interesting and also bittersweet. You know, he’s a two-time CEBL champion, but at the time in the place that the league was then with six teams, you had to play for Edmonton. I do think it’d be a full circle moment for him with a lot of emotions of those early days of the league, now looking into an NHL arena, competing against the team that he used to play for.”
The Calgary Surge open against the Edmonton Stingers at the Saddledome on May 21.
