BRAMPTON – The Brampton Honey Badgers are getting a boost of young talent ahead of the 2025 Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season. The team selected three collegiate standouts—Yohann Sam, Conner Landell, and Mike Demagus—in this year’s CEBL Draft, adding depth and potential to a roster already packed with Canadian talent.
The Honey Badgers made Sam their first pick, taking the 22-year-old Brampton native second overall. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound guard is fresh off a breakout junior season with the University of Windsor, where he averaged 17.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Known for his physicality and scoring consistency, Sam notched double-digit points in 17 of 20 games last season, including a career-high 32-point performance against the University of Toronto. He joins the Honey Badgers on a developmental player contract.
“Sam’s combination of size at the guard position and ability to score made him a no-brainer for us with our first round pick,” said Jermaine Anderson, the team’s General Manager and VP of Basketball Operations.
With the 19th pick, the Honey Badgers added 6-foot-9 big man Conner Landell, a Niagara Falls product who spent his senior year at the University of New Brunswick. Landell led the Reds in blocks (2.0 per game), offensive rebounds, and field goal percentage (.595) this past season, including standout games with 15 points, 15 boards, and five blocks against St. Francis Xavier, and a near-perfect shooting night against UPEI. Like Sam, Landell also joins Brampton on a developmental contract.
“Efficiency and rim protection are the skills that caught our eye with Landell,” said Anderson, noting the forward’s steady improvement throughout his four-school collegiate journey.
Brampton’s final pick in the draft, 25-year-old Mike Demagus, brings leadership and experience to the backcourt. The McMaster University alum—drafted last season by the Calgary Surge—enters the Honey Badgers camp on a standard player contract. Demagus averaged 13.9 points over 101 collegiate games and played his final season under current Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Cassimy, who also serves as McMaster’s lead assistant.
“Coach Cassimy speaks extremely highly of Mike’s leadership and willingness to compete,” Anderson said. “We expect Mike to fight for minutes from day one.”
These three draft picks bring the Honey Badgers’ roster to seven players, halfway to the league’s maximum of 14. They join returning core players Koby McEwen, Prince Oduro, David Muenkat, and Patrick Emilien.
The Honey Badgers open their 2025 campaign on the road May 18 against the Montréal Alliance, followed by a May 21 matchup in Ottawa. Brampton’s first home game at the CAA Centre is against the Scarborough Shooting Stars. Ticket packages are on sale now at honeybadgers.ca/tickets.
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