Canadian basketball big man Sim Bhullar earns U.S. college honours

SHANE KOKA
VANCOUVER DESI

Sim Bhullar had an incredible season at New Mexico State University, all things considered. Submitted photo

Sim Bhullar first came to the attention of the general basketball public as a 7’5″ (with a size 22 feet and a 7’11″ wingspan) monster in the middle for Canada’s U-19 FIBA Championship squad in 2010. Although he didn’t play much, the few minutes that he did earn left quite an impression. He played 17 minutes in a loss to the loaded U.S. squad, but put up strong numbers: 14 points, along with 4 rebounds and  4 blocked shots. That tournament in San Antonio was the launching pad for what may be the first significant professional basketball player of Indian descent.

Bhullar, and his younger brother Tanveer, who is 7’2″, left the comforts of Toronto and transferred to the Kiski School in Pennsylvania to hone their game. After averaging nearly a triple-double in his junior season (16ppg, 14rpg, 8bpg), Sim once again transferred, this time to the elite Huntington Prep to team up with the CIA Bounce (AAU), and Canadian National teammates Myck Kabongo and likely No. 1 overall NBA draft choice Andrew Wiggins, for his senior year. Though he saw limited action, and his numbers regressed, Bhullar worked hard, improved his conditioning, and learned skills that would be crucial at the next level.

It was around this time that the New York Times declared Sim Bhullar the great brown hope, and discussed his role as the potential Yao Ming of India. Sports Illustrated also contacted him, and his high school games were covered by Toronto Punjabi language newspaper Parvasi. Big time colleges such as Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virgina came knocking. These were heady times for the son of two immigrants from Punjab, both of whom are more familiar with kabaddi than basketball, given that Sim’s father Avtar (6’4″ himself) used to play kabaddi. All that was left to do was to pick a school and put all his potential into production on the hardwood.

After a long recruitment process, Bhullar signed to play with Atlantic-10 power Xavier University. However, upon realizing that Xavier expected him to pay for his first year tuition out-of-pocket, a sum of $42,000 that his family could not afford, Bhullar reopened his recruitment and settled on smaller New Mexico State of the Western Athletic Conference. Though his dreams of playing at a big-time college did not materialize, Bhullar still had all the raw tools to become a big-time college player.

After his first season in Las Cruces, Bhullar has proven some of his critics wrong. He still has room to improve his conditioning, tipping the scales at 355 lbs, but has shown a better touch and understanding on the offensive end coupled with increased intensity on the defensive end. And don’t forget, he is still 7’5″.

The WAC capped the season Bhullar had by naming him WAC Freshman of the Year, an honour bestowed on former and current NBA players such as Shawn Bradley, Keith Van Horn, Paul Millsap and Ramon Sessions, after he averged 11.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 3.0 bpg in conference play. Pretty rarefied air. Furthermore, Bhullar earned the WAC Newcomer of the Year, which compares him to JUCO transfers potentially 2-3 years older than he is, and 3rd Team All-Conference honours. An incredible season for a raw project player, all things considered.

Although the New Mexico State Aggies will likely miss the NCAA tournament this year, their future looks bright. And as long as Sim Bhullar keep improving, the future of South Asians in the highest levels of basketball also seems very bright.