James Karnik is the lone Boston College men's basketball starter from 2021-22 who isn't returning to the Heights for next season.

Karnik's out of eligibility after a five-year NCAA career that started in the Patriot League back in 2017-18. Karnik played his first three seasons with Lehigh before transferring to BC, where he helped bridge the Jim Christian and Earl Grant eras.

But the 6-foot-10 center's basketball days aren't over yet. Last week, the Surrey, British Columbia, native signed with the Fraser Valley Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, a pro minor league basketball organization that was founded in 2017 and began competition in 2019.

Since, the league has grown to 10 teams, covering six different provinces, including five squads from Ontario. Fraser Valley is in B.C., though. So Karnik is basically playing in his backyard, and he's making the most of the opportunity.

He's coming off an impressive season with the Eagles, during which he averaged 9.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while shooting 55.8% from the floor.

Karnik turned it on toward the end of the year. In fact, he finished in double figures in 10 of BC's final 11 games. When the Eagles recorded ACC wins in the regular season, Karnik was almost always a big reason why. In five of those six games, he averaged 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds.

It started with a 17-and-13 outing in BC's blowout win over an NCAA Tournament-bound Notre Dame team to open ACC competition. Later on, he was unstoppable versus Virginia Tech, going 10-of-12 from the floor with 26 points and nine boards.

Karnik's enjoying similar success in the CEBL.

He piled up 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds in his debut, a 97-81 win over the Montreal Alliance. Then Karnik poured in 15 more points as the Bandits held off the Newfoundland Growlers on Sunday.

He even halted a 7-1 Newfoundland run late with a game-tying layup that set the stage for Fraser Valley's game-winning bucket.

During the 2021-22 NCAA season with BC, Karnik eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career.

He's carrying over an improved scoring ability to the pros, albeit in a Canadian minor league.