Bisons build for the future

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This article was published 28/08/2023 (981 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

University of Manitoba head coach Kirby Schepp had a grander vision for his men’s basketball program.

He is upgrading his operation, which includes raising enough money to create an endowment fund in excess of $1 million to help put a paid assistant coach on his staff, generate additional scholarship money and boost his recruiting budget.

All of this is driven by the goal of becoming a perennial national power and ending what is now a 47-year national championship drought. The Bisons, who were 18-2 and second in Canada West before being eliminated by the Winnipeg Wesmen in the conference semifinals last spring, are expected to contend for the title again in 2023-24.

“We want to make being a Bisons men’s basketball player one of the best experiences of these young men’s lives, if not the best experience of their life,” says Schepp, who is entering his 15th season in charge of the program. “Lots of things go into that, right? We’re trying to win at the highest level that we possibly can, we want to help them to get to the next level of whatever the next stage of their basketball or career happens to be — to prepare them for life.

“And we want this to be a truly special experience to be a Bison athlete. And part of that goal is having the whole package — being able to travel, to do some real exotic exhibitions to prepare ourselves to the highest level, train year round and to provide full scholarships for everybody.”

Schepp says a paid assistant coach would be a crucial upgrade to his operation, giving him extra time to spend on recruiting and adding a layer of sophistication to the whole operation. He notes that of the 48 U Sports schools with men’s basketball teams, the 20 to 23 programs with a paid assistant coach routinely perform better than the have-nots.

“It’s still early on but we’ve had some nice early enthusiasm and we’ve got a couple of larger donors that have stepped up already, but we think that there could be more waiting in the wings that could really make a difference,” says Schepp. “And I’m really excited about our grassroots support. Guys who have made a number of small and mid-sized donations and people that are excited to help.”

“But we also have some pretty good supporters here too, right?” says Schepp. “There’s some people that are really passionate about our program and we’re really thankful that we’ve got a couple of groups of alumni right now that are working really hard and trying to help us play with a full deck basically.”

“We called it ‘Together we rise,’ meaning that it takes the team to get to the top and what I mean by a team is not only a great coach and program, but a young talented team and supportive administration,”–Greg Daniels

Fortunately for Schepp, he has two key supporters — volleyball alum Allan Edie and basketball alum Greg Daniels — firmly in his corner. Daniels, a guard on Manitoba’s 1976 national championship squad, is the point man for an effort to raise $400,000 over the next five years. He and ex-teammate Rick Watts were inspired to act after a reunion of the ‘76 U of M team last fall and getting to watch the Bisons move into title contention last winter.

In spring, Watts and Daniels met with Schepp and plotted a path forward.

“We called it ‘Together we rise,’ meaning that it takes the team to get to the top and what I mean by a team is not only a great coach and program, but a young talented team and supportive administration,” says Daniels, who retired four years ago from his position as the assistant superintendent of human resources at the River East Transcona School Division.

“The one piece that was missing was the alumni support — other successful programs in the country have alumni support… What we’re trying to do is to provide Kirby with the resources that he needs to take that next step to compete for a national championship.”

Daniels says the initiative, which includes a telephone campaign, is starting to gather steam with a donation of $50,000 and several others of $10,000.

Edie, meanwhile, is easily the biggest and most enthusiastic benefactor Bisons Sports has ever seen. In 2008, he contributed $300,000 to kickstart an endowment fund for the U of M men’s volleyball program that has grown to a whopping $1.1 million. It annually generates about $60,000 to fund the team’s scholarships.

A separately funded women’s volleyball program is worth approximately $800,000.

Edie, a setter on Manitoba’s national championship men’s volleyball teams in 1977-78 and 1979-80, has done similar work for the women’s hockey program, which now has an scholarship fund exceeding $200,000.

Most recently, Edie pledged $100,000 of matching money for the men’s basketball scholarship endowment with a goal of $1 million. The money could eliminate the fundraising required each year to support the scholarship program.

“I’m a volleyball guy but when I watched Kirby on the sidelines during (Canada West playoff game), I thought this is the guy,” says Edie, who operates Edie and Associates, a company that owns and manages properties in Western Canada.

“The kids are playing their hearts out, win, lose or draw you’ve got Winnipeg kids and Manitoba kids playing their hearts out. This is what it’s all about. So how do we create something? Because Kirby’s not going to be here forever, nor am I. So how do you leave a legacy here that allows it to go into perpetuity, because if you don’t do this, you become a University of Lethbridge that cuts (athletic programs).”

Schepp is grateful for Edie’s interest.

“He’s a really good man who wants to help out and he’s slowly lifting the entire profile of Bison Sports and he’s trying to be a cheerleader,” says Schepp. “And he’s and putting his money where his mouth is.”

Edie want to leave a legacy to help keep young Manitoba athletes at home.

“Manitoba has this insecurity mindset — well, unless someone gives me a grant, we’re not doing it,” says Edie, who himself returned to Winnipeg two years ago from his base in Campbell River, B.C. “We’ve got all kinds of guys that are making millions of dollars in this town. They just need a good idea to say, ‘Yeah, I’ll get behind it.’ “

The potential of Schepp’s squad — led by young stars such as Simon Hildebrandt and Mason Kraus — has helped to spark interest from alumni.

“There’s been a lot of alumni that have an interest in his team because they’re a young, talented group that plays for each other, they play for the coach and play a team game,” says Daniels. “It does remind us of our era and players in our era. And we just really believe in this team.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca