Be on guard, Bison opponents

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This article was published 16/10/2023 (1059 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Bisons have enough talent and experience to challenge for a Canada West men’s basketball title in 2023-24.

But adapting to what they’ve lost that could test their ability to be an elite team again.

Isaac Miller-Jose, a freakishly athletic forward who was the club’s best defender during last season’s 18-2 regular-season run, and tough as nails guard Elijah Lostracco, are gone but not forgotten.

Both used up the fifth and final year of their U Sports eligibility.

Head coach Kirby Schepp will be relying on a pair of guards — newcomer Andre Gray II and third-year man Daren Watts — to help fill the void.

Gray, a 20-year-old junior college transfer from Minnetonka, Minn., is an intriguing addition to the mix. Scouted on video by assistant coach Donny Hayes in June, Schepp followed up with an in-person visit to the Twin Cities to see the 6-2 Hopkins High School grad a month later and he came away impressed.

Gray’s fan club has growing through his first six weeks on campus.

“I think he’s really gonna help us this year,” said 2022-23 team MVP Simon Hildebrandt. “He’s super athletic. He can fly, he can shoot, he can do a lot of things. So he’ll help us a lot.”

The Bisons split a pair of exhibition tuneups earlier this month and Gray admitted he had work to do while adapting to U Sports style, a unique hybrid of North American and European games.

The trickiest adjustment?

“Not doing extra — like over dribbling — and making it more complicated,” said Gray, who played at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan., last season. “It’s not hard to adjust. Everything takes time but when you put effort towards it, you adjust to it.”

In the off-season Gray waited in vain for a suitable NCAA Division 1 offer before accepting the U of M opportunity.

“I figured I just wanted to go where I was wanted and they started showing a lot of love,” said Gray, who had never left his home country before making the trek to Winnipeg this fall. “I really felt like this would be my home.”

Gray is not simply a new version of Lostracco.

“Elijah could really stroke it and he had the ability to score in different ways and Andre brings completely different things,” said Schepp. “So it changes your team and also the players that are here change — like guys have made significant jumps. Daren Watts is complete different player than he was last year.”

“We’ve got a number of different guys who I think their games are improving and we’re gonna be a slightly different team. To me, that’s keeps it fresh and it’ll be good. So I think in some ways, we’re not as good as we were last year and in other ways, we’re better than we were last year.”

Watts was busy in the off-season, ramping up to four workouts a day, including one-on-one tutoring from ex-Bisons guard Rashawn Browne, in a bid to become a more substantial contributor.

“Usually I would do it just two-a-days but this summer I really wanted to take a big step,” said Watts. “I improved decently from my first year to second year but not really as much as I wanted to. So I knew this year to get better I’d have to do more than what other people are doing.”

Watts averaged about 10 minutes of playing time per game a year ago. He hopes to double that number, competing with Gray and others for floor time.

“I love Andre man, Andre’s great,” said Watts, smiling. “But iron sharpens iron, man. He’s iron, I’m iron. So all we’re going to do is get better, that’s for sure.”

The Bisons will get an early report on their progress Oct. 27 when they host the Winnipeg Wesmen in a pre-season matchup at Investors Group Athletic Centre. The Wesmen sent the Bisons packing in the Canada West semifinals last spring.

“We’ll change in slight ways the way we play,” said Schepp, who is beginning his 15th season in charge of the program. “Hopefully, we’re better in other areas and we all kind of come together. I think we’re better defensively on the perimeter than we were last year. We have a little more size, a little more athleticism. This is the most athletic team that I’ve ever had here.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca