Kazadi breaks out in second year with Bisons

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This article was published 23/02/2023 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Bisons have their young stars.

Second-year guard Mason Kraus fits the bill. So does 6-9 forward Simon Hildebrandt, who plays with an unflappable skill set that belies his first year of U Sports men’s basketball.

Among the other factors that have fuelled Manitoba’s rise to No. 5 in the most recent U Sports coaches’ poll are the contributions of its bench.

A good example of that reserve strength is forward Jonam Kazadi, a 6-7 local product who arrived with a linebacker’s build when he started his career at the U of M in 2021-22.

As a first-year player, he mostly watched and learned, getting only four minutes of playing time in his lone regular-season appearance.

Fast forward to 2022-23 and the transformation has been dramatic.

After an intensive off-season conditioning program, he shed 15 pounds while retaining his power-forward tendencies. In 21 games, the 239-pounder averaged 7.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 15.5 minutes of playing time.

“Jonam has improved so much between year one and year two,” said head coach Kirby Schepp as they prepared for Saturday’s Canada West semifinal clash with the Winnipeg Wesmen.

“I mean, he’s sort of changed his body. He’s become much more assertive and confident. Jonam definitely provides a bit of a physical presence off the bench. He can score, he can attack the rim. There’s not too many guys in our league with his size, width, strength and power.”

Kazadi, a local product who played at St. Paul’s High School and TRC Rise Prep program in Ontario, is impossible to miss on the court with his high energy presence.

“The biggest difference I think is just having my coach tell me he has faith in me,” said Kazadi. “He sees me contributing to the team this year. Obviously, I got the pleasure last year of playing behind great players like (former Bisons) James Wagner and (Cam) O’Hara, guys like that, and just taking the stuff that I learned and getting that confidence from Kirby himself.”

This season, Kazadi is the first one off the bench when fifth-year forward Isaac Miller-Jose needs a rest or runs into foul trouble.

“They provide different things, right?” said Schepp. “Isaac’s a little bit more defensively active and experienced that way. Isaac can shoot a little bit. Jonam was more of an at-the-rim guy but he’s also more effective scoring at the rim than Isaac is.”

Kazadi admitted a slow start to his university career caught him by surprise.

“I had faith in myself,” he said. “I knew that I can definitely help us win and last year, it did obviously affect my confidence, but I never let it get to the point where I wasn’t going to play. I’m a competitor. I wanted to come back and play, especially with the guys we have on this team. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca