Bisons lose star hoopster Hildebrandt to NCAA

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This article was published 27/08/2024 (404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Manitoba men’s basketball team has lost its biggest star.

Two-time all-conference forward Simon Hildebrandt has taken advantage of the NCAA’s transfer portal to move to High Point University in High Point, N.C., where he will play Division I hoops for the Panthers in the Big South Conference this fall.

“I wasn’t gonna leave you unless it was like the right fit for me and it just seems like the right fit for me,” said Hildebrandt by phone Tuesday night.

“It was about the coach (Alan Huss), who I know a little bit, but mostly with their play style. It was somewhere I feel like I would fit in. The coach has reputation for developing guys with my skill set, my height and my position.”

Hildebrandt’s departure is a big blow to Manitoba’s hopes of challenging for the Canada West title or the school’s first national championship since 1976.

The Bisons have added highly regarded recruit Taven Vigilance, a 6-6 guard from Oak Park High School, and University of Calgary transfer Manyang Tong, a 6-5 wing, in the off-season.

“The challenge for us is the timing, right?” said Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp. “We started training camp (Tuesday night) and there’s certain challenges there, but it doesn’t change how we go about our work and our preparations for the season. I have a lot of confidence in the group that we have and I’m really looking forward to working with the guys that we have here.”

Hildebrandt, who spent the last two summers with the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Winnipeg Sea Bears, had an NCAA offer from the University of Oregon a year ago, but decided to remain at the U of M. Early this summer, Highpoint and the University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif., made a pitch for his services.

Pacific is coached by Carleton University legend Dave Smart, who will be assisted by ex-Victoria Vikes bench boss Craig Beaucamp. The program has already secured the services of Victoria forward Elias Ralph and Brock University guard Andrew McKenna.

There is an eligibility concern for Hildebrandt and other CEBL players, who were permitted to return to U Sports after the CEBL season was over. The NCAA had previously denied pro players permission to play but the case of CEBL players is being considered separately.

“I was debating and then even if I wanted to leave, my eligibility was a little messed up because of the CEBL,” added Hildebrandt, who needs to pass a medical before he is permitted to practise with his new teammates. “So I kind of have to jump through all these hoops. I think I’m pretty much in the clear now, but I still might be suspended a couple of games by the NCAA.”

Hildebrandt, 21, has been honoured as the CEBL’s top developmental player in each of the past two seasons.

“In many ways, we’re celebrating it,” said Schepp of Hildebrandt’s move. “A big part of our MO is we’re always trying to help prepare these guys for the next stage. We want them to be the most ready they can be for not only basketball but life, right?

“Moving on as professionals and networking and having them be very successful the next stage their life, and for many of them, it has been becoming pros. We’ve had a lot of players go on to play professional basketball from our program.”

At least seven other U Sports men’s basketball stars have made the exodus to American schools in recent weeks:

— Mikhail Mikhailov, a 6-9 Spanish centre who had two very productive years with the Winnipeg Wesmen, has transferred to Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles, a NCAA Division II school based in California.

— Ismael Diouf, who was named MVP of the Final Eight Tournament while leading the Rouge et Or to national title, has gone to the North Carolina State Wolfpack. The 6-9 forward also played playing for the CEBL’s Montreal Alliance.

— Forward Mikey Kelvin II is going from Queen’s to Oklahoma State Cowboys.

— Dalhousie guard Malcolm Christie, a first-team all-Canadian in 2023-24, is joining Division I Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Mich.

— Western guard Tyson Dunn is moving to the University of Buffalo.

— Vegas Evans, a 6-7 forward, is transferring from the University of New Brunswick to Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas.

— Guard Dezayne Mingo is going from the Guelph Gryphons to Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca