Hoop, hoop hooray!

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This article was published 30/09/2022 (1333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not only did the 1975-76 University of Manitoba Bisons men’s basketball team make history, but they did so in a fashion that will never be repeated.

The Herd won the national championship that season, becoming the first and only men’s university team in Winnipeg to capture the top prize in Canadian hoops. What makes it even more impressive is they did it with a 10-man roster comprised entirely of local talent.

“Well, we had two imports. One from Portage la Prairie (Grant Watson) and one from Brandon (Kevin Keleher),” joked head coach Don Hunter, now 72 and visiting from Victoria, B.C., as he and three players from the team sat down with the Free Press on Friday.

It’s an accomplishment worth celebrating often, which is exactly what the team does. Coach Hunter, trainer Russ Horbal, and nine players are in town this weekend to celebrate the 46-year anniversary of beating Saint Mary’s 82-69 in Halifax to win gold.

“Every five years when we tell the same stories, we get better and better. We might start off by saying we scored 10 points, but five years later we say we scored 25.”–Darryl Rumsey

One of the greatest basketball teams in the province’s history gathers for a reunion every five years to catch up and rewatch the championship game together. The ‘76 Bisons planned to reunite last year, but it got pushed to 2022 because of the pandemic.

“Every five years when we tell the same stories, we get better and better. We might start off by saying we scored 10 points, but five years later we say we scored 25,” said centre Darryl Rumsey with a grin.

At their first five reunions, the team held a two-on-two tournament. But that tradition, one that got quite competitive, has now been replaced by a shootaround. They’ll be meeting at the Investors Group Athletic Centre Saturday morning to shoot hoops, followed by a showing of the championship game on the jumbotron.

“Martin (Riley) and Greg (Daniels) wouldn’t miss a beat. They would be clawing each other, hacking each other. We’d be watching it and we’d go ‘Holy.’ Greg would walk off the court with cut hands and like broken wrists,” laughed forward Rick Watts.

“Yeah, (the two-on-two tournament) got real competitive. We’d beat each other up, but all in good fun,” Daniels said.

Instead of beating each other up this weekend, the team will see one of their favourite teammates, Randy Kusano, get inducted into the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame (MBHOF) on Saturday night at the Victoria Inn into the builder category. After his days with the Bisons, Kusano, a 5-6 guard, became one of the most successful and respected high school coaches in Manitoba.

The ‘76 team was inducted into the MBHOF in 1998 and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

“As a player, he was a leader of the non-starters. And he worked extremely hard. He was very positive and was a leader of those five that came ready to play. He just had this positive attitude about him. He won two junior national championships with (coach Hunter) so we call him our rabbit’s foot because he came on our (varsity) team and we won that year,” Daniels said.

“And then as a builder, for us to be there for him, I mean, there’s no more deserving person than Randy in this province with all the years he’s coached. Actually, the year we won the national championship, he coached the JV team that year. So, it goes back that far and he’s still coaching today. It’s incredible.”

The Bisons were on a mission in 1976 after losing the national title game the year before in heartbreaking fashion. They had a late lead over the University of Waterloo, who were playing on their home court, but a controversial travelling call against the Bisons in the final minute led to Waterloo’s Phil Goggins hitting a game-winning corner jumper to steal an 80-79 victory for the Warriors.

“We were resolved to win the next year and very committed… I just remember every practice was intense. Our nonstarters, they were resolved to make us work hard every practice,” Daniels said.

“We just got each other better with that goal in mind to get back to the nationals again.”

“Our practice scrimmages were tougher than some games just with the intensity of the team,” added Hunter, a two-time national coach of the year.

And no one brought the intensity more than their superstar guard, Martin Riley — who first made the Canadian senior men’s national team at the age of 17. Daniels and Riley would spend an hour after every practice playing one-on-one.

“Our practice scrimmages were tougher than some games just with the intensity of the team.”–Head coach Don Hunter

“We couldn’t leave until he won the last game. This one time I had to leave because I had a test the next day. So, I said, ‘Martin, I have to go.’ He was having an off day and I was having an on day as I was beating him every game. So, I left, and the next practice, he just hit my arms every time I brought up the ball because he was just so mad at me. That was his mindset,” said Daniels, a fellow guard.

“But I’ll tell you, we marvelled at that,” said Watts, who also spent some time on Canada’s national team and was an elite volleyball player as well.

“That intensity, that work ethic, that desire to win, it rubbed off on us. We all had a great approach to the game, but Martin took it to a different level and it rubbed off on us.”

The Bisons dominated the Great Plains Athletic Conference and finished the season at 31-5. Watts, Riley, Daniels, and Rumsey were all named conference all-stars.

They’d get their revenge over Waterloo at nationals by knocking them out in the semi-final before taking down Saint Mary’s in the big game. Saint Mary’s didn’t have an answer for Watts as he led the Herd in scoring with 25 points. Riley scored 21 points, Rumsey had 14 and Daniels added 10 points of his own.

“The common goal was to win the national championship. Everybody was on the same page, and it just felt so great to end up winning it,” said Watts.

“… And we’re waiting for another U of M team to come and join us with a national championship. That’s important to us.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31