Great expectations for University of Bisons hoops recruit Vigilance

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/07/2024 (650 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A little more than two years ago, Simon Hildebrandt was hailed as the future of the University of Manitoba men’s basketball program, a man capable of transforming the Bisons into a national championship contender.

In the coming months, the same sort of talk is almost certain to surround Taven Vigilance, the silky smooth Oak Park Raiders guard who commited to the Bisons last Friday.

Vigilance has a different skill set than Hildebrandt — his new teammate and now a two-time Canada West first team all-star — but his status as Manitoba’s top high school prospect brings extra scrutiny.

“I don’t know if I’d put that much pressure on him as being transformational,” said Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp of Vigilance this week. “But at the same time, he’s definitely an impact guy.

“Simon was an early bloomer, who had done a post-grad year. Taven is a late bloomer, who has not done a post-grad year. Do I think his ceiling is that high? Yes, I do. I think his ceiling is just as high but his starting point is not as high, which in some ways might benefit him.”

Vigilance, a 6-6, 185-pounder, is entering U Sports as a 17-year-old. Hildebrandt, meanwhile, started his university career as a 19-year-old after two years of prep basketball in the U.S. and Ontario.

“We’re really high on him. We thought he was the best recruit this year in the province by a large margin and the No. 1 target for sure.”–Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp

The prep-school route was a path Vigilance considered for himself, weighing his options in Ontario and the U.S.

“I was in between pretty much just doing prep or coming here,” he said prior to an off-season scrimmage at Investors Group Athletic Centre. “I was weighing all my options…

“I’d just say there’s so many factors that you have to weigh — like staying at home or being away from home for 10 months basically. There’s so many different factors that go into choosing where I want to go.”

While he was pondering his decision, Vigilance had been busy with Amateur Athletic Union basketball in the U.S. this summer, suiting up for Vancouver-based UPLAY West while attending summer tournaments in Seattle, California and Las Vegas.

Schepp’s recruiting pitch made sense.

“He wasn’t trying to tell me I had to come here or anything like that,” said Vigilance, who led Oak Park to an appearance in the AAAA provincial final last spring. “He wanted me to pretty much go wherever I wanted, which I really liked. If I was going to go away for prep, he was trying to help me do that.”

The son of Clarence Vigilance, a veteran of five seasons of university basketball at the U of M, Winnipeg and Brandon in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Taven doesn’t turn 18 until December.

“We know that he’s a young guy and that’s going to be probably somewhat a disadvantage for him early on, but it’s also an upside because we know he’s got so much more growth in him, right?” said Schepp. “We’re really high on him. We thought he was the best recruit this year in the province by a large margin and the No. 1 target for sure.”

Raiders head coach Cam MacNeil witnessed a major step forward in Vigilance’s development from Grade 11 to 12. He expects the improvement to continue in university.

“His ability to read the game has really progressed and so has his shot-making ability and his basketball IQ — taking the right shots at the right time,” said MacNeil.

“Once he actually matures physically he’s going to be a monster at the collegiate level. It’s going to be a sight to see.”

Vigilance’s game shares some traits with current Bison Daren Watts, a shooting guard in his first summer with the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Winnipeg Sea Bears.

“He’s got a lot of Daren Watts in him,” said Schepp. “I think in terms of the physical ability and type of game, they’re very similar. The best thing Taven could do is basically stand in Daren’s shadow for the next two years and do everything Daren does. If he does that, he’ll be a Canada West all-star.”

Watts is happy to serve as a mentor.

“He’s a young guy and a lot of us are gonna graduate in two more years and I’m just going to try to put him on the right path to get better every single day,” said Watts, who will be entering his fourth season at the U of M this fall. “So that when we’re gone, he’s going to be the best he can be and he can help carry the program.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca