Men's basketball head coach Kirby Schepp has steadily brought the Bisons back into national contention over his nine years at the helm — including four straight trips to the postseason and a U SPORTS Final 8 birth in 2016-17. He'll look to lead Manitoba back to the promised land this year with a roster that's filled with potential.

Leading the way is fourth-year point guard Rashawn Browne, who transferred from the States last season and was a key part of Manitoba's offence with 12.8 points and 6.8 assists per game. With 2017-18 conference scoring leader Justus Alleyn now graduated, Browne will be looked upon to pick up the slack.

Providing key balance in the back court will be 2018-19 recruit DJ Jordan Jr., who most recently suited up with the Brandon Bobcats in 2015-16, where he averaged 17 points per game. He's scored more than ten points in three of Manitoba's first five preseason contests and is meshing well with the team so far.

"Any time a player comes in from a different program and different culture, there's going to be some adjusting that needs to happen. He seems to be doing pretty well," Schepp said of the guard.

"He's certainly willing to learn. He's a very coachable young man, so yes, adjustments need to happen, but he's certainly primed to make them."

The front court is anchored by third-year James Wagner, a member of the 2016-17 Canada West All-Rookie team who had 18.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game a year ago. He'll have some solid support around him in fifth-year power forward Malik Irwin, third-year small forward Andre Arruda and second-year centre Cameron O'Hara.
 

Irwin was a medical redshirt last season after an ACL injury and will be an invaluable leader in his final year in brown and gold.

"He's definitely going to need to be a stabilizing force for us as a guy who's been through some wars and been through some battles," Schepp said of Irwin.

"I know he's certainly going to play a role on both ends of the floor, so we're hoping he can be a defensive stopper as well as a guy who can knock down some shots and just provide some leadership."

Arruda returns to the squad after spending the past few years away from university. He's a former Canada West All-Rookie team member that has a knack for making key shots.

"Andre is coming back for as much basketball reasons as I think academic reasons," Schepp said. "He just decided like a lot of young people that he wanted to be away from university for a while. He did that for a while and then made the decision that he wanted to come back to school and we were happy for it. He spent the summer getting into shape and getting himself ready to go."

O'Hara is a physical presence in the post at 6'7", 235 pounds. He started 11 games last year as a redshirt freshman and has proven his dedication both inside and outside the gym, dropping 30 pounds over the past two years.

"Cam will start a significant amount of games for us. He's going to be our anchor defensively, I think," said Schepp.

"He's really come a long way and has changed his body since high school. He's now starting to finish around the basket much better than he did last year. We had some injuries at the end of last year and he really came on for us and he's sort of used that momentum to spring into this year. Cam is certainly a future leader for our team in many, many ways. I'm really excited for him."

The Bisons have plenty of depth as well, especially at the forward position with second-years Wyatt Tait, Joel Adu-Quaye and Isaac Miller-Jose — who is originally from New Zealand.

"All of them have shown signs at different times this year of being able to step up as the next line of forwards, Isaac especially," Schepp said.

"You can actually see Isaac's confidence growing every single day. I think he's had a dunk in every single game so far this year. And as he starts to figure it out and his decision-making starts to come around, he's got the potential to be something special."