The men's basketball program – fresh off a tenth straight playoff appearance under the leadership of veteran bench boss Kirby Schepp – will have a drastically different look in 2024-25. 
 
Back-to-back All-Canadian Simon Hildebrandt has taken his talents to the NCAA to play for High Point in North Carolina, while "the glue guy" Wyatt Tait has graduated. Additionally, impact 6'7" centre Jonam Kazadi is rehabbing an injury. 
 
With all this in mind, Schepp and his staff went to work to re-tool their team's identity with three key forwards not in the lineup for the upcoming campaign. 
 
As part of that process, Schepp recruited the province's top graduating senior in 6'6" Taven Vigilance, while 6'5" senior Manyang Tong joined the program after previously suiting up for the Calgary Dinos, and SAIT Trojans in Alberta. 
 
The duo, along with Hudson Wollf and Lance Mangaron, join a Bisons roster that's got no shortage of experience at the U SPORTS level. 
 
Notably, four-year starter Mason Kraus returns. He will break the school record for steals, as he's sitting just seven shy of first, with 146. Alongside him is 6'4" returning starter Daren Watts, fresh off a summer playing pro basketball with the Winnipeg Sea Bears. He led the team in points per game a year ago, with 16.4. 
 
Meanwhile, 6'0" third-year guard Brandt Lenz will step into the starting point guard role, allowing Kraus to be more creative as a shooter while also changing up some of the Herd's defensive looks. 
 
Tong has stepped into a starting role nicely during the pre-season, including a 19-point, eight rebound performance against UNBC, while 6'6" Cieran O'Hara will start at centre, and is athletic enough to switch onto other team's guards for a challenging look for the opposition. 
 
Six-foot-four Minnesota native Andre Gray II adds further depth and athleticism, and shot 40 percent from the field a year ago, while 6'4" Samuel Jensen is a lethal three point specialist, as is 6'7" Barac Thon, who's had a breakout pre-season. 
 
Spark plug guard Tito Obasoto – second on the team with 35 steals last season – has also started games in the pre-season for the Bisons, and will be an enormous part of the Herd's game plan, especially on defence, where Manitoba will force the issue with tons of pressure. 
 
"We didn't really know what our team was going to look like, basically until training camp. I had a bit of an idea in the back of my head, and honestly it's been kind of build the plane in flight, tweaking as we go. We knew we would be smaller but we also knew we would be athletic. We've definitely changed our style of play defensively and even offensively we've moved some stuff around," said Schepp, entering his 16^th year as head coach, just five wins shy of tying Rick Suffield for the regular season school record of 153. 
 
"I think we're a better defensive team than we were last year for sure. We're going to pressure a lot more. We're going to get into people a lot more. We're going to be less containing and more disruptive defensively. I think we have to, because our back line, we don't have quite the size inside, so we have to dictate the game defensively. We have the athleticism to do that, it's just a matter of if we can build our communication and team."
 
The pre-season was rather productive, considering the circumstances.
 
Manitoba went 5-2, including a 14-point comeback win over Lakehead, where Lenz scored a career-high 31 points with Kraus out of the lineup. The team also won the Naismith Tournament in Waterloo, with Watts scoring 18 points and Thon adding 16 against Saskatchewan, while Gray II put up 16 against Waterloo. 
 
Later on, Manitoba avenged their quarter-final loss to UNBC from last season's Canada West Playoff Tournament. Tong's 19 points were complemented by a 13 point, 11 rebound double-double from Watts, while Obasoto had 15 points and three steals. 
 
Suffice to say, the Herd will once again be a force in Canada West, relying on a collective effort to get the job done. 
 
"So far the group is responding to coaching really well. I think we're a smart group that sees where we're screwing up, and we're able to make adjustments, not only game to game but in game," added Schepp.
 
"They're able to figure it out a little bit. I like what we're doing defensively. We still have to figure out how we're going to use our best guys, where our shots are going to come from in big moments. You lose Simon, that's going to be a piece of it a little bit. It's forcing us to play more of a team game."
 
Manitoba opens up the regular season on Sunday at 4 pm against Brandon. Click here for tickets.