On the inside of the door in the Bisons men's basketball team room is a picture of the Calgary Dinos' court. That's where the U SPORTS Final 8 will be held this year, and that's the goal for the team entering 2025-26 – make it to nationals, and bring home gold for the first time since 1976.
 
"That's the only focus," said 17^th-year head coach Kirby Schepp, who enters the regular season with 264 overall wins as bench boss, just 16 shy of passing Rick Suffield for the most in program history.
 
"On the back of our jerseys it says Vamos Com Tudo, which is a Portugese expression which essentially means All In. So, we're all in. That's it."
 
Looking at Manitoba's roster, you can certainly understand why this year could be special for the Herd. It's "the deepest team, no question" during Schepp's time, as the program didn't graduate a single player who had meaningful minutes last year, including every starter. Also Schepp bolstered the roster with a variety of high-level talent from across the country.

 
The roster breakdown
The core of the senior leadership group were all recruited together over a span of three years. That includes the longest tenured member of the roster in "the board man" Cieran O'Hara (2019), along with sharp shooting wing Samuel Jensen (2020), imposing and intelligent forward Jonam Kazadi (2020), tenacious defender Tito Obasoto (2020), long-time starting point guard Mason Kraus (2021) and do-it-all difference maker Daren Watts (2021).
 
Kraus and Watts have both played pro with the Winnipeg Sea Bears, and the duo, along with their four teammates will likely make history this season.


 
Entering Canada West league play tonight against Brandon on the road, the group of six need just nine wins to pass national champions Rick Watts and Darryl Rumsey for the most career league wins won by a group of teammates. They are currently at 54.
 
It's not likely that anyone will ever top Watts and Rumsey for the most wins by a duo in school history, but it's a fascinating stat nonetheless on the legacy this group of seniors is leaving.
 
"When I was recruiting them, I was recruiting them as a core unit, which included Simon Hildebrandt at the time. I thought, this team could be something, and they certainly have had a great run. It's pretty special to have that large of a group go through their years together and stay intact for the most part," said Schepp.
 
"Not only are they comfortable in the things that we run and what we do, they're also highly motivated to take the next steps. It's exciting for the program. We have a really good crop of young guys too that are chomping at the bit and ready for their opportunity."
 
Manitoba went 16-4 a year ago, finishing first in Canada West's Prairie Division. They fell one game short of a trip to nationals, and motivation is high to avoid the same fate this season.
 
It starts with Kraus, a three-time Canada West All-Star who was on the First Team last year.
 
The Winnipeg native has started all 82 games he's played as a Bison since 2021-22, adding to his legacy with a career year in 2024-25. Kraus' 18.4 points per game were a personal best, and also fifth in all of Canada West. His 33 minutes played per game were also a career-high and fifth in the conference, and he set a new school record for career regular season steals (since the stat was tracked by the conference beginning in 1995-96), with 197.
 
Kraus is coming off an extremely busy summer that saw him play for the Winnipeg Sea Bears, while also competing across the world for Team Canada's 3x3 squad.
 
"I think the 3x3 was really positive. I think a lot of the things we do in our practices really help the 3x3 players ironically and helped him to thrive in that position," said Schepp.
 
"He's certainly had a crazy summer. From going to three different provinces with the Sea Bears, to Chile, to Winnipeg, to Portugal, to Spain, then straight to Paraguay and back home in a month is bonkers."
 
Brandt Lenz adds further starting experience at the guard position, and at wing, the Herd are the deepest team in Canada West, and one of the deepest in the country.
 
Watts (14.6 PPG last year), Taven Vigilance, Jensen and Obasoto are among the many talents Schepp will use during games, depending on the situation.
 
"Daren Watts has had a really good pre-season. He is relatively healthy, last year he wasn't relatively healthy coming off the Sea Bears experience. He's been super consistent and aggressive on both ends. He's probably been our best player in the pre-season," said Schepp.
 
"But then Taven Vigilance has made a jump. He's come into the year stronger physically and more ready to play and more mature. He's pushing for a starting position every single night. He had his best game in the pre-season last week with 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench. He's a multi-positional guy who can really help us. Sam Jensen will do what Sam Jensen does, which is knock down corner threes and do his thing, and Tito is going to defend the s**t out of everyone. He is absolutely shredded at 200 pounds."
 
That's not to mention third-year guard Miguel Nitro who had a strong pre-season, along with second-year Deng Deng and key additions in Titus Heron at guard and Dante Dyck at wing, both of whom have also played extremely well.
 
Notably, Dyck – who recorded a school record 56 points for Garden Valley as a senior – played pro in Paraguay last year, scoring in double figures numerous times while also suiting up for Paraguay's U20 team. The U SPORTS rule states that any years you play pro before the age of 20 don't count towards your eligibility, so he comes in as one of the most experienced first-years in the country.
 
At forward, Manitoba is just as loaded.

O'Hara enters his last season with 511 career rebounds, including a personal best 9.6 per game last year, which was fourth in Canada West. His field goal percentage of 58.5 was also third in the conference. Fan favourite Manyang Tong, who was third on the team with 170 points a year ago, also returns for his last year, and has ice in his veins, sinking multiple game-winners a season ago.
 
The Bisons also return Kazadi, who sat out last year due to injury, along with 6'7" Hudson Wollf, who has an enormous wing span and competes board for board in practice with O'Hara. Their depth was increased even further with the addition of impact recruits Ramogi Nyagudi and Ethan Wiebe.
 
The 6'9" Wiebe was a high school teammate of Dyck's at Garden Valley and was the AAA Male Player of the Year in his senior year. Schepp noted that he's "been even better than we thought he was going to be and is challenging the veteran guys for playing time immediately."
 
Nyagudi – "one of the top talents of this generation of Manitoba athletes" – was the prized recruit in the country, and has been immediately inserted into Manitoba's starting lineup. A shut down defender who can lock down one through five, the St. Paul's grad most recently played at the NCAA Division 1 level for the St. Thomas Tommies in St. Paul, Minnesota.
 
Prior to that, he donned the red and white, representing Canada at the FIBA U18 Men's AmeriCup in 2024, where Canada defeated the Dominican Republic to secure bronze. Nyagudi averaged 4.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists during the tournament. 


 
"Ramogi fits in great, because he has the same competitive fire that the older guys have," said Schepp.
 
"The biggest thing about Ramogi is that he's a talent that we don't get in U SPORTS very often. He still has a lot of learning to do, and that's one of his biggest goals for the season is just to learn and grow. It's a really good opportunity for him to be with a veteran team, to get as much as he possibly can from those guys."
 
Manitoba opens their regular season at 8 pm tonight against Brandon on the road.