Bison Men’s Basketball
Team Could Be Best
in the West
Bisons Men’s Basketball recruit
James Wagner from John Taylor
By Scott Taylor, Photos by Jeff Miller
There was a time back in the 1970s and early ’80s when
the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s basketball team
was, consistently, among the best in the country. But then,
for almost 25 years, the U of M men’s team scuffled along
with too many weak recruiting years and too many losing
records. Then along came head coach Kirby Schepp.
University of Manitoba men’s basketball head coach
Kirby Schepp was a tremendous player who became an
even better coach. With all of his experience, he knows a
good team when he sees it. However, he’s also superstitious enough – as most coaches are – not to do or say anything stupid. He does not want to jinx a very good thing.
“Yeah, I think we have a pretty good team,” said Schepp
cautiously. “But Canada West is a great league and it’s a
long season. We’ll have to see how things go.”
Schepp is caught between a rock and a very hard place.
On one hand, he doesn’t want to expect things that might
not happen. He doesn’t want his team to get cocky. On the
other hand, he wants this very good local ball club to be
confident in its abilities and he also wants fans to flock to
the Investors Group Centre on the campus of the U of M
to watch this team play.
Fact is, if it’s not the best U of M team in almost 40
years, it’s easily the most entertaining.
And just to give two of the team’s most entertaining and
gifted athletes more of a leadership role, Schepp
announced that his two outstanding guards, Justus Alleyn
and AJ Basi would be his team captains this season.
“We are a veteran group and all of our players will be
leaders at different points in the
year,” Schepp said. “AJ has been with
the program for five seasons and he’s
been a leader on and off the court.
Justus competes every single play
and his and AJ’s worth ethic are
examples of we want to be and how
to achieve our goals this season.”
To have Basi and Alleyn as captains
was the perfect choice, but not a surprising one. After all, when he arrived
at the University of Manitoba,
Schepp had already been a good
player and a great coach.
A University of Winnipeg varsity
star who had become a highly-successful high school coach – his high
school teams reached seven MHSAA
Final Fours during a nine-year stretch
– Schepp was also an assistant coach
at the University of Winnipeg and
had coached a number of provincial
teams and elite club teams to successful finishes at national events.
Bisons co-captain
So when he showed up at the U of
Justus Alleyn
sportslife / 19