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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘One good season and your life can change'
It was approximately 1 a.m. on Tuesday when Mason Kraus, exhausted and bleary-eyed, touched down in Winnipeg after 28 hours of delay and layover-filled travel from Chile. The 23-year-old was happy to be home but didn't regret it for a second. 'It was not great, but I'd do it again,' Kraus said Wednesday. AXEL CHRISTIANSEN PHOTO University of Manitoba Bisons guard Mason Kraus captained Team Canada to a second-place finish at the FIBA U23 3X3 Nations League tournament. The local hoops standout recently made his international debut, leading Team Canada to a runner-up finish at the FIBA U23 3X3 Nations League tournament in Punta Arenas. Kraus, a Canada West First Team All-Star guard with the University of Manitoba Bisons and 2025 second-round draft pick of the Winnipeg Sea Bears, was never supposed to play in the event, but after a player dropped out last minute, he was asked to meet the team in South America on three days' notice. Shortly after arriving, Kraus was named the team's captain by his teammates before the tournament began. 'To be the captain of the team after basically not going to the thing, it's a crazy confidence boost and… it was crazy to see that, 'Mason is our guy,' and put straight faith into me,' he said. The event was taxing. Teams played six three-game tournaments — a total of 18 games — in seven days. Team Canada won the fourth stop and recorded a pair of second and third-place finishes along with a fourth-place finish in the other legs, ending second in points behind the U.S. in the Americas 2 conference. With a win, the Americans earned an automatic berth to the Nations League Final, which takes place in Xiong'an, China, in September. Meanwhile, Team Canada's fate is in the hands of a selection committee, which will decide whether it qualifies for the league final via a wild-card spot. 'It was a great experience,' Kraus said. 'Obviously, everyone plays different types of basketball, but I've never played at that level. It was a great learning experience, and meeting guys that I played through U Sports.' Also donning the Maple Leaf were Ethan Boag and Shadynn Smid, who have played against Kraus in the Canada West conference over the years as members of the University of Victoria Vikes, along with fellow U Sports players Tate Christiansen, Owen Kenney and Yohann Sam. 'It was crazy just to see them, and just learn things about how they prepare,' Kraus added. 'And then from the basketball standpoint, it was kind of a confirmation that I'm as good as I think I was, and I was able to show that I'm actually able to play at that level.' In 3X3, coaches are not permitted to be on the sideline during games. So it's often up to the team captain to draw up plays during timeouts, which Kraus did effectively. 'To be the captain of the team after basically not going to the thing, it's a crazy confidence boost.'–Mason Kraus The 6-3, 180-pound guard had never played 3X3 competitively beyond a few local tournaments, but his skill set as an excellent shooter and defender made for a smooth transition from five-on-five. 'The one big difference was passing,' he said. 'There's different passes you're supposed to do, and just picking up those little nuances of the game was a little interesting to start, but I feel like I'm a fast learner, and I was able to pick it up.' Played using one basket in a half-court setting, the game moves faster, and the passing windows are tighter. Kraus, who prides himself on being a well-conditioned athlete, noted the pace of the smaller game also requires a player's stamina to be akin to a hockey player's, with his time on the court mimicking a shift on the ice. 'It's funny because the game is 10 minutes long — a normal basketball game is 40 — but there were times I was playing the three's and I'm like, 'I've never been this tired in my life,' and I just played for like 45 seconds straight and that's it,' he said. Kraus won't have much time to rest at home. In fact, he will be living out of a suitcase for the rest of the summer. On Sunday, he and the Manitoba Bisons will depart for Portugal to play a trio of exhibition contests against local teams to prepare for the upcoming U Sports season. Kraus will only be there for nine days before he catches another flight to Paraguay, where he will rep the Maple Leaf once again in 3X3 at the Junior Pan Am Games. It's a jam-packed schedule that won't return him home until the end of August, when he'll have a few days to rest before his university classes resume. However, just like his time in Chile, Kraus wouldn't trade these experiences for anything. 'It's funny because the game is 10 minutes long — a normal basketball game is 40 — but there were times I was playing the three's and I'm like, 'I've never been this tired in my life,' and I just played for like 45 seconds straight and that's it.'–Mason Kraus 'It's been insane, but this is what I always tell my U of M guys: I've had a good U Sports career, but really the last season is kind of what put me on the map. And I always tell them, 'You only need one really good season… and everything else can change,'' he said. 'It's just crazy. One good season and your life can change.' Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. When Kraus returns to the Bisons for his fifth and final season this fall, he is certain teammates and coaches will see a much wiser player, thanks to an already monumental year on the court. 'Little things like that, where I was able to almost take a leadership to a coaching (role), it just builds so much confidence in myself,' Kraus said. 'I'm just excited to be able to bring back my experiences and what I've learned this summer and just apply it.' X: @jfreysam Joshua Frey-SamReporter Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh. Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Wheelchair basketball training camp no airball
Bethany Johnson was all smiles Tuesday at the Sport for Life Centre — even though she'll be forced to wear a shoulder sling while she recovers. Johnson, a 23-year-old from Winnipeg, and the Canadian senior women's national wheelchair team are in town for a seven-day training camp that wraps up Wednesday. Five members of the Canadian men's NextGen under-23 squad also made the trip, leading to some hard-fought scrimmages between the two sides. After suffering an injury on Monday, Johnson is capping off camp in her hometown by watching from the sideline. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Canadian women's wheelchair basketball head coach Michele Sung plans to continue to hold the week-long training camp annually in Winnipeg. 'It was nothing too dramatic. I was going up for a late shot at the end of the clock and this really big dude named Jeffer Ward, who has a lot of muscles, hit it really hard and something went clunk. We'll recover,' said Johnson with a laugh. 'We've got some guys who are really committed to the sport who want to be out here and get some reps with us. They're able to push us, a lot of them are bigger, faster, some of them are a little taller, so, they're able to give us some really good competition at our camps.' It's the second year in a row Winnipeg has hosted a week-long training session. The plan is for it to be the norm moving forward as University of Manitoba Bisons women's basketball head coach Michele Sung took over the women's wheelchair program last year ahead of the 2024 Paris Paralympics. 'I think it's nice to really see how Sport Manitoba can support a national team here,' said Johnson, who's heading into her final year playing at the University of Illinois. 'The gym is a great facility, especially with having a weight room upstairs, and a clinic on site, I think it's a really good system.' Despite being brought in towards the end of the last quadrennial, Sung managed to lead the red and white to a fourth-place finish in Paris which was the best result the Canadian women have had in 20 years since a third-place showing at 2004 Athens. 'Michele came to the program really last minute. She's been really good to finally have some more stability in the team and she's very levelheaded and will listen,' said 24-year-old Puisand Lai, who hails from Toronto and has represented the country at the last two Paralympics. 'She also brings a new perspective to the team. I think she's been really great. She comes from a standup background, so it's been kind of nice to almost learn from a totally new perspective and I think it goes both ways as well.' Canada lost a 72-61 heartbreaker to Netherlands in the semifinal before falling 65-43 to China for bronze. 'Based on all of the challenges, and what I had been told, I just really wanted to be able to compete well against teams. And then as soon as we played fairly decent in that first game (a 70-65 loss to China), even though we didn't fully empty the tank, I was like 'OK, we're going for gold,'' said Sung, who grew up in Milgrove, Ont., but came to Winnipeg in 2006 to play five seasons for the Bisons. She's entering her 12th season coaching at the U of M. 'It was like an instant shift after Game 1. So, then it was tough to then play our worst basketball in the bronze medal game. I mean, that's sports, that's the way it goes… It's tough not to think about it, but we have a lot of work to do to consistently get podium finishes.' The next chance at a podium will be in Bogotá, Colombia, in August for the Americas Cup. After that, the focus will shift to the IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships (Sept. 9-19, 2026) and then the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Paralympian Puisand Lai (right) pursues a loose ball at the wheelchair basketball training camp on Tuesday at the Sport for Life Centre. 'Wheelchair Basketball Canada has started really focusing on bringing younger players up into the system, so that's been a really positive development,' said Johnson. 'I think once we can really gel between the seniors that have been around for ages, the brand new girls, and the kind of 'tweeners like I am, I think we're gonna have a really strong program pretty soon under Michele.' Two of the up-and-comers representing the NextGen men are Winnipeggers Bernard Rosello and Matthew Wilton. Rosello and Wilton recently wore the maple leaf in June at the Men's Under-23 World Championship in Brazil where they placed eighth. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'It was so fun. I love basketball, and the competition out there is incredible,' said Rosello, who was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency — a condition affecting the development of his hip and leg. 'I got to see what other countries are like and how strong their guys are, and it just makes me watch to push harder back at home. It lit a little bit of a fire under my ass.' Rosello, 20, has been playing wheelchair hoops since he was 12. The goal is to score an NCAA scholarship down south and to make the Canadian senior men's team ahead of LA 2028. 'It's going to be a lot of hard work, but I'm willing to go through it,' said Rosello. 'But if I'm not chosen, 2032 is always there. I'm young, and I know there's a lot of things I can work on. It's not going to be easy, and I'm ready for that.' Taylor AllenReporter Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor. Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nyagudi joins the Herd
A six-foot-nine, 220-pound forward from Winnipeg with NCAA experience don't come around very often. So, to say the University of Manitoba Bisons men's basketball program just landed themselves a game-changing prospect is no hyperbole. The Herd officially announced this week that Ramogi Nyagudi has transferred from the St. Thomas Tommies, an NCAA Div. I school based out of St. Paul, Minn., to his hometown Bisons. TAYLOR ALLEN / FREE PRESS Winnipeg-product Ramogi Nyagudi will suit up for the University of Manitoba this basketball season. The former St. Paul's High School standout was one of the most sought-after talents to come out of the Keystone Province in the past decade, but after only playing six games as a freshman down south, he was eager to pursue a new opportunity, and Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp was waiting happily with open arms. 'Right now, I just want to play basketball. I just want to hoop, and play as much as I can and get as good with the amount of years that I have to play because I know basketball is going to end for myself at some point,' said Nyagudi, who left the city in Grade 12 to play prep basketball at DME Academy in Wisconsin, in front of a room of reporters at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on Friday. 'But I just want to be the best player that I can possibly be. And, right now, I'm making the decision to come back home… There was a gut feeling that I had, with a lot of prayer and talks with my family, this was a decision that I had to make. So far, I'm very happy that I did.' Things didn't go according to plan at St. Thomas as he played a grand total of 33 minutes and scored just six points. It got to a stage where Nyagudi contemplated quitting the sport altogether. Nyagudi helped guide St. Paul's to back-to-back provincial titles in 2022 and 2023 and represented Canada at the FIBA U18 Men's AmeriCup in 2024. 'But I would always wake up the next morning and be back in the gym again because I love this sport so much,' said Nyagudi. 'The support system that I have with my family, with constantly being able to call different coaches back at home, like Dan Becker (provincial team coach) that I am always able to have a conversation with about basketball, and coach Kirby, he was a mentor. He wasn't trying to recruit me or do any of this stuff that other coaches are trying to do, he was really just trying to get me to the next level and be as successful as I can.' If things go well, Nyagudi is open to the idea of returning to the NCAA. But for as long as Schepp has Nyagudi in his building, he's going to squeeze everything he can out of him. 'I think he has the ability to be an elite, elite defensive player at all positions. That's a really big piece of him,' said Schepp. 'Where he has to grow, and I think he has tremendous talent in this area, is on the offensive end and making reads as all young players do and that's going to be our focus moving forward. I think he can play at the highest levels of professional basketball, but we try not to focus on that so much. How do we just take the next step in helping him get better right now this year?' Nyagudi joins a Bisons squad that's already loaded and didn't lose a single player to graduation this off-season. They went 17-6 last year en route to dropping the Canada West bronze medal game to the Victoria Vikes. Nyagudi will likely slot in at power forward in a starting five unit that will feature guards Mason Kraus and Daren Watts, small forward Manyang Tong, and forward Cieran O'Hara. 'I think we were a national contender even before (Nyagudi) walked in the door,' said Schepp. 'Last year, we lacked some size and depth, our forward positions were probably our only real weakness, and he certainly adds to that piece. I think we were the No. 2 rated defence in the country last year and I think we've just gotten significantly better in that area.' An additional bonus for Nyagudi returning home is that he would now be eligible for next summer's CEBL U Sports draft which would allow him to get a taste of the pro game while still at the U of M. 'It's definitely interesting to think about. Playing pro in your own city, people dream of doing that,' said Nyagudi. 'I didn't really think about it until I was told that I'd have the opportunity to do it. I'm definitely going to be looking forward to it.' 'But it wasn't a pull (for me to come to Manitoba), I was pulled because the coaches are great people, the team is great, they know what I'm trying to do and they want to develop me.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. The Canada West schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign is expected to be released next week. BISONS ADD SPANISH COMMIT Friday afternoon the Bisons also announced the signing of six-foot-eight guard Felipe Diaz of Spain. Diaz represented his country at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket and averaged 6.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists in seven games. Taylor AllenReporter Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor. Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
28-02-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Canada West Women's Volleyball Quarterfinal: Mount Royal vs. Manitoba
Watch the Mount Royal University Cougars battle the University of Manitoba Bisons in game one of this Canada West women's volleyball quarterfinal series from the Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg.
CBC
25-02-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Canada West Women's Volleyball: Quarter-final - Mount Royal vs Manitoba
Watch the Mount Royal University Cougars battle the University of Manitoba Bisons in game one of this Canada West women's volleyball quarter-final series from the Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg.
