Young stars leading USask Huskies into 2024-25 men’s basketball season

Two full months aft their pre-season opener and 1 period pursuing the Ron & Jane Graham Shootout, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hoops squad is surely acceptable for the existent thing.

The squad yet got the 2024-25 Canada West play underway connected Friday, visiting the University of Calgary Dinos.

The Huskies are ranked eighth successful the pre-season coaches canvass aft rebounding past twelvemonth with a 11-9 record, a afloat six wins amended than their last grounds successful 2022-23.

While it was bully capable to get the Huskies backmost into the playoffs, they’ve seen an exodus of prima players with six graduations, including Alexander Dewar, Chan De Ciman, Tyrese Potoma and Fisayo Moibi.

“It’s pugnacious to regenerate large radical similar that,” said Huskies caput manager Jamie Campbell. “But we person got a batch of truly good, young, talented kids successful here. We got to unrecorded done immoderate of the young mistakes that they’re making. They’re showing a batch of large committedness for wherever they’re going to beryllium not conscionable this year, but wherever they spell implicit the future.”

At the defender position, the Huskies volition beryllium banking connected the continued maturation of Emmanuel Bonsu who is entering his 2nd play with the program.

This aft a stint astatine the NCAA Division I level with Stonehill College, with Campbell projecting him to beryllium 1 of the champion perimeter defenders successful the country.

That acquisition and watching the Huskies fifth-years past play has helped the Quebec merchandise hole for the larger workload expected successful 2024-25.

“It allowed maine to spot the level from a antithetic position due to the fact that it was my archetypal clip playing beneath each of these vets,” said Bonsu. “I truly got to beryllium a sponge past twelvemonth and soak up what I could.”

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Entering his 2nd twelvemonth of Canada West play, reigning league rookie of the twelvemonth Easton Thimm volition beryllium driving the Huskies offence from the guardant presumption aft averaging 9.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

Now, the signifier volition go adjacent larger for the erstwhile Holy Cross High Crusader.

“You ever privation to assistance the squad whichever way, whether that’s scoring oregon defence,” said Thimm. “If I bash pull attraction this year, I’m truly looking to grow my passing game.”

Falling successful their lone play-in circular crippled past February 62-55 to the Brandon Bobcats, the Huskies are determined to marque a deeper playoff tally this upcoming winter.

Something they’ll purpose to do, adjacent with a deficiency of post-secondary acquisition passim the lineup.

“I benignant of spot america arsenic a squad that’s going to beryllium a mode antithetic squad to spot successful February,” said Campbell. “A squad that could beryllium a precise hard out, if and erstwhile we marque the playoffs.”

The Huskies volition sojourn the Dinos connected Friday and Saturday earlier returning to the Physical Activity Complex the pursuing play for their location opener against the University of Manitoba Bisons connected Nov. 8.