CALGARY – A year after a heartbreaking loss at home in the conference championship tournament, the University of Calgary Dinos turned the tables on the UBC Thunderbirds last season, winning the Canada West title at Vancouver's War Memorial Gym. But it was the T-Birds that got the last laugh, defeating the Dinos in a hard-fought national semi-final in Ottawa to leave Calgary still searching for the school's first men's basketball national title.

The defending conference champs return four of five starters to the fold. The Dinos lost the services of Henry Bekkering, who is playing professional basketball in the Netherlands, but younger brother Ross Bekkering is the team's unquestioned leader and is back for his fifth and final season. After breaking the school's all-time career rebounding record midway through his fourth year, Bekkering was runner-up for the conference player of the year award and a second team All-Canadian in 2008-09.

After a solid summer with the national university team at the FISU Games in Serbia, Bekkering and fellow senior forward Robbie Sihota look to lead their squad to consecutive appearances in the national tournament in their final year of eligibility.

Swing man Tyler Fidler is back for his third season and will look for a breakout campaign, while senior Jamie McLeod provides a steady presence in the backcourt. Veterans Lindsay Thouret, Jordan Flagel, and Dustin Reding will provide depth and leadership on a squad that has its sights on winning it all.

“We're definitely a contender again this year,” said head coach Dan Vanhooren, who opens his 10th season at the helm of the program. “We're tougher defensively, we out-work teams, and we're executing better on offence. Our size up front is a huge advantage, giving us lots of second-chance opportunities that allowed us to average 70-75 shots per game in the pre-season.”

Vanhooren had a busy off-season recruiting and brought in several new faces that will be the faces of Dinos basketball in the future. The key new face is five-foot-nine point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson out of Winnipeg who will crack the starting lineup at the beginning of the year. A two-time provincial high school MVP in Manitoba, Ogungbemi-Jackson has impressive speed and is a tenacious defender.

“Jarred is very quick, he has great hands, and he has the ability to make players around him better,” said Vanhooren. “Having him out there with Jamie (McLeod) will be great experience for him. Jamie is still a leader with this team and a steady presence on the floor, and he's a great shooter.

Also joining the team are two players whose last names will be familiar to followers of CIS basketball: guards Dan Tilleman and Andrew McGuinness. McGuinness, the younger brother of former UBC women's star Erica, is a lights-out shooter from Handsworth in North Vancouver, while Tilleman is son of Dinos legend Karl Tilleman and joins the program from Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Ariz.

Other new faces on the roster include transfer Terrence Blake from SAIT and six-foot-eight forward Patrick Walker out of Bert Church High School in Airdrie, Alta.

Calgary played a limited pre-season schedule, but the Dinos made the most of their opportunities. Playing at one of the toughest non-conference tournaments in the nation, the Dinos swept through Western Ontario, Dalhousie, and host Laval in Quebec City last weekend to earn the tournament title.

The Dinos open the regular season against the Winnipeg Wesmen Friday and Saturday nights in the Jack Simpson Gym, with tip-off at 8 p.m.

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