CALGARY – It's a year of transition for the University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team.

Transition from a veteran team with four fifth-year seniors to a group with 12 players in their third year or less. Transition from a post-oriented offence to one that will focus more on outside shooting. Transition from a 20-game, two-division conference schedule to a 24-game slate with all 13 teams lumped together in one division.

As head coach Dan Vanhooren enters his 11th season at the helm of the program, the Dinos will be reinventing themselves after two straight losses in the national semi-final to conference rival UBC.

The departure of two-time All-Canadian Ross Bekkering and conference all-star Robbie Sihota certainly left Vanhooren with big shoes to fill, but it's not a complete overhaul. Swing man Tyler Fidler is back for a fourth season, while point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson turned heads with his skill and speed in his freshman season a year ago. Jackson will miss the first part of the conference schedule with an ankle injury, however – providing another opportunity for a young player to step in.

“I think it's clear that we have enough talent to win some big games, but we'll also lack the experience sometimes to make that consistent,” said Vanhooren. “Our toughest challenge this year will be to maintain that consistency, and our season is really going to depend on how fast our young guys learn the little things you need to do in order to be successful.”

Consider the Dinos' two-game series back in August against Northern Arizona of the NCAA's Big Sky conference. On the strength of an outstanding shooting performance – 72 percent in the second half – Calgary blew out NAU 89-65. One night later, the shooters went cold, the defence struggled, and the Dinos found themselves on the wrong end of an 80-63 score.

“We're a team that's learning,” Vanhooren said. “We know we can play at that level – the question is, will it be for five minutes? A quarter? A game? Multiple games in a row? Our goal is to make the playoffs and give our guys a chance from there – and that will build the foundation for this program in the future.”

The future looks to be in good hands with the 2010 recruiting class, headlined by Abbotsford, B.C. native Matt Letkeman who dons the number 33 worn by Bekkering during his stellar five-year career. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound freshman out of Yale High School started a handful of games in the pre-season and will be a force down low for the Dinos. He's joined by Phil Labongo, the Manitoba high school player of the year out of Winnipeg's Dakota Collegiate, along with Josh Wolfram out of South Kamloops.

“Letkeman has an outstanding physical presence, but he has lots to learn,” said Vanhooren. “Once he gets experience, he's going to develop into something special, as will Labongo. He and Josh have both shown us some things in the pre-season that we're very happy with.”

Another notable new face is Keenan Milburn, a fourth-year transfer from SAIT who Vanhooren called “one of the best shooters I've ever coached.”

The Dinos open the season with a tough two-game series on the road against the Victoria Vikes Oct. 22-23 before returning home to face the Lethbridge Pronghorns Oct. 29-30 in their home opener.

-UC-