U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Final 8 Preview: Dinos take on the country
By Maggie Hsu, March 15 2025—
Riding the high of their Canada West banner win, the Calgary Dinos now enter the U SPORTS Championships Final 8 in Vancouver looking to take national supremacy.
The Dinos are set to face off against the Queen’s Gaels at 6 P.M. MST for the third quarterfinal game of the tournament that can be watched for free on CBC Sports’ YouTube channel.
Let’s take a look at every team in tournament to see who the Dinos may face.
#1 – Ottawa Gee Gees
Starting with the top seeded Ottawa Gee Gees, they qualified for the tournament as the Ontario University Assocition (OUA) Champion. It’s their 15th appearance on the national stage but they have yet to come out on top with no U SPORTS banner in program history.
With OUA Defensive Player of the Year and OUA Third Team All-Star, Jacques-Melaine Guemata leading the charge for the Gee Gees with 347 points in 22 game played during the regular season including a 43.2 per cent field goal percentage, 52 assists and a team-leading 136 rebounds. He will be the one to look out for as Ottawa tries to top the nation and win their first national title.
#8 – Concordia Stingers
The Gee Gees will face the Concordia Stingers in their first quarterfinal game of the tournament. The At-Large Berth winner, the Stingers finished as the Quebec Students’ Sports Network’s (RSEQ) runner-up to the Bishop’s Gaiters in the RSEQ Championship. It’s their 23rd appearance at the nationals, having won one championship 35 years ago in 1990.
They are headlined by RSEQ First Team All-Star and Second Team All-Canadian Jaheem Joseph who’s dropped 208 points in 15 games played, shooting a 42.9 per cent from field goal range. However, the Stingers will have a tough challenge ahead of them with the top-seeded Gee Gees first on their docket.
#5 – Bishop’s Gaiters
The Gaiters enter the tournament as the RSEQ champions, holding the fifth seed of the tournament. It’s their ninth appearance on the national stage, having one championship in 1998.
RSEQ Player of the Year, RSEQ Ken Shields Nominee, RSEQ First Team All-Star and First Team All-Canadian, Charles Robert emerged as their leading scorer with 221 points in 14 games played, averaging 14.9 points per game and shooting an impressive 50.0 percent. The Gaiters open the tournament against the bronze-medal winners Victoria Vikes in their opening quarterfinals game.
#4 – Victoria Vikes
Facing the Gaiters in the quarterfinals, the Vikes qualified for the tournament as the bronze medal winners of Canada West. With the tournament hosts, UBC Thunderbirds earning an automatic bye, the Vikes serve as the pseudo-runner-up for the conference. Having gone undefeated in the regular season, the Vikes didn’t lose a game until the Canada West Semifinals when they lost to the Dinos, however they quickly recovered in the Bronze medal game to earn a berth into the U SPORTS Championships.
The Vikes will look to secure their ninth national title with their 28th appearance, the most by any team.
The Vikes are missing their 2024 Canada West First Team All-Star, Canada West Player of the Year and First Team All-Canadian, Diego Maffia following a season ending knee injury. However, the Vikes have survived fine without Maffia as players like Renoldo Robinson have stepped up to contribute a team-leading 307 points in 20 games played, the highest of a non-starter across all U SPORTS players. Robinson’s performance elevated him to the honour of being named Canada West First Team All-Star and First Team All-Canadian this season.
#6 – UPEI Panthers
The Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Champions, Panthers, enter the tournament as the sixth seed with their first quarterfinal game scheduled against the Canada West runner-up and tournament host, UBC Thunderbirds. Their ninth appearance in program history, they have yet to win a national championship so they will be hungry to make it to the end and come out on top.
Their squad is lead by AUS First Team All-Star, AUS Championship Tournament MVP, and AUS Championship Tournament All-Star Kyree Thompson and AUS Championship Tournament All-Star Kamari Scott who combined for 566 points this season with Thompson averaging 14.2 points per game and Scott closely behind at 14.1 points per game. The Thunderbirds will have a tough time defending both players when they’re on the court together as both are viable options for offensive production.
#3 UBC Thunderbirds
The Thunderbirds had an automatic bye into the tournament as the hosts for the 2025 U SPORTS Championships however, they earned their way as well having been a Canada West Finalist, falling second to the Dinos following last weekend’s championship game. It’s their 24th appearance but it’s been over 50 years since they’ve lifted McGee Trophy — having last won in 1972.
The Thunderbirds charge into the tournament with Canada West First Team All-Star Adam Olsen in the lead, having dropped 327 points in 20 games of regular season play, ranking him 28th in scoring.
#7 – Queen’s Gaels
The seventh seeded Gaels earned their berth in the tournament following their loss to the Ottawa Gee Gees in the OUA Championships. They are now on the path to redemption as they make their fourth appearance in the national tournament, with no banners in program history. It’s now their fourth straight appearance as well and they will look to change the story that’s been repeated for the past three years. Their first game of the tournament will be against the Canada West Champions, Calgary Dinos.
The Gaels are led by top-ten scorer in the nation, OUA Rookie of the Year, OUA First Team All-Star and OUA All-Rookie Oliver Engen who dropped 376 points in 20 games played this regular season.
#2 – Calgary Dinos
The Dinos make their 18th appearance in the national tournament, looking to add a second national banner to their collection at home. Serving the second seed of the tournament, the Dinos are standing strong but will face a tough opponent in the Queen’s Gaels in their opening matchup of the championship bracket.
The Dinos are headlined by Canada West First Team All-Star, Canada West Player of the Year and First Team All-Canadian Nate Petrone who is also the leading scorer of all U SPORTS players, dropping 484 points in 20 games played. Petrone boasts an impressive 56.8 per cent from field goal shooting range and has been known to be a tough forward to defend against with his versatility from 3-point range and deadliness from inside the paint. Combined with other shooting powerhouses in Noah Wharton, Aidan Smith and Dylan Lutes, as well as one of the strongest defensive teams in Canada West, they will be a tough team for anyone to get past in this tournament.