The Bisons men’s basketball guard Tito Obasoto has stated that playing basketball has taught him life lessons.
Obasoto also expressed confidence in the team’s potential for success next season.
The Manitoban: Looking at the just-ended season for the men’s basketball team, what would you say about the entire performance of the team?
Obasoto: It was a very long season, but we put it all together at the right time. We proved to ourselves that we belong with the top teams in the nation. And that’s with the fact that we lost such a big piece and such a great player in Simon Hildebrandt. Although we did not reach where we wanted to reach, we showed, and we learned from these experiences that we are right there at the cusp.
M: I watched all your home games, and I was impressed with the way you guys played, especially team unity, team bonding, how you guys showed it on the court. How are you guys able to do that?
O: Well, a lot of us or a large number of us came in at the same time and we have all been playing together in the same city. We are all hometown kids, so we have been playing together since we were in grade seven, grade eight, high school. These are not just my teammates, these are my real friends and we spend a lot of time in the locker room outside of practice. We do a lot of team bonding and out of that came this selfless nature about our team, and that’s how we can show it on the court.
M: There is volleyball, there is football, there is soccer, but you chose to play basketball. What does it mean for you to play basketball?
O: It means the world to me. Basketball is a great avenue and has shown me aspects of life and given me experiences that I would not be able to get if I was not playing the sport. It is a great sport because you learn how to interact with people, you learn how to manage people, you learn how to laugh with people, you learn how to talk to people, you learn how to manage people’s emotions. And it is bigger than the sport. It has taught me how to be a good human being and how to be a good person and that is what basketball means to me honestly.
Image by Dave Mahussier
M: I watched all your home games and in some of the games, you guys managed to pull a comeback and that was absolutely fantastic. Which game would you say, ‘I really enjoyed this game today?’
O: I would say a couple. A lot of the times we’re going into big games as the underdog and that is what always fuels our comebacks, our tenacity. In terms of the games, we really showed that the most, I’d say one, our Calgary one [against the Calgary Dinos] when we played away, our TRU [Thompson Rivers WolfPack] game and also the U of W [Wesmen] games. Winnipeg is just always a big game because everyone in the city is always here. We have dropped a couple games to them in the past, so it just always means more. And for the Calgary game, just the powerhouse and the legacy that Calgary has and we had a point to prove and show that we belong and the fight that we showed at the end really meant something to me.
M: Looking at how the Bisons men’s basketball team performed in the just-ended season, I feel like the future is bright for this team.
O: I truly do believe that because this is a team that has played together for four years now and we’ve played a lot of big games. We obviously lost but there are a lot of games where we won, and we learned even in those losses. Next year is a chance for us to really put all those experiences together and the future is bright because we have been in those situations, and we are now seniors. We have a good chance of doing something great and we just have to put our head down and work and be consistent.
M: As a student-athlete, you are an engineering student and at the same time, you play for the Bison men’s basketball team. How are you able to combine the two?
O: It is very hard. I wouldn’t even say I am doing the best job at it, but it’s not different from the work you have to put into basketball. A lot of that just has to come with discipline and managing your time very well and prioritizing school, because for me, I love to work. I like to go to the gym, I like to go shoot after practice. I understand what I have to do to get better at basketball and I remain disciplined in that aspect of the work, and it translates over to school. I don’t view it as a lot because I know it’s just what I have to do. I just prioritize those things and everything else in my life falls around that.
