Basketball Manitoba is recognizing three Manitoba athletes who are extending the province’s presence onto two major intercollegiate championship stages this spring, led by Shadrak Lasu and his Long Island University squad reaching the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Lasu’s run to March Madness headlines a Manitoba storyline that also includes Beth Johnson of the University of Illinois and Josh Brown of Southwest Minnesota State University, who are set to compete at the 2026 National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament. Shadrak came out of the Northstar Prep basketball program in Winnipeg.
From Winnipeg to one of the biggest stages in college basketball, Lasu and the Long Island Sharks have put together a breakthrough season. LIU finished the year at 24-10 overall and 15-3 in Northeast Conference play, won the 2025-26 NEC regular season and tournament titles, and earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2017-18 season. The Sharks are the No. 16 seed in the West Region and will open the tournament against No. 1 Arizona on Friday, March 20, at 12:35 pm Manitoba time in San Diego.
LIU’s NCAA path was unusual but fully earned. The Sharks secured the NEC’s automatic qualifier bid by defeating Wagner 64-56 in the semifinal round because Mercyhurst, the other finalist, is still in the process of reclassifying to Division I. LIU then removed any doubt by defeating Mercyhurst 79-70 in the NEC championship game in Brooklyn to capture the program’s seventh NEC tournament title.
Lasu has also contributed in key moments during the championship run. In the NEC semifinal win over Wagner that locked in LIU’s automatic NCAA berth, he posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. For Manitoba basketball supporters, his presence in March Madness gives the province a hometown connection to college basketball’s premier event and puts a Winnipeg athlete on the national stage in a major way.
Manitoba’s championship presence will continue into wheelchair basketball as Beth Johnson and Josh Brown prepare for the 2026 National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, which will take place April 1-4 at the University of Arizona’s McKale Center in Tucson. The event brings together top intercollegiate wheelchair basketball programs from across the United States and is one of the premier annual championships in the sport.
Johnson, a graduate of Churchill High School in Winnipeg, heads into nationals after competing for the University of Illinois women’s team through a 10-game regular season schedule. Illinois opened the season with wins over the Chicago Skyhawks and Chicago Hornets, then played a demanding slate that included games against WASA Marquette, Arizona, Alabama, and Texas at Arlington. The Illini closed the regular season with a March event in Arlington, Texas, facing Arizona, Alabama, and UTA.
Brown’s Southwest Minnesota State University team competed in the NWBA Intercollegiate Men’s division and finished the regular season with an 11-9 record. SMSU recorded wins over CUNY-Men and Edinboro, while also taking on strong national-level opponents, including Arizona and Auburn. In the final regular season standings, SMSU was listed sixth in the Intercollegiate Men's standings. Josh is a graduate of Miles Macdonnell Collegiate in Winnipeg.
Together, Lasu, Johnson, and Brown give Manitoba basketball a strong championship-season storyline across both the NCAA and wheelchair basketball landscapes. One athlete is taking Winnipeg pride into March Madness, while two more are carrying Manitoba representation into the national wheelchair tournament. It is a reminder that Manitoba athletes continue to make an impact across multiple pathways of the game, from the traditional university game to the highest levels of intercollegiate wheelchair basketball.
