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The University of Regina will have a men's basketball team with a completely new look this season, and that starts right at the top. The Cougars have a new bench boss as Steve Burrows takes over as the team's head coach following a long tenure at the U of R as an assistant.

The team loses three starters from last year's squad that went 7-15 in Canada West play, but return experienced guards Brendan Hebert and Darius Mole. Hebert started all 22 games for the Cougars and averaged over six assists per game, while Mole has long been a fan favourite at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport and will be counted on to help stabilize a youthful U of R squad.

Making his way back onto the Cougar roster is Will Tallman, who last played with Mount Royal and also suited up for the U of R back in 2008-09 as a first-year player. Tallman averaged 5.8 minutes per game that year, but he'll be counted on to play a much bigger role for the Cougars this season. Joining Tallman in the front court will be Lakeland College transfer Wesley Jones, who has already been turning heads with his abilities on the defensive side of the ball.

Fifth-year guard Addison Docherty is the lone player in his final season of CIS eligibility, while the Cougars will also look for big contributions from third-year players Matthew Augustine and Jeremy Zver. Augustine averaged over 10 minutes a game for the Cougars last season after transferring from Medicine Hat College, while Zver will look to get up to game speed in a hurry after missing much of the U of R's non-conference schedule as he's spent the fall as the starting left tackle for the school's football team.

The lone second-year player on the roster is forward Travis Sylvestre, who will look to build on a fine rookie campaign which saw his role increase dramatically as the season went on. Out of the eight first-year players on the roster, Brandon Tull (Ajax, Ont. / Phelps HS) has had the biggest impact so far and Burrows also expects Ryan Delwo (Regina, Sask. / Sheldon-Willams Collegiate), Luke Girke (Melbourne, Australia / St. Michael's), and Kade Marra (Melbourne, Australia / Elisabeth Murdoch College) to make contributions as rookies.

The new-look Cougars will be tested in a big way this weekend in their home openers against UBC and Victoria on Friday and Saturday nights at the CKHS, as both opponents advanced to the CIS Championship last year and enter the weekend ranked in the first CIS Top Ten of this season. No. 8-ranked UBC went 18-4 last year and captured the Canada West championship and will look to Brylle Kamen, David Wagner, and Tommy Nixon to help replace leading scorer Doug Plumb, who averaged 15.8 points per game last season while also leading the team in assists.

Victoria, which went 16-6 last year during the Canada West schedule, will square off with Brandon on Friday night before making the short trip west for Saturday night's game against the Cougars. The Vikes will be led by fifth-year forward Terrell Evans, who was the team's leading scorer last season with an average of just under 17 points per game and was named a Canada West second-team all-star for UVic.

Both games will be webcast at canadawest.tv.