Offseason news and notes from the MAC.
Akron
In four years as head coach at Akron, Keith Dambrot has turned the Zips into contenders in the MAC. The upcoming season may present his biggest challenge to date.
With the departure after last year of several key players including Nick Dials, Cedrick Middleton (who is a graduate assistant on the squad this season) and Jeremiah Wood, the Zips' roster features nine freshmen among 13 scholarship players, six of which are true freshmen.
Only two seniors appear on the 2008-2009 Zips' roster, which includes their leading returning scorer, Nate Linhart, who averaged all of 8.5 points per game last season.
The Zips have several quality "combo guards" available this season and will be moving Steve McNees to the two-guard spot which is his natural position after McNees handled the point last season. The Zips will likely be giving two freshman long looks at the point as redshirt freshman Ronnie Steward and true freshman Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens will be battling for the role.
But more intriguing will be who the Zips turn to replace playmaking frontcourt performer Jeremiah Wood who led the team in scoring and rebounding last season on his way to second-team All-MAC honors. In fact it will probably fall to a pair of players to offset the loss of Wood.
Brothers Brett and Chris McKnight will likely be called upon early to fill the Wood void as the coaches like their ability to stretch the floor and to open up the driving lanes underneath. Newcomers Nikola Cvetinovic, a 6-7, 230-pound forward who is a native of Serbia, and fellow freshman Andre Parrish (6-8, 225), a banger out of Dayton, are also high on the coaches' list of players that could make a move in camp.
Meanwhile the biggest story coming out of Akron was Dambrot's recruiting coup of 7-foot center Zeke Marshall who verbally committed to the Zips after being pursued by Pittsburgh, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Marshall, considered a top 100 recruit nationally out of McKeesport (Penn.) HS won't be available to suit up until the 2009-2010 season but should give the rest of the MAC plenty of pause if he does wind up signing with the Zips, giving the Zips potentially an imposing post player for several seasons to come.
Ball State
While the Cardinals are still rebuilding, there is at least a sense of better direction than there was at this time last season under second-year head coach Billy Taylor.
It was shortly before the summer in 2007 that Taylor was hired away from Lehigh to lead the Cardinals' program. Ball State wanted desperately to quickly move from under the dark cloud that was cast over the program in one short season under Ronny Thompson. From bitter feelings in the community to a lack of focus on the team, Taylor stepped into a chaotic situation and managed to bring stability and direction to the program.
While the team struggled to a 6-24 finish, there was never a sense of panic of serious discord, thanks in large part to the senior leadership of point guard Peyton Stovall. He was the team leader both on and off the court. Stovall was also the team's lone senior -- his absence presents a major void that will need to be filled this season.
While the Cardinals do lose Stovall, they are far from lacking in returning talent and will likely look to senior forward Anthony Newell, who led the team in scoring and rebounding last season and along with sophomore Malik Perry, form a fairly imposing frontcourt. Their development, both in terms of leadership and on-court performance, will be important themes in the preseason.
The real log jam, and the area likely to have the most spirited and intense competition however will be in the Cardinals' backcourt.
Noticeable by their absence this season will be guards Melvin Goins, Deontay Twyman and Rashuan McLemore who fell out of favor last season under Taylor and opted to leave the program, leaving the backcourt wide open for competition for open spots among five other returning players, led by seniors Laron Frazier, Brandon Lampley and Rob Giles, at guard in addition to a pair of new recruits in Pierre Sneed out of Chicago and Brawley Chisholm, a junior college transfer from Western Texas College.
Complete Cardinals team report
Bowling Green
A funny thing happened along the way in what was expected to be a rebuilding season in Bowling Green under first-year head coach Louis Orr -- the Falcons put together a solid season and established a surprisingly efficient regular rotation.
If not for a bit of a late-season swoon, the Falcons were in position to finish with a winning divisional mark, but still managed to finish respectably in the highly competitive MAC East. Of course that only raises expectations for the upcoming campaign.
The Falcons return every player from last season, led by senior forward Nate Miller who topped the squad with 13.2 points per game, topped the team in steals and was second in rebounding. Alongside Miller in the frontcourt will be Chris Knight who topped the team in rebounding in his freshman season.
Bowling Green also returns two post-season award winners from the 2007-2008 season with the return of MAC Sixth Man of the Year, guard Brian Moten who topped the squad in assists, and MAC All-Freshman performer, two guard Joe Jakubowski.
The Falcons' frontcourt should receive a significant boost this season if forward Erik Marschall is able to return from injury, and all early indications early are that the junior forward's rehabilitation from a season-ending knee injury is ahead of schedule. Marschall's presence would add a tough, physical dimension to their already solid rotation that included regular contributions by centers Otis Polk and Marc Larson who split duty.
With so much experience returning, it may be tough for the newcomers to crack the rotation but all three of Orr's incoming recruits will likely get at least a look early on to make an impression with forwards Austin Calhoun and Scott Thomas and guard Dee Brown having to battle against some significant game experience on the Falcons' roster this season.
The level of experience returning this season may actually allow Orr and the Falcons the luxury of redshirting some players this season after only having ten players on the active roster last season.
Buffalo
This season has the makings of a watershed year in the Reggie Witherspoon era at UB.
The Bulls are coming off a 10-20 campaign, during which the Bulls won only three conference games, their third consecutive losing conference season. The Bulls have not finished with a winning conference mark since making it to the MAC title game in 2005 and the pressure is mounting on Witherspoon to turn the corner this season.
The good news is that the Bulls return their top eight scorers from last season, but the squad will need to show it is ready to develop some consistent performances this season.
Leading the returning Bulls is senior shooting guard Andy Robinson who paced the team in scoring and steals last season but like most of the Bulls was inconsistent, shooting only .391 from the perimeter and .344 from beyond the 3-point line. Robinson made some unfortunate headlines at the end of last season when he posted an ad on his Facebook page offering to pay someone to write a course paper. He was suspended from the team but is currently back on the roster.
Among the returning players, junior wing Calvin Betts had the most successful campaign in 2007-2008, coming off the bench in all 30 games but leading the team in rebounding and finishing second on the squad with an 8.9 point per game average. Betts earned MAC Report Online's nod as the MAC Sixth Man of the Year last season but may be called upon to enter the starting rotation this season.
The Bulls are also keeping a cautious eye on the recovery from injury of big man Vadim Fedotov who went down with a season-ending injury just fourteen games into the 2007-2008 season and the Bulls sorely missed the presence of the 6-9, 260 pound forward in the post.
If the Bulls' interior shortcomings weren't enough, the team never really developed a reliable point guard and juniors Byron Mulkey and Rodney Pierce will be on the spot in the early going this season as the Bulls need either or both to become key contributors. Guard Sean Smiley could also get some consideration to start this season after averaging 8.0 points per game but Smiley is likely going to remain an off the bench option at two-guard if he doesn't improve on his assist-to-turnover ratio.
The new arrivals do not appear to offer much immediate help but the Bulls will likely give a long look to 6-9 freshman forward Mitchell Watt out of Goodyear (AZ) Eagle HS. Watt initially committed to Cornell and had visits to Pepperdine and Rutgers before signing with the Bulls. Watt has a smooth shot but his 210 pound frame is likely a little too slender to handle low post action. Witherspoon also inked 6-3 185 pound sophomore scoring guard Zach Filzen who is transferring from Northern Arizona where he averaged 6.6 points per game but will not be available until the 2009-2010 season under NCAA transfer rules.
The bottom line this season will lie in whether the Bulls' veteran returning starters are able to build off their playing time last season and are ready to step up. If not, Witherspoon's continued tenure at Buffalo is far from certain.
Central Michigan
Central Michigan enters the preseason looking to build upon the tough-mindedness of third-year head coach Ernie Zeigler, who has posted more victories in his first two seasons (27) than the program had compiled in the three combined seasons (20) immediately before his arrival.
"We look for physical, tough players," said Zeigler. "Our defense sets the tone for us offensively and allows us to get into transition."
Zeigler has also been a tenacious recruiter and recently landed a pair of junior college transfers that should add depth and more of that defensive toughness with the arrival of sophomore wing Antonio Weary out of Hutchinson CC in Los Angeles, a player that Zeigler watched in high school while he was an assistant coach at UCLA before arriving at CMU, and Jacolby Hardiman, another wing, out of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Both players come in with strong credentials as scoring, rebounding forwards who could earn starting time.
The pair of newcomers will be counted on to bolster the Chippewas' frontcourt and compete alongside veterans Marcus Van, who has been reinstated to the team after being suspended from the squad prior to the MAC Tournament due to off the court matters, and Marko Spica for playing time.
Meanwhile the Chips will be looking to replace standout point guard Giordan Watson who was a four-year starter at the point and left CMU as the school's all-time leader in assists, steals and 3-pointers.
Former walk-on, junior guard Robbie Harman, one of the MAC's top 3-point marksmen last season, is expected to contend for the starting role but redshirt freshman William Eddie III and true freshman Adrian Hunter could be new faces in the backcourt this season. Eddie in particular is considered to be the team's best pure point guard and gained valuable insight by watching Giordan Watson last season.
MAC All-Freshman honoree Jeremy Allen is a virtual lock as the starting two-guard.
Complete Chippewas team report
Eastern Michigan
The Eagles enter 2008-2009 with a renewed sense of optimism thanks to significant chatter among MAC hoops followers that Eastern Michigan will be considered among the favorites in the MAC West this season.
Coming off a second-place finish last season the Eagles are hopeful that they will be able put a more balanced squad on the floor this season and are banking on the return of 2006-2007 MAC All-Freshman forward Brandon Bowdry, who missed the 2007-2008 campaign with a foot injury, to provide both scoring punch and an interior presence.
EMU lived and died last season by the 3-pointer, having to offset a weak post presence and the Eagles weren't shy about launching treys, shattering the team record for 3-point attempts. But that should change this season with the team welcoming back the 6-6 Bowdry who should provide support to fellow frontcourt mate, 6-8 senior forward Justin Dobbins, a player the coaches expect should be able to average double-digits in rebounds.
With Bowdry and Dobbins in the fold together, the Eagles plan to implement a mid-range game that will focus less on 3s while working the ball down low with the hope of getting to the free-throw line more frequently and having more traditional three-point opportunities.
Key to the plan for this season will be the leadership of senior point guard Carlos Medlock who was the Eagles' leading scorer last season and will now have more weapons at his disposal.
Kent State
Geno Ford moved over one chair on the Kent State bench, assuming the head coaching role for the Golden Flashes after Jim Christian left to take the lead chair at Texas Christian after six successful seasons at Kent State.
During Christian's tenure the Flashes racked up 20 wins or more in each season and entering this season are one of only seven Division I teams to post at least 20 wins in each of the last ten years.
Ford, a former standout guard at Ohio, spent four seasons as an assistant at Kent State and takes over a veteran crew as it prepares to defend its conference title.
The team welcomes back MAC Player of the Year, guard Al Fisher who paced the team in scoring and assists last season as well as returning starters, guard Chris Singletary and Jordan Mincy, probably the team's top returning defender. But there will be some significant holes to fill as well.
Gone is 2007 MAC Defensive Player of the Year Haminn Quaintance who frequently energized the squad and his tenacious defense and exuberance were often catalysts for the Flashes in tight games. Also missing will be fellow front court mate Mike Scott who was the team's top rebounder. But there could be reinforcements in the addition of two good-sized frontcourt recruits.
The team is especially anxious to see how junior college transfer Frank Henry-Ala will fit in. He certainly has the size and credentials. The 6-foot-6 Henry-Ala could play the three or four while 6-foot-8 true freshman Justin Greene could earn some early playing time with the Flashes undersized in the post following the departure of little-used 7-foot center Gabe Garcia who transferred to Ashland in the offseason. Though Garcia did not see significant playing time it was thought that he would team with 6-10 Brandon Parks in the frontcourt in the upcoming season.
The depth of the Flashes will likely be the key again this season to their hopes of repeating as MAC champs as they return several role players who contributed significant minutes in 2007 including the MAC's leading 3-point shooter in senior forward Rashad Woods and guards Rodriguez Sherman and Mike McKee all of whom average better than five points per game.
For a first-time Division I head coach Geno Ford, thanks to some nice returning depth, finds himself in better shape than most first-year coaches find themselves when taking over a program.
Complete Golden Flashes team report
Miami (Ohio)
Typically the big news around campus in September surrounds a team's incoming recruiting class or whether its returning starters will make a difference. While that is certainly part of the discussion in Oxford, the real talk around Miami is the return of its venerable head coach, Charlie Coles. He's back after a serious health scare sidelined him for the finish of the MAC season.
Coles, the dean of MAC head coaches, entering his 13th season as the head coach at his alma mater, is set to return to the bench after undergoing heart bypass for a second time and then underwent gall bladder surgery in the spring for good measure. There may not be a tougher person, player or coach, in the MAC.
The 66-year-old Coles, who first had heart bypass surgery in 1986, went under the knife for a second time on the eve of the MAC Tournament last season but is now back to head up the team behind the bench. Coles handed things over to associate head coach Jermaine Henderson for the remainder of last season, including their appearance in the CBI Tournament.
Four returning starters will greet Coles this season as the RedHawks return significant experience at several positions, but will nonetheless have to fill a very large void that was left by the graduation of Tim Pollitz who had the unusual distinction of leading the team in both assists and rebounds and was second on the squad in scoring.
The RedHawks' returning depth however this season is among the deepest in the MAC and includes the return of leading scorer and shot blocker, forward Michael Bramos, their second-leading rebounder in center Tyler Dierkers and hot-shooting guard Kenny Hayes.
With so much veteran depth, there will likely be several redshirts among Miami's incoming recruits who will likely provide good practice competition but are not necessarily expected to make a contribution this season but one to watch for early playing time will be 6-8, 255 pound power forward Julian Mavunga whose imposing stature reminds some of former Ohio standout Leon Williams and would provide some needed post size.
Northern Illinois
This may be the second season under the direction of head coach Ricardo Patton, but with so many new faces on the Huskies' squad this year, another round of introductions may be in order.
The Huskies stumbled to a 6-22 finish in Patton's first season, but the former Colorado head coach will have a chance to put his stamp on this year's NIU hoops squad with several fresh faces on the roster, including eight underclassmen.
The Huskies, however, did unearth a potential building block among the rubble last season as sophomore guard Darion Anderson emerged to earn MAC Freshman of the Year honors and was the only Huskie to average double-digit scoring (12.2 points per game) while leading the team in assists and finishing second on the team in rebounding.
While Anderson flourished under Patton's demanding coaching style, several others wilted and left the program. Those losses, combined with the departure of five seniors, opens the gate to some wide open competition across the board heading into 2008-2009.
The Huskies lacked anything resembling an inside game last year but will be banking on the emergence of Colorado transfer Sean Kowal, a 6-11, 240 pound sophomore who sat out last season after transferring from the Buffaloes. Kowal played in 27 games for the Buffs as a freshman, averaging less than nine minutes per game but Kowal's size could be a handful down low in the under-sized MAC.
Patton's Colorado ties also led to the signing of another Buffaloes refugee that made some news in DeKalb in the offseason.
Xavier Silas was inked and will have junior eligibility when he becomes eligible in 2009-2010, but Silas proved to be a difficult player to handle at Colorado and was dismissed from the squad by head coach Jeff Bzdelik in February. At the time of his dismissal Silas was third in scoring on the Buffaloes, averaging 9.7 points per game after starting in 19 of 27 games.
Silas recently was part of the ReachUSA team of collegiate players that toured China and the shooting guard led the squad, averaging 14 points per game.
Kowal however will join seven others on the NIU roster that will be making their Huskies debut this season in what could end up being either the foundation in establishing the Ricardo Patton era at NIU or simply another year of rebuilding.
Ohio
Changes abound in Athens with the arrival of a new coaching staff and the loss of the team's leading scorer and rebounder in perennial All-MAC standout Jerome Williams and 3-point sharpshooter Bubba Walther. In fact, the Bobcats' new coaching regime will be tasked with replacing three of the team's top four point producers from last season.
But considering his reputation as one of the nation's top recruiters while an assistant at Ohio State, new Bobcats head coach John Groce will have plenty of opportunity to demonstrate his recruiting acumen as he assumes the reins of the program following the departure of Tim O'Shea who left after seven seasons.
The immediate task at hand will be in trying to find a replacement for Williams and a lot of that responsibility will likely fall to returning starter, senior forward Jerome Tillman who was second on the squad in scoring and rebounding behind Williams. His development in the post, along with Justin Orr, the team's leading returning 3-point shooter, will be factors to watch in the early stages of the Groce era as the new coach plans to employ an up-tempo aggressive style of play.
"We are going to attack and go after people," said Groce. "But it will be more of an attacking through adaptability -- I am not going to be foolish enough to design a system that does not fit (our) personality and strengths."
Some of those strength areas have likely yet to be fully developed in the early stages of camp as the team will need newcomers to step up in the face of losing so much firepower, particularly on the perimeter. Michael Allen will likely handle the point again but the coaches may look for more scoring punch out of him as well.
With a new coaching staff in place, loyalty is not an issue and newcomers such as freshman guard Stacey Waters as well as redshirt power forward Maurice Pearson and fellow redshirt, 6-foot-11 Zach Nagtzaam, will get some serious consideration for playing time particularly with depth being a likely issue.
Toledo
When former Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross was named as the new head coach following the dismissal of Stan Joplin, he knew he would likely have some rebuilding to do. He didn't likely anticipate the turn of events that leaves an indelible scar over the Rockets' hoops program.
Taking over a team that lacked any meaningful depth, the Rockets frequently only played a seven- or eight-man rotation last season. Cross now must deal with some of the fallout from the recent allegations that former Rocket Sammy Villegas, and possibly others, was involved in point-shaving. While the allegation goes back two seasons before Cross' arrival, it will surely only make a difficult job even more difficult.
There was a serious lack of depth in Joplin's final campaign as last season's recruiting class never really materialized as five of the eight new recruits never made it onto campus. Additionally, the 2006-2007 MAC Defensive Player of the Year, Kashif Payne, was a mysterious absence from the team most of the season and is gone from the program. Despite the turmoil, coming only one year after the Rockets claimed a MAC regular season title in 2006-2007, there are some building blocks remaining for Cross.
Pressed into extended duty, guard Tyrone Kent responded by leading the MAC in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game and will be counted on again to be a major contributor again this season. Joining him in returning this season is senior forward Jonathan Amos who led the MAC in steals. Amos, Kent and guard Ridley Johnson all averaged at least thirty minutes per game last season and the team will be seeking depth to take the burden off its starters.
Among the newcomers that will have a chance to get some playing time is 6-10 center Ian Salter out of Fairfax, CA. Salter had interest from several schools until knee surgery scared several away. If Salter is ready for Division I competition he could turn out to be Cross' top recruit and provide the Rockets a strong interior post presence.
But Cross' own recruiting class also suffered a blow when late signee Ed Tucker, a JUCO point guard out of Highland (Ill.) CC, left before ever suiting up. Tucker's departure leaves the Rockets without an experienced true point guard on the squad, a role that Tucker was expected to fill this season.
With Tucker out of the picture, the team will likely need to speed up the development of true freshmen Larry Batsfield out of Baltimore and late-signee Clayton Sterling out of Brooklyn (NY) as potential starters at point guard.
If the Rockets can't develop better depth this season, it could prove to be a rough rookie season for Cross.
Western Michigan
Years from now, when Western Michigan's basketball players get together, they'll likely reminisce about the fine season they put together in 2007-08 after a rough start in the nonconference portion of their schedule.
In the short term, however, they'll probably be upset about the way they were passed over by not one, but two secondary postseason tournaments.
Despite posting a 20-12 record, winning the Mid-American Conference West championship, and gaining the No. 2 seed for the league tournament, Western Michigan was bypassed for all three college postseason tournaments.
That the Broncos weren't picked for the NCAA Tournament was no surprise. But they felt they should have been included in either the NIT or the new College Basketball Invitational. Akron of the MAC was selected for the NIT, and MAC members Ohio and Miami were tapped by the CBI.
Western Michigan beat Akron by 20 points in the regular season and lost to the Zips by 11 in the MAC tournament. The Broncos beat Miami and lost to Ohio in close regular-season games.
The Broncos didn't put themselves on the national radar as they posted a 6-7 record in the first two months of the season. They smoothed out their inconsistent play early in January by winning seven of their first nine MAC games.
Western Michigan was a good team the rest of the season. It battled Kent State for the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament, but remained a step behind the Golden Flashes after a nine-point loss at Kent in late January.
Senior center Joe Reitz and sophomore guard David Kool might have given the Broncos the best 1-2 combination in the MAC. They were the top scoring duo in league games, and both earned spots on the five-player All-MAC team.
