2015-16 Schedule
Nov. 13 at Xavier, 7 p.m.
Nov. 17 Kenyon, 7 p.m.
Nov. 20 Lipscomb, 7 p.m. &
Nov. 21 Fla. Atlantic, 3:30 p.m. &
Nov. 22 Northeastern, 3 p.m. &
Nov. 24 IPFW, 7 p.m.
Nov. 28 UCF, 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 5 at IUPUI, 1 p.m.
Dec. 13 Wright State, 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 15 Jackson State, 7 p.m.
Dec. 18 at Tenn. Tech, 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 22 at Dayton, 7 p.m.
Jan. 2 vs. S.C. State, 3:30 p.m.
Jan. 6 at Bowling Green, 7 p.m.
Jan. 9 Toledo, 4 p.m.
Jan. 12 at Kent State, 7 p.m.
Jan. 16 at Ball State, 2 p.m.
Jan. 19 Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Jan. 23 at Akron, TBA
Jan. 26 C. Michigan, 7 p.m.
Jan. 30 N. Illinois, 3:30 p.m.
Feb. 2 at E. Michigan, 7 p.m.
Feb. 6 Bowling Green, 3:30 p.m.
Feb. 9 at W. Michigan, 7 p.m.
Feb. 13 at Toledo, 7 p.m.
Feb. 16 vs. Ball State, 7 p.m.
Feb. 20 at Ohio, 2 p.m.
Feb. 23 Akron, 7 p.m.
Feb. 27 Kent State, 3:30 p.m.
March 1 at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
March 4 Ohio, 7 p.m.
ROSTER
Geovonie McKnight; G; 6-3; 181; Sr.
Zach McCormick; G; 6-2; 177; So.
Rod Mills; F; 6-7; 208; So.
Jake Bischoff; G; 6-3; 195; Jr.
Logan McLane; F; 6-9; 230; So.
LJ Livingston; F/C; 6-10; 200; Sr.
Jake Wright, G/F; 6-4; 190; So.
Jere Vucica; F; 6-9; 204; Sr.
Ali Barnes; G; 6-0; 183; So.
Dion Wade; G; 6-6; 180; So.
Kalif Wright; F; 6-7; 235; Sr.
Willie Moore; G; 6-3; 205; Sr.
Chris Bryant; F; 6-8; 217; Sr.
Abdoulaye Harouna; G; 6-5; So.
Brian Oddo; F; 6-6; 205; Sr.
Eric Washington; G; 5-10; 178; Sr.
As recently as last season, having four players sidelined with injuries would have decimated Miami’s men’s basketball team.
This season, it’s more like an inconvenience.
For the first time in his four seasons as coach, John Cooper has a full roster of scholarship players — 13 scholarships, 13 players, though 6-foot-4 guard-forward Jake Wright will sit out the season after transferring from The Citadel.
That still leaves Cooper with 15 players, but some might not be available due to minor injuries when Miami opens tonight at against Xavier at Cintas Center. For Cooper, that’s a luxury he’s been denied while going 35-59 in his first three seasons in Oxford.
“In the past, we didn’t have the numbers,” Cooper said. “Now, pending the injuries, we have numbers. We have seniors. We have depth in spots. Not only that, this is a group of guys that get along with each other.
“The question is, do they hold each other accountable on the court? I think this game will serve as a barometer of where we are.”
Besides just plain bodies, Miami also has experience on its side. Eight of the 15 available players are seniors and 10 are returning letterwinners, led by guards Geovonie McKnight and Eric Washington. The 6-3 McKnight, a former Middletown Middie, is in his fourth season and third as a starter. He’s played in every game of his Miami career and has a chance to break the career games record of 124, shared by Julian Mavunga and Will Sullivan.
The 5-10 Washington, who was eligible for the first time last season after transferring from Presbyterian, was named to the preseason All-Mid-American Conference East Division team after leading the RedHawks in scoring with an average of 14.2 points per game last season and adding 176 assists, the third-highest single-season total in program history.
Miami returns 78 percent of the scoring and 76.9 percent of the rebounding from last year’s 13-19 team. Also returning are senior guard Willie Moore, senior forwards L.J. Livingston, Chris Bryant, Brian Oddo and Kalif Wright, sophomore forwards Logan McLane and Rod Mills and sophomore guard Zach McCormick.
“When you walk into practice and see a team that has experience, it certainly makes things more efficient when it comes to teaching, because you’re dealing with a group that has some familiarity with how you do things,” Cooper said.
Cooper has complemented that crew with six new faces, including Wright. Jere Vucica, a 6-9 senior transfer graduate student who is immediately eligible after exhausting his eligibility at North Alabama, and sophomore guard Abdoulaye Harouna started Miami’s exhibition game against Ohio Midwestern. Harouna transferred from Southern Idaho. Junior guard Jake Bischoff and sophomore guards Ali Barnes, a Lakota West High School graduate, and Dion Wade are eligible after sitting out last season as transfers.
McCormick, Bischoff, McLane and Barnes were questionable earlier in the week due to minor injuries, but Cooper was hopeful to have all of them back soon. He’ll need them to weather a schedule that starts with a Musketeer team that makes annual visits to the NCAA Tournament. The RedHawks open their home season against Division III Kenyon on Nov. 17, followed by next weekend’s Men Against Breast Cancer Challenge — three games in three days against Lipscomb on Friday, Florida Atlantic on Saturday and Northeastern on Sunday.
The RedHawks’ home stand continues against IPFW on Nov. 24 and Central Florida on November 28. After traveling to IUPUI on December 5, Miami has home games against Wright State on Dec. 13 and Jackson State on Dec. 15. Games at Tennessee Tech on Dec. 18 and Dayton on Dec. 22 close out the month, and Miami wraps up its non-conference schedule at Millett Hall against South Carolina State on Jan. 2.
Miami, which was picked to finish fifth in the six-team East Division in the MAC media poll, opens confererence play at Bowling Green on Jan. 6.
First, though, there’s tonight’s opener, which is shrouded in mystery that accompanies almost every team’s debut.
“We have some areas we’re not sure about,” Cooper said. “I’m sure Xavier has areas that they’re not sure about either. I would like to see us come out and be a composed team and have our eyes on the prize.”
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