Sept. 4, 2007
Charlie Coles on the 2007-08 Men's Basketball Schedule
OXFORD, Ohio--Coming off a thrilling 2006-07 season which culminated in a Mid-American Conference Tournament title and the program's 17th NCAA Tournament berth, Miami University's men's basketball program continues a tradition of exciting and challenging schedules. The RedHawks are set to face six non-conference opponents who advanced to postseason play in 2006-07, including five who earned bids to the NCAA Tournament, and could face up to two other teams who participated in postseason play.
"I think this is the toughest schedule that any team I've been a part of has ever played," said Miami University 12th-year head men's basketball coach Charlie Coles. "I think we're going to enjoy the challenges of this schedule, but we are going to approach it like we did last year in the fact that we are going to have to play every game as if it's the only game we play that year."
Miami will be challenged early and often, facing Xavier (2007 NCAA Tournament), Dayton, Louisville (2007 NCAA Tournament), Indiana State, Wright State (2007 NCAA Tournament), Chicago State, Illinois (2007 NCAA Tournament), Kansas (2007 NCAA Tournament) and Cincinnati in non-conference action.
Additionally, the RedHawks are one of eight teams to participate in the inaugural Anaheim Classic. The tournament--which features Southern California (2007 NCAA Tournament), Southern Illinois (2007 NCAA Tournament), Mississippi State (2007 NIT), South Alabama (2007 NIT), UC Irvine, San Diego and Tennessee-Chattanooga--takes place Nov. 22, 23 and 25 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Miami squares off against South Alabama on Thursday, Nov. 22 on ESPNU and faces either San Diego or Southern California on Friday, Nov. 23.
"When you consider the fact that we are going to compete in the Anaheim Classic, play Louisville, Kansas, Illinois and the area powers in Wright State, Dayton, Xavier and Cincinnati along with our league schedule, that is something that our fans, our players and everyone connected with the basketball program should be very excited about. Our schedule has some challenging non-conference games along with our always tought league schedule," said Coles.
Miami will face Xavier at a date to be announced. The RedHawks will participate in the Anaheim Classic Nov. 22-23, 25 before returning home to host Dayton on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Miami starts the month of December at Louisville on Saturday, Dec. 1 and then returns home to host Indiana State in a return game of the 2007 Bracket Buster event on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
After an 11-day layoff, Miami will play four games in an eight-day stretch beginning with a game at Wright State on Saturday, Dec. 15. The RedHawks host Chicago State on Tuesday, Dec. 18 before hitting the road for contests at Illinois on Thursday, Dec. 20 and at Kansas on Saturday, Dec. 22. Miami rounds out the month of December playing Cincinnati at U.S. Bank Arena on Saturday, Dec. 29.
The RedHawks will be on the road for the second straight year for the ESPN Bracket Buster game, which will be played on either Friday, Feb. 22 or Saturday, Feb. 23. Miami holds a 4-0 record when playing in the Bracket Buster event with wins over Missouri State (2004), Wichita State (2005), Illinois State (2006) and Indiana State (2007). Pairings, game times and televised match-ups for the event will be announced in February.
Miami tips off its 16-game 2007-08 Mid-American Conference slate with a pair of road games. The RedHawks travel to Akron in a re-match of the 2007 MAC Tournament Championship game on Saturday, Jan. 5 before heading to Ohio for a game on Saturday, Jan. 12. Miami hosts its first home game of 2008, entertaining Kent State on Thursday, Jan. 17. The RedHawks round out the regular season, hosting Bowling Green on Sunday, Mar. 9. Miami will defend its 2007 MAC Tournament crown March 12-15 at the 2008 FirstEnergy MAC Men's Basketball Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Miami returns nine letterwinners, including three starters, from a squad that won the Mid-American Conference Tournament, advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament and forged an 18-15 overall record and 10-6 MAC mark last season.
Highlighting Miami's list of returners is senior forward Tim Pollitz (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf), who was tabbed the MAC Tournament MVP and was a first-team all-MAC selection last season. Pollitz paced the RedHawks in scoring (16.1 ppg) and ranked second on the team in rebounding (5.6 rpg). He scored 20 or more points 10 times last season, all coming over the RedHawks' final 16 games.
Junior forward Michael Bramos (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) and sophomore guard Alex Moosmann (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia Regional) are the RedHawks' other two returning starters. Bramos, a versatile player, was named to the MAC All-Tournament Team, averaging 13.0 ppg during Miami's tournament title run and 11.2 ppg for the season. As a freshman, Moosmann orchestrated the RedHawk offense, making 28 starts at the point guard position.
In addition to their nine returning letterwinners, Miami adds seven newcomers to its roster: junior guard Isiah Carson (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield South/St. Bonaventure), junior guard Kenny Hayes (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont/Cincinnati State), redshirt freshman forward Sean Mock (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda), and true freshmen guard Rodney Haddix (Georgetown, Ky./Scott County/Findlay College Prep), forward Dwight McCombs (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young), forward Adam Thomas (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) and forward Nick Winbush (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights).
"I think it's a very good blend of veteran players and newcomers, and I think our task will be to get those guys working together early. If we can do that, our team will be exciting, and I think our fans will enjoy our players and the team we put out on the floor."
MIAMI UNIVERSITY MEN'S BASKETBALL 2007-08 SCHEDULE NOVEMBER 22-25 at Anaheim Classic (Anaheim, CA) 22 vs. South Alabama 23 vs. USC/San Diego 25 vs. TBA (Other Participating Teams: Mississippi State, Southern Illinois, UC-Irvine, Tulane,) 28 DAYTONDECEMBER 1 at Louisville 4 INDIANA STATE 15 at Wright State 18 CHICAGO STATE 20 at Illinois 22 at Kansas 29 vs. Cincinnati (at US Bank Arena)
JANUARY 5 at Akron 12 at Ohio 17 KENT STATE 20 BUFFALO 23 at Bowling Green 26 EASTERN MICHIGAN 30 at Northern Illinois
FEBURARY 2 at Ball State 6 TOLEDO 9 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 12 at Western Michigan 16 at Buffalo 19 AKRON 22/23 at BracketBuster
MARCH 1 OHIO 4 at Kent State 9 BOWLING GREEN 12-15 at Mid-American Conference Tournament (Cleveland)
*Date for Miami's home game with Xavier to be announced at a later date
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