Brace yourselves basketball fans, hoops are right around the corner.
Whether it be the NBA or college basketball, teams are ramping up to tip off their first games of the year. The Miami University RedHawks open their 2024-25 season on the road against the Appalachian State University Mountaineers tonight.
The RedHawks, led by head coach Travis Steele, will be looking to build off a relatively successful 2023-24 campaign. While the team finished 15-17 overall, it was 9-9 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.
Miami also had a young team, with underclassmen making up 11 of the 16 roster spots.
Despite losing five upperclassmen, including Darweshi Hunter and Anderson Mirambeaux, the RedHawks are coming out of the offseason even stronger with several returners and incoming transfers.
Transfers Kam Craft, Peter Suder, Antwone Woolfolk and Dan Luers will look to make an immediate impact to jump start their Miami careers. First years Luke Skaljac and Jack Sauer will also play important roles this season, with Steele showing he doesn’t shy away from using his first-year players with his management of last year’s squad.
Sophomore guard Mekhi Cooper said he can already see the chemistry in full effect with the team’s new roster.
“It’s probably the best team I've been a part of,” Cooper said. “Everybody gets along well, we all love each other. I love all the new guys.”
With the RedHawks having a new team, assistant coach Khristian Smith and Steele said the coaching staff placed a ton of emphasis on improving the team’s camaraderie with each other during the offseason.
“I think these guys all get along probably more than any team I’ve ever seen,” Smith said. “Just as far as adversity, when those things hit, our guys will be able to communicate, talk to each other. Just being able to handle those moments together because they are so close.”
Just the same as with any other season, the RedHawks will certainly face some challenges. Last year, they suffered multiple three-game losing streaks, including a 0-3 run to end the season.
Smith said their emphasis this year isn’t about avoiding losing games. Instead, the focus is on being able to rebound from a poor game.
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“We never know when it’s gonna happen,” Smith said. “But if we can survive those moments as a team, as a unit, and just build on it regardless of what the score says, [we can] get out there the next day of practice, the next game and just improve.”
Heading into the season, the team is ranked sixth in the conference in the preseason poll with 72 first place votes, behind Bowling Green State University, University of Toledo, Kent State University, University of Akron and Ohio University.
But despite this middle ground ranking, Smith said the RedHawks are staying focused.
“It doesn't matter to us,” Smith said. “We wish we were ranked higher, but at the end of the day, we gotta play now through March and hopefully prove some people wrong. We can use it as motivation or we can just ignore it. Either way, we still gotta go out there and play the games that we have to play and improve it.”
Graduate student guard Dan Luers said he and his teammates are focused on what the team is doing rather than their place in the MAC.
“We’re just going to put our head down and work,” Luers said. “It doesn’t really matter where we were ranked because you never know what's going to happen throughout the course of the season. So we’re just going to worry about what we need to do and put our head down and work for our goals, our team goals.”
Miami first’s test starts Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+. The RedHawks return to Oxford for their home-opener against the Wright State University Raiders on Nov. 9.
After 12 non-conference games, the MAC slate will begin on January 4th.
Full 2024-2025 Schedule:
Nov. 4: @ Appalachian State
Nov. 9: vs Wright State
Nov. 12: vs Maryland Eastern Shore
Nov. 18: @ Michigan
Nov. 25: vs Siena (Fort Myers Classic)
Nov. 26: vs Jacksonville/Mercer (Fort Myers Classic)
Dec. 2: vs Air Force
Dec. 6: @ Indiana
Dec. 15: vs Bethany
Dec. 18: @ Vermont
Dec. 22: vs Sacred Heart
Dec. 30: vs Defiance
Jan. 4: vs Buffalo
Jan. 7: @ Ball State
Jan. 11: vs Western Michigan
Jan. 14: @ Northern Illinois
Jan. 18: @ Kent State
Jan. 21: vs Bowling Green
Jan. 25: @ Akron
Jan. 28: vs Eastern Michigan
Feb. 1: vs Ohio
Feb. 4: @ Central Michigan
Feb. 8: MAC vs Sun Belt Conference Challenge
Feb. 11: vs Toledo
Feb. 15: @ Western Michigan
Feb. 18: @ Eastern Michigan
Feb. 22: vs Kent State
Feb. 25: vs Northern Illinois
March 1: @ Ohio
March 4: @ Buffalo
March 7: vs Ball State
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