The beginning to the 2013-14 season was not a great one for Miami, as they struggled, and occasionally lost, to inferior opponents. But as the season went on, you saw Jim Larranaga weave his magic, and the Hurricanes ended up winning 17 games, which is impressive considering the team lost 90% of their scoring from the season before. This year, change is happening again, as 85% of last season's scoring is gone.
Backcourt
The good news for Miami is that there is experience on the roster. Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan will be the starters in the backcourt this year. Rodriguez is a transfer from Kansas State who was an all conference defender his last season in Manhattan. The down side to him is that he is a career 36% shooter, but he may not be needed to shoot a lot this year. McClellan will be doing plenty of that. The Texas transfer averaged 13.5 points in his lone season in Austin. Don't be surprised if he ends up leading the team in scoring this season. The lone returning starter in the backcourt is sophomore Manu Lecomte, who ended up being the team's second best three point shooting option last season. Lecomte shot 39.7% from three point range last season, while averaging 7.7 points per game. Also back in the backcourt is sophomore Davon Reed, who was the third best three point shooter on the team, shooting 35.7% from three last season, and averaged 6.6 points per game. Two freshmen will be in the mix as well. Deandre Burnett red-shirted last season after getting injured, and he is known as a scoring machine (he averaged 37 points per game his senior year of high school), and Ja'Quan Newton , who was a very highly touted recruit.
Frontcourt
There is a lot of unknown in Miami's frontcourt. The only known thing is that Tonye Jekiri will be an inside force, especially on defense. He had at least nine rebounds in four of Miami's final five games last season, and as he continues to mature physically, will be one of the best defensive centers in the conference. Aside from him, it's a big question mark. There is plenty of playing time to be had amongst a group of people. Ivan Cruz Uceda is a JUCO transfer who is originally from Spain, but has that European style game as a 6-11 forward who can shoot threes. Omar Sherman is a true freshman who will likely see some playing time, as well as Joe Thomas, a senior transfer from Niagara who was eligible immediately. He only averaged three points and two rebounds per game last season for the Purple Eagles.
| Projected Starters |
|---|
| Angel Rodriguez |
| Manu Lecomte |
| Sheldon McClellan |
| Omar Sherman |
| Tonye Jekiri |
Schedule
The Hurricanes will get a wake up call in game two against Florida, then play in the Charleston Classic, which features both USC's (Southern Cal and South Carolina), and Penn State. Miami will face Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and will also play in the Brooklyn Holiday Hoops Invitational, where they will open against Providence. Conference play will give Miami an immediate test, as they host defending ACC champion Virginia, as well as play at Duke, Notre Dame, and Syracuse before the month of January is over. The second half of the schedule will be easier, as the Hurricanes have a home and home with Louisville, and host UNC.
Prediction
There are some good pieces on Miami's roster. The task for Jim Larranaga is to put the pieces together to form this team. And anyone who has followed his career knows he knows how to do that. It might be a slow go during the non conference portion, but as the season goes on, Miami will be a much better team. To improve on last season's 17 win season, the Hurricanes will need to shoot better. They finished near the bottom of the ACC in scoring last season. The schedule sets up nicely, but in order to get to the NCAA Tournament, the Hurricanes may need to pull off an upset or two early. Don't be surprised if Miami ends up winning 20 games this year, and ends up in the middle of the pack in the ACC.
by Will Ojanen @WillsWorldMN
Fantasy Player to Watch
During Miami's summer trip to Spain, Sheldon McClellan led the team in scoring at 20 points per game. While those numbers may be a bit inflated, expect him to be a 1st round pick in your ACC fantasy draft.
Projected Statistics (Returning Players Only)
Explanation of Statistic Projections
| Name | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | % Correct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davon Reed | 10.6 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 92 |
| Manu Lecomte | 10.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 90 |
| Tonye Jekiri | 4.7 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 85 |
| Deandre Burnett | 3.9 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 100 |
| Mike Fernandez | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 99 |
Last Year's Player Statistics
| Miami | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | GP | Mins | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | FG% | 3P% | FT% | |
| Rion Brown | 33 | 35.4 | 15.5 | 2.3 | 5.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 43.2 | 31.7 | 75.6 | |
| Garrius Adams | 33 | 33.4 | 10.2 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 36.6 | 25.5 | 67.1 | |
| Manu Lecomte | 33 | 28.0 | 7.7 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 42.5 | 39.7 | 76.7 | |
| Donnavan Kirk | 31 | 26.1 | 7.5 | 0.2 | 5.0 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 45.4 | 30.0 | 60.3 | |
| Davon Reed | 33 | 20.7 | 6.6 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 34.3 | 35.7 | 67.3 | |
| Tonye Jekiri | 33 | 21.4 | 4.2 | 0.7 | 5.5 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 45.6 | 0.0 | 58.1 | |
| Erik Swoope | 31 | 18.4 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 51.4 | 14.3 | 67.2 | |
| James Kelly | 27 | 17.9 | 6.0 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 48.5 | 40.5 | 66.7 | |
| Raphael Akpejiori | 25 | 10.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 60.0 | |
| Justin Heller | 5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Mike Fernandez | 3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Steve Sorenson | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
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