Toledo

State of '08: Ohio

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:33:26 -0700

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

OHIO

OHIO STATE - While Xavier has had more consistent success since 2001, its hard to match Ohio State's 2007 campaign: Reaching the National Title game while finishing 1st in the RPI. OSU has also won 20 games in 8 of 10 seasons and reached 6 Big Dances.

XAVIER - Sean Miller has picked up where Thad Matta left off, and Matta followed the success of Skip Prosser, who continued the foundation set by Pete Gillen. Since 1986, there's been a continual run of impressive postseason success at Xavier, including 2 Elite Eight trips in the past 5 years.

KENT STATE - Pretty much whatever success you see at Kent State can still be attributed to the job Gary Waters did in the late 90's, turning a dormant program into a winner. In the last decade, the Golden Flashes have made 5 NCAA Tournaments and 4 NITs, and have won at least 20 games in each of those seasons. In 2009, Kent State is once again the projected MAC champ.

CINCINNATI - This is obviously a storied program, but the post-Huggins era has gotten off to a slow start. There hasn't been a tourney trip in the past three seasons, nor a finish above .500 in conference play. 2009 should be better, but the Big Dance will most likely have to wait another season.

DAYTON - After a hot start, Dayton stumbled to an 8-8 finish in A10 play, their third season in a row without a winning league record. From 2000-2005, Dayton won at least 9 league games every season, and made 3 NCAA Tournaments and 2 NITs.

6. MIAMI - The RedHawks have never been bad in Charlie Coles lengthy career. In fact, just one time in 11 seasons has his team failed to go at least .500 in the MAC. His last five teams have finished in the RPI Top 100, and this year's squad looks postseason-worthy once again.

7. AKRON - Keith Dambrot's four year tenure has been highly impressive. The Zips have been finished in the RPI Top 75 the past four seasons, consistently challenged for MAC titles, and advanced to two NITs. The team does lose a lot of talent this year, so it might be Dambrot's most challenging season.

8. OHIO - Ohio is a solid program that has never gone more than couple seasons here or there without contending for the MAC title. The Bobcats have won at least 18 games the past four seasons (including the '05 Big Dance), though the off-season departure of 8-year coach Tim O'Shea was puzzling.

9. WRIGHT STATE - We might be in thee midst of Wright State's best run in program history. Brad Brownell led the Raiders to the '07 Tournament in his first season, and followed that up with another 20+ win season last year. This year, WSU should once again contend for the Horizon League title.

10. TOLEDO - The Rockets haven't made the NCAA's since 1980, but it hasn't been all bad in the meantime. In 2001 & 2007, the Rockets won MAC regular season titles, but couldn't get over the conference tournament hump. Last year was disappointing, and new coach Gene Cross will need to elevate the program's overall talent-level.

11. CLEVELAND STATE - Twenty years after last making the postseason, the Vikings made the NIT in Gary Waters' second season. The Vikings won 10 league games and 20 overall games for the first time since 1993, and there's a legitimate shot they could earn their first Tourney trip since 1986.

12. BOWLING GREEN - Falcons basketball peaked in the 60's. The start of Dan Dakich's tenure, from about 99 to 02, looked promising.. but things went down hill. The last three years have featured sub-200 RPI teams, though the 2009 squad looks promising.

13. YOUNGSTOWN STATE - The Penguins basketball teams have never been able to match the football teams accomplishments. There are occasional hopeful seasons, but 2001 was the last time YSU really did any damage.

Last: North Carolina - Next: Oklahoma

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

Toledo Signs Clayton Sterling

Press Release — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:56:06 -0700

TOLEDO, OH - Head Coach Gene Cross announced on Tuesday that Clayton Sterling (Brooklyn, NY) has joined the University of Toledo men’s basketball program. Sterling’s addition brings the Rockets’ incoming recruiting class size to five with Sterling joining Stephen Albrecht (Crown Point, IN), Larry Bastfield (Baltimore, MD), Ian Salter (Fairfax, CA) and Zac Taylor (Oregon, OH).

“I’m really looking forward to having Clayton as part of our program,” Cross said. “He brings great leadership and a winning attitude to what is already a strong group, and it’s always important to have a point guard who comes from a winning background and is a good leader.”

A 6-2, 180-pound guard, Sterling averaged 16.8 points, six rebounds and five assists per game for Boys and Girls High School as a senior and was named to the New York Daily News All-Brooklyn First Team and also was a second-team all-city selection. In addition, he helped the Kangaroos to back-to-back appearances in the Public School Athletic League title game and was named his team’s Most Valuable Player each year. As a junior, he was named his team’s Defensive Player of the Year and averaged 6.2 points, three rounds and two assists per game.

Cross said Sterling’s ability to play both guard positions in the backcourt will be valuable for the Rockets in the upcoming 2008-09 campaign.

“Clayton played the point for his team in high school, but I also feel we’ll be able to play him off the ball and play him and Larry (Bastfield) together,” Cross said. “I want to be able to play two point guards at times to run our offense more efficiently and push the ball up the floor.”

MAC Tournament: Day One

Bill Kintner — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:44:52 -0700

Game 1

The No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan beat No. 10 Ball State 59-55 to put the Cardinals out of their misery and moved into the semifinals against No. 2 Western Michigan at noon. Justin Dobbins led the Eagles with 21 points, including a put-back that gave them a 45-44 lead and led to an 8-0 run to pull away from Ball State.

Fav quote:

“We expected them to play well. They had nothing to lose. They are a much better team than that record indicates.”
- Eastern Michigan coach Charles Ramsey

Game 2

It was a three game sweep as No. 6 Central Michigan whipped No. 11 Northern Illinois 83-71. Senior guard Giordan Watson led the Chippewas with 20 points. Central Michigan led by as much as 22 in the second half before a late comeback to make the score respectable. CMU plays Akron at 2:30 pm.

Fav quote:

“I know we have good shooters. When you have good shooters, they make shots.”
- CMU player Giordan Watson

Game 3

The No. 8 seed Toledo beat arch-rival No. 9 Bowling Green 52-48 to avenge a regular-season loss to the Falcons. The Rockets shot a meager 33.3 percent from the field and 5.9 percent (1-17) from 3-point land. Jonathan Amos led the Rockets with 15 points. Toledo plays Kent State at 7 p.m.

Fav quote:

“We bogged down on offensively. We had open shots , we just couldn’t convert. At one point they had nine offensive rebounds and I was pretty disappointed with that.”
- Toledo coach Stan Joplin

Game 4

No. 5 Miami, took a lead with three minutes thanks to the shooting of Kenny Hayes and the RedHawks made 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to hold off No. 12 Buffalo 69-68. Michael Bramos led Miami with 23 points. The RedHawks were out-rebounded 38-22 and had just four offensive rebounds. Miami plays Ohio at 9:30 p.m.

Fav quote:

“We were getting frustrated because they were playing a lot harder than us. We had to come in the second half and match their intensity.”
- Tim Politz, Miami player

MAC Game of the Work Week

Ryan Molnar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 01:23:41 -0800

Toledo has been on a run lately and they get arguably their toughest test this week as they travel to Athens, Ohio to meet up with the Ohio Bobcats. These two teams are seemingly going in different directions right now. Toledo is currently undefeated in MAC play and is looking like a lock to get the first round bye in the MAC tournament. Ohio plays well at home but is another team all together when it goes on the road. The good news for Ohio is this game is on the road. First of all before getting any further it is important to look at two things. First of all, Toledo plays in the very watered down MAC West division. It isn’t hard to go undefeated when your opponents are the directional Michigan schools and Northern Illinois. However, Toledo has shown some strength when they went on the road and beat Buffalo in New York. They just got done taking care of Miami at home this weekend as well. Ohio has been playing very well so far this year at home and that’s what really makes this game so interesting. If this game were in Toledo there would probably be no chance of a Bobcat upset. Ohio has been a completely different team thus far from the friendly confines of the Convo. Ohio is also a team that has been in the midst of three different shake ups. The first came when senior forward Ken Ottrix was suspended from the university for a DUI in September. Next up was when head coach Tim O’Shea dismissed senior forward Johnnie Jackson from the team right before conference season was to begin. Then, right before the Kent State game the team lost it’s only true point guard in junior Antonio Chatman. The Bobcats are now down to 9 players who began the season on the team. They have added a few walk-ons but the case remains that this is a very thin team. It will be interesting to see what each team tries to do. Will Toledo try and push the ball and get it into more of an up and down tempo to speed up Ohio? Will Ohio step it up on the perimeter defensive end and shut down Justin Ingram? This game is crucial for Ohio if it wants one of the first four spots in the conference tournament. If they get one of those coveted four spots then it will have a first round bye. The keys for Ohio will be to force it down low to their talented big men Leon Williams and Jerome Tillman. For Toledo it will be to use it’s depth to it’s advantage and to try and wear the Bobcats out.

Drexel 57 - Toledo 52

Press Release — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:26:42 -0800

Philadelphia, Pa. – Drexel held Toledo to just one field goal in the final six minutes and made five of six free throws in the last minute to defeat the Rockets, 57-52. The Drexel (3-2) defense forced 22 turnovers in the game and held Toledo (2-3) to just 2-for-17 from behind the arc in the contest. The Rockets entered the game shooting better than 38 percent from long range.

After trailing for the entire second half, the Rockets took a lead at 44-43 when Tyrone Kent scored on a lay-up after a steal with 6:15 to play. That would be their last lead of the game. Drexel responded with a three-pointer from Tramayne Hawthorne (Steelton, Pa./Steelton-Highspire) at the 4:49 mark to put the Dragons ahead, 46-44. The teams exchanged trips to the line before Drexel’s Frank Elegar (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond’s) converted a three-point play to make it a five-point game. Toledo got as close as two points after Keonta Howell sank a trey with just 28 seconds remaining, but the Dragons rallied from their early struggles at the line to put the game away.

Elegar led the way for Drexel with a season-best 15 points and nine rebounds. Chaz Crawford (Philadelphia, Pa./Hargrave Military Academy) had 10 boards on the night and added eight points and a pair of blocks. Senior Bashir Mason (Jersey City, N.J./St. Benedict’s) chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds. The Dragons were victorious despite committing a season-high 25 turnovers, including 17 in the first half.

Toledo’s Florentino Valencio had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Justin Ingram was also in double figures with 10 points, while Howell scored nine points. Howell and Ingram entered the game each averaging more than 19 points per game.

- Drexel Athletic Communications -

MAC Recap: 11-18

Ryan Molnar — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 07:55:38 -0800

The MAC had four teams in action yesterday and last night with all but one team winning. Kent State picked up a good win at home over Detroit. Marquette handed it to Eastern Michigan. Toledo took care of Middle Tennessee State in overtime, and Buffalo came away with an impressive win over Miami (FL). Kent State had a balanced attack lead them to a 61-48 victory over the University of Detroit Mercy at the MAC Center yesterday afternoon. Kent State held Detroit to just 38 percent shooting and withstood a hot start from behind the 3-point line from the Titans. Detroit hit its first three triples, but then proceeded to only shoot three-of-16 the rest of the game. Freshmen guard Rodriguez Sherman led Kent State with 14 points in his first colleigate start. Due to many suspensions of players he was thrust into the lineup and did not commit one turnover in 31 minutes of play. Senior Armon Gates scored 12 points and brought down a career high 8 rebounds. He is known more for his 3 point shooting ability but in this game he was only able to make two three pointers. Kent State returns to action on Tuesday when they host Temple University. Eastern Michigan fell hard to #17 Marquette University 95-62. The Eagles were led by freshmen Devon Dumes who was the only player on Eastern in double figures as he scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while hitting 4-of-7 from behind the arc. EMU stayed with Marquette for much of the first half but could not withstand Marquette’s hot shooting from the field along with its stingy defense. The Golden Eagles connected on 48% of it’s three point attempts while Eastern hit just 38% of theirs. Marquette had five players in double figures and were led by sophomore guard Dominic James who had 17 points. EMU will take on Detroit on Wednesday, November 29th. Toledo got their first win of the year last night but it wasn’t easy. Playing against Middle Tennessee State in the Virgin Islands as part of the Paradise Jam Tournament, Toledo fell down by as much as 18 points at the half but battled back to win it 75-69 in overtime. Senior guard Justin Ingram came up big for the Rockets scoring a career-high 32 points. He also hit the three that forced overtime. Senior forward Keonta Howell came up with 21 points and 6 rebounds and overcame a 20 point deficit with a 22-2 surge late in the second half. Ingram hit the game-tying three with only 0.9 seconds left on the clock. Middle Tennessee State rode their 72.7 percent shooting to a 18 point halftime lead. Toledo will play VCU on Monday afternoon in their last game at the Paradise Jam Tournament. The Buffalo Bulls win over the Miami Hurricanes was the school’s first win over a school from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Bulls defeated the Hurricanes 60-57 in the America’s Youth Classic in Evansville, Indiana last night. Yassin Idbihi hit the game-winning jumper with 3.7 seconds remaining to carry the Bulls to their third win of the season. The senior forward led Buffalo with 22 points and a career high 14 rebounds. Buffalo only shot 36.5 percent but played solid defense and came up big on the boards. Buffalo was able to out-rebound Miami 43-35, including 16 offensive boards. Buffalo will take on Evansville in the final game of the tournament today. Today’s games feature Ball State hosting Prairie View A&M, Bowling Green hosting Furman, Akron hosting Tiffin, Ohio hosting Yale, Buffalo on the road at Evansville, and Central Michigan hosting UMKC. Here are my predictions: Ball State, Akron, Ohio, and Central Michigan all win, while Bowling Green and Buffalo both lose. Yesterday: 1-3. Overall: 6-4.

MAC Recap: 11-17

Ryan Molnar — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 08:30:39 -0800

The MAC had three teams in action and while they went 2-1 none of the two teams that won had very impressive wins. Toledo was in action against Iowa in the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Tournament, Miami won big over Florida A&M, and Buffalo won a close one at home over Cleveland State. On to the recaps: Toledo fought hard against Iowa but came up short 78-65 in the opening round of the Paradise Jam Tournament. The seniors held the Rocket’s in this game though. Senior guard Justin Ingram paced the Rockets with 22 points, 4 steals and 4 rebounds and was a point shy of his career scoring high. Senior forward Keonta Howell chipped in 16 points and six rebounds and senior forward Florentino Valencia scored 12 points and came down with a team high 8 rebounds. Freshmen forward Tyler Smith scored a game high 28 points for the Hawkeyes. The Rockets were able to shut down Iowa’s leading scorer, Adam Haluska, limiting him to only 10 points. However, that opened the door for Smith’s big night. Iowa also destroyed Toledo on the boards with a 51-30 rebounding edge. Toledo will face Middle Tennessee State tonight as the Blue Raiders dropped their game last night against 10th ranked Alabama. Miami dominated their game against Florida A&M coming away with a 52-33 win. Junior forward Tim Pollitz scored 16 points and came down with 11 rebounds. The 33 points were the fewest opponents points since Miami gave up 32 points to Wright State back in 1947. The RedHawks also only gave up 11 points in the first half, which tied a school record. Miami returns to action by playing at home again on Tuesday and hosting the University of Illinois-Chicago. The other MAC team in action last night was the Buffalo Bulls and they picked up a good 77-73 win over Cleveland State. It was the opening game of the America’s Youth Classic in Evansville, Indiana last night. For the second straight game, senior Parnell Smith posted a career high in scoring, this time with 24 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. It wasn’t an easy win for the Bulls as they fell behind early and were trailing 35-28 at the half. However, they quickly responded to open the second half as they outscored the Vikings 36-14 in the first 12 minutes. The Bulls ran the lead all the way up to 13 points before Cleveland State battled back to make it a close game at the end. Following two missed free throws by Buffalo, the Vikings had a shot at the win. However, Vadim Fedotov drew a charge with six seconds remaining for the Bulls and Eric Monroe drilled a pair of free throws to give the victory to Buffalo. Buffalo takes on Miami (FL) tonight in the second round of the America’s Youth Classic. Tonight’s game matches Kent State hosting Detroit, Eastern Michigan on the road at Marquette, Toledo playing Middle Tennessee State in the Virgin Islands, and Buffalo playing Miami (FL) in Evansville, Indiana. I’m predicting that Toledo will be the only team that will win out of the MAC tonight. Last night’s record: 3-0. Overall record: 5-1.

MAC Recap: 11-13

Ryan Molnar — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 12:56:04 -0800

Last night was not a good chance for the MAC’s chances of having more than one team in the Big Dance come March. Every single MAC team in action lost last night along with the team that is supposed to carry the league, Akron. When your best team is losing to Arkansas Little-Rock with a chance to play Texas Tech on national television looming, you have the feeling that this could be a long year. Last night for some reason was upset special all around the country with Boston College losing to Vermont at home, Notre Dame losing to Butler at home and Indiana almost losing to Layfeytte in the preseason NIT. Akron shot 51 percent from the floor but could not get rebounds when it mattered the most. The Trojans outscored the Zips 21-11 on second-chance points and also outrebounded them 36-24. That just goes to show that you can’t just win games with talent, you have to actually go out there and perform and Akron didn’t do that last night. They’ll have another chance tonight to pick up what appears to be an easy W over Gardner-Webb at 7 PM tonight. Buffalo traveled down to play South Florida last night in a match up with the only other school with a Bull as a mascot and they left their shooting touch back home as well. Add 40% shooting with 25 turnovers and you’ll lose almost every game. In this case the final was 77-61 and this years Bulls team does not look very well at well coming out of the gate. Their other game of the year was against Canisius and was a 3 point squeaker. The Bulls are off again until Friday. Toledo had a shot to get a very big non conference win for themselves and for the MAC against Missouri State and they came up short. The Rockets outscored the Bears 34-26 in the paint but they committed 22 turnovers which translated into 24 Missouri State points. Toledo now travels to the Virgin Islands to take part in the Paradise Jam tournament which is gaining strength as one of the better season tournaments in the nation. They’ll face the Iowa Hawkeye’s on Friday afternoon. The only other MAC game tonight besides the Akron game will be the Western Michigan Broncos taking on the Indiana State Sycamores in a rematch of last year’s BracketBuster game.

MAC Conference Preview

CHN — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 10:36:44 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

MAC Preview

Conference Rank: 15th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Romeo Travis, Akron, F

Dru Joyce, Akron, G

Martin Samarco, Bowling Green, G

Skip Mills, Ball State, G/F

Yassin Idbihi, Buffalo, F/C

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
62	Akron	1	NCAA
73	Miami (OH)	2	NIT
84	Toledo	3	NIT
102	Kent State	4
142	Ohio	5
169	Western Michigan	6
190	Ball State	7
210	Northern Illinois	8
250	Bowling Green	9
266	Buffalo	10
284	Eastern Michigan	11
299	Central Michigan	12

Preseason Head Coach Q&A's:

Charlie Coles - Miami

Stan Joplin - Toledo

Other MAC Articles:

MAC Preseason Media Poll

Ryan Molnar's MAC Blog

MAC Preseason Media Poll

Press Release — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700

CLEVELAND -- The Mid-American Conference announced today that Akron (East Division) and Toledo (West Division) have been chosen as preseason favorites to win their respective divisions in men’s basketball. Voting was conducted by members of the MAC News Media Association. The MAC announces the top six teams in each division and the tournament winner in its preseason poll. The Zips were also tabbed to win the MAC Tournament.

Akron finished last season with a 23-10 record, the most wins in the program’s Division I era. The Zips also notched the school’s first D-I postseason victory in the form of an 80-73 overtime win at Temple in the NIT. Akron returns its top four scorers and four starters from last season’s squad. Highlighting that group are seniors Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce. Travis led the Zips in scoring (13.5 ppg.), rebounding (6.8 rpg.) and field goal pct. (52 Pct.). Joyce led the team in assists (5.0 apg.) and was third in scoring (10.0 ppg.). Travis was named to the NABC All-District 10 second team as well as to the All-MAC first team, while Joyce was picked as an all-league honorable mention. The Zips received 35 first place votes and 26 votes to win the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament.

Ohio was picked to finish second in the East Division after posting a 19-11 record and received two votes to win the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament. The Bobcats will return three starters from last year’s squad, including point guard Antonio Chatman, wing Sonny Troutman and 2006-07 preseason All-MAC selection Leon Williams. Williams received All-MAC honorable mention honors last season after scoring 11.0 ppg., and 6.9 rpg.

Kent State was picked to finish third after winning the MAC regular season and tournament championship last season, while Miami was selected to place fourth after appearing in the NIT last season. The Golden Flashes have qualified for postseason play in each of the past eight seasons, with four NCAA Tournament bids and four NIT appearances. Miami received four votes to win the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament, while KSU garnered two votes. Buffalo was picked to finish fifth and Bowling Green rounded out the East Division.

Toledo will welcome back four starters this season after finishing as runner-up in last year’s FirstEnergy MAC Tournament. 2005-06 All-MAC second team selection Justin Ingram returns after averaging 14.6 ppg. and 3.2 rpg. last season. Ingram will be joined by senior forward Florentio Valencia (12.0 ppg., MAC-best 65.9 FG%) and senior guard Keonta Howell (11.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg.). UT will also bring back junior point guard Kashif Payne (8.4 ppg., 4.3 apg.). The Rockets also received four votes to win this year’s FirstEnergy MAC Tournament.

Northern Illinois was selected to finish in the second in the West after winning the division last season. The Huskies will welcome back two starters from last season, including 2005-06 MAC Defensive Player of the Year and preseason All-MAC selection James Hughes. Hughes is currently the school-record holder for career field-goal percentage (57.6 %) and will be joined by 2004-05 All-MAC honorable mention selection Mike McKinney.

Western Michigan was selected to finish third, while Ball State and new head coach Ronny Thompson were picked to finish fourth. Eastern Michigan was selected to finish fifth and Central Michigan and new head coach Ernie Zeigler rounded out the West Division in sixth.

The MAC regular season gets underway on Wednesday, November 8 as Central Michigan faces Youngstown State in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic in East Lansing, Mich. Conference action begins on Saturday, January 6 as all teams will start to fight for position in the FirstEnergy Men’s Basketball Tournament that will welcome all 12 teams to Cleveland on March 7-10 at Quicken Loans Arena.