Beginning Monday, June 21st, 2004 CHN began unveiling 144 Team previews in 144 Days. CHN ranked the nations top 144 teams, and is unveiling one per day leading up until the opening day of the 2004-05 Season.

Bookmark the 144 Teams in 144 Days home page, and check back each day to see which team is previewed next.

#50 Miami (Oh) Redhawks
MAC
2003-04: 18-11, 12-6, 4th
2003-04 postseason: none

By Joel Welser

There won’t be many players on head coach Charlie Coles’ team that will make headlines, but Coles knows how to put a winning team on the floor.  If defense really does win championships then Miami will be right up there in the MAC.  Last year they only gave up 62.9 points per game.  The offense will need to be more consistent for the Redhawks to become one of those low scoring, Dick Bennett type teams, but Coach Coles is always ready to play in March.

Who’s Out: The only star on last year’s team was Juby Johnson.  The 6-5 guard led the team with 17.4 points per contest.  The team will have to learn how to function without their main scoring threat.  If everybody else can step up a little and take smart shots, then losing Juby might not be that bad.  Forward Gene Seals has also graduated.  Seals saw action in 28 games and averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds.  

Who’s In: A couple guards will add more depth to the backcourt, but aren’t expected to make a big impact this year.  Chad Troyer is a 6-4 point guard coming to Miami from Seattle.  He has good size and a good shot.  Troyer’s shooting is good enough to play the two guard instead, but he’s better off running the point.  His decision making is questionable, so he’ll have to watch the turnovers; however Troyer is solid enough to get the opportunity to play this year.  Lawrence Ross will also be headed to Miami this year.  The 6-3 shooting guard is more of a slasher who averaged 17.5 points per game last year as a senior.  The Pollitz twins, Eric and Tim, add another dimension to Miami.  They are both 6-5 and will be playing the wing position.  They can run and finish which would add another threat to the Redhawks game plan.

Who to Watch: Four starters return in Chet Mason, Danny Horace, Josh Hausfeld and Monty St. Clair.  The experience of four returning starters is nice, but somewhat misleading.  St. Clair averaged less the four points per game last year and Hausfeld was just over seven.  They both need to improve their offense.  Senior Chet Mason will be the team leader and might bring some more star power to the program.  Mason averaged 10.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals last year.  Mason is good at all aspects of the game but will need some help from his teammates in order to keep defenses off balance.

Projected Conference Rank: The MAC should be pretty tough this year with Buffalo, Kent State, Western Michigan and Toledo all bringing quality teams.  A 2nd place finish for Miami could be good enough for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The conference as a whole will have to come out of the gates fast and knock off some quality non-conference opponents for that to happen.  The MAC probably won’t get enough respect to get an at-large, but a trip to the NIT for the Redhawks is still good.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT
 

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Email Joel Welser: jwelser_chn@ameritech.net

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