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.

The Flashes fell short in an exciting MAC title race to Western Michigan. Head coach Jim Christian did a great job pulling together a team that wasn’t too highly touted going into last season. He’ll have even a tougher job this time around losing five of the eight players who played in over 30 games. However, a solid core is returning with point guard DeAndre Haynes, guard/forward Jason Edwin and power forward Scott Cutley.

Who’s Out: Matt Jakeway, Eric Haut, Bryan Bedford and John Edwards are all big losses. None will be easy to replace. Edwards stepped up huge for his senior season and led the squad in points and rebounds. Sparingly used Brian Howard has also run out of eligibility. Forward Clif Brown is transferring to Niagara. Brown only averaged 11.8 minutes per game, but he played in 30 games and provided a nice option off the bench.

Who’s In: Jay Youngblood averaged 18.7 points per game in his two years at Mott Community College. He comes from a winning tradition and is a solid shooter. Youngblood should see lots of playing time from day one. Point guard Marcus Crenshaw won’t see too much time on the floor with DeAndre Haynes running the point, but will be a quality backup as a freshman. Forwards Isaac Knight and Michael Scott will provide a much needed break for the big guys coming off the bench.

Who to Watch: DeAndre Haynes has to pull the team together and keep things under control. As a sophomore last season, Haynes averaged 10.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. The 6-2 Detroit native needs to find the new scorers for Kent State. He has the ability to draw defenses and find the open man, but he’ll have to keep the turnovers down to help the Golden Flashes in games down the stretch. Haynes can be a scoring threat but his main job early in the year will be to help the frontcourt become scoring threats.

Projected Conference Rank: Kent State losses too much to be favorites in the MAC, but they had the same problem last year as well and they proved everybody wrong by going 13-5 in the conference. The loss of John Edwards is too much this year though and the Golden Flashes will finish 4th in the MAC and squeeze into the NIT.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

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Email Joel Welser: jwelser_chn@ameritech.net

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