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MAC Basketball 2006 Season Review

It’s time for the VanDelay Sports’ MAC Basketball season review. With Kent State’s loss to the Pitt Panthers Friday night, the MAC Basketball season is officially finished. It was a long year for a lot of teams, in what was a “down year” across the conference in 05/06.

If you follow the Mid-American Conference you know basically what each team did over the season. Rather than going through each team, detailing their ups and downs over the 05/06 season, we’ll do a quick season review for each team, and focus more on what they lose, what they need to add through recruiting, and how well they can expect to compete next season. Without further ado, the 05/06 VanDelay MAC Basketball Season Review.

Kent State Golden Flashes

Record: 25-9
Conference Record: 15-3
How far did they go: NCAA Tournament – 1st Round loss to the Pitt Panthers

Overview
Did the Kent State Golden Flashes silence their critics this year or what? Coming off a less than spectacular season where they barely made it to 20-wins for their 7th straight season, nobody was predicting much for this Kent State team. Again, the critics were wrong and Kent State rolled off 25 wins, including a very impressive 18-3 conference record, and both the regular season conference championship and the conference tournament championship.

How’d they do it? A lot of the praise will fall on Kent’s four seniors. DeAndre Haynes was the Conference Player of the Year. Jay Youngblood, a candidate for POTY was selected to the All-MAC First Team, Kevin Warzynski was the MAC Sixth-Man of the year and MAC Tournament MVP, and Nate Gerwig provided a certain toughness for the Flashes in the post. You can’t argue with the results and personal accolades accumulated by Kent’s four seniors, but a lion’s share of the credit for their success should go to Jim Christian.

After starting this season 6-5, Christian took his team on a 19-4 run. He spent the first 11 games of the season settling on an effective rotation and instilling a tough, hard-nosed defensive mentality into his team. That’s what made Kent so dangerous this season. The hard-nosed team defense, the traps in the post, the quick switches, the rebounding, the depth off the bench.

Who’s Gone?

• PG - DeAndre Haynes
• G - Jay Youngblood
• F - Kevin Warzynski
• C - Nate Gerwig

We’ve already talked about Kent’s four seniors, and the accolades that they received this season. Jim Christian and staff will have a lot of talent to replace for the 06/07 season. In DeAndre Haynes, Jay Youngblood, Kevin Warzynski, and Nate Gerwig, Kent loses its top 3 scorers, its two of its top three rebounders. Not to mention, these four kids were emotional leaders on the court and always seemed to nail big shots or grab big rebounds when it mattered most.

Who’s Back?
This is the section where we look at significant contributors to the rotation who will be returning next season.

• G - Armon Gates (Sr)
• F - Michael Scott (Jr)
• PG – Jordan Mincy (So)
• F - Omni Smith (Sr)
• F – Isaac Knight (So)

Kent has a pretty solid nucleus that they’ll be able to build around next year. Smith and Gates are capable scorers and both will be counted on to provide a large portion of the Golden Flashes’ offense next season. I would expect Gates, especially, to step-up a la Calvin Cage next season. He has shown the ability at times over his career, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him challenge for the MAC lead in points scored.

Mincy has shown that he’s more than capable at effectively running this offense. He hasn’t shown the ability to score many points, although he wasn’t really counted on to do that for this Kent State team over the past year. Judging by how well Mincy became acclimated with this Kent offense and how well he played as a freshman this season, I really think he could develop into one of the premier point guards in this league over the next three seasons.

Kent State is going to lose a lot of its muscle in the frontcourt next season. Michael Scott, who excelled in his role as a speedy, yet slightly undersized power forward will be back, but one wonders how he’ll fair without big bodies like Warzynski or Gerwig playing next to him. Scott is talented enough to still put up some pretty good stats as the starting 4. Isaac Knight should provide depth at the big forward spot as well. Knight looked solid enough in the sporadic playing time that he received this season. He should be a solid addition to the frontcourt.

Due to NCAA sanctions, Kent State’s program loses two scholarships for the upcoming year, basically meaning that the Flashes are going to be relying on transfers, redshirts, and walk-ons instead of recruits to fill their needs. This group will be headed by 6-7 Haminn Quaintance, former A-Sun FOTY. Brandon Parks will be counted on to add depth to the frontcourt as well. Parks, a redshirt freshman, is big bodied 6-10, but could be somewhat of a project. Don’t count out Kent’s ability to develop a walk-on into a contributor either. Remember past All-MAC performers Eric Haut and John Edwards came to Kent as walk-ons.

Outlook
Like every year since Trevor Huffman and Andrew Mitchell left town, there are going to be a lot of writers who predict a “down year” for Kent State next season. Don’t believe it. They’ve already got 5 tested players who will be key members of the rotation next season, and if they can add a post player they’ll be looking good.

Maybe Kent’s biggest off-season goal is to retain their coach. Jim Christian is an excellent coach, and has done great work at Kent State over the past 4 years. Word is Christian is a candidate at a couple of bigger schools with openings, most notably Rhode Island. If Kent manages to hold onto Christian and brings in another 1 or 2 freshman who can contribute, like they did this year, I see them challenging for the Conference Championship yet again.

Akron Zips

Record: 23-10
Conference Record: 14-4
How far did they go: National Invitational Tournament – 2nd Round loss @ Creighton

Overview
It was a banner year for Akron this season, but please forgive the Zips faithful if they are left wanting more. Sure Akron’s 23 wins is the highest total in the program’s Division I era. Sure, Akron’s 14 conference wins are its most ever in conference play. And sure, Akron’s NIT bid was the program’s first appearance in the postseason since Bob Huggins’ 1988-89 team. The truth is the Zips fans, players, and coaches are probably going to be thinking about their second half collapse during the MAC Tournament Semifinal Game versus Toledo through the spring and summer months.

But as Mark McGwire would say, “Let’s not talk about the past, let’s talk about the future.” Honestly, the future looks bright for this Akron Zips team. Sure, the NIT isn’t the Big Dance, but getting two games in the NIT has to be a good learning experience for this Akron team who hadn’t been to the postseason since 1989, and hadn’t been as far as the MAC Tournament Semifinals until this season.

In what was only his second year on the job (in Akron anyways), Keith Dambrot has shown himself to be one of the best 3 or 4 coaches in the MAC. Dambrot’s next challenge however is going to be to do it with his own players. Dambrot’s predecessor, Dan Hipsher was always known for recruiting uber-talented players, but rarely getting the most out of his teams. Dambrot has shown the ability to get the most out of his teams, but now needs to prove that he can effectively recruit.

Who’s Gone?

• SF - Darryl Peterson
• C - Matt Futch
• F/C – Rob Preston

The Zips lose some talent, but the cupboard certainly isn’t going to be left bare. Darryl Peterson was a very talented player, but he laid to waste a little bit this past season in Keith Dambrot’s doghouse on the bench. Luckily for the Zips, Peterson found his way out of Dambrot’s doghouse starting with the last game of the regular season versus Kent State, and he helped the Zips win throughout the rest of the season.

Matt Futch was a wide-framed big man who by no means is irreplaceable. Futch has a big body, but was foul prone, and wasn’t exactly dripping with talent. He didn’t have much of a shot, let alone touch around the hoop. Still, you can’t teach size, and Futch certainly had the size to play in this league.

I think Preston is the biggest loss for the Zips next year. He played 24 minutes a game, scored 8 points per game, grabbed 4 rebounds per game, and dished out an assist and a half. Rob Preston was the tallest player on the Zips roster, but he’ll be missed for his outside game as much as his inside game next season.

Who’s Back?
This is the section where we look at significant contributors to the rotation who will be returning next season.

• PF – Romeo Travis (Sr)
• PG – Dru Joyce (Sr)
• G – Nick Dials (Jr)
• G – Cedric Middelton (Jr)
• F – Nate Linhart (So)

Romeo Travis will certainly head the list of pre-season POTY candidates next season. This season Travis was voted a first-team All-MAC performer. He is strong, has a very nice touch around the hoop, is an above average rebounder, and is a leader on the court.

Akron’s strength next year will come in the fantastic backcourt trio of Joyce, Dials, and Middelton. All three could run the point if necessary, but that responsibility usually falls on Dru Joyce III, who handles the ball very well. All three guards can score very well. Dials is probably the best jump shooter, Middleton the best creator, and Joyce the most well-rounded.

Nate Linhart played a big role as a freshman this year. The Zips are going to count on him to develop further and play a bigger role as a sophomore next season. The lanky 6-7 Linhart isn’t the most athletic player on the team, but he showed the ability to score and rebound somewhat as a freshman. The Zips can’t have the status quo from Linhart next season though. They need this kid to hit the weights hard, and to keep working on his game.

The x-factor for the Zips has to be Jeremiah Wood. If Wood finally comes back from his knee injury the Zips front court will be dangerous. Remember it was Wood, not Travis, who looked like a perennial candidate for POTY after his freshman season. Wood is a tenacious rebounder, and he averaged just shy of a double-double in each of his two seasons for Akron. If Wood is full-strength next season the Zips could be scary-good.

Overview
Akron needs to add another small forward, who can take some of Darryl Peterson’s minutes, who can create his own shot. Nobody’s quite sure what the Zips have in guys like John Rybak, Zach Sowers, and Nick Goddard because none of them saw a whole lot of extended playing time this past season. Unless Dambrot brings in some incredibly talented freshman, you’d think one or more would get a chance to develop next season.

By Dan Whitmyer, VanDelaySports.com Head Basketball Writer

published 03.20.06

MAC Basketball Season Reviews: Ohio & Miami

MAC Tourney Semifinal Recap: #7 Toledo 77, #3 Akron 69

MAC Tourney Semifinal Recap: #1 Kent 72, #5 Ohio 59

MAC Tourney Quarterfinal Recap: #5 Ohio 73, #4 Miami 58

MAC Tourney Quarterfinal Recap: #1 Kent 76, #8 Buffalo 67

MAC Tourney Quarterfinal Recap: #3 Akron 72, #6 WMU 57

MAC Tourney Quarterfinal Recap: #7 Toledo 78, #2 NIU 77