Chippewas expect energized, confident crowd this season
Nearly a year ago, 1,568 people watched the Central Michigan men’s basketball team tip off its 2015-16 season in McGuirk Arena. By the time the Chippewas cut down the net five months later, that number had more than doubled.
Home attendance at CMU men’s basketball last season was the best it has been in years. The earliest large crowd of the year came on Jan. 25 when a season-high 4,041 fans packed McGuirk Arena to watch the Chippewas improve to 11-0.
“I said from day one here, in the ability for us to speed up the success of the program, a huge factor in that was going to be our student support,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “If we could make McGuirk a tough place to play, that was the difference between three or four wins a season.”
CMU finished 16-1 in Mount Pleasant last season. The only game the Chippewas lost in front of their home fans was in overtime to Mid-American Conference front-runner Bowling Green.
“When you look at last year with the 23 wins and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, we were a shot away or a bounce away from not making it to Cleveland,” Davis said. “Without the students, we don’t have that kind of success.”
Davis said to expect a more excited CMU student section in 2015. During CMU’s first home game on Nov. 13, there were 3,116 fans at McGuirk Arena to watch the Chippewas take down Jacksonville State. Five days later, 2,582 Chippewa supporters were in attendance when CMU improved to 2-0 on the season with a 79-64 win over Alma College.
“We want them to participate and make them feel like it's not just a great atmosphere and a great game, but a campus event,” Davis said. “You are going to see better crowds and students that are more involved in the game. That’s going to be exciting for our program and I know everyone appreciates it.”
A schedule with historically successful opponents helps attendance as well.
“Our schedule is very underrated," Davis said. "Having won a championship, not many teams would play us. The teams that we did find, might not be the most marquee names, but are ranked in the top two or three in their league. That will really prepare us for conference play.”
CMU’s players say they feed off the energy the home crowd provides and expect even more energy this season.
“It’s been exciting,” said junior guard Rayshawn Simmons. “We feel like haven’t reached our peak or our full potential yet.”
