Men's basketball has different look to start 2018-19 season
Heading into the Central Michigan men's basketball exhibition game on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. with Davenport, head coach Keno Davis expects the team to look somewhat different this year.
While Davis said there are some starting roles already set, there are a couple still undecided. The incoming transfers have pushed their way into players who will see significant minutes early in the year.
"We don't want to as a coaching staff with the newcomers to believe or have our minds set on anything that might change three weeks from now," Davis said. "These (transfers) have showed things now that they might not have two or three weeks ago."
The Chippewas have five new faces from previous colleges this season — senior Larry Austin Jr., juniors Rob Montgomery, Kevin Hamlet, Dallas Morgan and sophomore Romelo Burrell.
Austin, senior guard Shawn Roundtree and the two seniors are expected to see get significant time. Junior guard Kevin McKay and junior forward David DiLeo are likely to start. Roundtree and McKay each played 33 minutes or more per contest in 2017-18, and McKay came off the bench averaging 27.1 minutes per.
"I expect those guys to all see significant minutes from the start," Davis added.
Last season, the Chippewas started the same five starters for all 36 games. This year, Davis expects that to be different with multiple guys coming into the rotation for every game.
After losing starting forward Luke Meyer from a season ago, Davis listed Montgomery, Hamlet, Burrell and redshirt sophomore Innocent Nwoko as players that will play inside. All four players have the chance to be the fifth starter.
Davis believes that all four players are near the same talent level and competing against each other every day in practice has only helped them.
"There are guys who might not see the floor when the season starts that do when conference play roles around," Davis said. "It's a team that is rapidly developing and has a lot of talent."
As far as injuries go coming into the season, Davis said McKay and Austin have been limited in practice this week but nothing serious that should keep them out in the future.
"I think right now it is important to give guys the full time to rest and recover," Davis said. "Hopefully by the time the season starts we will be 100 percent."
Following the Chippewas game with the Panthers, CMU will start the regular season in the Junkanoo Jam Tournament at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 against Concordia in McGuirk Arena.
