New transfers bond, aim to help men's basketball program
Over 40 percent of Central Michigan men's basketball players have transferred to the team.
The Chippewas have six transfers from other colleges on their current 14-man roster. All but senior guard Shawn Roundtree are new to the team this season.
Other than Buffalo with eight transfer students, CMU is tied for second in the Mid-American Conference with six transfers.
Head coach Keno Davis said that in the team’s current situation, bringing in five new faces was a good fit.
“(Innocent Nwoko) has developed well and I think you are seeing that but we knew we would need some help underneath this season,” Davis said. “I think you are already seeing what Larry Austin (Jr.) can do and you’ve seen what Shawn has done here.”
The Chippewas bring in three new big men — Mineral Area College transfer Kevin Hamlet, Logan College transfer Romelo Burrell and Indian Hills Community College transfer Rob Montgomery. Along with them comes guards Austin (Vanderbilt) and Dallas Morgan (Moberly Area Community College).
Austin is the only senior of the group, leaving juniors Morgan, Montgomery and Hamlet with two years of eligibility and Burrell with three including this upcoming season.
“We are still finding a chemistry on the floor to know where people are going to be,” Montgomery said. “This team is full of good guys so it’s easy to talk to one another and I feel us getting better every practice.”
Austin comes to Mount Pleasant following two seasons with the Commodores and two with Xavier. He considered transferring to CMU following his second season with Xavier but elected to go with Vanderbilt.
The third time around, he knew CMU was the answer for his last collegiate season.
“Everyone embraced me including the other new guys, they took me in like family,” Austin said. “We all get along great and and I think in the summertime we had good vibes going and really got along. We’ve come a lot closer as a team.”
Roundtree, a transfer from Mineral Area College in 2017, said he feels like everyone has come together well after coming from similar situations.
“We’re always together hanging out and just cracking jokes away from basketball,” Roundtree said. “Our chemistry this year is further along at this point then it was a year ago and that’s really great.”
Junior forward David DiLeo is one of five upperclassmen to come up through the Chippewas system since freshman year. He likes what that new additions to the 2018-19 team bring.
“I think they make us a lot more athletic and are good at stretching the floor,” DiLeo said. “The six weeks we were here in the summer really helped especially this year with all the new guys. Now they know our culture here and I think all of it is going to work out really well.”
