UMBC fit the bill for MU’s home opener
It’s not very often that a college basketball program gets to open a new building.
That’s why Marquette thought long and hard about what team to schedule for the Golden Eagles’ first men’s basketball game at Fiserv Forum.
MU found the opponent it was looking for with University of Maryland, Baltimore County agreeing to tip off the season at 8 p.m. Tuesday. How the Retrievers came to be the first MU foe at Fiserv Forum provides some insight into the subtle art of scheduling in college basketball.
Deputy director of athletics Mike Broeker works closely with head coach Steve Wojciechowski in creating MU’s slate of games.
“Wojo builds the schedule,” Broeker said. “I just kind of bring him the menu.”
Broeker is constantly corresponding with his contacts in athletic
departments across the country, gauging interest in setting up games with MU.
He actually had exchanged emails with UMBC in January. The Retrievers were casting about for a game in Wisconsin as a reward for senior forward Joe Sherburne, a Whitefish Bay native who averaged 10.7 points per game last season.
“As most coaches do, if you have a kid that is from a place that is a little distant, you try to take him home at least once in their career to play,” UMBC head coach Ryan Odom said. “And we hadn’t got Joe back out that way yet.”
Then March 16th happened. The Retrievers shook the college basketball world by beating Virginia, 74-54, to become the first 16th-seeded team to topple a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
“As soon as that happened in March, I reached right back out to them,” Broeker said. “One, to congratulate them. And then, two, to say ‘Hey, here is the situation. We’d love to have you open our building. Not only because of what you’ve done and how that has elevated your profile and more people know about you’ – but they’re a good team.”
UMBC became a hot property for “buy games” in which a high-major school cuts a check to bring in an appealing mid-major or low-major team to fill out its non-conference schedule. The Retrievers also play at Penn State this season.
“Years past, probably UMBC wouldn’t have been a school that they would say ‘Well, let’s open up an arena with UMBC,’ “Odom said. “But now it makes it a little more sense. I think it will be a good thing for both of us.”
The deal with MU and UMBC came together quickly and was finalized in April.
There are lots of connections between the teams, who are meeting for the fifth time.
Wojciechowski was heavily recruited by Wake Forest in the early 1990s, when Dave Odom, Ryan’s father, coached the Demon Deacons. Wojciechowski even stayed at the Odoms’ house in Winston-Salem, N.C., and met Ryan around that time.
Ryan Odom and Wojciechowski developed a friendly relationship while both were assistants in the Atlantic Coast Conference: Odom at Virginia Tech and Wojciechowski at Duke.
“I just have a lot of respect for how he goes about things,” Odom said. “He’s about the right things. He has players and he helps them develop, not only as players but as people.”
The UMBC campus is also right down the street from where Wojciechowski went to high school in Baltimore.
So the matchup made sense on a lot of levels.
“It wasn’t just as simple as (UMBC being) destiny’s darlings but that makes it pretty cool, too,” Wojciechowski said.
The Retrievers will be a different team than last season after losing standout guards Jairus Lyles and K.J. Maura. But Odom is widely recognized as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in college basketball, so MU can’t take UMBC lightly.
That gets back to crafting a schedule.
MU has a strong roster and wants to challenge itself before Big East play begins. But bringing in an in-demand, high-major foe – with that school likely wanting a home matchup of its own next season – doesn’t make sense for early November when teams are still figuring themselves out.
MU’s schedule ramps up in intensity with games at Indiana next week and against top-ranked Kansas in the opener of the Preseason NIT on Nov. 21. MU didn’t schedule those games but did choose to bring in quality foes like Wisconsin, Kansas State and Buffalo for December matchups at Fiserv Forum.
But it all starts with UMBC. “We have a philosophy on scheduling, not just who we schedule but when we play,” Broeker said. “That being said, we recognize the value of the first opening night.
“We think that opening night is about the building. Our people in the building. Our fans in the building. Our team and the other things we will do around that opening night that will make it exciting.
“And then the game on the floor very much has to fit into how we believe to best schedule for our program. And they fit that.”