Not undermanned this season
Hurricanes men’s basketball looking for bounce-back season
CORAL GABLES Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga was giving an inspired response to a simple question a reporter asked about the positions where he still sees competition for playing time heading into the season.
“There’s competition every single day,” said Larrañaga at UM basketball’s media day on Tuesday afternoon. “There’s nothing guaranteed in this world. You’ve got to earn everything you get. Your playing time, your success doesn’t come from something you did in the past, whether you did it in high school or you did it in practice or you did it in the last game.
“You’ve got to continue to perform very, very well because there’s always someone ready to take your place.”
Then it hit him. That wasn’t something he could’ve said last year when the Hurricanes often had to clash with the elites in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a significantly undermanned roster.
“Except last year when we didn’t have anybody,” said Larrañaga, to laughs from media members on hand. “We just didn’t have enough guys.”
Miami only had seven recruited scholarship players available much of last season as the team went 14-18, and 5-13 in the ACC and without a postseason appearance to show for it. It was the result of a few factors.
There was the lack of a 2018 recruiting class with UM in the middle of the indictment in the FBI college basketball trial involving Adidas — the program was later redacted from it. Sophomore Bruce Brown and freshman Lonnie Walker IV made the decision to go pro after the 2018 season. Forward Dewan Hernandez was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Forward Deng Gak went down with a knee injury early in non-conference play. Center Rodney Miller was taking a nonmedical redshirt season to better condition himself and develop his game.
The Hurricanes now have some manpower to accompany returning guards in junior Chris Lykes and senior DJ Vasiljevic, who had to endure last season where, although often fighting, they were simply too worn out to compete down the stretch of games.
“I think a lot of the guys just want to forget about last year,”
Vasiljevic said. “Me and Chris have said this before, that if college basketball games were 35 minutes, we would’ve won most of our games because the last five minutes is where we just lost gas.”
Said Lykes, “These guys, I know they’ll come to war with me every time. They’re not afraid. They came to this school for a reason — to play in the ACC.”
Lykes led UM with 16.2 points per game last year and this season was tabbed as a preseason AllACC second-team selection.
Miller lost 45 pounds, and Larrañaga feels he will be a most improved player candidate in the ACC. A key addition comes in redshirt junior guard Kameron McGusty, who last year sat out due to NCAA transfer rules as he came over from Oklahoma. Redshirt senior forward Keith Stone, a Deerfield Beach native, Zion Lutheran High grad and Florida transfer, is rehabbing from February surgery on a torn ACL in his knee and is aiming to contribute once available.
Miami also got right back to recruiting well with its 2019 class and welcomes a pair of freshman guards who were given four-star ratings by 247 Sports out of high school in Isaiah Wong and Harlond Beverly.
The Hurricanes, who open the regular season at home on Nov. 5 with a conference game against Louisville, are projected to finish ninth in the ACC.
Mompremier to lead women’s team
At the heart of the Miami women’s basketball team’s efforts to make a deeper run than last year’s second-round NCAA Tournament appearance is redshirt senior forward Beatrice Mompremier.
Mompremier was recognized as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, but she would much rather have the award that comes after the games are played.
“It’s a great recognition. I’m excited about it, but I feel like it really doesn’t matter until the end of the season and I actually get it,” Mompremier said.
Miami women’s coach Katie Meier said Tuesday that Mompremier is “the best post player in the country” and one of the best overall, especially when she lets her competitiveness out.
“She wants to be in the pressure,” Meier said. “There’s sometimes in practice where you’re like, ‘Is that really the ACC Player of the Year?’ Then you say, ‘Okay, losers run’ and you make it competitive, and she is the best player in the nation in those moments.”