South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
UM looks to repeat last year’s success
The Hurricanes are coming off arguably the most successful season in program history. After a strong regular season, Miami reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
After a blowout win in a preseason exhibition, the Hurricanes open the 202223 season against Lafayette at the Watsco Center at
7:30 p.m. on Monday, looking to build on last season’s success.
“You can still feel the energy from the returning guys in practice, the urgency to want to be good and be a great basketball [team], to get back to where we were and even further,” forward Anthony Walker said. “We’re just trying to get the newer guys that are transfers to feel that same energy.”
Here are five key questions Miami will have to answer this season if the Hurricanes are going to stick near the top of the ACC, and repeat its NCAA Tournament success:
Will Norchad Omier adjust to the ACC?
The first of two big transfers to join Miami this offseason, Omier is poised to be a major factor in the Hurricanes’ frontcourt. Omier, a 6-foot-7, 248-pound forward, was the Sun Belt Player of the Year last season after notching 17.9 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.
Omier, a third-year sophomore, will likely fill a big role for Miami in his first season in Coral Gables, but coach Jim Larrañaga also tampered some early expectations for him as he adjusts to UM’s strength of competition.
“I think Norchad’s had a very, very consistent preseason,” said Larrañaga. “He’s got a lot of work ahead of him. I don’t want anybody to start creating unrealistic expectations for that young man because it’s going to be new challenges for him every night. At 6-foot-7, he’s not nearly as big as most five-men we’re going to play against . ... He’s got his challenges, but he also has terrific gifts.”
How does Nijel Pack perform at point guard?
The other new player to arrive via the transfer portal is former Kansas State guard Nijel Pack. The third-year sophomore averaged 17.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals last season and shot 45.5 percent from the field. He also hit 43.6 percent of his 3-point shots.
Pack takes over for Charlie Moore as the Hurricanes’ point guard this season, which will be an adjustment for him after he primarily played as a shooting guard at Kansas State.
“He’s handled that beautifully,” Larrañaga said, “but when you’re handling the ball a lot more and you have a lot more responsibility to get the other guys involved, it does present a challenge for him.”
Does Isaiah Wong keep living up to the hype?
After testing the NBA waters in the offseason, Miami guard Isaiah Wong returned for his fourth college season. Wong was the Hurricanes’ No. 2 scorer last season, and expectations remain high for the guard.
Wong was picked for the All-ACC preseason first team and was the No. 2 vote-getter for preseason player of the year. He was named to multiple award watch lists, as well.
Walker said Wong has also stepped up as a leader on the team.
“Now he’s becoming more of a vocal leader,” Walker said, “which kind of caught me by surprise because ... his demeanor’s probably more like low-key. ... It’s just great to see him comfortable in his own body, comfortable on the court, comfortable being Isaiah Wong.”
How does Miami play with a slightly smaller squad?
Miami did lose a bit of size from last season with the departure of Sam Waardenburg (6-1) and Kameron McGusty (6-5) and the arrivals of the slightly shorter Omier (6-7) and Pack (6-foot). The Hurricanes already had a small roster last year, and their main lineup did not get bigger.
‘We’re a smaller team than we even were last year,” Larrañaga said, “so we’re going to have some major challenges ahead of us, and I think our guys are looking forward to that.”
Was last year a fluke?
Ultimately, every question comes down to this: Can Miami sustain the success it had last year, or did the Hurricanes just get hot at the right time? UM was under .500 the past three seasons and had not made the NCAA tournament since 2018. Then the Hurricanes rolled to their best regular season since 2015-16 and reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
Miami won’t be sneaking up on anyone again this year, so the Hurricanes will have the opportunity to prove whether they are a real ACC contender or if they’re going to fall back to where they were in the few years before that.
“There’s just so much basketball that needs to be played before anybody finds out who’s really good and who isn’t,” Larrañaga said. “You can look at last season and how many people would’ve thought the ACC was going to have three teams in the Elite Eight?”