The state of college basketball and the possibility of a season are questions in themselves. However, they're not the only questions surrounding the Central Michigan men's basketball program.
I've assembled a fair share of them from the message boards over at 247Sports and figured I'd put together some answers. Feel free to leave a question I left unanswered in the comments and I'll be sure to get to them.
Question 1: Is Keno putting some emphasis on recruiting size? The rumors I've read here are that we're pursuing guys over 6'7", which is not something we usually do.
Yes, in a rather surprising move, coach Keno Davis put a premium on size during the 2020 recruiting circuit. A trio of big men, transfers Malik Muhammad and Braden Burke as well as incoming freshman Aundre Polk, pledged their services to the Chippewas.
In the past, Central Michigan has been notorious for its small ball, perimeter oriented offense while using its athleticism to play baseline-to-baseline defense. As I wrote in an early blog post, I think that the time is now to explore two-big lineups and utilize this influx of size that the Chippewas have. I expect to see some Burke-Muhammad pairings at points during the season, even if they aren't together in the starting lineup.
Question 2: Will we see a "name" opponent come to McGuirk? The home non-conference slate has been pretty unappealing for several years now.
It depends on how you define a "name" opponent.
In 2020-21, the Chippewas are scheduled to host Robert Morris and Valparaiso, who have both qualified for the NCAA tournament in recent years and are among the better programs in their respective conferences. They'll also host Arkansas State and Tulane next season, so at least they're will be home bouts to look forward to besides Trinity Christian and Siena Heights.
However, I don't think any giant programs will be coming to McGuirk Arena any time soon. At least not on the men's side.
In this stage of men's basketball, it's rare to see big time hoops schools travel to smaller schools. I just don't think the Chippewas are as appealing to the bigger schools.
Question #3: What do you think the starting 5 is for the opening game of the season?
This is an interesting question because of the amount of attrition that the Chippewas have undergone over the course of the offseason.
I think you pencil in DeVontae Lane, who emerged as the team's point guard last season. Also, I think Burke is a lock given his experience at Michigan State. Though he played very little with the Spartans, he has invaluable experience battling inside with NBA-caliber bigs Nick Ward and Xavier Tillman every day in practice.
Though I personally like the thought of a two-big lineup, I don't think Davis starts with two-big men. Demarcus Demonia and Meikkel Murray are both former JUCO All-Americans with similar styles of play, so I think one of them squeezes into the lineup. From there, my picks to start on the wings are returning senior Travon Broadway Jr. and Iowa Western transfer Caleb Huffman.
There's always the possibility of going with both Demonia and Murray as well, however both are excellent rebounding wings while not being great perimeter shooters, so I think Davis picks one while playing the other in a sixth-man type role.
Also, everything I've heard about Muhammad points to him being an outstanding rebounder and awe-inspiring shot blocker. He could be too good to keep on the bench as the season progresses, but here's my five if the season started tomorrow:
Lane
Broadway Jr.
Huffman
Demonia
Burke
Thanks so much for reading. If you have any more questions regarding men's or women's basketball, another Chippewa program, or just life in general, feel free to drop it in the comments!
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