Preview: CMU men's basketball looks to continue momentum from last season
After an 18-14 record in the 2023-24 college basketball season, Central Michigan men's basketball looks to continue the momentum from its first winning season since 2018.
With the season rapidly approaching fourth-year head coach Tony Barbee sees potential in the talent that this year's team possesses.
“I'm excited about this group,” Barbee said. “We should be way more explosive than any team I’ve had here offensively. We’ve got positional scoring threats at every position.”
Returning Talent
The Chippewas return four players from last year's team including sophomore center Hunter Harding, redshirt freshman guard Shaedon Simpson, sophomore guard Cayden Vasko and senior guard Anthony Pritchard.
Last year Pritchard was crowned Mid-American Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year as well as being named to the All-MAC First Team. Pritchard, who led the team in points and assists per game last season, has been named to the preseason All-MAC first team and is once again being looked at to be the leader of this team.
“With that guy (Pritchard) returning he is I think without a doubt the best player returning in the MAC,” Barbee said. “He should be a player without question in everybody’s polls.”
In the offseason Pritchard flirted with the idea of the transfer portal and took time to explore his options, but ultimately settled on returning to CMU for his senior year.
“I weighed my options and talked to other coaches and stuff like that, but this is the best opportunity for me to play after college,” Pritchard said. “Coach Barbee trusts me, he gave me the keys to the team.”
Vasko was another big reason for the team's dominant defensive success last season. As a true freshman, he recorded 31 starts, totaling 32 steals in 32 games in 2023.
“He (Vasko) gets overlooked a lot just because his numbers doesn’t pop out,” Barbee said. “What he does impacts winning and doesn’t show up in box scores.”
Transfers
As the landscape of college athletics continues to rapidly change, the portal has become more prevalent than ever when it comes to building a roster. Barbee has once again hit the portal to begin filling the cracks caused by roster turnover.
“I encourage guys to look around, see if they can find better opportunities for them, I'm not saying we are their only shot,” Barbee said. “But when players leave, guess what I’ve got a chance to do. Go replace them with better players.”
Barbee hit the portal hard in the offseason, signing six new players to the active roster.
One of the key transfers this season is Jakobi Heady. Heady, a senior forward, has transferred in from Bethune-Cookman where he led in scoring averaging 15.4 points per game and 4.4 assists per game.
Right out of high school Heady spent time at Wabash Valley College where he saw significant playing time as a true freshman and sophomore earning All-Region and All-GRAC honors before transferring to Bethune-Cookman for the 2023 season.
“He’s (Heady) elite and scoring is something that comes very easy for him,” Pritchard said. “He barely misses in practice so having that threat on the court is tremendous.”
Jakobi joins the Chippewas alongside his younger brother Quentin this season. Quentin Heady, a sophomore forward, transferred to CMU from South Suburban Community College where he led his team to the 2023 NJCAA Division 2 national title game. Quentin average 15.5 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game causing him to be named a Region 4 First Team All-American.
Incoming Freshman
Barbee also brought in three new freshmen to build the future core for the CMU men's basketball team with two of the three being players local to Michigan.
Ryan Hatcher, a 6-foot-2 guard from Detroit, Mohammad Habhab, a 6-foot-9 forward from Dearborn, and Gus Salem, a 6-foot-2 guard from Los Angeles round out the incoming true freshman.
Central Michigan opens the season in Mobile, Alabama where it will take on the University of South Alabama on Monday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m for the MAC-SBC Challenge.
The Chippewas' first game back in McGuirk Arena will be against Stony Brook on Thursday Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
