Eastern Michigan Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

   Considering May is one of college basketball’s least-exciting months, it’s odd to pinpoint that as the time when Eastern Michigan’s 2009-10 hopes took a big leap. But that’s when senior point guard Carlos Medlock received the word that he’s 100 percent after missing last season with a broken right foot.

“That’s the big guy right there,” said fifth-year coach Charles E. Ramsey.

With Medlock back in the flock, Eastern Michigan is in the enviable position of pairing him with junior forward Brandon Bowdry (14.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg). While Medlock shared the team’s Grant Long MVP Award in 2006-07 and kept the award for himself in 2007-08, Bowdry took advantage of his absence last year to earn second-team all-MAC honors and take the Long Award. Now those two figure to make life miserable for EMU opponents who can no longer focus on one or the other.

   Throw senior center Justin Dobbins (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg) into the mix and the Eagles boast perhaps the most powerful trio in the MAC West. But EMU needs to find two perimeter snipers to complement them. Junior-college transfers Jay Higgins (Hillsborough CC) and Quintin Dailey (Sheridan JC) will compete with holdovers Antonio Green (3.9 ppg) and Will Cooper (2.9 ppg) for those jobs. Green, a sophomore, won the team’s Most Improved award at last year’s banquet, but he needs to show more improvement on his 3-point shot (29.7 percent). Cooper, who led the Eagles with 25 blocks, is more of an energy guy than a scorer.

“We have great competition at those positions,” Ramsey said.

But the newcomers look particularly interesting because the Eagles need all of the deadeyes they can find. EMU was the MAC’s worst scoring team (57.3 ppg) last year while shooting just 40.2 percent from the field, 30.4 percent on 3-pointers and 60.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Higgins and Dailey each made more than a 3-pointer per game for their respective junior colleges. Dailey, the son of the former NBA shooting guard by the same name, actually has three years of eligibility remaining because he was an academic qualifier coming out of his Las Vegas high school.

NOTES, QUOTES

  —Junior forward Brandon Bowdry is one of five returnees to receive all-MAC honors last year. Bowdry was joined on the MAC’s second five by Northern Illinois’ Jake Anderson, Akron’s Brett McKnight and Western Michigan’s David Kool. He’s the league’s No. 3 returning scorer (14.8 ppg) and No. 2 returning rebounder (7.2 rpg), but coach Charles E. Ramsey is trying to keep him hungry by suggesting that sophomore Branden Harrison (2.7 ppg) and freshman Jamell Harris are in the running for his “4” spot.

• Sophomore point guard L.J. Frazier had the unenviable task of stepping into Carlos Medlock’s shoes after the latter suffered a season-ending foot injury before the year began. Frazier came through with 6.3 points and 2.1 assists per game, but now has the unenviable task of stepping aside and finding a new role since Medlock is back. Though he’s just 5-foot-10, perhaps Frazier can provide some firepower from the wing. Not only did he lead the Eagles in 3-pointers last year (42), he led in 3-point percentage (.365).

• Sophomore center Kamil Janton played just 84 minutes during his freshman year, but his role figures to increase after spending part of his summer playing for Poland’s U-20 national team. The 6-foot-10, 230-pound Janton averaged 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in a reserve role at the European Championships.

   LAST YEAR: 8-24 overall, 6-10 in the MAC West; lost in first round of the MAC Tournament.

   HEAD COACH: Charles E. Ramsey (career 42-81); 5th year at Eastern Michigan (42-81).

   QUOTE TO NOTE: “Medlock is the engine that makes everything go.”—Eastern Michigan coach Charles E. Ramsey on fifth-year senior PG Carlos Medlock, who owns 1,032 points, 279 assists and 138 3-pointers going into his final year.

 

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

   SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS: Eastern Michigan brought in two junior-college players and three scholarship freshmen to complement a roster that returns its top two scorers as well as injured PG Carlos Medlock. Junior Jay Higgins and sophomore Quintin Dailey, both of whom have easy 3-point range, are veteran wings who’ll either start immediately or play significant roles off the bench. Power forward Jamell Harris might be the first freshman to get a serious look because EMU is deep enough at point guard and center to allow J.R. Sims and 6-foot-10, 290-pound Matt Balkema to ease into the college scene. “(Sims) is going to be a very good player,” coach Charles E. Ramsey told Blue Ribbon Yearbook.

   KEY EARLY-SEASON GAMES: The Eagles open their 2009-10 season with a visit to Summit League favorite Oakland (Nov. 14). They’ll also play three games in the Hispanic Fund Classic on Nov. 20-22, capped by a meeting with hosts Missouri State. The biggest name on the pre-conference slate is Ohio State, which accepts EMU’s visit on Dec. 5.

   PROGRAM DIRECTION: Coach Charles Ramsey believes EMU could have won the West if senior PG Carlos Medlock hadn’t missed the season with a broken right foot. With Medlock back in the fold, now the Eagles have the chance to prove him right. That would be a monstrous leap forward for EMU, which hasn’t won a MAC title since 1995-96.

   PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Carlos Medlock, SG Quintin Dailey, SF Jay Higgins, PF Brandon Bowdry, C Justin Dobbins.

   ROSTER REPORT:

• G Carlos Medlock has full clearance after breaking his right foot in the same place for the second time in his career. He suffered the initial fracture during his sophomore season, then missed all of last year after the re-break.

• Several of the players at the end of EMU’s bench didn’t return this season. Freshman Daniel Barnes (1.1 ppg, 0.8 rpg) is probably the biggest loss of the group, which includes junior Kyle Dodd (1.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg) and sophomore Alex Hamo (0.0 ppg).

• G Jake Fosdick is a recruited walk-on freshman who made 65 3-pointers for Saline (Mich.) High School last season.