RedHawks Flock North to Take on Michigan Monday

MONDAY: The Miami men's basketball team plays its second away game of the year against Michigan on Monday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. Head coach Travis Steele continues his climb to 100 wins, as he currently has 99 victories throughout the entirety of his career.

THE SERIES WITH THE WOLVERINES: Monday will mark the seventh time that Miami and Michigan have faced off. The Wolverines lead the series 5-1. The RedHawks last took on Michigan in Ann Arbor, falling 56-62 on Dec. 7, 2006.

ABOUT MICHIGAN: Michigan is coming off of an 8-24 (3-17 conference) season in 2023-24. Head coach Dusty May begins his first season with the Wolverines. Heading into the 2024-25 season, Michigan was selected to finish ninth overall in the Big Ten Preseason Poll.

Michigan is currently 1-1, as the Wolverines most recently fell to Wake Forest 70-72. The Wolverines defeated Cleveland State 101-53 in their first game of the 2024-25 season. Tre Donaldson leads the team in points per game (13.0) and assists per game (5.5). Center Danny Wolf has the most rebounds per game (7.5). Defensively, Roddy Gayle Jr., Nimari Burnett and Wolf lead the team in steals per game (1.5). Vladislav Goldin and Wolf hold the most blocks per game (1.5).

UP NEXT: The RedHawks travel down to Florida where they will begin the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Monday, Nov. 25.

RECENT PLAY: The Miami University men's basketball team rolled to an 88-70 victory over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Tuesday night in its second home game of the season. Eian Elmer led Miami with a career-high 24 points, and Kam Craft added an additional 18 points. Miami shot 15-32 (46.9%) from the three-point line (most made threes since Feb. 24, 2024 against Central Michigan).

MAC LEADERS: So far this season, Miami ranks among conference leaders in multiple statistical categories:

Kam Craft ranks second in the MAC (88th in nation) with 19.0 points per game and has knocked down 3.7 threes per game (third in MAC/37th in nation)
Mekhi Cooper is second overall in assist/turnover ratio (2.0) and stands at fourth in the conference (50th in the country) with 2.7 steals per game
Eian Elmer is 13th in scoring (15.0), as well as seventh in blocked shots per game (1.3) and steals per game (1.7)
Luke Skaljac is tied for first in the MAC with an .800 three-point field goal percentage
Antwone Woolfolk is sixth overall in field goal percentage (.625) and 65th in the nation for his offensive rebounding each game (3.33)

2024-25 ROSTER: The RedHawks boast two freshmen, one redshirt freshman, seven sophomores, one redshirt sophomore, three juniors, and one graduate student. Four of these players are finding a new home in Oxford after transferring to Miami University this season. Miami has seven new players on the 2024-25 roster.

RETURNING CAST: The RedHawks' top five returning scorers were all true freshmen last year. This list includes Eian Elmer (7.0), Evan Ipsaro (6.5), Mekhi Cooper (6.3), Reece Potter (6.0) and Jackson Kotecki (3.2). To learn more about the returning sophomores, click here!

MIAMI'S NEWEST SHOT-MAKER PERFECTING HIS CRAFT: 1,222 days after Kam Craft committed to play college basketball for head coach Travis Steele, he finally did.

That three-plus-year journey didn't play out exactly like either Craft or Steele would have predicted back in July 2021. Steele, then the head coach at Xavier University, is now in his third season leading the Miami University program. And even though Craft still ended up joining Xavier after Steele's departure, he suffered a knee injury during the Musketeers' 2022-23 season and played only four more games over the next year and a half before entering the transfer portal.

However, the two men reunited this spring when Steele earned a recruiting commitment from Craft for the second time. So when the Miami RedHawks' 2024-25 opener tipped off at Appalachian State, Craft was wearing the Red and White, with Steele on the sideline shouting encouragement. To learn more about his story, click here!

NEW FACES: Craft is not the only impactful addition to this year's roster. Other notable newcomers include:

DAN LUERS: Initially attended Defiance College (NCAA Division III), where he played in seven games during the 2020-21 COVID-19 shortened season, averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists Last season at EIU, he appeared in all 32 games, averaging 6.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists.

PETER SUDER: As a freshman for Bellarmine, Suder was named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team in 2023. Last season, he played 31 games and put up 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals as a sophomore.

ANTWONE WOOLFOLK: He averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds during his 27 games played his sophomore year at Rutgers University. He was a three-star recruit in basketball, while also receiving offers in football from Boston College, Cincinnati, Akron and Marshall.

FORT MYERS TIP-OFF: Matchups and game times have been announced for every game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach and Palms Divisions, which will be held Nov. 25-27 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Fla.

In the Palms Division, Miami University will take on Siena at 11 a.m. on Nov. 25, followed by Jacksonville facing Mercer at 1:30 p.m. The teams will return to the court on Nov. 26 with the third-place game taking place at 11 a.m. and the championship game being held at 1:30 p.m. All Palms Division games will be streamed on FSWBucs.com.

2024-25 MAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First Place Votes)
1. Ohio (11) – 121
2. Akron (1) – 106
3. Kent State – 99
4. Toledo – 95
5. Bowling Green – 73
6. Miami – 72
7. Ball State – 67
8. Central Michigan – 55
9. Eastern Michigan – 36
10. Western Michigan – 33
11. Northern Illinois – 24
12. Buffalo – 11

Tournament Champion: Ohio (8), Kent State (3), Toledo (1)

RedHawks Flock North to Take on Michigan Monday

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Players Mentioned

Mekhi Cooper

Kam Craft

Eian Elmer

Evan Ipsaro

Jackson Kotecki

Reece Potter

Luke Skaljac

Antwone Woolfolk