Western Michigan Broncos Men's Basketball Preview

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Coming off their second consecutive Mid-American Conference West championship and the fourth in head coach Steve Hawkins' six-year tenure, the Broncos hope to reload with a young roster and go for three in a row at the top of the division. The Broncos accomplished all of that, in spite of a season filled with youth, injuries and off-court issues.

The Broncos return a talented cast of six letterwinners, including three starters in Academic All-America guard David Kool, MAC All-Freshman Team forward Flenard Whitfield and senior center Donald Lawson. The Broncos will mesh those returners with five highly-touted freshmen.

"I'm looking at last year as the source of optimism for this year," Hawkins said. "Last year, any extenuating circumstance we could have happened. Murphy's Law took over and we still found a way to win a share of the MAC West title. We had numerous deaths and illnesses to players' family and friends. We had injuries to our big guys. We had a coaching staff where the senior staff member had only one full year of experience in our program. While all this took place, we lost 13 games by three possessions or less and six games by just one possession. Not to mention how many freshmen we had on the team.

"This year, we're still very young with nine of our 12 scholarship players being freshmen or sophomores, but the sophomores will take the floor with experience because of how much they had to play last season. This freshman group has brought a lot of energy to the program and they are good.

"With everything that could possibly go wrong last season, we still scratched and clawed our way to our second MAC West title in a row and the fourth in the last six seasons. That means there is great reason for optimism this season."

No MAC West team has been as consistently successful as the Broncos as last season was the eighth consecutive year for WMU to finish in the top three in the division.

The Broncos will take that winning mentality, the top scorer in the MAC and a talented cast of youngsters into 2009-10 looking to maintain its perch looking down at the rest of the division.

Discussion of the Broncos' backcourt begins with senior standout Kool. Kool led the MAC with 17.9 points per game last season, 18.7 points per game in conference play, to become the first WMU player to lead the league in scoring since Booker James in 1987.
Kool also continued his clutch play at the free throw line by finishing sixth in the country with an 89.4 percent conversion rate.

Kool's been even better at the end of games. Last season, he was 39-of-40 from the line in the final two minutes of games and overtime. For his career, Kool is 102-of-109 (.936) in late-game situations. Kool also continues to be the go-to guy for WMU at the end of games. He ended the season with a tying jumper against Ball State that led to an overtime victory and the MAC West title in March.
"It would be tough to look at his stats and say that David is not one of the all-time best at Western Michigan," Hawkins said. "I think that he is, especially when you consider last year he was the sole focus of every opponent's scouting report and still led the league in scoring. That's a tremendous accomplishment.

"From a skills standpoint, he may not be as good as some in the past, but the one thing that I would put David up against anybody in our program or any program is wanting the ball at the end of the game. You can't look at statistics when it comes to that.
Having somebody that really wants the basketball at the end of the game and can get you a legitimate shot with a chance to go in, is one of the things he has done as well as anybody."

Three reserve letterwinners from a season ago return with the possibility of increased playing time this season in senior Martelle McLemore and sophomores Demetrius Ward and Mike Douglas.

McLemore was the Broncos top three-point marksman last season at .364 on his way to a career-high 20 three-pointers, 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

"Martelle has been a back-up for the last three seasons, but now is his time to shine," Hawkins said. "He has all of the necessary tools. He's long, shoots the ball well and has a knack for offensive rebounding. More importantly, we've seen a major change in how confident he is after a good summer."

Ward averaged 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game after playing in all 31 games last season. Ward also finished third on the team with 17 steals for the Brown & Gold. After playing primarily on the wing last season, Ward could push for time at point guard for the Broncos this season.

Douglas played in 17 games as a freshman on his way to a positive assist-to-turnover ratio of 14:8, while also connecting on
4-of-9 from long distance.

"He understands everything that we are trying to do on offense and we've made some offensive changes that cater to his skill set. I think he has also really worked on becoming more consistent from the outside," Hawkins commented.

WMU also returns junior point guard Alex Wolf in his fourth season in the program. Wolf has continued to improve each year in the program and could push for increased playing time as an upperclassman.

"Alex has an unbelievable attitude and is a Bronco through and through. He has played himself into the mix at point guard and I'm confident putting him into the game," Hawkins said.

In addition to the holdovers, the Broncos welcome a trio of highly-touted freshmen in David Brown, Austin Harper and Brandon Pokley.
Brown was a prolific scorer in high school and two-time league MVP after leading Hononegah to 54 wins over his last two seasons.
"David has everything that he needs to be on the playing floor," Hawkins said. "He's an excellent shooter, which we need, and he handles the ball well after playing a lot of point guard in high school. He is a strong, physical body that can handle the rigors of college basketball."

Harper was a two-time all-state selection after averaging 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game for Grand Haven (Mich.) High School as a senior.

"Austin is a talented, athletic point guard," Hawkins said. "He can get to the rim and finish. He sees the floor well and is very clever with the ball."

Pokley is a prolific three-point shooter that helped lead Clarkston (Mich.) High School to the state final four in Michigan's largest class. Pokley averaged 21 points and five rebounds, while hitting 40 percent of his three-pointers, including 4-of-6 trifectas in the state semifinals.

"Pokley is the best shooter on the team and it's not close," Hawkins explained "He's in the gym every day putting up a ridiculous amount of shots, therefore every time he catches the ball he's ready to put it up and doesn't need a lot of space or time. He's in the equation to get on the floor, because three-point shooting was a weakness last season and he definitely improves it and can open things up for other players just by the threat he presents as a three-point shooter."

The Broncos are led in the frontcourt by two returning starters in senior center Donald Lawson and sophomore forward Flenard Whitfield. WMU also returns sophomore center Muhammed Conteh and a trio of freshmen in Nate Hutcheson, Shayne Whittington and Nick Stapert.

Whitfield was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team after starting in 23-of-31 games on his way to averaging 5.5 points and
4.1 rebounds per game. Whitfield was third on the team with 69 free throw attempts and converted on 46.8 percent of his field goals.
We need him to continue the natural progression from freshman to sophomore," Hawkins said. "This year, he is the experienced guy at the ‘4' spot and will have to play more like an upperclassman, because he's the only experienced guy in that position and he's going to see a lot of time on the court."

Lawson averaged 5.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.95 blocks per game in 22 games for the Brown & Gold. Lawson was coming on with back-to-back 11-rebound efforts in the final two non-conference games before being forced to miss nine games with health concerns.
Lawson rebounded with eight points and six rebounds in his first game back against Ohio as WMU went on to win the MAC West.
"We need him to stay healthy and have a big senior year," Hawkins said. "He never regained the form he had in the middle of the season after coming back. He's capable of it, but he's yet to do it. We need him to be a scoring threat inside as our only upperclass big and then we need him to play well defensively and rebound the ball."

Conteh saw limited time for the Broncos as a freshman with seven points and 13 rebounds, six offensive, in 12 games for the Broncos.
"Mo always gives great effort, but needs to continue to improve his understanding of the geometry of the game," Hawkins said. "I wouldn't hesitate to put him into the game as an enforcer. He's going to be physical, rebound the ball and defend the post, but we need him to continue to refine his offensive game to become a more well-rounded player."

Hutcheson could step into the lineup from day one after a prolific high school career at Iowa state power Linn-Mar. He helped the Lions to three-straight top three finishes in the state, including a state championship in 2007 and runner-up finish in 2009.
Last season, Hutcheson averaged 16.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals on his way to all-state honors.
"Nate's going to be on the floor and get a lot of playing time early. He runs and jumps better than anybody else on the team and he can knock down the open three-pointer, has effective back-to-the-basket skills because of his leaping ability and he's comfortable facing up slower players," Hawkins said. "He's the ideal ‘4' in the MAC because he's an inside-outside threat depending on matchups."
Whittington was a late bloomer that didn't letter until his junior year of high school. He made up for lost time by leading Lawrence (Mich.) High School to a 47-4 record and back-to-back trips to the MHSAA Class D State Finals. Whittington was tabbed as the top player in Class D as a senior after posting 17.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, 3.0 steals and 2.0 assists per game.
"I can't be more excited about a big guy in our program," Hawkins said. "He picks up on things quick, which will really serve him well as he continues to develop and get stronger."

Stapert is a walk-on that appeared on the Broncos' radar after battling Whittington during the high school season. A native of Gobles, Mich., Stapert averaged 14.7 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior and tied a school record with 70 blocked shots.
"I'm hoping Nick can do what Alex has done at the guard spot and become a quality member of this program," Hawkins said.
"Nick really battles and doesn't back down. Because of how hard he works and how conscientious he is, Nick has a chance to work himself into the equation down the road if he dedicates himself."

SCHEDULE
The two-time defending MAC West champions have another challenging non-conference slate to prepare for the always rugged trek through the MAC.

"I think this schedule will give us a lot of preparation for MAC play," Hawkins said. "The one thing that is interesting about this schedule is for the first time since I've been here, we have more home games than true road games, which I'm happy about. Overall, this is the best group of teams to visit University Arena in my 10 seasons at Western Michigan.

"At first glance, (the schedule) appears to be a little bit more balanced than in the past, but you just don't know. You can schedule with the best of intentions, yet it may end up being a tougher schedule than you originally thought or it may be a weaker schedule. We won't know until the end of the year and look back."

This season's home schedule is highlighted by six games against outstanding competition that includes two 2009 NCAA Tournament teams in VCU on Nov. 18 and Temple on Dec. 1 and two other perennial conference championship contenders in Holy Cross on Nov. 28 and Sam Houston State on Jan. 3.

The away portion of the schedule is highlighted by the inaugural Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu from Dec. 22-25 that features an opening matchup against USC and a second matchup against either St. Mary's or Northeastern. UNLV, SMU, Hawai'i and College of Charleston are on the other side of the bracket in the ESPN-sponsored event. USC, UNLV, Saint Mary's, College of Charleston and Northeastern all reached the postseason in 2009.

The Broncos will also play at 2009 NCAA Tournament team Illinois on Dec. 13 in the start of a home-and-home series that will see the Illini return to Kalamazoo in 2010-11.

"(Playing the Illini) will give our kids a chance to go into a big-time atmosphere and play in front of a very enthusiastic crowd," Hawkins said. "It will be a lot of fun. It could also give us a frame of reference to draw from when we do play in some tough gyms in the MAC."
For the first time since the 1999-2000 season, the Broncos will open with in-state rival Detroit on Nov. 15. WMU has won two meetings in a row for the first time since 1974-75 and will be looking for back-to-back wins at Detroit for the first time since
1966 and 1968.

The Broncos have back-to-back home games against Holy Cross and Temple on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1. The Crusaders went 18-14 last season on the way to a second place finish in the Patriot League and a berth in the Patriot League Tournament championship game. The Owls went 22-12 and won the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the second season in a row before falling to Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Broncos will begin MAC play at home against in-state rival Eastern Michigan on Jan. 9 before heading on the road to play Northern Illinois on Jan. 13.

Western Michigan will host in-state rival Central Michigan on Jan. 16 and return the trip north on Feb. 27. In its crossover games against the MAC East, WMU will host 2009 MAC Tournament champion Akron on Jan. 27, Miami on Feb. 4 and 2009 MAC co-champion Bowling Green on Feb. 6. The Broncos will travel to Kent State on Jan. 30, MAC co-champion Buffalo on Feb. 1 and Ohio on Feb. 9.

The MAC season ends at home on March 4 versus Ball State to complete a stretch of five road games in the final seven contests of the season, which includes a road ESPNU BracketBusters contest.

"We're really excited about tackling the challenges presented by this season's MAC schedule," Hawkins said. "I believe the MAC West will be much improved with teams getting older and returning their injured players from last season. All of that should make for a very exciting campaign."

The season concludes with the MAC Tournament beginning on March 7 at campus sites and moving to Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena for the final three rounds from March 11-13.

Story courtesy of Western Michigan Sports Information