Miami RedHawks basketball: What you need to know for 2023-24 season
The Miami RedHawks finished last year with a 12-20 record in coach Travis Steele’s first season with the program.
The RedHawks haven’t had a winning season since a 12-11 record in 2020-21 and haven’t finished with more than 15 wins or higher than a third-place finish in the Mid-American Conference East division standings since 2017-18.
If Steele and his team hope to turn that around, as well as have a chance to make the school’s first NCAA Tournament since 2007, Miami will have to rely on a core featuring four of last year’s top seven scorers.
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Miami returning starters
Veterans Morgan Safford and Anderson Mirambeaux are the leading returning scorers — Safford from the perimeter and the 6-foot-8, 305-pound Mirambeaux inside.
Safford averaged 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season and is the team’s leading returning 3-point shooter, after shooting .347 from long distance last year. Mirambeaux averaged 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds and blocked a team-leading 30 shots.
Ryan Mabrey rounds out the trio of returning starters. The 6-5 guard averaged 8.4 points per game as a freshman last year.
Julian Lewis, a 6-6 wing player, started 19 games last season and averaged 5.8 points.
Miami basketball newcomers
There will be seven new freshmen this season: Guards Blake Anderson, Mekhi Cooper and Evan Ipsaro; wing Eian Elmer; forwards Hampton Dauparas and Jackson Kotecki; and center Reece Potter.
Additionally, graduate student transfers Bryce Bultman and Darweshi Hunter and junior Bradley Dean will join the program.
Bultman, a 6-5 forward, averaged 15.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game for his career at Division II McKendree.
Hunter, a 6-5 wing, played the past two seasons at Northern Illinois after previous stops at Weber State and Central State. He averaged 6.4 points per game for his career at Northern Illinois.
Dean averaged 14.8 points and 3.6 assists per game for his career at Virginia-Wise.
Miami schedule highlights: RedHawks get a shot at Buckeyes
Miami will travel to Columbus on Dec. 6 to take on Ohio State for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
The RedHawks are 2-7 all-time against the Buckeyes, with the last win coming on March 17, 1993 in the NIT.
Ohio State has won all four meetings since 1993, with all the games having been played in Columbus.
Local connections to Miami
Three newcomers all hail from Greater Cincinnati.
Freshmen Elmer starred at Taft High School and Ipsaro for Covington Catholic.
Grad student Hunter played at Princeton High School.
2023-24 Miami University basketball roster
NO. | FULL NAME | POS. | HT. | WT. | ACADEMIC YEAR | HOMETOWN / PREVIOUS SCHOOL |
0 | W | 6-6 | 190 | Fr. | Cincinnati, Oh. / Taft High School | |
1 | G | 6-2 | 170 | Jr. | Gate City, Va. / University of Virginia College at Wise | |
2 | G | 6-0 | 200 | Fr. | Crestview Hills, Ky. / Covington Catholic | |
3 | W | 6-6 | 200 | Jr. | Ann Arbor, Mich. / William & Mary | |
4 | W | 6-5 | 200 | Gr. | Phoenix, Ariz. / Northern Illinois University | |
5 | G | 6-2 | 190 | So. | Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel Area | |
11 | G | 6-1 | 160 | Fr. | Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook High School | |
13 | G | 6-5 | 195 | So. | Belmar, N.J. / La Lumiere | |
14 | F | 6-5 | 225 | Fr. | Long Beach, Ind. / La Lumiere | |
21 | C | 6-8 | 220 | So. | Brooklyn, N.Y. / Eagle Academy II | |
22 | G | 6-5 | 210 | R-Sr. | Columbus, Oh. / Wofford | |
24 | F | 6-9 | 230 | Fr. | Chicago, Ill. / St. Ignatius College Prep | |
25 | F | 6-5 | 200 | Gr. | Nashville, Ill. / McKendree University | |
33 | G | 6-3 | 190 | Fr. | Evansville, Ind. / Evansville Memorial | |
35 | C | 7-1 | 210 | Fr. | Lexington, Ky. / Lexington Catholic | |
45 | C | 6-8 | 305 | Sr. | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic / Cleveland State |
2023-24 Miami University basketball schedule
Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
Nov. 6, 2023 | TBA | Away | Evansville | Evansville, Ind. |
Nov. 11, 2023 | 11 a.m. | Home | Texas State (MAC vs. Sun Belt Challenge) | Oxford, Oh. |
Nov. 17, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Home | Coppin State | Oxford, Oh. |
Nov. 19, 2023 | 1 p.m. | Home | Eastern Illinois | Oxford, Oh. |
Nov. 25, 2023 | 2 p.m. | Away | St. Bonaventure | St. Bonaventure, N.Y. |
Nov. 28, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Home | Spalding University (Ky.) | Oxford, Oh. |
Dec. 2, 2023 | TBA | Away | Marshall | Huntington, W.Va. |
Dec. 6, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Away | Ohio State University | Columbus, Ohi. |
Dec. 9, 2023 | 2 p.m. | Away | Davidson | Davidson, N.C. |
Dec. 19, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Away | Wright State | Dayton, Oh. |
Dec. 22, 2023 | 1 p.m. | Home | Vermont | Oxford, Oh. |
Dec. 29, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Home | Wilberforce | Oxford, Oh. |
Jan. 2, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Western Michigan | Oxford, Oh. |
Jan. 6, 2024 | TBA | Away | Toledo | Toledo, Ohio |
Jan. 9, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Away | Buffalo | Buffalo, N.Y. |
Jan. 13, 2024 | 1 p.m. | Home | Eastern Michigan | Oxford, Oh. |
Jan. 16, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Bowling Green | Oxford, Oh. |
Jan. 20, 2024 | TBA | Away | Ball State | Muncie, Ind. |
Jan. 23, 2024 | TBA | Away | Central Michigan | Mount Pleasant, Mich. |
Jan. 27, 2024 | 1 p.m. | Home | Akron | Oxford, Oh. |
Jan. 30, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Away | Kent State | Kent, Oh. |
Feb. 3, 2024 | 2 p.m. | Away | Ohio | Athens, Oh. |
Feb. 6, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Northern Illinois | Oxford, Oh. |
Feb. 10, 2024 | TBA | Away | MAC vs. Sun Belt Challenge | |
Feb. 17, 2024 | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Ball State | Oxford, Oh. |
Feb. 20, 2024 | TBA | Away | Western Michigan | Kalamazoo, Mich. |
Feb. 24, 2024 | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Central Michigan | Oxford, Oh. |
Feb. 27, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Away | Bowling Green | Bowling Green, Oh. |
March 2, 2024 | 1 p.m. | Away | Eastern Michigan | Ypsilanti, Mich. |
March 5, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Toledo | Oxford, Oh. |
March 8, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Ohio | Oxford, Oh. |
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Miami University basketball: 2023-24 roster, schedule preview
