Coles: I'm Proud, But Not Satisfied

Miami's season comes to an abrupt end at the hands of TCU in the NIT.

By Bill Kintner

Oxford, OH -- It happed in last 1:03 of the game. With the score tied at 58-58 Miami's Doug Penno had a three point shot blocked, a charge was called on Miami's Chet Mason, a jumper with three seconds left that goes in by TCU's Nile Murry and a turnover trying to get the ball in by MU's Danny Horace.

That's it, the season comes to an end and 3,077 RedHawk fans in attendance are stunned. In fact, a few of them recovered enough to boo as the RedHawk players shook hands with the TCU players. The final score was 60-58. It was a big win for Texas Christian University (20-13). The Horned Frogs, according to Miami Coach Charlie Coles, were a little too big and fast.

It was a season that Coach Coles felt his team over-performed. Miami (19-11) won their 21st Mid-American Conference regular-season title, which earned Coach Coles MAC Coach of the Year honors as voted by the MAC media. The honor reflected Coles' job as a coach and, partly, the low expectations for this year's Miami squad

The RedHawks were undefeated at home going into this game. They ended the year at 13-1 in Millett Hall. It was a year that Miami was competitive to the end in every game but three. Those three were Butler, Cincy and at Kent State. Some of the losses were just absolute heart-breakers. There were three games in February where Miami lost at Ohio 61-57, at Akron 55-49 in OT and at Bowling Green 57-56. Win any of those and the RedHawks go to the NCAA Tournament. With an RPI in the high twenties, Miami had the highest RPI of any team that was left out of the NCAA Tournament field.

Although there was great disappointment in not getting to the NCAA Tournament this year, Coach Coles and his team embraced the opportunity to keep playing. "It means a lot to get back into the postseason. A lot of people have said we haven't done well, but if you've watched, we've made great progress. Not only are we in the NIT this year, but we are the only MAC team in a 13-team league to get a first round bye for three straight seasons, which means we finished at least third the past three years. We feel great about the progress we are making," said Coles.

Miami loses to two senior starters that will be hard to fill for next year. The first one, Danny Horace, was named to the MAC All-Tournament Team. He averaged 20.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg. He was also named First Team All-MAC. For the year he averaged 15.6 ppg and 9.7 rpg. There were times he just carried the team on his back. He notched 12 double-doubles for the year.

The other big gun Miami loses is Chet Mason. He was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. He was also joined by his teammate Danny Horace on the All-MAC First Team. He averaged 13.1 ppg and 7.6 rebounds per game. Coach Coles described him as a man who plays with his heart. "He is the jazz musician who doesn't read music. He is the guy who plays by feel. You don't draw up plays for Chet, you draw up situations," explained Coles.

Despite the two key losses to his team, Coach Coles is optimistic about his team next season. "I am more excited about this team than I have ever been about a team in my life. We have a newcomer from Michigan, Michael Bramos, who is going to be very good. We have to get some other kids straightened out and I am going to find out how to use NateVanderSluis. We are going to run him, because this kid, from the beginning of the year until tonight, has gotten a lot better," explained Coles. He is a 6-11 center that plays well against big guys, but small fat players give him fits.

"We have to get Monty straightened out. I don't know what happened there. But I think we are going to be fine," continued Coles.

When Coach Coles does find a way to harness his talent look for Miami be sitting on their usual perch atop the MAC.

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