| by
Raymond Rolak |
| AmericaJR.com
Web Team |
|
|
|
|
After
nearly half a century as a basketball coach and 16 seasons at
the helm of the Miami University men’s basketball program
Charlie Coles announced his retirement. The surprise came following
the RedHawks loss to Toledo 60-53 in the first round of the MAC
Tournament. Miami ended at 9-21 this year.
He had
22 seasons as a collegiate head coach, all in the Mid-American
Conference, including six years at Central Michigan University.
Coles finishes his career with a career record of 355-308, posting
a 263-224 mark at Miami. Coles has more wins than any other coach
in Miami history and more MAC wins than any other coach in conference
history.
Coles
captured MAC Coach of the Year honors twice, earning the award
in 1987 while at CMU and again in 2005 leading the RedHawks. Additionally,
while guiding Miami he had two MAC Players of the Year as Wally
Szczerbiak and Michael Bramos both earned All-America honors under
his tutelage.
At the
2011 NCAA Final Four he was honored by the National Association
of Basketball Coaches with the legacy award, Guardians of the
Game Pillar Award for Education.
“Charlie
Coles is an iconic figure in the history of Miami University as
a student, athlete, server, leader, mentor and coach,” said
Miami University Athletics Director Brad Bates. “He symbolizes
all that is noble about the profession of coaching and his entire
life has been dedicated to using a basketball curriculum to holistically
develop young men. He is leaving an indelible mark on our program,
our department and our University and the hundreds of people he
has inspired, motivated and developed.”
Coles
stressed academics with his squads and also during his tenure
at Miami he continued to teach a theory of basketball class.
MURPHY
GETS BASKETBALL HONOR
First-year
head coach Rob Murphy was named Mid-American Conference Men’s
Basketball Coach of the Year for the 2011-12 season. EMU won the
MAC West Division with a 9-7 conference mark.
“It’s
humbling for me to be honored as the MAC Coach of the Year,”
said Murphy after the game. “I credit my staff for their
daily commitment and preparation in all areas of our program as
we continue to lay our foundation. I want to publicly thank Jim
Boeheim (Syracuse) and Jim Christian (Kent State) for the opportunity
they gave me to be an assistant coach. The knowledge I learned
the previous nine years as part of their coaching staffs has made
me grateful,” added Murphy.
Murphy
was named EMU’s head coach, April 21, 2011, after spending
the previous seven years as an assistant men's basketball coach
at Syracuse University. A native Detroiter, Murphy played his
collegiate basketball at Central State in Ohio.
Graphic
credit: MAC Tournament
Northern Illinois Wins
First Tourney Game Since 2003
YPSILANTI,
Mich. -- First year Northern Illinois University head
coach Mark Montgomery has had a hard season with mostly underclassman.
His pair of Norwegian sharpshooters got hot at the right time
as NIU nipped Eastern Michigan 55-52 in the Mid-American Conference
playoffs. NIU goes on to Cleveland where the action will take
place through the weekend and the MAC Final will be televised
on ESPN on Saturday.
Fox Sports Ohio will televise the MAC quarterfinals and semi’s
Thursday and Friday respectively.
NIU (5-25)
went to half-time with a 18-11 lead over EMU (14-18). The second
half had the Huskies shooting three’s and they were 9-21
for the game. Norwegian Nationals, freshman Stian Berg was 2-5
and sophomore Aksel Bolin shot 3-4 from beyond the three point
arch to keep the Eagles in check. “I thought our defense
was very good in the first half, maybe the best it has been all
season,” said Montgomery.
EMU junior
guard Derek Thompson got it to 55-52 with a three with only 12
seconds left. NIU missed a one-on-one foul opportunity and it
gave EMU a last chance opportunity. Jamell Harris took a centered
up three-point field goal attempt to tie the game at the buzzer.
Most of the arena stood as his shot hit the backboard, bounced
several times around the rim and finally spun out of the cylinder,
ending the Eagles hopes for a last-second tie.
It was
the last game for senior center and Polish National Kamil Janton
who started for EMU. The contest was the first road win of the
year in 15 attempts for Northern Illinois. They were led by junior
Tony Nixon with 14 points while Bolin added 13. Two free throw
made by Bolin with 29 second left was critical for the NIU victory.
Senior
guard Darrell Lampley also closed out his EMU career with
13 points and six assists while Jamell Harris added 13 points
with eight rebounds.
