An inexperienced but talented UMKC men’s basketball team is looking to build on historic success for the program.
College basketball at UMKC works in cycles. Classes of recruits come in together, are developed by the coaching staff and the hope is that after years of building relationships and training, will achieve great things for the program before they finish their collegiate careers.
Those hopes were realized in the 2016-17 season by a team headlined by former Roos like LaVell Boyd, Broderick Newbill and Kyle Steward. That senior trio not only led UMKC in scoring last season, but in their final campaigns amassed a winning record in both overall and conference (Western Athletic Conference) terms. Even more importantly, they earned the program’s first postseason appearance (College Basketball Invitational) and victory.
The beginning of the 2017-18 season is less than two weeks away with a home exhibition scheduled for Friday, November 3rd against Sterling College, and the hope for fifth-year head coach Kareem Richardson is to build on that success.
"“What you hope to build is a winning culture of no matter what pieces are in play that that’s the culture we’ve been striving and trying to build going into year five here,” Richardson said."
That might take Richardson’s best coaching job yet. Not only do the Roos have to figure out who is going to replace the contributions of their top three scorers from last season, they have a front court that while long on talent, is short on experience.
"“We’ve got a lot of new faces and pieces that haven’t played a minute for us,” Richardson commented. “But we do have several guys who were a part of last year and thus far have done a pretty good job of a lot of the little things that it takes to win so that’s a part of the winning culture that we hope to build and to build off of last year.”"
The experienced guys who Richardson referred to include a pair of sophomore guards, Xavier Bishop and Isaiah Ross. Bishop and Ross averaged a combined 34.3 minutes per game as freshmen. That pair contributed 13.9 points per game along with 91 assists between them. Add to them senior guard Broderick Robinson, who during his 22.7 minutes per game as a junior added 61 assists and 4.7 points per game.
"“We’re relatively confident with those guys and we’re confident in the new guys we have coming in as well,” Richardson stated. “We have a long ways to go even with the returning guys. Those guys were able to lean on some of the other guys last year and now it’s their turn to not only lead but be leaned on. They don’t have that extra benefit of having someone to lean on so now they are going to be ones who are leaned on and they have to produce. So we’ll see, it’s going to be a work in progress all around the board, but it’s going to be fun.”"
Leaning on them will be front court players like sophomore Jordan Giles and redshirt sophomore Brandon Suggs. The front court does boast three juniors in forward Aleer Leek, forward Danny Dixon and center Mo Ahmed, but Dixon is ineligible for 2017-18 as he is a transfer and Leek averaged just 7.8 minutes per game last season. Ahmed played significant minutes as a sophomore, but at Northern Oklahoma College (a junior college). Freshman Tony Jackson is the only other front court possibility listed on the roster.
Despite the challenges that youth can bring, Robinson is confident in the roster’s potential to build on last season’s success.
"“We’re getting better,” Robinson explained. “We got a ways to go, but we’re getting better. We are going to be pressing a lot, so we have to get in better shape. Everybody’s putting in a lot of effort and playing competitive, that’s all you can ask for. One of our newcomers, [freshman guard] Marvin [Nesbitt Jr.] is a very good rebounder and a hustle guy, he gets some loose balls, plays defense, not a lot stuff you can stat with him but it makes a big difference in games. Everybody making the extra pass and giving the extra effort, we have a lot of those guys.”"
Over the off-season, Robinson says that he was working on his play off-the-dribble along with finishing his shot opportunities. That ability to convert defensive execution into offensive success will be key for the Roos in 2017-18.
"We’re quick, we’re not going to be very big this year but we are quick,” Richardson expressed. “Even though we aren’t big, we are very athletic and so I like our ability to turn people over. I think our pressing and our pressure is going to be good, it has to be good to give ourselves a chance, so I’m really excited about that. From an offensive standpoint, our guys share the ball really well. We have an unselfish team that tries to go from good to great shots, so I’m excited about the way we share the ball. We have to get consistency. That’s what happens with a lack of experience.Some days we’ll look we have a chance to win the league and other days we don’t know if we’re going to win a game. That’s a part of it. That part of being consistent, of doing successful things on a daily basis is where we have to get better. We’re beat up, it’s no secret. Sometimes we look like a M.A.S.H. unit in here. Our guys of course don’t know what a M.A.S.H. unit is, they’re too young, but we are beat up and that’s another part of it that hurts you because a lot of our beat up pieces are new guys who need reps and more reps but they haven’t been able to because of the inconsistencies of being able to practice.”"
Getting healthy and executing the strategy well is important for every team, and in a WAC that is filled with talented teams, UMKC is no exception.
"“It [the conference] is going to be good,” Richardson elaborated. “It’s going to be as good as it’s been, and every year it’s gotten better. For us in all honesty, that’s the scary part, because we got Grand Canyon who’s going to be really good, Bakersfield is going to be really good again, New Mexico State is always good, Utah Valley is going to be very good, Seattle is going to have some rejuvenation with the coaching change, that’s usually how it works with a coaching change, there’s always a new excitement about the program, so that right there you’re talking literally five or six teams that can win our league and I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them did that.”"
"“Goals for the team is always to win a championship, a WAC championship and get a 20-win season for sure,” Robinson added. “My individual goal is to help the team get as far as it can get. My personal goals are to be an All-Conference selection, All-Defense selection, but more importantly win a championship.”"
Next: Kansas City Chiefs: 15 players to target at the trade deadline
When the Roos’ men’s team tips off the 2017-18 season at Wichita State on Friday, Nov. 10, the narrative will be almost the polar opposite of that which is being told about the women’s team, which is full of experience but coming off a losing season. If UMKC can pull on what experience it has while taking advantage of the strengths that youth brings, it may further contribute to building a winning culture.