Most people know about Southwest Ohio’s traditional successful college basketball programs, Cincinnati, Dayton and Xavier, all of which have occupied a spot in the AP Top 25 at one point this season. Despite that, the area team having the best 2024-25 might reside in Oxford.
Miami University men’s basketball has had one winning season in its last 15. The RedHawks haven’t participated in March Madness since 2007. Through its history, Miami has recorded nearly 1,500 all-time wins, the program roamed by players like five-time NBA Champion Ron Harper, former NBA All-Star Wally Szczerbiak and Basketball Hall of Famer Wayne Embry. An historic program had fallen on hard times.
This season, in the team’s third year with former Xavier coach Travis Steele at the helm, the RedHawks fortunes appear to have shifted. The team is 14-4, 6-0 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play and the winner of eight-straight games for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
All that is despite the fact that Miami doesn’t have one senior on its roster. Fenwick alum Dan Luers is the team’s lone graduate student, but he’s seen the floor in less than half of Miami’s games.
Steele’s first two seasons with the RedHawks weren’t fantastic, but his teams showed promise. In 2022-23, the RedHawks started 2-11 in the MAC, then stormed back to win four of their last five regular season games and secure a spot in the conference tournament, where it lost to top-ranked Toledo 91-75 in the first round. Last season, Miami improved to 9-9 in MAC play but again lost in the first round of the conference tournament.
In 2024-25, it appears the RedHawks have turned a corner, though the toughest stretch of their schedule is staring them down.
A big part of the RedHawks’ success has been efficiency. They’re top 10 in the nation for both field goal percentage (50.1%) and three-point percentage (39.8%). Through six MAC games, Miami is third in the conference in scoring (83.7 points per game) and scoring defense (71.3 points per game).
Redshirt-sophomore Xavier transfer Kam Craft, who played sparingly as a freshman with the Musketeers two seasons ago and missed all of last season with a knee injury, has turned into a star for Miami. He’s averaging 15.2 points and 3.1 3-pointers per game, shooting close to 50% from the field and better than 43% from long range.
Xavier transfer Kam Craft has been on an absolute heater this season
He’s averaging 17 PPG while shooting 48/46/86 splits on the season, the 6’6 guard is one of the best shooters in the whole country, leading the MAC in scoring in conference play
Craft is one of the best… pic.twitter.com/xcQurzDoIg
— Arman Jovic (@PDTScouting) January 14, 2025
Junior guard Peter Suder, a Bellarmine transfer, has also been excellent for the ‘Hawks, averaging 14.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting better than 50% from the floor. Taft alum Eian Elmer, a sophomore forward, has taken a leap in his second year, up to 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 50% from the floor and 40% from long range.
Six more players are averaging at least five points per game for the RedHawks, including 6-foot-9 junior Antwone Woolfork (8.4), who has given Miami a strong two-way presence down low that it’s been missing in recent years; 7-foot-1 sophomore center Reece Potter, and Covington Catholic alum Evan Ipsaro, a sophomore guard.
On Saturday, the RedHawks travel to Akron for their biggest game of the season, arguably the biggest game in the MAC this season overall. The Zips (13-5, 6-0 MAC) are the conference’s only other undefeated team and the current favorite to win the MAC at -115. Miami is currently second at +150 with considerable cushion over third-favorite Ohio at +800, per BetMGM.
Adding to the intrigue of Saturday’s contest, Steele and Akron’s coach John Groce are half-brothers.
Eight of Miami’s remaining 12 conference games this season are against teams in the top half of the MAC. Still, the RedHawks have already positioned themselves well to at least make the MAC Tournament, if not secure a top seed. Whoever comes out of that bracket will snag an elusive ticket to March Madness, college basketball’s biggest stage.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Red-hot Miami RedHawks hope for March Madness for first time since 2007
