A year after shocking its new conference with seven ACC wins, Miami is adjusting to its new role as a known threat.
"This year we're not going to surprise anybody so we're going to have to work a little harder to win some games, but now we know what it takes," said senior guard Robert Hite who joins Guillermo Diaz in the league's top-scoring backcourt.
The Hurricanes' success last season, coupled with the move to the star-studded ACC, has increased the team's profile on a traditionally football-dominated campus. Miami's average attendance for ACC home games last season was nearly double that of Big East home games in 2004, and attendance is expected to further increase this season.
"The attitude about basketball has changed," second-year head coach Frank Haith said. "I think before basketball was just something they did right after football, maybe. But now I think there is some anticipation and excitement about basketball season."
Such excitement is not unwarranted as Miami returns an ACC-best 86.5 percent of its scoring and adds a recruiting class ranked No. 12 in the nation by scout.com. Haith said, however, that although an NCAA Tournament berth is an "attainable goal" this year, his team must not take it as a given. Despite their returning depth, the Hurricanes were only picked to finish seventh in the conference this season by the ACC media.
"If you assume we are going to get there because people lost some players and we have the bulk of our guys back-we can't assume that that is going to happen," Haith said. "You only get better or you get worse, you don't stay the same. We have got to continue to get better."
Among its four returning starters, Miami boasts two of the league's top four scorers from last season in guards Hite and Diaz. The talented duo combined for nearly 36 points per game last year, and Diaz was voted to the Preseason All-ACC team.
Starting point guard Anthony Harris-who ranked fifth in the ACC in assists a year ago-complements the two scorers, contributing more than 12 points per game in 2005. The Hurricanes add freshmen Denis Clemente and Brian Asbury to bolster the deepest and most talented backcourt in the ACC.
"I think every coach will tell you to win big [games], you have to have good guards," Haith said. "We are very fortunate, we are pretty good in that area."
Last year, the Hurricanes' explosive backcourt often compensated for a weak frontcourt-Miami's top three post players combined for less than 20 points per contest. Junior center Anthony King, who ranked second in the ACC in blocks, provides an interior defensive presence but only scored in double figures five times last season. Haith said, however, the team's increased comfort with his offensive system should increase the big men's offensive production.
"Our frontcourt has gotten so much stronger and so much better, it's really going to be a tough task for any team that has to play us," Hite said.
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