Hayes made Miami season memorable

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 3:22 AM Sunday, March 14, 2010

Looking back, I wonder if the true nature of Miami University’s 2009-10 basketball team wasn’t lost in the haze of exultation after the RedHawks took the Kentucky Wildcats to the limit Nov. 16.

Maybe everyone should have paid less attention to that game — Miami often rises to the level of their opponent, sometimes far beyond their own day-to-day capabilities — and more attention to the season opener.

It was at Towson three days earlier. Miami took a 42-37 lead at halftime, then fell apart, losing 82-71.

And this was a Towson team that wasn’t very good, a team with a 10-21 record now, a team ranked No. 265 in the Ratings Percentage Index. That’s 114 places lower than Miami’s current RPI.

In truth, Miami was a program in a rebuilding year, a fact that was disguised by that early Kentucky game and the presence of one spectacular player, senior Kenny Hayes.

True, the RedHawks also had a steady presence in the post in Adam Fletcher and an up-and-coming star in Julian Mavunga.

But overall, it was a group of players with individual talents still feeling their way around with each other, and they seldom merged into a cohesive unit for more than 10 or 20 minutes at a time. That’s what you call growing pains.

And yes, they grew. The RedHawks put together a winning record in the league, made it to the Mid-American Conference tournament semifinals and scored quality wins over Wright State, Kent State, Ohio, Western Michigan and Buffalo.

But there sure were a lot of pains, too. The whipping they took at home against Temple. And all of those close losses. Not only UK, but also Dayton, Cincinnati, Xavier and about MAC five heartbreakers.

RedHawks coach Charlie Coles, following the 54-42 loss to Ohio in the MAC semifinals Friday night, March 12, stayed loyal to his players.

“In many ways we had a pretty good year,” he said. “Our record (14-18) doesn’t reflect it. I just wish we could have won some of those close games.”

On the other hand, just imagine the kind of season it might have been had Hayes not injured his wrist last year, an injury which resulted in the medical redshirt that allowed him to return this season.

Lost among all the losses was the way Hayes, perhaps more often in one season than any player in program history, made a clutch shot in the waning minutes: at Kentucky, at home against Wright State and Kent State, at Western Michigan, at Ohio.

Ohio coach John Groce made it clear how he felt about Hayes.

“I have unbelievable respect for Kenny, not only as a player,” Groce said Friday night. “He’s a heck of a person ... and a big-game player.”

In my view, Hayes established himself as one of the great guards, a truly memorable player, in the history of Miami basketball.

That took some doing in one of the more forgettable seasons.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

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