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Mavunga to lead Miami in MAC quarterfinal contest

Julian Mavunga of Miami (4) leads Miami in rebounds (6.4) and is second in scoring (10.1), blocked shots, assists, field goal shooting and 3-point shooting.

Contributed photo by Alex K. Stein Julian Mavunga of Miami (4) leads Miami in rebounds (6.4) and is second in scoring (10.1), blocked shots, assists, field goal shooting and 3-point shooting.

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By By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 10:16 PM Wednesday, March 10, 2010

OXFORD — You can tell when Julian Mavunga is on. There is a tinge of fear on the face of the man who is trying to guard him.

That’s something Miami University coach Charlie Coles hopes to see more often, starting Thursday, March 11 when the RedHawks play the Buffalo Bulls in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

“I don’t know of anyone in the league that has more talent that him,” Coles said of the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Mavunga. “He can take over a game.”

“When I’m playing with energy, that’s when I’m at my best,” said Mavunga, who leads Miami in rebounds (6.4) and is second in scoring (10.1), blocked shots, assists, field goal shooting and 3-point shooting.

Mavunga acknowledged that he isn’t always at his best.

“The coaches tell me the reason I don’t play at my best all the time is that I don’t realize how good I am and how hard I am to stop,” he said.

“Coach Coles and I had a few talks before the season,” Mavunga said. “He knew I had talent. It was, alright, but now you have to show me something.”

Mavunga said he remembers one game in which he played very well during a 10-minute stretch. He came back to the bench exhausted, he said, expecting a “way to go” from Coles. Instead, Coles told him, “Just imagine if you play like that for 40 minutes.”

The Miami coach pushes his sophomore forward hard because so much of Mavunga’s potential is untapped, for two reasons. He was hampered by a leg injury all last season, and basketball is relatively new to Mavunga.

“The first time I ever touched a basketball was in the seventh grade,” he said. “I went to the YMCA to lift weights. A guy saw me and said hey, man, you want to play? They asked me where I played and when I said I didn’t play, people’s jaws just dropped.”

Mavunga also remembered the day he was invited to a work out with the Brownsburg High School basketball team.

A “random guy” Mavunga had never seen before, he said, “literally drove right by me, stopped, reversed and said to me, ‘Hey, young man, do you play basketball?’ ”

The random guy happened to be Joshua Kendrick, Brownsburg’s new head coach who had moved into Mavunga’s neighborhood.

“He was amused that I had never, ever played basketball,” Mavunga said. “When started I was pretty bad. All I could do was block shots and rebound.”

He made up for lost time by spending all his spare time on the court.

“I was a gym rat,” Mavunga said.

As a freshman, Mavunga said, “I almost got cut.” As a senior he helped lead Brownsburg to a state championship and was named all-Indiana.

His swift rise hit a road bump in his freshman year at Miami.

“I’d had a really good fall,” he said, “but we were doing some agility drills and I turned the wrong way and strained something. I couldn’t move well and I wasn’t as fast. The whole season was a long, frustrating stretch for me.”

Mavunga did play in 30 games, all off the bench, and showed flashes of brilliance.

“I got scoped after the season and I didn’t play at all over the summer,” said Mavunga, who spent his time in rehab.

“This year I was a little bit worried about how recovering would be,” Mavunga said. “At the beginning of practice I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it through the whole season. You know how it is when you have an injury. Sometimes you have dark thoughts.”

But the leg has held up.

“It’s been pretty good, actually,” Mavunga said. “I give a lot of credit to Mike Young, our trainer. He’s a caring guy and I couldn’t have done it without him.”

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