Men’s Basketball Opens Practice for 2014-15 Season
10/4/2014 6:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio — The Kent State men's basketball team opened the first day of official practice in preparation for the upcoming 2014-15 season on Saturday (Oct. 4) afternoon at the M.A.C. Center. The practice comes exactly six weeks before the Golden Flashes will play their first regular season game.
"I was happy with the effort put forth by our players today," said fourth-year head coach Rob Senderoff following a practice session that lasted close to three hours. "This is the longest that we've been on the floor at any point since workouts started last month. Right now we are trying to get our new players to understand the intensity in which we work here. Our identity as a program is being a hard-working team that is mentally and physically tough."
Kent State returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last season's team that finished 16-16. Led by All-Mid-American Conference honorable mention guard Kris Brewer, the Golden Flashes bring back their top three scorers for the first time since the 1999-00 season. Fellow seniors Derek Jackson and Devareaux Manley and junior Kellon Thomas join Brewer to provide Kent State with one of the nation's most experienced backcourts.
Juniors Chris Ortiz and Khaliq Spicer are the top returners on the interior for the Flashes. Ortiz started 12 conference games last season and Spicer started nine. This year's roster features several new players who are expected to raise the level of play around the basket for Kent State, including 7'4" redshirt senior Blake Vedder, who will be the tallest player in MAC history.
Kent State will open the season on the road against Youngstown State on Saturday, November 15. The Flashes will then open its home schedule with a five-game homestand at the M.A.C. Center, which includes four games as part of the inaugural Men Against Breast Cancer Classic.
