How these mid-major teams in state of Michigan got better this offseason

There are four mid-major programs in the state of Michigan in NCAA Basketball. Which of them has had the most impressive offseason?

A good amount of NCAA Basketball mid-major programs have struggled with the transfer portal as key players have left to play at bigger and more recognized programs. However, four teams from the state of Michigan have done well this offseason in hopes of having a competitive conference championship-caliber team come this upcoming season.

Key Additions:  Jalin Billingsley (Georgetown), Tyson Acuff (Duquesne), Orlando Lovejoy (High School), and Legend Geeter (Providence)

Entered Transfer Portal: Mo Njie (SMU) and Bryce McBride (Youngstown State)

Brief Overview: Head Coach Stan Heath in his second year as the leader of the Eastern Michigan program is utilizing the transfer portal to help build the Eagles program to contend for a conference championship in the Mid-American Conference.

Prior to last season, Health brought in Noah Farrakhan from East Carolina and he was EMU’s leading scorer this past season. This season, even though center Njie has transferred to SMU and McBride to YSU, the Eagles seem as if they did very well for a mid-major program in bringing in talented players via the transfer portal.

Key Additions: Seth Hubbard (High School), Tray Maddox Jr. (Cal State Fullerton), Max Burton (High School), JaVaughn Hannah (High School), and Jefferson Monegro (High School)

Entered Transfer Portal: None

Brief Overview: Western Michigan new head coach Dwayne Stephens who was for many years an assistant coach at Michigan State, has done well convincing players to stay this offseason and not enter the transfer portal. Stephens also brings in four high school recruits as well a transfer in Maddox Jr. to help his team this upcoming season compete for a Mid-American Conference championship.

Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan

Maddox Jr. for example played two full seasons at Oakland and then transferred and played at Cal State Fullerton for two years before transferring to play at Western Michigan. Also, head coaches Heath and Stephens were both assistant coaches at Michigan State at one time and are both familiar with recruiting in the state of Michigan.

Both Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan are looking to make big strides for the 2022-2023 season as both schools have more experienced players and arguably more talent on their rosters in comparison to last season. The Broncos finished in last place in the conference and the Eagles finished second from last place last season.

However, both teams should at the minimal finish in the middle of the conference standing by the end of the upcoming season and qualify for the eight-team conference tournament in 2023. Why is there a reason to believe in more on the court success next season for both programs?

Western Michigan returns their top three scorers in Lamar Norman Jr., Markeese Hastings, and B. Artis White. Some recruiting publications have the Broncos’ incoming recruiting class as the 112nd nationally-ranked class in the country led by three-star recruit JaVaughn Hannah. Also, if Maddox Jr. is granted immediate eligibility, the Broncos will have a solid team both offensively and defensively to start the upcoming season.

Eastern Michigan utilized the transfer portal very well bringing in Acuff from Duquesne who is a very solid three-point shooter, Billingsley from Georgetown who is a versatile player at 6’8, and  Geeter from Providence who played his high school ball in Michigan will help the Eagle’s frontcourt.

Incoming high school recruit Lovejoy will bring depth to the Eastern Michigan backcourt. The Eagles bring back their top scorer in Farrakahn who averaged just under 17 points a game last season and this will be head coaches Stan Heath’s second year at the helm for the Eagles and he is continuing to build his program for future success.

There are two other mid-major programs in the state of Michigan who are doing well this offseason.

Oakland and Detroit Mercy

Oakland and Detroit Mercy both play in the Horizon League and both were able to have success this offseason in terms of being able to potentially compete for a conference title this upcoming season.

Oakland

Key Additions: Keaton Hervey (Missouri State), Lorne Bowman II (Wisconsin), and Chuol Deng II (Hill College, TX)

Entered Transfer Portal: Micah Parrish (San Diego State), and Zion Young

Brief Overview: Head Coach Greg Kampe has been the head coach of Oakland since 1984 with this being his 22nd season coaching the Golden Grizzlies as a division one program. Oakland will miss co-conference player of the year Jamal Cain who entered the NBA draft but they bring back star point guard Jalen Moore who led the team in assists and steals as well as being the second-leading scorer last season for Oakland.

The Golden Grizzlies also bring back their leading shot-blocker and third-leading scorer in big man Trey Townsend. Parrish transferring hurts but Hervey transferring to Oakland should help fill the void and Bowman transferring to become a Golden Grizzlies will give Kampe a very strong and productive backcourt.

Detroit Mercy

Key Additions: Jayden Stone (Grand Canyon) and Sonny Johnson (High School)

Entered Transfer Portal: Noah Waterman and DJ Harvey

Brief Overview: The Biggest news for head coach Mike Davis was that his son Antoine who is the all-time leading scorer in Detroit Mercy basketball history decided to not transfer to another school and play another season for the Titans. Detroit Mercy also brings back second-leading scorer Madut Akec who also led the team in rebounds, steals, and blocks last season. Kevin McAdoo an experienced guard also returns for the Titans.

Waterman more than likely will remain in the transfer portal but may come back, while there is a better chance that Harvey comes back like Davis did after entering the transfer portal. Detroit Mercy brings in a three-star recruit in Sonny Johnson Jr. and Jayden Stone who comes to the Titans as a transfer from Grand Canyon.

Oakland and Detroit Mercy

Both the Titans and Grizzlies expected more last season as Oakland finished 5th in the Horizon League conference while Detroit Mercy finished in 6th place. Neither team advanced to the semi-finals of the conference tournament as well. However, both teams have excitement within their programs fueled mostly by both teams having their star point guards back to play this upcoming season.

With Davis announcing that he is back, the Titans by the time the season starts may have the most depth that they have had in years. The Golden Grizzlies will miss Cain’s production but they will have more depth this season and more experienced players on their team this upcoming season as they did not play as well late in the season as they had done earlier, especially in non-conference play.

Detroit Mercy and Oakland both are expecting to compete for a Horizon League regular-season conference championship and to win the conference tournament to earn a bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.

Both teams are capable of winning over 20 games this upcoming season and both programs have high expectations that start and end with participating in the NCAA tournament. Just like Eastern and Western Michigan, both programs are looking forward to the 2022-23 season and all four teams have dreams of making the NCAA tournament.