2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team

2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball
MAC West Division Champions
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionWest
Record20–12 (12–4 MAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaUniversity Arena
Seasons
2007–08 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Kent State † 13 – 3   .813 28 – 7   .800
Akron 11 – 5   .688 24 – 11   .686
Ohio 9 – 7   .563 20 – 13   .606
Miami (OH) 9 – 7   .563 17 – 16   .515
Bowling Green 7 – 9   .438 13 – 16   .448
Buffalo 3 – 13   .188 10 – 20   .333
West
Western Michigan 12 – 4   .750 20 – 12   .625
Central Michigan 8 – 8   .500 14 – 17   .452
Eastern Michigan 8 – 8   .500 14 – 17   .452
Toledo 7 – 8   .467 11 – 19   .367
Ball State 5 – 11   .313 6 – 24   .200
Northern Illinois 3 – 12   .200 6 – 22   .214
† 2008 MAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Broncos, 20–12 overall and 12–4 in the conference, captured the MAC West Division championship by four games and earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. WMU reached the semi-finals of the MAC tournament before falling to No. 3 seed Akron.

During the regular season, Western Michigan defeated No. 25 ranked Davidson College, a team that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. WMU finished the non-conference portion of their schedule 7–7, defeating Davidson, Detroit Mercy, Loyola Chicago, North Carolina Central, Pepperdine, Southern Illinois and Wisconsin–Green Bay.

WMU also retained the Michigan MAC Trophy for the third consecutive season.

Sophomore David Kool and senior Joe Reitz earned First Team All-MAC honors. Reitz was also named to the MAC All-Tournament team.

Preseason

The Broncos were picked to win the West Division by members of the MAC News Media Association, receiving 23 of 32 possible first place votes (Toledo received six votes and Central Michigan three). Western Michigan also received six votes to win the MAC Tournament, which was second to Kent State (7 votes).

Joe Reitz was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team.

Awards

  • Derek Drews
    • West Division Player of the Week (week 1)
  • David Kool
    • All-MAC First Team
    • 3-time West Division Player of the Week (weeks 12, 16, 17)
  • Joe Reitz
    • All-MAC First Team
    • 4-time West Division Player of the Week (weeks 2, 7, 13, 14)
    • Academic All-District IV First Team
    • Mid-American Conference Academic Player of the Week (February 7)

Roster

No. Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown (Previous school)
4 Derek Drews F 6'5" 224 Jr. Elkhart, IN (Elkhart Central)
1 Derek Fracalossi G/F 6'5" 203 Sr. Davison, MI (Davison)
34 Shawntes Gary G 6'2" 207 Jr. Elkhart, IN (Concord)
13 Justin Hairston * F 6'5" 215 Fr. Fort Wayne, IN (Fort Wayne South)
5 Andrew Hershberger F 6'7" 223 Sr. Goshen, IN (Goshen)
0 Dan Hess F/C 6'7" 225 Sr. Owosso, MI (Corunna)
23 David Kool G 6'3" 200 So. Grand Rapids, MI (South Christian)
2 Silver Laku G 6'2" 180 Sr. Toronto, ON (Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute)
33 Donald Lawson C 6'9" 234 So. Chicago, IL (Leo Catholic)
21 Martelle McLemore G 6'5" 198 So. Detroit, MI (Consortium Prep)
22 Michael Redell G 6'0" 183 Jr. Rockford, MI (Cleveland State)
42 Joe Reitz C 6'7" 256 Sr. Fishers, IN (Hamilton Southeastern)
12 Andre Ricks G 5'9" 159 Jr. Detroit, MI (Pershing)
15 Alex Wolf G 5'11" 198 Fr.-R Parchment, MI (Parchment)
3 Jon Workman * F 6'9" 220 So. LaGrange, IN (Lakeland)

* Will redshirt the 2007–2008 season

Schedule

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2007*
7:00pm 		Tri-State
Exhibition 		W 94–54  0–0
 University Arena (2,088)
Kalamazoo, MI
Regular season
November 10, 2007*
9:30pm 		vs. Pacific
World Vision Invitational 		W 90–76  0–1
 McArthur Court (8,601)
Eugene, OR
November 11, 2007*
6:30pm 		vs. Pepperdine
World Vision Invitational 		W 70–65  1–1
 McArthur Court (8,406)
Eugene, OR
November 12, 2007*
10:30pm, ESPN Full Court 		at No. 13 Oregon
World Vision Invitational 		W 97–88  1–2
 McArthur Court (8,341)
Eugene, OR
November 16, 2007*
8:00pm, WYIN 		at Loyola Chicago W 63–61  2–2
 Alumni Gym (1,100)
Chicago, IL
November 19, 2007*
7:00pm 		at Detroit Mercy W 60–59  3–2
 Calihan Hall (2,085)
Detroit, MI
November 21, 2007*
7:00pm 		No. 25 Davidson W 83–76  4–2
 University Arena (3,542)
Kalamazoo, MI
November 28, 2007*
8:05pm 		at Valparaiso W 77–65  4–3
 Athletics-Recreation Center (3,678)
Valparaiso, IN
December 1, 2007*
10:00pm 		at San Diego State W 72–61  4–4
 Cox Arena (7,122)
San Diego, CA
December 8, 2007*
2:00pm 		Northwestern W 65–63  4–5
 University Arena (4,112)
Kalamazoo, MI
December 15, 2007*
7:00pm 		at Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis W 71–63  4–6
 IUPUI Gymnasium (972)
Indianapolis, IN
December 18, 2007*
7:00pm 		Southern Illinois W 57–41  5–6
 University Arena (3,168)
Kalamazoo, MI
December 22, 2007*
2:00pm 		at Iona W 67–62  5–7
 Hynes Athletic Center (1,411)
New Rochelle, NY
January 2, 2008*
7:00pm 		North Carolina Central W 70–43  6–7
 University Arena (2,832)
Kalamazoo, MI
January 5, 2008
2:00pm 		Northern Illinois W 86–69  7–7
(1–0) 		University Arena (3,204)
Kalamazoo, MI
January 12, 2008
4:00pm 		at Eastern Michigan
Michigan MAC Trophy 		W 81–71  7–8
(1–1) 		Convocation Center (1,397)
Ypsilanti, MI
January 16, 2008
7:00pm, Ball State Sports Network 		at Ball State W 71–45  8–8
(2–1) 		John E. Worthen Arena (3,201)
Muncie, IN
January 19, 2008
2:00pm 		Toledo W 75–62  9–8
(3–1) 		University Arena (4,157)
Kalamazoo, MI
January 22, 2008
7:00pm, ESPNU 		Central Michigan
Michigan MAC Trophy 		W 72–52  10–8
(4–1) 		University Arena (3,859)
Kalamazoo, MI
January 27, 2008
2:00pm 		at Kent State W 67–58  10–9
(4–2) 		Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,674)
Kent, OH
January 29, 2008
7:00pm 		at Buffalo W 100–90 2OT 11–9
(5–2) 		Alumni Arena (1,787)
Buffalo, NY
February 2, 2008
4:00pm 		Bowling Green W 64–50  12–9
(6–2) 		University Arena (4,116)
Kalamazoo, MI
February 6, 2008
7:00pm, Comcast Local 		Akron W 86–66  13–9
(7–2) 		University Arena (2,733)
Kalamazoo, MI
February 9, 2008
2:30pm, Comcast Local, FSN Ohio 		at Ohio W 57–54  13–10
(7–3) 		Convocation Center (6,884)
Athens, OH
February 12, 2008
7:00pm 		Miami W 78–75 2OT 14–10
(8–3) 		University Arena (3,172)
Kalamazoo, MI
February 20, 2008
9:00pm, ESPNU 		Eastern Michigan
Michigan MAC Trophy 		W 70–52  15–10
(9–3) 		University Arena (3,014)
Kalamazoo, MI
February 23, 2008*
8:05pm 		at Wisconsin–Green Bay
ESPN Bracket Busters 		W 74–67  16–10
 Resch Center (3,414)
Green Bay, WI
February 26, 2008
8:00pm 		at Northern Illinois W 56–49  17–10
(10–3) 		Convocation Center (2,032)
DeKalb, IL
March 1, 2008
7:00pm 		at Toledo W 69–55  18–10
(11–3) 		Savage Hall (6,813)
Toledo, OH
March 4, 2008
7:00pm, Comcast TV 		at Central Michigan
Michigan MAC Trophy 		W 72–68  18–11
(11–4) 		Daniel P. Rose Center (1,178)
Mount Pleasant, MI
March 9, 2008
2:00pm, Ball State Sports Network 		Ball State W 57–53  19–11
(12–4) 		University Arena (4,546)
Kalamazoo, MI
MAC Tournament
March 13, 2008*
12:00pm, FSN Ohio, FSN Plus 		vs. Eastern Michigan
MAC Tournament quarterfinals 		W 70–61  20–11
 Quicken Loans Arena (TBA)
Cleveland, OH
March 14, 2008*
7:00pm, FSN Ohio, FSN Plus 		vs. Akron
MAC Tournament semifinals 		W 73–62  20–12
 Quicken Loans Arena (TBA)
Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Coaching staff

2008–2009 recruits

Western Michigan signed forwards Muhammed Conteh, Justin Hairston and Flenard Whitfield, center Lemarcus Lowe and guards Mike Douglas and Demetrius Ward during this season.[1] Each player will be a freshman for the 2008–09 season. Lowe was rated the #1 Michigan high school center in 2007.[2]

References

  1. ^ Broncos land Flint big man to replace Workman Western Michigan Broncos – MLive.com
  2. ^ "Page Title". Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2008.