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Miami Notes -- Freshman gets first start

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 12:38 AM Sunday, November 29, 2009

OXFORD — The Miami University basketball team’s starting lineup continues to transform itself.

Freshman guard Orlando Williams, the former Princeton High School standout, made his first collegiate start in the RedHawks’ 82-58 victory over the Evansville Purple Aces on Saturday, Nov. 28.

Williams, who replaced sophomore Kramer Soderberg, scored nine points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line. In 19 minutes, he also totaled two rebounds, no assists and no steals.

“Orlando’s got a lot of ability. We want to start him,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “We’d like to get Orlando and Allen (Roberts, Miami’s other freshman guard, from Middletown) involved.”

Last week, sophomore Julian Mavunga replaced senior Adam Fletcher as the starting center, though Fletcher has actually seen an increase in playing time coming off the bench. Fletcher played an average of 15.5 minutes in the two games he started and has averaged 26.3 minutes since.

Aluise makes debut

Senior Michael Aluise, who joined the RedHawks earlier this year as a 6-5 guard-forward, played in his first collegiate game Saturday.

Aluise, a native of Cincinnati who played for St. Xavier, was on the court for the final 2 minutes. He took one shot, a 3-pointer, which he missed, and also pulled down a rebound.

Sweet air of Oxford

The Miami RedHawks said they were glad to be back in Butler County, breathing air at an altitude they were used to.

In Albuquerque, N.M., where Miami played three games in three days in the Basketball Travelers Tournament, the altitude is higher and the air is thinner.

“Being out in Albuquerque, it was tough,” Miami junior Rodney Haddix II said. “That altitude could get to you. We had to get back here and rebuild ourselves, get our heads back on straight.”

Coles said he thinks the difference in the air was, for his players, mostly psychological.

“It seemed like we didn’t have any energy in New Mexico,” Coles said, but added that he walked in the thin air and, with his heart problems, he didn’t notice any difference.

“I don’t know. ... What I do know is that we didn’t play out there very well,” he said. “We played much better today.”

Moment for Lumpkin

A moment of silence was observed prior to the game for Phil Lumpkin, former Miami great who died Nov. 2.

Lumpkin scored 1,243 points for the Redskins from 1972-74 and was one of only six basketball players to be named Miami Male Athlete of the Year. The others were Archie Aldridge, Ron Harper (twice), Wally Szczerbiak, Chet Mason and Tim Pollitz.

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

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