Coral Gables, FL—The Howard University men's basketball team kicks off the 2014-15 season against the University of Miami team on Friday at 7 pm at the BankUnited Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. This early season match-up features two of the top guards in the country.
The Bison (8-25) open with great anticipation as they return sophomore guard James "J-Byrd" Daniel, the preseason MEAC Player of the Year. Daniel, a 5-11 sophomore from Hampton, VA, led all freshmen players in scoring with over 21 points per game. Howard has also added to the mix, James "JC" Carlton, a 6-8 senior transfer from College of Charleston, who gives the team another proven scorer.
The Hurricanes under veteran Coach Larranaga, are coming off a 17-16 season and have a relatively new team. But some of that lack of experience should be made up by the presence of transfers Angel Rodriquez and Sheldon McClellan. Rodriguez is no stranger to the Bison. Howard faced him two years ago when he was the starting point guard for Kansas State and helped lead them to the NCAA tournament. The 5-11 red-shirt junior from Miami, averaged 11 points per game during his last year with the Wildcats. He is on the Bob Cousy list for top point guards in the country.
McClellan is a 6-5 red-shirt junior transfer from Texas where he averaged over 14 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
"There are a lot of unknowns going into this game for both teams," said Howard head
Kevin Nickelberry. "They have a relatively new team. But they have Angel Rodriguez and McClellan and they are proven players who could make up for the difference."
He continued. "We are still a young team in many respects. For us, I think that once we get settled after the first few minutes, we will be fine. This group has been through the wars of this level of basketball and are excited over the opportunity. J-Byrd and JC will hold their own, but we have to have contributions from
James Miller and
Marcel Boyd for us to be successful."
Howard will be without the services of
Prince Okoroh, last year's second leading scorer and leading rebounder and red-shirt junior guard
Brandon Ford. Okoroh will miss the entire season with a foot injury and Ford will be out from three to six weeks with a Grade 3 ankle sprain.
Howard has very little time to rest as it returns home for its home opener on Sunday against Goucher College at 6 pm in Burr Gymnasium.
Click Here for Game Notes.
