Fairleigh Dickinson faces tall task in opener at Miami

Miami opens its season against visiting Fairleigh Dickinson Monday in Coral Gables, Fla., looking ahead while longing to outrun fresh memories of last season.

One player longing for those recent glory days with the Hurricanes is Nijel Pack, an elite 3-point shooter who averaged 13.3 points last season and was selected to the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason first team this season.

He was a starter in 2022-23 when Miami finished 29-8 and reached the NCAA Final Four.

Last season, Miami slipped to 15-17 (6-14 ACC) and didn't make the tournament. The ACC preseason poll projected the Hurricanes to finish sixth in the conference this season.

Fairleigh Dickinson was predicted to finish third in the Northeast Conference preseason poll after a 15-17 (9-7 NEC) record last season.

The Knights lost their best player from last season as first-team All-NEC forward Ansley Almonor (16.4 scoring average) transferred to Kentucky.

Now, the Knights are powered by 6-foot-6 junior post Jo'el Emanuel, 6-6 senior wing Cam Tweedy and 6-3 sophomore guard Terrence Brown.

Emanuel is the team's leading returning scorer (10.6). Tweedy missed last season due to a knee injury.

Brown is regarded as the league's top defender, and junior-college transfer Dylan Jones, a 6-5 junior who is a 3-point shooter, could be a key contributor.

Knights coach Jack Castleberry said he's eager to see Tweedy back in action.

"He's still gaining confidence in his knee," Castleberry said. "He hasn't run around at a high level in 11 months. I imagine he's going to be much better in January and February than he is right now. But's he still effective now."

The Knights, who led their league in rebounding last year, will have quite a challenge against Miami's power forward/center combo of 6-8 senior Brandon Johnson and 6-10 senior Lynn Kidd.

Johnson started 31 games for East Carolina last season, averaging 14.0 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds.

Kidd started 33 games for Virginia Tech last season, ranking third in the nation in field-goal percentage (66.8). He averaged 13.2 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Senior wing Matthew Cleveland, who averaged 13.3 points for Miami last season, is likely out for the opener due to an upper-body injury.

A.J. Staton-McCray, a 6-4 junior and a Samford transfer who made the 2023-2024 Southern Conference's All-Defense team, replaced Cleveland in Miami's exhibition win over St. Leo.

Two more seniors round out the likely starting lineup: Pack and Jalen Blackmon.

Miami's Jim Larranaga, who got his start as a head coach at Bowling Green in 1986, said Pack and Blackmon have developed good backcourt chemistry.

"I'm happy with that combination," said Larranaga, 75. "But they're not very big."

Larranaga said he will attempt to solve the size issue with reserves such as freshman Jalil Bethea and sophomore Paul Djobet.

Bethea is No. 7 in ESPN's ranking of the top players in the Class of 2024. Djobet had 16 points in the exhibition game.

--Field Level Media