Lynn Kidd doesn’t miss often … just ask his opponents.
Kidd, a 6-foot-10 center who is in his first season with Miami, will lead the host Hurricanes (1-0) in a nonconference game against Binghamton (1-1) on Sunday afternoon.
Kidd started all 33 of Virginia Tech’s games last season, averaging a career-high 13.2 points while ranking third nationally in shooting percentage (66.8).
On Monday, Kidd scored 24 points following a 10-for-11 shooting performance in a 113-72 season-opening win over Fairleigh Dickinson.
“I work on it all the time,” Kidd said of his shooting. “When you do something a thousand times, over and over, it’s just normal.”
Including Kidd, Miami’s top five players all started their careers at other schools: guards Nijel Pack (Kansas State) and Jalen Blackmon (Stetson); wing Matthew Cleveland (Florida State) and forward Brandon Johnson (East Carolina).
Pack (6-foot) and Blackmon (6-2) are elite scorers, but Miami coach Jim Larranaga worries about their size defensively and on the boards.
On the flip side, Pack is a great leader.
“During timeouts, I ask Nijel, ‘What do you want to run,'” Larranaga said. “He’s our Tom Brady.”
As for Cleveland, he missed 17 days of preseason practice due to injury, but he scored nine points in the opener. Last season, he averaged 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds.
Johnson averaged 14.0 points and 8.6 rebounds last season.
Meanwhile, Binghamton has been predicted to finish seventh in the 10-team America East Conference after going 15-15, 7-9 last season. The Bearcats are led by Tymu Chenery, their lone returning starter.
Chenery, a 6-6 senior guard, averaged a team-high 14.9 points last season. So far this season, he is averaging 11.5 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds.
The team’s leading scorer is Ben Callahan-Gold, who played last season for Trinity College, an NCAA Division III school. Callahan-Gold, a 6-8, 220-pound forward, is averaging 13.5 points. Last season, he averaged 16.7 points for 30-2 Trinity.
Callahan-Gold scored a game-high 21 points on Thursday in Binghamton’s 82-63 win over Oneonta.
“I thought we came out with the right mindset,” Binghamton coach Levell Sanders said after that win, which followed a 108-66 loss at Penn State.
Of the Hurricanes, Sanders said: “Miami is a really good opponent. They will test our togetherness.”
–Field Level Media
