Braun was pumping up his team before the season started even when the Eagles were picked to finish 6th in the MAC by preseason prognosticators..  He obviously knew something the rest of the world did not know or he was smoking something that they have tried to decriminalize in Ypsilanti since the early 70’s (yes folks it is only a five dollar fine for smoking weed in this progressive city that is also home to Preston Tucker who was played by ‘the Dude’ in Coppola’s biography of the automaker-coincidence? I think not! On the contrary!  I like to call this kind of connection energy Cosmosis!)  It is hard not to think of Jackie Moon when you see Braun selling the goods to the media (and the fans) but I do not think there will be any Bears to wrestle this year in Ypsilanti.  The Hurons/Eagles (why not the EMU’s for gosh sake) plan to entertain on the court and they do have the players to do that.  Now getting back to the winning ways of their NAIA days will be a bit harder hill to climb.  They key, as it is for most teams, is how soon the recruits Braun is bringing in gell with the old timers who, under Coach Jim Dutcher who has left for the Big 10 as most coaches eventually do from the MAC if they are any successful, once dominated NAIA.  But that was then and this is now and right now the Emu’s are competing in the Mighty MAC. 

Braun was not the only one who has a plan for this program to get notice.  The Administration has come through with a nearly 9000 seat arena called the Convocation Center in a campus wide overhaul of not just athletics but all facilities.  They might not have had the resources of their neighbors six miles away but that does not mean the Emu’s could not try to fly and be Eagles.  Now trying to fill that arena up was going to be another story but remember Braun had a plan. The plan that the young Coach had was to go out and get some talent from around the greater Detroit area and then let them play!  Most of this talent would be either freshmen or transfers from other schools including JC’s or kids nobody else wanted due to ‘other reasons.’  This was going to be hard for this disciplinarian of a Coach but he knew that he needed to get some recognition for this program and the only way to do that was to get on the television.  Exposure is everything and if that meant trying to score a hundred a night this team would do that.  Or at least die trying!   

Easily the best player for the Eagles should be the superlative wing man George Gervin.  And easy seems to be the definitive word as this cool cat makes everything look easy.  Coming from Detroit sure fits Gervin as he plays like he was transformed from a luxury car like a Continental or a Cadillac.  To say that the ‘Iceman’ is cool does not do him justice.  The junior has more offensive skills than anyone in the conference by far.  A great scorer who will beat you any way he can.  He can hit long range jumpers or slash to the hole and finish with a beautiful finger roll.  He also has the size to post up people and then finish on them especially against other wings though he is about as thick as a tooth pick.  At six eight he has the size to shoot over anyone on the wing but as he showed this year he can also rebound as his natural athleticism transcends the sport.  He might have the perfect body for basketball and he for sure has the perfect mentality for as cool as people think he is Gervin is an aggressive player who loves to compete as his moment of madness last year will show.  Sure he is a scorer first and knows every which way to get the ball in the hoop as though he might not have invented using English off the glass he sure has perfected it.  He also loves to run and this team ran with him and with a slew of capable point guards they knew to get this pimp looking dude the ball on the break because one way or another he was going to finish or get fouled (plus one) trying to score.  His favorite move is a runner through the lane using his height to get the ball over big men and off the glass. Gervin loves this game and knows how to play whether it is a gym, on a playground or in a big game in front of 20,000 people (well he has not exactly got to that point yet but he will).  He has picked up a moniker that will probably stick for his play under pressure.  The Ice Man as he has become known has one more year to thrill the fans of Ypsilanti if he doesn’t decide to take his showmanship to the next level?   

Gervin has plenty of support on this gifted offensive team.  The backcourt has an open competition and Braun has brought in several guards to compete for jobs.  The returners include a 5’8 combo guard, his senior sidekick for years who is not sure what his first name is (this program loves small guys) and a duo of juniors who can both run a team.  Senior Daniel Webster-Kirksay is the 5’8 guy who was once the main attraction here with his scoring and distributing.  He is not as glib as his name would suggest and though he is the returning starter Braun almost assuredly will replace him with someone bigger (or perhaps shorter-Lol).   His sidekick has been Harvey Marlatt for the last 3 years and he is a gamer.  Rod, which he goes by for some reason, is a 6’3 185 pound two guard from Alpena who is a solid defender but can flat shoot the ball.  He will be hard to replace even if Braun is chomping at the bit to bring in his guys.  Gary Tyson and Lindell Reason look to start next to him and they bring different games to the court.  Tyson is a 5’11 165 pounder who was brought along with Gervin.  They played high school ball together in Detroit and have that kind of bond you get from playing together for that long.  He can flat score as he loves to get to the hoop with his quickness and is just adept at scoring as he is in passing.  Reason is a 6’4 point guard who brings something this team does not have related to their position much anywhere-size.  Another Detroit product-over half of this team is from the Motor City-Braun better come up with a good ‘reason’ not to start this kid is just what the doctor ordered even if the Iceman might not agree.  Marlow McClain is a 6’2 185 pound kid also from Detroit who tore up the JV last year.  McClain is more of a combo guard but has a real shot at sticking this year as he is complete player who needs only minutes to shine.  Sophomore to be Fred Cofield is returning home after playing a year out in Eugene Oregon. How he ended up a Duck is anyone’s guess but Cofield got homesick for Ypsilanti where he was a star and recruited heavily and will be in the mix for minutes right away.  He might be the best of the bunch as he is true point guard and at 6’3 has the size to hang with more athletic back court players.  Oh, and he can score and distribute and though no one will confuse him with Earvin Johnson (who he has done many battles with) Cofield brings some magic to the court.  

As for the post players there is some talent as well.  Big man Kennedy McIntosh may be only six seven but he plays much bigger.  Kennedy (EMU loves their Kennedys) is one of the carryovers from the NAIA days where he was a dominant performer.  McIntosh is a gifted scorer with his back to the basket who makes the most out of his incredible strength and has a nice tough around the basket (it must be a prerequisite to play here or the Iceman is teaching his bros how to use that glass because all the Eagles can spin the ball around and under the hoop).  He also can hit a mid-range jumper and will run the court.  He loves to rebound and will match up with anyone including seven footers though he like most of his teammates is not exactly Bill Russell on the defensive end.  Sure McIntosh has some holes in his game but the junior center works hard and is ready to play every night.  McIntosh would be better suited as a four but on a roster that does not have anyone listed even 6’10 he will have to do in the post but he did get a nice sidekick down low last year who will help share some of the down low load for the Eagles. 

Sophomore power forward Grant Long comes from the same line as McIntosh.  Long is a hard worker who fits the Ypsilanti blue collar autoworkers mentality and is becoming popular with the few fans wearing their green and white around town.  While Gervin’s fans love his confident swagger that oozes street cred Long gets the job done with effort and toughness.  He and his sidekick up front McIntosh are the clock punchers every team needs for a player like Gervin to become the star he is becoming (well if the media notices him outside of Michigan).  Long is a terrific board man who plays great post defense.  It might seem like a misnomer but Long is one Eagle who knows how to defend and is not immune to guarding people.  He and McIntosh are really only six seven and both go 225 (the program listed them much taller in earlier publications) but they know it is their job to try and stop some of the great big men not only of the MAC but of the Midwest.  Long usually ends up guarding the top offensive post player on the other team and is learning some tricks to this trade.  He has the desire to play at the next level and with his work ethic might just achieve this goal if he can improve his offense.  Of course on this team that was not his role and if he gets to the next level that won’t be his role there either but you got to be able to hit open shots especially when you play next to somebody who draws constant double teams.  Long is developing a very accurate 15 footer and can finish but this lunch pail guy who comes to work with his goggles on ready for contact knows where his bread is buttered and will continue to do the dirty work down low for the Eagles as ‘long’ as there is a time card to be punched in Ypsilanti. 

The depth up front will basically come from two guys who are named Earl and a Bob.  Juniors Earl Dixon, Earle ‘Stick’ Higgins and Bob Riddle are the aforementioned trio and bring consistency and experience to the fray but not weight.  There must be something in the water in Ypsilanti as all three of these guys much like Gervin are string beans who have issues filling out an XL. Stick is the sveltest of the bunch as his name might suggest.  He goes 6’8 195 which is probably the reason his hometown’s college passed on recruiting him.  Stick actually played a year out in Wyoming before coming back home. Dutcher recruited this kid from Ann Arbor (his son Sean was actually created there) and then followed him to Casper Wyoming and he has been a great fit for the Eagles.  Dutcher, with all of his connections with the Wolverines still had to pull a Hugh Grant and move to Wyoming (though he was not in a witness protection program, it just felt that way he said).  Michigan do get whoever they want and they do prefer thicker players.  That is a football school after all.  Higgins can play and was actually the starting power forward before Long arrived.  He is better suited as a swing forward and has filled in admirably when Gervin has missed games which is more often than you would like to admit.  This kid has one more year to prove he is pro ready and after all of his adventures and not starting will hurt his goal but Higgins can play on both ends and if the Iceman were not ahead of him this Stick would be the toast of the town in Ypsilanti.  Dixon is a solid post player but is also undersized at 6’6 but this does not seem to matter to him.  He is not afraid to bang with anyone and was a dominant force in the NAIA days.  He, like most undersized big men, has a hard time adjusting to D-1 but he still brings valuable minutes with a toughness that he learned playing on the streets.  Riddle does have some size at 6’9 but only goes 210 and thus gets bludgeoned down on the blocks.  He is tough but makes his living on mid-range jumpers and is not the beast (or seven footer) that this team needs to get to the next level.  Fellow junior Dwaine Dillard does have some beef at 230 but only goes 6’6 and barely got on the court last year.  This corn fed kid from Omaha Nebraska is as tough as they come and he might get some minutes doing some dirty work down low as he is a solid board guy.  That is if he decides to hang around town as he has supposedly left campus and is playing pickup games in Detroit.  Sophomores Jeff Zatkoff and Vince Giles fit the height and weight requirements of coming to EMU  as both are 6’9 but do not break 215 pounds.  They were a solid pair on JV last year and have a shot at varsity if there is an injury though Giles does bring some defensive skills this team could use down low.  There is a trio of much thicker recruits who Braun has brought to Ypsilanti that could easily hop over this duo on the totem pole as this program needs size down low and we are talking girth.  It does matter! 

 Overall, the Eastern Michigan Eagles are not a great team.  They were a great team in NAIA a few years back but they have decided to take the leap into the abyss that is D-1 basketball.  This has not went well as Ed Harris can attest and they have been bottom feeders in the MAC since their arrival a few years back. With new coach Ben Braun they have a plan to be great again.  Or at least entertaining!  They can be a great team to watch and hopefully can make basketball in the Ypsilanti fun to watch; that is if you actually came to the games. A talented crew wrapped around the magnificent Iceman who is much of a Unicorn as this game has ever seen definitely has the folks of Ypsilanti with their chins up.  Now will this program be the first team from this conference in the national spotlight?  They sure can be.  And will the fans show up at the Convocation Center if that happens?  That is the 64.000 dollar question.