2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team

2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball

MAC West Division Champions
Conference	Mid-American Conference West
2007–08 record	20–12 (12–4 MAC)
Head coach	Steve Hawkins
Assistant coach	Clayton Bates
Assistant coach	Cornell Mann
Assistant coach	Andy Hipsher
Home arena	University Arena

	Conf				Overall
2007–08 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Kent State†	13	–	3	.813	28	–	7	.800
Akron	11	–	5	.688	24	–	11	.686
Ohio	9	–	7	.563	20	–	13	.606
Miami	9	–	7	.563	17	–	16	.515
Bowling Green	7	–	9	.438	13	–	16	.448
Buffalo	3	–	13	.188	10	–	20	.333
West
Western Michigan	12	–	4	.750	20	–	12	.625
Central Michigan	8	–	8	.500	14	–	17	.452
Eastern Michigan	8	–	8	.500	14	–	17	.452
Toledo	7	–	8	.467	11	–	19	.367
Ball State	5	–	11	.313	6	–	24	.200
Northern Illinois	3	–	12	.200	6	–	22	.214

† 2008 MAC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007–2008 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team is a NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Broncos, 20–12 overall and 12–4 in the conference, captured the MAC West Division championship by four games and earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. WMU reached the semi-finals of the MAC tournament before falling to No. 3 seed Akron.

During the regular season, Western Michigan defeated No. 25 ranked Davidson College, a team that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. WMU finished the non-conference portion of their schedule 7–7, defeating Davidson, Detroit Mercy, Loyola Chicago, North Carolina Central, Pepperdine, Southern Illinois and Wisconsin–Green Bay.

WMU also retained the Michigan MAC Trophy for the third consecutive season.

Sophomore David Kool and senior Joe Reitz earned First Team All-MAC honors. Reitz was also named to the MAC All-Tournament team.

Preseason

The Broncos were picked to win the West Division by members of the MAC News Media Association, receiving 23 of 32 possible first place votes (Toledo received six votes and Central Michigan three). Western Michigan also received six votes to win the MAC Tournament, which was second to Kent State (7 votes).

Joe Reitz was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team.

Awards

Derek Drews
- West Division Player of the Week (week 1)
David Kool
- All-MAC First Team
- 3-time West Division Player of the Week (weeks 12, 16, 17)
Joe Reitz
- All-MAC First Team
- 4-time West Division Player of the Week (weeks 2, 7, 13, 14)
- Academic All-District IV First Team
- Mid-American Conference Academic Player of the Week (February 7)

Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown (Previous school)
4	Derek Drews	F	6'5"	224	Jr.	Elkhart, IN (Elkhart Central)
1	Derek Fracalossi	G/F	6'5"	203	Sr.	Davison, MI (Davison)
34	Shawntes Gary	G	6'2"	207	Jr.	Elkhart, IN (Concord)
13	Justin Hairston *	F	6'5"	215	Fr.	Fort Wayne, IN (Fort Wayne South)
5	Andrew Hershberger	F	6'7"	223	Sr.	Goshen, IN (Goshen)
0	Dan Hess	F/C	6'7"	225	Sr.	Owosso, MI (Corunna)
23	David Kool	G	6'3"	200	So.	Grand Rapids, MI (South Christian)
2	Silver Laku	G	6'2"	180	Sr.	Toronto, ON (Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute)
33	Donald Lawson	C	6'9"	234	So.	Chicago, IL (Leo Catholic)
21	Martelle McLemore	G	6'5"	198	So.	Detroit, MI (Consortium Prep)
22	Michael Redell	G	6'0"	183	Jr.	Rockford, MI (Cleveland State)
42	Joe Reitz	C	6'7"	256	Sr.	Fishers, IN (Hamilton Southeastern)
12	Andre Ricks	G	5'9"	159	Jr.	Detroit, MI (Pershing)
15	Alex Wolf	G	5'11"	198	Fr.-R	Parchment, MI (Parchment)
3	Jon Workman *	F	6'9"	220	So.	LaGrange, IN (Lakeland)

* Will redshirt the 2007–2008 season

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance)
Exhibition
November 1, 2007*	Tri-State (Exhibition)	W 94–54	0–0	University Arena (2,088)
Regular Season
November 10, 2007*	vs. Pacific (World Vision Invitational)	L 90–76	0–1	McArthur Court (8,601)
November 11, 2007*	vs. Pepperdine (World Vision Invitational)	W 70–65	1–1	McArthur Court (8,406)
November 12, 2007*	at #13 Oregon (World Vision Invitational)	L 97–88	1–2	McArthur Court (8,341)
November 16, 2007*	at Loyola Chicago	W 63–61	2–2	Alumni Gym (1,100)
November 19, 2007*	at Detroit Mercy	W 60–59	3–2	Calihan Hall (2,085)
November 21, 2007*	#25 Davidson	W 83–76	4–2	University Arena (3,542)
November 28, 2007*	at Valparaiso	L 77–65	4–3	Athletics-Recreation Center (3,678)
December 1, 2007*	at San Diego State	L 72–61	4–4	Cox Arena (7,122)
December 8, 2007*	Northwestern	L 65–63	4–5	University Arena (4,112)
December 15, 2007*	at Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis	L 71–63	4–6	IUPUI Gymnasium (972)
December 18, 2007*	Southern Illinois	W 57–41	5–6	University Arena (3,168)
December 22, 2007*	at Iona	L 67–62	5–7	Hynes Athletic Center (1,411)
January 2, 2008*	North Carolina Central	W 70–43	6–7	University Arena (2,832)
January 5, 2008	Northern Illinois	W 86–69	7–7 (1–0)	University Arena (3,204)
January 12, 2008	at Eastern Michigan (Michigan MAC Trophy)	L 81–71	7–8 (1–1)	Convocation Center (1,397)
January 16, 2008	at Ball State	W 71–45	8–8 (2–1)	John E. Worthen Arena (3,201)
January 19, 2008	Toledo	W 75–62	9–8 (3–1)	University Arena (4,157)
January 22, 2008	Central Michigan (Michigan MAC Trophy)	W 72–52	10–8 (4–1)	University Arena (3,859)
January 27, 2008	at Kent State	L 67–58	10–9 (4–2)	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,674)
January 29, 2008	at Buffalo	W 100–90 ^2OT	11–9 (5–2)	Alumni Arena (1,787)
February 2, 2008	Bowling Green	W 64–50	12–9 (6–2)	University Arena (4,116)
February 6, 2008	Akron	W 86–66	13–9 (7–2)	University Arena (2,733)
February 9, 2008	at Ohio	L 57–54	13–10 (7–3)	Convocation Center (6,884)
February 12, 2008	Miami	W 78–75 ^2OT	14–10 (8–3)	University Arena (3,172)
February 20, 2008	Eastern Michigan (Michigan MAC Trophy)	W 70–52	15–10 (9–3)	University Arena (3,014)
February 23, 2008*	at Wisconsin–Green Bay (ESPN Bracket Busters)	W 74–67	16–10	Resch Center (3,414)
February 26, 2008	at Northern Illinois	W 56–49	17–10 (10–3)	Convocation Center (2,032)
March 1, 2008	at Toledo	W 69–55	18–10 (11–3)	Savage Hall (6,813)
March 4, 2008	at Central Michigan (Michigan MAC Trophy)	L 72–68	18–11 (11–4)	Daniel P. Rose Center (1,178)
March 9, 2008	Ball State	W 57–53	19–11 (12–4)	University Arena (4,546)
MAC Tournament
March 13, 2008*	vs. Eastern Michigan (MAC Tournament quarterfinals)	W 70–61	20–11	Quicken Loans Arena (TBA)
March 14, 2008*	vs. Akron (MAC Tournament semifinals)	L 73–62	20–12	Quicken Loans Arena (TBA)
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Coaching staff

Steve Hawkins – Head coach
Clayton Bates – Assistant coach
Cornell Mann – Assistant coach
Andy Hipsher – Assistant coach
Phil Sayers – Director of Basketball Operations

2008–2009 recruits

Western Michigan signed forwards Muhammed Conteh, Justin Hairston and Flenard Whitfield, center Lemarcus Lowe and guards Mike Douglas and Demetrius Ward during this season.^[1] Each player will be a freshman for the 2008–09 season. Lowe was rated the #1 Michigan high school center in 2007.^[2]

References

Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball

Venues	East Hall gymnasium (1913–1938) Oakland Gymnasium (1938–1957) Read Fieldhouse (1957–1992) Lawson Arena (1992–1994) University Arena (1994–present)

Rivalries	In-state MAC schools

Culture and lore	Buster Bronco The Zoo

People	Head coaches NBA players

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