Roster Reset: Projecting Miami men’s basketball 2024-25 rotation
Miami men’s basketball summer workouts are now underway, working to build off of a disappointing season last year, It is a new-look team on the court after Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga brought in five transfers to play key roles during the 2024-25 campaign.
The Hurricanes has a veteran-laden roster with six players entering their final year of eligibility. That, in turn, could be a positive for the orange and green having a bevy of experienced players on the roster. But this summer is crucial for their chemistry together as they prepare for November’s season opener.
Here is a look at the Hurricane’s projected rotation for the 2024-25 season.
Point guard
Starter: Nijel Pack
Primary reserves: Jalen Blackmon, AJ Staton-McCray
Nijel Pack – Pack will be the starting point guard when the Hurricanes tip-off against Fairleigh Dickson in November that is probably a guarantee, however he took a step-down from last season after dealing with major lower body injuries that made him miss half the season and when he was playing he was playing hurt, even with the injuries he averaged 13.3 points per game to go along with 3.6 assist and 2.6 rebounds pe game which again despite being injuried is not all bad. In 2022 he was a bad bad man. His ability to create for others allowed the Hurricane’s shooters to find their spots, and he would find them with ease, he would also knocked down big time shots in big time games in big time moments. I expect him to be the starter and I would think everyone would.
Jalen Blackmon – Moving on to the Stetson three-point sniper Jalen Blackmon, he provided tons to Stetson where he would average 21.8 points, which ranks 14th in the nation. He shot 38.1% from the 3-point line on 8.3 attempts per game, putting him 12th in the NCAA and second in the Atlantic Sun Conference with 110 3-pointers made. Blackmon was named to All-Atlantic Sun first team, adding 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 90.7% from the free throw line.
AJ Staton-McCray – If the Hurricanes needed a guard cause of low of depth or needed more size on the court on the guard spot AJ Staton-McCray is the way to go. AJ played guard while he was at Samford so he is very experienced at the point guard level of play, he brings that group to a different planet, a guy who graded out in the 91th percentile in catch-and-shoot threes with a 62 effective field goal percentage, He will be able to play fast which is really good cause he played for Samford or could be better known as Bucky Ball and they were probably the fastest teams In all of college basketball last year.
Shooting guard
Starter: Jalen Blackmon
Primary reserves: Jalil Bethea, AJ Staton-McCray, Austin Swartz
We done talked about Jalen and AJ above so they won’t be included in this shooting guard breakdown
Jalil Bethea – Bethea is the highest rated recruit in Miami history that coach Jim Larranaga got out of the 2024 class, Bethea averaged 23.2 points for Archbishop Wood this high school season en route to Pennsylvania Sports Writers’ All-State 6A team. On3 is higher than the industry on the four-star who is ranked No. 39 in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking. I don’t expect him to start but I expect him to be a key role player in Miami’s backcourt and Miami switches the lines up sometimes so maybe we could see him up in the starting line sometimes.
Austin Swartz – Another big time shooting guard newcomer to this team, Swartz was third in scoring at 21.0 points per game last summer on the Nike EYBL circuit, playing for Boo Williams. He also averaged 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 44 percent from the field, 37 percent from 3 and 89 percent from the free-throw line.
Small forward
Starter: Matthew Cleveland
Primary reserves: Paul Djobet, Isaiah Johnson-Arigu
Matthew Cleveland – Again, same as Nijel Pack you probably expected Cleveland to start and be a key role into this Hurricanes team, Cleveland’s skillset was on full display out the gate of the making an immediate impact as a true freshman. He started eight games and averaged 11.5 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and shot 45% from the field. He followed that up with an even better sophomore season, starting every game and averaging 13.8 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game and a drastically improved three-pointer, something that continues to improve. last season for the Miami Hurricane he averaged 13.7 points per game to go along with 6.7 rebounds per game with 1.7 assist per game. So I expect him to be even more of a key player to this team I expect him to average at least 15 this season for the Hurricanes.
Paul Djobet – The only freshman to stick around from last season is still here, Paul Djobet may not of seen the floor much last season but with injuries piling up nearing at the end of the season he got his chance to get into some games, he did okay he was really just running around out there getting his condition in but he did help out with the rebounds and help out with size on the floor.
Isaiah Johnson-Arigu – I would not expect much from him this season, however Arigu ranks as the No. 106 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle. He’s also the No. 36 small forward and the No. 2 player in Minnesota. He also has good touch which he uses to finish around the basket and in the mid range. He also has good court vision and processing ability.
Power forward
Starter: Brandon Johnson
Primary reserves: Matthew Cleveland, Kiree Huie, Yussif Basa-Ama
Matthew Cleveland will not be talked down below as he is shown above but if the Hurricanes needed another person in there from court Cleveland is the way to go as he played there last year for the Hurricanes.
Brandon Johnson – Brandon Johnson has to be one of the top dogs for Miami. Brandon is like a Jordan Miller in my eyes.. There is a scenario where his usage level is pretty high. They chased him immediately and as hard as possible for a reason. But the perk for the rest of the guys on the roster is that he has the ability to make them much better as well. They should benefit from having him as a teammate.
Kiree Huie – Huie might not make a big time splash in his final season at Miami but he does bring the Hurricanes experience to the team, Huie is a 6-9, 220-pounds forward that averaged 11.3 points per game to go along with 5.8 rebounds.
Yussif Basa-Ama – Basa-Ama was a late addition to the Hurricanes, probably won’t see the floor for the Hurricanes but it was a nice addition to add for depth, he averaged 1.1 points per game with 0.4 assist and 1.1 rebounds.
Center
Starter: Lynn Kidd
Primary reserves: Kiree Huie
Kiree Huie is shown above
Lynn Kidd – Probably the most biggest splash to the Hurricanes this offseason is Virginia Tech starting centre transfer Lynn Kidd. Kidd finished third in voting for the ACC’s Most Improved Player this season after averaging 13.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, upticks from marks of 5.0 and 3.4, respectively, last season. He led the conference in field goal percentage and ranked fourth nationally at 66.8 percent.
Trinton is the owner of CanesToday. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, he is a freshman in high school and wants to graduate from the University of Miami
