Sizeable, history-making 2010 class complete

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College's Andre Coimbra has signed with Central Michigan.

Coimbra, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is the final piece of what many consider the Chippewas' best recruiting class in program history.

Coimbra averaged 7 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per game last season for NEO and coach Dustin Grover. He chose CMU over Missouri-Kansas City.

It's the seventh scholarship awarded for the 2010 class, when only six were supposed to be available.

The coaching staff and players are being suspiciously mum on who's leaving the program. After the season, several former players told me Marko Spica would not return for his fifth year and return to Serbia. But Spica denied the rumor Wednesday, saying he will do an internship in Serbia but still return to play basketball. Apparently the coaches feel like they need to wait until after exams to release who is leaving to make room for Coimbra. My best bet still is on Spica — the guys he came in with are leaving and he and Zeigler have never seen eye-to-eye. Another gut feeling is Zach Saylor, whose injury problems have kept him from getting any semblance of playing time.

The 2010 recruiting class in full
G/F Trey Zeigler                 Mount Pleasant High School            Four stars (No. 7 SG - Scout.com)
F Colin Voss                        East Grand Rapids High School         Two stars
C Nate VanArendonk          Grand Haven High School                  Two stars
G Derek Jackson                 St. Benedictine (Cleveland, Ohio)   N/A
F Jevon Harden                  Loyola High School (Detroit)           Two stars
G Paris Paramore                Triton College (Ill.)                          N/A
F Andre Coimbra                 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M           N/A

Sixth, but not final, 2010 recruit commits

Sneak peak at my story for tomorrow about CMU's newest recruit. This was supposed to be the final scholarship available for the 2010 class, but both head coach Ernie Zeigler and assistant coach Darren Kohne said they still are actively recruiting — which means a departure is likely.

The sixth member of the CMU men’s basketball team’s 2010 recruiting class is no stranger to success.

Paris Paramore, a 6-foot point guard who led Triton College (Ill.) to a 55-7 record during his two seasons, signed a National Letter of Intent to play at CMU on Monday.

“He’s a winner,” said CMU coach Ernie Zeigler. “He’s a guy who had really good leadership skills throughout high school and college. He’s played in situations where he’s helped his teams win.”

Paramore’s 14.8 points and 4.7 assists per game led Triton, which finished 26-3 last season. He also added 5.1 rebounds per game. In 2008-09, Triton went 29-4 and did not lose a game in the North Central Community College Conference.

“I try to pick players up when they’re down and make sure they’re working hard,” Paramore said. “For the big men, if they’re running the floor, I like to reward them. It’s not all about scoring – I rebound a lot as well.”

Triton coach Steven Christiansen said Paramore is an unselfish.

“Paris is just a really smart, solid player,” said Triton coach Steve Christiansen. “He does a lot of things on the floor that increases his team’s chances of winning. He’s just kind of always in the right spot making the play that needs to be made.”

Said CMU assistant coach Darren Kohne:  “I think he’s very versatile – he’s a good shooter who shot 50 percent from the field and 39 percent from (3-point range) last season.

“He’s not a great athlete – very average athleticism. But he just has a desire and passion to win, which I think in Coach Zeigler’s program is ultimately the most important characteristic you can have.” 

High school

As a prep player at Chicago’s George Washington High School, Paramore led his team to back-to-back city championship games. His team lost both times against Simeon Career Academy, which was led by Derrick Rose, who now is a member of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls.

“The Chicago Public Schools are real tough,” Paramore said. “I think that played a good role in getting me to this point.”

Paramore’s George Washington teams also featured DeAndre Liggins, a guard at Kentucky and Kansas guard Mario Little.

Christiansen said Paramore chose the Chippewas over Eastern Michigan and Loyola.

“It’s going to be a real honor to represent the ‘C’ and be part of one of the top recruiting classes in Central history,” Paramore said. 

‘Great depth’

Paramore likely will compete with senior Amir Rashid next season for the starting position at point guard.

The Chippewas lose their starting backcourt and two leading scorers – Jordan Bitzer and Robbie Harman. Incoming freshman Trey Zeigler is expected to start at shooting guard or small forward, but Ernie Zeigler said he expects practices to increase in intensity.

“(Paramore) allows us to have great depth in our backcourt and he brings a competitiveness to the position as well,” Zeigler said. “We’re going to have the opportunity to have some very spirited and competitive practices that are going to help this team develop.” 

sports@cm-life.com

CMU looks to re-sign Zeigler to multi-year deal

By Daniel Monson

Senior Reporter

Athletics Director Dave Heeke said Tuesday he expects to re-sign men’s basketball coach Ernie Zeigler to a multi-year contract in the next few weeks.

“We’re looking at a multi-year agreement,” Heeke said. “I hope to pull this together in short order and continue to move forward.”

Zeigler has one year remaining on his five-year contract, which was extended one year before the 2008-09 season. 

CMU lost 69-60 against Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals March 11 in Cleveland to finish the season 15-15 – its highest win total since 2002-03. The Chippewas also won its second consecutive MAC West title with a 9-7 conference record, earning the tournament’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.

“We’re really comfortable with the direction of our program competitively,” Heeke said. “It was a step forward this year. We continue each year to make strides from a competitive standpoint.”

Zeigler has a 54-69 overall record and 31-33 mark in the MAC. He has led the Chippewas to four consecutive 10-plus win seasons, the first CMU coach to do so since Charlie Coles from 1987-88 to 1990-91.

“That win in the quarters would have been a big win for us. It didn’t go our way,” Heeke said. “We played very well for a long stretch in that game and then in a way it resembled our season a little bit. Just when we thought we were there, it all just slipped through our fingertips. I think we’re very close and I thought this season illustrated that.”

Zeigler said he looks forward to continuing to build the program and has had preliminary discussions with Heeke about an extension.

“Dave Heeke and I have had some preliminary discussions and we’re going to be putting our heads together and hopefully putting me in a position to continue being head coach here for a long time,” he said.

Heeke said one concern he has addressed with Zeigler is the number of underclassmen who have left the program – six in the past two offseasons. But Heeke said each individual circumstance was different and he has confidence the right foundation of players is in place. Zeigler said he does not anticipate any underclassmen leaving the program this offseason.

 “We think we’ve got that formula figured out,” Heeke said. “We have an excellent core group of young men and they understand our system and the expectations of our program.”

With the new events center opening in the fall, Heeke said this is a good opportunity to secure the program’s future.

“I think it’s a really strong tool in the tool box that we hope is a final piece of the puzzle that can vault our program to that next level,” he said. “We don’t talk about the number of wins, I just want our programs to be a position to contend for championships and for titles.”

sports@cm-life.com

Scouting Western Michigan

No. 2 Central Michigan vs. No. 7 Western Michigan
What: MAC Tournament quarterfinals game
When: Noon Thursday 
Where: Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio
At stake: Winner advances to semifinals, plays No. 3 Akron-No. 6 Eastern Michigan winner.

Scouting Western Michigan
Record: 17-14, 8-8 MAC
Last season: 10-21, 7-9 MAC; Tied for 1st in MAC West; lost 62-55 against Ohio in MAC first round
Coach: Steve Hawkins, seventh year (123-98)
Watch out for: The 2010 MAC Player of the Year, David Kool (more to come).
Last MAC tournament title: 2004
Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2004

A look at CMU's history at the MAC Tournament

CMU vs. opponents in MAC Tournament

Team	CMU record against
Western Mich.	0-0
Akron	1-2
Kent State	4-1
Eastern Mich.	2-0
Ohio	1-3
Miami	1-1
Buffalo	1-0
Bowling Green	1-0
Toledo	0-3
Ball State	0-4
Northern Ill.	2-0
Marshall*	0-1
Overall	13-15

*No longer in MAC

CMU in MAC Tourney under coach Ernie Zeigler

2007
Central Michigan 80, Buffalo 74 (first round at Cleveland)
Akron 82, Central Michigan 53 (quarterfinals at Cleveland)

2008
Central Michigan 83, Northern Illinois 71 (first round at Cleveland)
Akron 82, Central Michigan 53 (quarterfinals at Cleveland)

2009
Central Michigan 62, Eastern Michigan 49 (first round at Cleveland)
Ball State 64, Central Michigan 61 (OT) (quarterfinals at Cleveland)