UM men’s basketball team faces first big test Thursday vs. Drake in Charleston Classic

University of Miami men’s basketball fans are about to find out just how good the revamped Hurricanes really are as the team plays Drake Thursday at noon in the opening game of the Charleston Classic in South Carolina.

The Canes are 3-0 with 10 new players on the roster, but the true test begins with this tournament, which includes high-level opponents, many of whom made the post-season last spring.

These teams will be bigger, faster and play different styles from what UM faced in its early non-conference season.

“Unlike the first three opponents we played, Drake plays very slow tempo, far fewer possessions, a very disciplined offense and defense,” UM coach Jim Larranaga said. “This is good preparation for many of the teams in our league. They’ve got some really big guys, and we haven’t faced that kind of size yet…We’ll learn an awful lot about where we are.”

Guard A.J. Staton-McCray, a Delray Beach native who transferred from Samford this off-season, is happy to be closer to home. He is looking forward to seeing how the team fares in the coming games.

“This is a big-time tournament, big games, we have to take everything we learned because we’re not going out there to lose,” Staton-McCray said. “We want to go 3-0.”

Larranaga said his primary point of emphasis after watching his team through three games is on the defensive end. The Hurricanes averaged 98 points over the first three games and gave up an average of 66 points.

“We learned we can score the ball at a pretty high level,” said Larranaga. “We had a lot of different guys score, so from an offensive standpoint, it was very satisfying. From a defensive standpoint, however, we learned we are able to play very good defense, in the first half, but in the second half we didn’t sustain that defensive intensity once we got the lead. That is a major concern for us.”

Staton-McCray scored 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench on Sunday against Coppin State. He is one of the newcomers who has impressed Larranaga thus far, especially because of his versatility. UM assistant coach Bill Courtney brought Staton-McCray to Larranaga’s attention late in the portal process, and the coach liked that Samford went 28-2 and Staton-McCray played a key role.

“He can play the two, the three, the other day we even played him at the four when we went to small ball,” Larranaga said. “With that in mind, he intrigued me. Then I heard he’s from Florida, so bringing him back home made him a very good fit. We got a guy with a great attitude, great work ethic, comes from a winning program and has versatility in his game. And, he’s a good defender. He checked all the boxes.”

In addition to UM and Drake, the Charleston tournament features FAU, Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, VCU, Vanderbilt and Nevada. The winner of Miami vs. Drake (noon, ESPN2) plays the winner of FAU vs. Oklahoma State, and the losers of both games face each other in the consolation bracket.