Wednesday, February 28, 2001
Miami got smart with Ensminger
Senior from Oak Hills is top scholar-athlete
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Just when you thought the student-athlete — with the student first, athlete second — was nearly extinct in major-college basketball, along comes Mike Ensminger.
The Miami University senior from Oak Hills High School is finishing his college career. He has played in the NCAA Sweet 16. He has been a starter most of his career. He leads the RedHawks in rebounding this season.
“It's been a great ride,” he said.
Ensminger admittedly is not among the top athletes on Miami's basketball roster. But when you throw the “student” part into the equation, he is — by one measure — the nation's best. Ensminger was awarded the Anson Mount Scholar Athlete of the Year by Playboy magazine this fall. The award doesn't include a trip to the Playboy Mansion, but magazine founder Hugh Hefner did give $5,000 to the Miami scholarship fund in Ensminger's name.
“It's nice to get recognized,” Ensminger said. “I'm never going to a player who puts a lot of points on the board.”
But in the classroom, he has a 3.83 grade-point average and will graduate on time in May. His major is political science and his minor is marketing.
“When you say student-athlete, that's him,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said.
Ensminger's long-range
goal is law school. His longer-range goal is chief justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“That would be cool,” he said.
But Ensminger put law on hold when Deloitte & Touche, a top accounting firm, offered him a job as a business consultant.
“It was too good to pass up,” he said. “I want to put away money for law school. That's $30,000 a year.”
Ensminger became known to local college basketball fans two years ago, as Wally Szczerbiak's screen setter. Fans like Ensminger because he hustles.
“He does things that don't show up in the box score,” says seemingly every announcer who calls a Miami game.
But this season, Coles is asking for more.
“I don't think anyone has ever questioned Mike's intensity or desire to win,” Coles said. “But now we need him to go forth and start doing the tangible things, along with the intangibles.”
Ensminger is doing that. His numbers aren't overwhelming - 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists a game — but he has stepped up lately.
In his last 11 games, Ensminger is averaging 7.7 points and 6.2 rebounds and shooting 60.7 percent (37-of-61). He leads the team in field-goal percentage (53.9).
When teams double-team leading scorer Alex Shorts, Ensminger has hit shots. He has been in double figures five times in the last 11 games. (He entered the season with five double-figure games in his previous three seasons at Miami).
“When he does that, we're a pretty good team,” Coles said.
Ensminger was a star at Oak Hills, but Miami was really his only opportunity at big-time college basketball.
“He's done what I expected he'd do,” said Mike Price, his coach at Oak Hills. “But I didn't know if he'd get a chance. He doesn't have the prototypical basketball body.”
Ensminger, 6-foot-7, 250 pounds, hasn't had a prototypical standout career, either, but he has had a very good one. The season Miami made its Sweet 16 run, Ensminger scored a total of 22 points. He averaged 22.7 points a game at Oak Hills.
But Ensminger was able to make the adjustment from high school star to role player.
“I wasn't the kind of player to score 20 points a night,” Ensminger said. “I just did what I could to help us win.”
The key was being smart enough to recognize that.
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Miami got smart with Ensminger