By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

Miami coach Charlie Coles, who turns 62 in February, has a contract that runs through the 2005-06 season. A member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame, he remains the No. 24 scorer in Miami history. The Enquirer/JEFF SWINGER

M O R E   I N F O R M A T I O N REASONS THE PROGRAM IS ON SOLID GROUND • Miami has stability in the Mid-American Conference. Six teams - Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan - are on the verge of opening their second half-century of playing together in the conference. • Miami's 20 MAC championships are more than twice as many as won by any other program. Except for the 1988-89 season, when an ineligible player forced Miami to forfeit several victories, the RedHawks have never finished last. • This season's group of incoming freshmen could lead to a period of sustained excellence. KEEP AN EYE ON • Attendance must improve. Coach Charlie Coles isn't joking when he says he wouldn't mind seeing capacity cut at Millett Hall, which would give the smallish Miami crowds more of an impact. • The MAC won't shed its mid-major look until it starts putting more than one team into the NCAA Tournament on a consistent basis. • How much longer will likable veteran Coles go on? F R O N T C O U R T The emergence of either 6-foot-11, 284-pound redshirt sophomore Nate VanderSluis or 6-9, 240-pound true freshman Monty St. Clair as a true center would allow Danny Horace to fill the forward position for which his 6-5, 230-pound frame is suited. St. Clair displayed the outside shooting touch at Roger Bacon that might allow him to score from the high post, and he has the mobility to play a forward spot. VanderSluis must prove his left foot is up to a full season of pounding. Horace is back for his third year as a starter. His overall shooting percentage dropped last season, primarily because he tried 69 more 3-pointers than the one he attempted as a freshman, which gave opponents something to ponder other than his bruising play underneath the basket. B A C K C O U R T The Princeton-style offense favored by the RedHawks, with its emphasis on backdoor cuts to the basket, is perfect for a player like Chet Mason, a quick, slashing, 6-foot-3, 176-pound fourth-year junior who does his best work close to the rim. Mason led Miami in rebounding last season, and he spent enough time in traffic to shoot more than twice as many free throws than as a freshman - and he was more accurate from the line. He also tried twice as many 3-pointers. Juby Johnson, a 6-5, 215-pound senior who was sidelined by a groin injury for the first couple of weeks of practice, is Miami's best all-around player. Josh Hausfeld, who moved into the starting lineup as a true freshman midway through last season, is the RedHawks' most accurate 3-point threat. B E N C H Miami will open the season with veteran sixth man Gene Seals sidelined after knee surgery, but coach Charlie Coles anticipates that true freshman Nathan Peavy can offer the same lift off the bench. William Hatcher, a sophomore, has the speed to kick the RedHawks into a higher gear. Tim Schenke, a former walk-on, displayed a deft touch on 3-pointers from the top of the key last season. True freshman forward Eric Van Buskirk will join Nate VanderSluis or Monty St. Clair as additional options in the frontcourt rotation. Guard Tyler Jones, another member of this year's highly regarded recruiting class, and fifth-year senior Larry Drake will help Miami's deep backcourt. Coles is counting on his upgraded bench to challenge the starters in practice. ' 0 2  -  ' 0 3   F L A S H B A C K 2002-03 record: 13-15. Conference: 11-7 Mid-American Conference East Division, second place; lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament to Ohio 65-55 in overtime. Top scorers: Juby Johnson (14.8), Danny Horace (11.5), Chet Mason (10.0). Top rebounders: Chet Mason (6.2), Danny Horace (6.1), Juby Johnson (3.0). Top assist man: Chet Mason (2.4). Highlight: The 71-62 win over eventual league champion Central Michigan. Lowlight: The 65-55 overtime loss to archrival Ohio in the conference tournament at Gund Arena.

Charlie Coles likes to amuse himself by pretending it's a waste of time for a man his age and with his heart problems to worry about the long term.

"One of my problems is I spend a lot of time looking down," said Coles, 61, who's preparing for his eighth season as Miami's men's basketball coach. "I should look up more."

Coles, whose team is scheduled to open its season Nov. 21 at Liberty, sees more than he lets on. He hears more, too. He hears the whispers about his program, the "what-have-you-done-lately" references to so-called wasted opportunities in the wake of the spotlight-gaining Wally Szczerbiak days. He understands that, like fans of any team, some RedHawks followers aren't happy unless Miami wins the Mid-American Conference championship and goes to the NCAA Tournament every year.

Coles would like that, too. So would Brad Bates, who's wrapping up his first year as Miami's athletic director. But Coles, who played at Miami and coached at Central Michigan before returning to Oxford, and Bates both know dominance is not in the MAC track record.

Since the University of Cincinnati won a fourth straight title in the 1950-51 season, no team has won more than two consecutive MAC championships. Several teams had solid runs fueled by talented players - such as Bowling Green with Howard Komives and Nate Thurmond in the early 1960s - but once those stars leave, the program usually has to start over. Reloading quickly is not an option in the MAC.

"It's an old cliché, but the parity in this league is absolutely astonishing to me, so even to win the MAC championship is a huge accomplishment - let alone advancing in the NCAA Tournament against some of the greatest teams in the country," Bates said.

Spectators few

One focus heading into this season is a concern that has plagued Miami every season.

Traditionally, Miami finishes in the middle of the MAC in home attendance. The RedHawks have drawn averages of 3,690, 4,106, 4,069 and 3,386 to 9,200-seat Millett Hall during the last four seasons. Even the Szczerbiak-led 1998-99 team, which lost the MAC Tournament championship game but reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, didn't sell out Millett, drawing an average of just 6,401 in 12 home games.

"Miami does not have a great history of attendance at any of their events," Bates said. "If you go back and look at historical attendance patterns at the institution, it has not been significant, so our history is against us, particularly recent history."

Coles believes part of the problem is the MAC has gotten away from its traditional Wednesday-Saturday scheduling.

"You've got some built-in factors, too," he said. "When you deal with Oxford, you always have the weather.

"The other thing is the league perception. Sometimes we don't have that in our league. People will tell you if you'd go undefeated, they'd be there all the time. No, they wouldn't. They would be there more of the time, but they wouldn't be there all the time. Would we fill it up? I don't think we would."

Major upgrade

Coles said he believes Miami and the MAC can upgrade their mid-major image. The key, he says, is for the league to maintain some continuity.

"If coaches do good in our league, they're usually not (staying) here," said Coles. "It's tough to maintain in this league. . . . If there was more of a perception that this is Mecca right here, then I think things would change a little bit."

The image might change, but the foundation will remain stable. Other leagues, such as Conference USA, the Big East, the Atlantic 10 and the Atlantic Coast Conference, are going through massive reshufflings, but Miami isn't going anywhere. The RedHawks hope to be part of the solution.

"I do think the MAC is positioned very well right now," Bates said. "Part of it (is) because there are some traditional rivalries, part of it is because the media is starting to realize there is a significant competitive force in this conference."

Miami's tradition and the perception of the MAC go hand in hand, Coles said.

"Miami is the most well-known school in this league, by far," Coles said. "I don't know any other teams in the league who could even argue that. They may get mad, but I know how it is. I don't know if we carry this league, but we're the most important team in this league, by far. There's nobody else who's close. ... Our name, academics, the tradition of athletics, the Cradle of Coaches, all those kinds of things really help our league.

"Does that mean we're the best team in the league every year? No. Does that mean we win the all-sports trophy every year? No. What it does mean is if you're in this league with us, you're pretty safe, as long as Miami's in this league. I really believe that."