— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The wait is over for veteran Marshall men’s basketball coach Dan D’Antoni, who gets to see his squad in action against another team this weekend.
The Thundering Herd hosts the University of Charleston in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Friday at Cam Henderson Center.
After struggling to a 12-21 finish in what marked its last season in Conference USA, Marshall is trying to turn things around in D’Antoni’s ninth season guiding the program. He has a 140-120 record as the Thundering Herd’s boss.
The Golden Eagles, a Division II program and member of the Mountain East Conference, are coming off a 24-7 season that ended with a loss to West Liberty in the MEC Tournament title game.
In its first season in the Sun Belt, Marshall was picked by league coaches to finish sixth, and Herd players received significant respect from the coaches. Senior guard/forward Taevion Kinsey was a preseason all-conference first-team team pick and guards Andrew Taylor and Kamdyn Kurfman were third-team selections.
Kinsey was also named this week to the watch list for 2023 Jerry West Award, given annually to the top shooting guard in college basketball.
Marshall’s top returning scorer, Kinsey averaged 19.1 points per game last season. Other returning double-figure scorers include Taylor at 14.2 points per game and sophomore forward Obinna Anochili-Killen at 11.6 points per game.
Anochili-Killen, a former all-stater at Chapmanville, is the top returning rebounder with 6.6 boards per game.
D’Antoni expects Marshall’s offense to get a boost from Kurfman, a transfer from VMI who shot nearly 40 percent on 3-pointers last season.
Another new face expected to start at center is 7-foot-1 freshman Micah Handlogten.
Charleston returns three of its top four scorers from last season in guard Keith Williams (13.5 ppg), forward Eddie Colbert III (13.2 ppg) and guard Jeremiah Keene (10.8 ppg). Colbert is the top returning rebounder after averaging 5.6.
Former Marshall player C.J. Meredith is now at UC after leaving the Herd following last season. Meredith was an all-state player at Spring Valley in his prep playing days.
Dwaine Osborne is in his 10th season as head coach of the Golden Eagles and has a 172-87 record at UC.
This is the first of Marshall’s two exhibitions. The other is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Henderson Center against the University of Pikeville (Ky.).
Marshall opens the regular season with a road game November 7th at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina.