MAC Media Day news and notes
By / Sports EditorThe annual MAC Media Day occurred on July 23 at Ford Field in Detroit.
The annual MAC Media Day occurred on July 23 at Ford Field in Detroit.
The college football season is about a month away as it begins on Aug. 24 when Florida and Miami face off at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The majority of MAC teams will start their campaigns on Aug. 31. Eastern Michigan’s first game is against Coastal Carolina on the road.
Eastern Michigan football opens up the season on August 31 at Coastal Carolina, and before that there is only speculation on what the 2019 season will bring. The team went 7-6 overall last year with a 5-3 conference record. Athlon Sports foresees a similar outcome this fall. The site predicts EMU at a 6-6 overall record and a 5-3 record in the MAC.
The Eastern Michigan gymnastics team recently added four incoming freshman to its 2020 roster, per EMU Athletics. The four new additions are Danielle Coyne, Hannah Hartung, Arileyah Harris and Corey Melcher. The new signees are joining three other freshmen, Hadyn Crossen, Molly Parris and Mickayla Stuckey. The seven freshmen marks the biggest incoming freshmen class for the Eagles since 2002.
Kevin McGill, Eastern Michigan senior defensive back, was named to the Bednarik Award watch list on Monday, July 15. The Bednarik Award is presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year. The award winner will be announced on Dec. 12, following the completion of the regular season and before the bowl season takes place.
John Bowler played four years for the Eastern Michigan men’s basketball team from 2003-2006. After playing professionally in Germany for multiple years, he was promoted to head coach at Des Moines Area Community College on July 1, 2018. Bowler’s goal is to continue the recent success on and off the court at DMACC.
The college recruiting process can be one of the most difficult times in a student athlete’s life because of the pressure put on their shoulders from every direction. It’s a decision that will have an impact on the rest of their lives and can single-handedly alter their entire future. Because it’s such a demanding period in the athlete’s life, LRT Sports lends a helping hand.
The women’s soccer team had their 20-game schedule revealed last week. The Eagles will begin the season away with an exhibition game against St. Bonaventure on Aug. 11 before the second game which will be the home opener against Oakland on Aug. 22 at Scicluna Field. The Eagles will spend the next six games on the road with their eighth matchup being back at home. All six games will be against non-conference teams. EMU will face Loyola-Chicago on Sept. 22 which will conclude their non-conference matchups.
The EMU volleyball team is entering the 2019 season as defending MAC Champions and seek to repeat with a promoted Darcy Dorton as head coach. The upcoming schedule is now complete for the team, which lost three senior players but now returns four seniors and two juniors. This will be the 43rd season program history.
Former Eastern Michigan guard, Tim Bond was added to the New York Knicks summer league roster last month, per Eastern Michigan Athletics. Bond played for the Eagles from 2014-2018 and was named the 2018 MAC Defensive Player of the Year in his senior campaign.
Eastern Michigan football has a new commitment in Rico Small out of Northeast Cleveland. Small is a 3-star wide receiver that made his announcement on June 24 via Twitter.
Tristen Hines announced his commitment to play for the Eastern Michigan football program on June 22, 2019. Hines is a 175-pound defensive back out of Milan. He will graduate from Milan High School in 2020 and will attend Eastern Michigan the following school year.
David Carter Jr., a 3-star recruit according to 247 Sports, announced his commitment to play for Eastern Michigan on June 12, 2019 via Twitter. Carter is heading into his senior year at River Rouge High School. He is a 6’0” cornerback who weighs approximately 170 pounds.
Jamell Harris joined the Eastern Michigan basketball program as a freshman that knew if he worked hard enough, he’d earn minutes and work himself into the rotation. Four years later, he became one of the best shot blockers and rebounders in school history and helped bring the program their first ever MAC West division title.
Eastern Michigan baseball is one month removed from the last time they played, finishing out the 2019 season against Kent State. The Eagles had a 6-21 conference record in a season that featured the young talent that this Eagles team had on the field. Here is a look at the freshman season of Eastern Michigan pitcher Justin Meis.
More than 20 years after his time at Eastern Michigan, the name Earl Boykins still means a lot to the Eagles’ athletics program. He helped put the basketball team on the national scene with two NCAA Tournament appearances in four years. In the 21 seasons since Boykins graduated from EMU, he’s had a successful NBA career with multiple teams and started his own AAU program named Boykins Basketball Academy.
The Eastern Michigan baseball team lost both doubleheader games to Ohio on Sunday, April 21 at Oestrike Stadium, by score of 8-2 in the first game and 6-3 in the second game. Saturday’s game was rained out and pushed to the following day on Easter to finish the series between the MAC opponents. Ohio won Friday’s game 6-1 over Eastern.
The Eastern Michigan athletics program has seen some ups and downs in the last year, which includes a MAC Tournament title by the women’s volleyball team, an appearance in the Camellia Bowl for the football team, and a court ruling that forced EMU to reinstate the softball and women’s tennis teams.
Sports editor Luke Gremban and Sports Columnist Caleb Burlingame predict who will over and under perform in the NFL’s 2020 season.