Miami Hurricanes 2017 ACC Schedule Released

Miami will open its 2016-17 ACC schedule at the Bank Atlantic Center against North Carolina State on New Year’s Eve at 4:30 pm. The Hurricanes will have five games showcased nationally on ESPN and two on CBS. Their first ACC game to be nationally televised is against Notre Dame January 12 on ESPN and their first CBS game will be January 28 when the Hurricanes host North Carolina.

Miami’s game with Stanford in Orlando is the first of three games in the Advocare invitational that will be televised on the “ESPN Family of Networks”. The Hurricanes match up with Iowa State or Indiana State in the next round. Florida and Gonzaga highlight the other half of the eight-team bracket from November 24-25 and 28. The ‘Canes game at North Florida on November 16 will be streamed on ESPN3.

The other ACC games that will be televised on ESPN are at Virginia on Feb. 20, at Duke (Jan. 21) and at Louisville (Feb. 11) all on ESPN or EPSN2, and at Virginia Tech (Feb. 27) on ESPN2. Duke’s return game on February 25 will be on CBS.

The ‘Canes had one of their best seasons in school history last year. The 27 wins were second to the 2013 team, they advanced to the regional semifinal for the third time ever, played the toughest schedule in school history and their 18.52 under the simple rating system was the school’s highest ever.

The SRS is described by Sports Reference as “a rating that takes into account average point differential and strength of schedule. The rating is denominated in points above/below average, where zero is average”.

Miami lost their stellar backcourt that was the core of the 2016 team. Seniors Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez had outstanding senior seasons for Jim Larranaga. McClellan was the team’s leading scorer at 16.3 PPG, shot 83.8 percent from the free throw line and 40.6 on three-point attempts. McClellan was named second team all-ACC.

Rodriguez returned to Miami for his final two seasons of college basketball. The Puerto Rican native went to Dr. Kopp high school in Miami and spent his first two college seasons at Kansas State. Rodriguez averaged 12.6 PPG. He led the team with 4.5 assists per game and 1.7 steals per game. He earned third team All-ACC

Miami will return five players from the 2016 team, including two starters. Devon Reed was the ‘Canes third leading scorer (11.1 PPG) and second-leading rebounder (4.1) a season ago. Reed, a senior, is the team’s leading returning scorer and free throw shooter. Kamari Murphy is the other returning starter. He is the leading returnee in rebounding and blocked shots.

Sixth man Ja’Quan Newton also returns. He was the team’s fourth-leading scorer at 10.5 PPG and led the returnees in assists with 2.5 per game.

Miami has the best recruiting class in school history. The ‘Canes have the 15th best-recruiting class nationally according to 247Sports. The class is led by power forward Dewan Huell ranked 23rd overall and shooting guard Bruce Brown, 31st.

Newton is the most likely candidate to replace Rodriguez at point guard. Coach Jim Larranaga is concerned with Newton’s assist to turnover ratio. Larranaga told told the Miami Herald this spring:

“He can score and he can pass, but his assist-to-turnover ratio is 1-to-1…If he’s really going to be the kind of point guard that can lead our team, he needs to improve to 2-to-1 or 3-to-1.”

Miami opens the season with an exhibition November 2 against Barry and opens the regular season November 11 against Western Carolina.