# 2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team

The 2007–08 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Broncos, 20–12 overall and 12–4 in the conference, captured the MAC West Division championship by four games and earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. WMU reached the semi-finals of the MAC tournament before falling to No. 3 seed Akron.
During the regular season, Western Michigan defeated No. 25 ranked Davidson College, a team that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. WMU finished the non-conference portion of their schedule 7–7, defeating Davidson, Detroit Mercy, Loyola Chicago, North Carolina Central, Pepperdine, Southern Illinois and Wisconsin–Green Bay.
WMU also retained the Michigan MAC Trophy for the third consecutive season.
Sophomore David Kool and senior Joe Reitz earned First Team All-MAC honors. Reitz was also named to the MAC All-Tournament team.

## Preseason

The Broncos were picked to win the West Division by members of the MAC News Media Association, receiving 23 of 32 possible first place votes (Toledo received six votes and Central Michigan three). Western Michigan also received six votes to win the MAC Tournament, which was second to Kent State (7 votes).
Joe Reitz was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team.

## Awards

* Derek Drews
** West Division Player of the Week (week 1)
* David Kool
** All-MAC First Team
** 3-time West Division Player of the Week (weeks 12, 16, 17)
* Joe Reitz
** All-MAC First Team
** 4-time West Division Player of the Week (weeks 2, 7, 13, 14)
** Academic All-District IV First Team
** Mid-American Conference Academic Player of the Week (February 7)

## Roster

| No. | Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown (Previous school) |
| 4 | Derek Drews | F | 6'5" | 224 | Jr. | Elkhart, IN (Elkhart Central) |
| 1 | Derek Fracalossi | G/F | 6'5" | 203 | Sr. | Davison, MI (Davison) |
| 34 | Shawntes Gary | G | 6'2" | 207 | Jr. | Elkhart, IN (Concord) |
| 13 | Justin Hairston * | F | 6'5" | 215 | Fr. | Fort Wayne, IN (Fort Wayne South) |
| 5 | Andrew Hershberger | F | 6'7" | 223 | Sr. | Goshen, IN (Goshen) |
| 0 | Dan Hess | F/C | 6'7" | 225 | Sr. | Owosso, MI (Corunna) |
| 23 | David Kool | G | 6'3" | 200 | So. | Grand Rapids, MI (South Christian) |
| 2 | Silver Laku | G | 6'2" | 180 | Sr. | Toronto, ON (Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute) |
| 33 | Donald Lawson | C | 6'9" | 234 | So. | Chicago, IL (Leo Catholic) |
| 21 | Martelle McLemore | G | 6'5" | 198 | So. | Detroit, MI (Consortium Prep) |
| 22 | Michael Redell | G | 6'0" | 183 | Jr. | Rockford, MI (Cleveland State) |
| 42 | Joe Reitz | C | 6'7" | 256 | Sr. | Fishers, IN (Hamilton Southeastern) |
| 12 | Andre Ricks | G | 5'9" | 159 | Jr. | Detroit, MI (Pershing) |
| 15 | Alex Wolf | G | 5'11" | 198 | Fr.-R | Parchment, MI (Parchment) |
| 3 | Jon Workman * | F | 6'9" | 220 | So. | LaGrange, IN (Lakeland) |
* Will redshirt the 2007–2008 season

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2007* 7:00pm | Tri-State Exhibition | W 94–54 | 0–0 | University Arena (2,088) Kalamazoo, MI |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2007* 9:30pm | vs. Pacific World Vision Invitational | W 90–76 | 0–1 | McArthur Court (8,601) Eugene, OR |
| November 11, 2007* 6:30pm | vs. Pepperdine World Vision Invitational | W 70–65 | 1–1 | McArthur Court (8,406) Eugene, OR |
| November 12, 2007* 10:30pm, ESPN Full Court | at No. 13 Oregon World Vision Invitational | W 97–88 | 1–2 | McArthur Court (8,341) Eugene, OR |
| November 16, 2007* 8:00pm, WYIN | at Loyola Chicago | W 63–61 | 2–2 | Alumni Gym (1,100) Chicago, IL |
| November 19, 2007* 7:00pm | at Detroit Mercy | W 60–59 | 3–2 | Calihan Hall (2,085) Detroit, MI |
| November 21, 2007* 7:00pm | No. 25 Davidson | W 83–76 | 4–2 | University Arena (3,542) Kalamazoo, MI |
| November 28, 2007* 8:05pm | at Valparaiso | W 77–65 | 4–3 | Athletics-Recreation Center (3,678) Valparaiso, IN |
| December 1, 2007* 10:00pm | at San Diego State | W 72–61 | 4–4 | Cox Arena (7,122) San Diego, CA |
| December 8, 2007* 2:00pm | Northwestern | W 65–63 | 4–5 | University Arena (4,112) Kalamazoo, MI |
| December 15, 2007* 7:00pm | at Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis | W 71–63 | 4–6 | IUPUI Gymnasium (972) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 18, 2007* 7:00pm | Southern Illinois | W 57–41 | 5–6 | University Arena (3,168) Kalamazoo, MI |
| December 22, 2007* 2:00pm | at Iona | W 67–62 | 5–7 | Hynes Athletic Center (1,411) New Rochelle, NY |
| January 2, 2008* 7:00pm | North Carolina Central | W 70–43 | 6–7 | University Arena (2,832) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 5, 2008 2:00pm | Northern Illinois | W 86–69 | 7–7 (1–0) | University Arena (3,204) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 12, 2008 4:00pm | at Eastern Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy | W 81–71 | 7–8 (1–1) | Convocation Center (1,397) Ypsilanti, MI |
| January 16, 2008 7:00pm, Ball State Sports Network | at Ball State | W 71–45 | 8–8 (2–1) | John E. Worthen Arena (3,201) Muncie, IN |
| January 19, 2008 2:00pm | Toledo | W 75–62 | 9–8 (3–1) | University Arena (4,157) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 22, 2008 7:00pm, ESPNU | Central Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy | W 72–52 | 10–8 (4–1) | University Arena (3,859) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 27, 2008 2:00pm | at Kent State | W 67–58 | 10–9 (4–2) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,674) Kent, OH |
| January 29, 2008 7:00pm | at Buffalo | W 100–90 $^{2OT}$ | 11–9 (5–2) | Alumni Arena (1,787) Buffalo, NY |
| February 2, 2008 4:00pm | Bowling Green | W 64–50 | 12–9 (6–2) | University Arena (4,116) Kalamazoo, MI |
| February 6, 2008 7:00pm, Comcast Local | Akron | W 86–66 | 13–9 (7–2) | University Arena (2,733) Kalamazoo, MI |
| February 9, 2008 2:30pm, Comcast Local, FSN Ohio | at Ohio | W 57–54 | 13–10 (7–3) | Convocation Center (6,884) Athens, OH |
| February 12, 2008 7:00pm | Miami | W 78–75 $^{2OT}$ | 14–10 (8–3) | University Arena (3,172) Kalamazoo, MI |
| February 20, 2008 9:00pm, ESPNU | Eastern Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy | W 70–52 | 15–10 (9–3) | University Arena (3,014) Kalamazoo, MI |
| February 23, 2008* 8:05pm | at Wisconsin–Green Bay ESPN Bracket Busters | W 74–67 | 16–10 | Resch Center (3,414) Green Bay, WI |
| February 26, 2008 8:00pm | at Northern Illinois | W 56–49 | 17–10 (10–3) | Convocation Center (2,032) DeKalb, IL |
| March 1, 2008 7:00pm | at Toledo | W 69–55 | 18–10 (11–3) | Savage Hall (6,813) Toledo, OH |
| March 4, 2008 7:00pm, Comcast TV | at Central Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy | W 72–68 | 18–11 (11–4) | Daniel P. Rose Center (1,178) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| March 9, 2008 2:00pm, Ball State Sports Network | Ball State | W 57–53 | 19–11 (12–4) | University Arena (4,546) Kalamazoo, MI |
| MAC Tournament ||||||
| March 13, 2008* 12:00pm, FSN Ohio, FSN Plus | vs. Eastern Michigan MAC Tournament quarterfinals | W 70–61 | 20–11 | Quicken Loans Arena (TBA) Cleveland, OH |
| March 14, 2008* 7:00pm, FSN Ohio, FSN Plus | vs. Akron MAC Tournament semifinals | W 73–62 | 20–12 | Quicken Loans Arena (TBA) Cleveland, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Coaching staff

* Steve Hawkins – Head coach
* Clayton Bates – Assistant coach
* Cornell Mann – Assistant coach
* Andy Hipsher – Assistant coach
* Phil Sayers – Director of Basketball Operations

## 2008–2009 recruits

Western Michigan signed forwards Muhammed Conteh, Justin Hairston and Flenard Whitfield, center Lemarcus Lowe and guards Mike Douglas and Demetrius Ward during this season. Each player will be a freshman for the 2008–09 season. Lowe was rated the #1 Michigan high school center in 2007.