# 2009–10 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represented Kent State University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. The team was coached by Geno Ford and played their home games in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. They are members of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 13–3 in MAC play to win the east division and overall regular season championship. As the 1 seed they were upset by 9 seed and eventual champion Ohio in the quarterfinals of the 2010 MAC men's basketball tournament. As regular season champions they received an automatic bid to the 2010 National Invitation Tournament where they advanced to the second round before falling to Illinois.

## Before the season
### Roster changes

The Golden Flashes lost four seniors from their 2008–09 roster. These seniors include the starters Al Fisher, Jordan Mincy, and Julian Sullinger. Fisher was the team's leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points per game. The team also lost Rashad Woods, who was suspended last year due to a violation of team rules.
To compensate for the team's losses, four new players joined the Flashes for the 2009–10 basketball season. Only one of these four players is a freshman, while one sophomore and two juniors are recruits from junior colleges.

### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Greg Avila PF | Bronx, NY | Harcum College | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Sep 8, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Randal Holt PG | Bedford, OH | Glenville HS | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 13, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 85 ||||||
| Justin Manns C | Winston-Salem, NC | Owens CC | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Apr 15, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Ian Pinckney SG | Chicago, IL | Motlow CC | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | May 7, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Kent State Commit List for 2009". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009. "Scout.com: Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009. ||||||

## Roster

Roster current as of June 25, when their summer prospectus was published.
| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| Tyree Evans | 0 | G | 6-3 | 210 | Senior | Richmond, Virginia |
| Chris Singletary | 2 | G | 6-4 | 220 | Senior | Chicago, Illinois |
| Cameron Joyce | 13 | G | 5-8 | 160 | Freshman | Akron, Ohio |
| Anthony Simpson | 21 | F | 6-8 | 215 | Senior | Rockford, Illinois |
| Mike McKee | 22 | G | 6-5 | 190 | Senior | Plum Borough, Pennsylvania |
| Frank Henry-Ala | 30 | F | 6-5 | 210 | Senior | Pasadena, California |
| Rodriquez Sherman | 32 | G | 6-2 | 185 | Junior | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Justin Greene | 33 | F | 6-8 | 230 | Sophomore | Brooklyn, New York |
| Alex Grimsley | 42 | F | 6-7 | 220 | Sophomore | Batesville, Indiana |
| Brandon Parks | 55 | C | 6-10 | 270 | Senior | Bunker Hill, Indiana |
| Greg Avila | | F | 6-6 | 235 | Junior | Bronx, New York |
| Just Manns | | C | 6-11 | 215 | Junior | Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Ian Pinckney | | G | 6-3 | 195 | Sophomore | Chicago, Illinois |
| Randal Holt | | G | 6-1 | 180 | Freshman | Bedford, Ohio |

## Coaching staff

| Name | Position | College | Graduating year |
| Geno Ford | Head coach | Ohio University | 1997 |
| Rob Senderoff | Associate Coach | University at Albany | 1995 |
| Bobby Steinburg | Assistant coach | Middle Tennessee State University | 1997 |
| Armon Gates | Assistant coach | Kent State University | 2007 |
| Jaden Uken | Director of Basketball Operations | University of Nebraska–Lincoln | 2003 |
| Brian Edelstein | Graduate Assistant | Cal Poly | 2009 |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2* 7:00 p.m. | Ohio Northern | W 75–66 Stats | | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (1,267) Kent, Ohio |
| November 7* 7:00 p.m. | at Wooster | W 76–59 Stats | | Timken Gymnasium (1,825) Wooster, Ohio |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 13* 7:00 p.m. | Samford Hispanic College Fund Classic | W 69–66 Stats | 1–0 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,618) Kent, Ohio |
| November 14* TBA | UAB Hispanic College Fund Classic | W 72–65 Stats | 2–0 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (2,632) Kent, Ohio |
| November 15* TBA | Green Bay Hispanic College Fund Classic | L 86–87 $^{OT}$ Stats | 2–1 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (2,571) Kent, Ohio |
| November 18* TBA | Youngstown State | W 70–61 Stats | 3–1 | Beeghly Center (4,112) Youngstown, Ohio |
| November 22* 7:00 p.m. | Rochester (MI) Hispanic College Fund Classic | W 63–44 Stats | 4–1 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (2,433) Kent, Ohio |
| November 25* 7:00 p.m. | at South Florida | L 54–76 Stats | 4–2 | USF Sun Dome (4,189) Tampa, Florida |
| November 29* 7:00 p.m. | at Morehead State | W 63–57 Stats | 5–2 | Ellis Johnson Arena (2,201) Morehead, Kentucky |
| December 4* 7:30 p.m. | at Xavier | L 61–77 Stats | 5–3 | Cintas Center (9,896) Cincinnati, Ohio |
| December 12* 2:00 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | L 59–71 Stats | 5–4 | Petersen Events Center (9,468) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| December 20* 7:30 p.m. | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 85–76 Stats | 6–4 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,254) Kent, Ohio |
| December 22* 7:05 p.m. | at Robert Morris | W 71–57 Stats | 7–4 | Charles L. Sewall Center (643) Moon Township, Pennsylvania |
| December 29* 11:00 p.m. | vs. Wofford Cable Car Classic | W 73–66 Stats | 8–4 | Leavey Center (NA) Santa Clara, California |
| December 30* 11:00 p.m. | vs. Northeastern Cable Car Classic | L 58–61 Stats | 8–5 | Leavey Center (NA) Santa Clara, California |
| January 4* 7:00 p.m. | Norfolk State | W 84–66 Stats | 9–5 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (1,675) Kent, Ohio |
| January 9 2:00 p.m. | at Ohio | W 62–60 Stats | 10–5 (1–0) | Convocation Center (8,359) Athens, Ohio |
| January 12 7:00 p.m. | at Miami (OH) | L 53–55 $^{OT}$ Stats | 10–6 (1–1) | Millett Hall (1,299) Oxford, Ohio |
| January 17 2:00 p.m. | Bowling Green | L 70–76 Stats | 10–7 (1–2) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,658) Kent, Ohio |
| January 20 7:00 p.m. | Buffalo | W 89–54 Stats | 11–7 (2–2) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (2,918) Kent, Ohio |
| January 23 12:00 p.m., ESPNU | Akron | W 87–70 Stats | 12–7 (3–2) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (6,204) Kent, Ohio |
| January 26 7:00 p.m. | at Toledo | W 69–49 Stats | 13–7 (4–2) | Savage Arena (4,358) Toledo, Ohio |
| January 30 2:00 p.m. | Western Michigan | W 74–73 Stats | 14–7 (5–2) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,961) Kent, Ohio |
| February 1 7:00 p.m. | Northern Illinois | W 76–46 Stats | 15–7 (6–2) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,030) Kent, Ohio |
| February 4 7:00 p.m. | at Eastern Michigan | W 75–68 Stats | 16–7 (7–2) | Convocation Center (874) Ypsilanti, Michigan |
| February 6 7:00 p.m. | at Central Michigan | W 68–63 Stats | 17–7 (8–2) | Daniel P. Rose Center (3,142) Mount Pleasant, Michigan |
| February 10 7:00 p.m. | Ball State | W 76–42 Stats | 18–7 (9–2) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (2,825) Kent, Ohio |
| February 13 12:00 p.m., ESPNU | at Buffalo | L 55–70 Stats | 18–8 (9–3) | Alumni Arena (2,201) Buffalo, New York |
| February 17 7:00 p.m. | Ohio | W 74–67 Stats | 19–8 (10–3) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,763) Kent, Ohio |
| February 20* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | Western Carolina ESPN BracketBusters | W 74–72 Stats | 20–8 (10–3) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (5,003) Kent, Ohio |
| February 24 7:00 p.m. | at Bowling Green | W 75–69 Stats | 21–8 (11–3) | Anderson Arena (1,630) Bowling Green, Ohio |
| February 27 7:00 p.m. | Miami (OH) | W 66–58 Stats | 22–8 (12–3) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (5,781) Kent, Ohio |
| March 5 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | at Akron | W 74–61 Stats | 23–8 (13–3) | James A. Rhodes Arena (5,545) Akron, Ohio |
| 2010 MAC men's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 11 7:00 p.m. | vs. Ohio | L 64–81 Stats | 23–9 | Quicken Loans Arena (NA) Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2010 National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| March 17* 7:00 p.m. | Tulsa | W 75–74 | 24–9 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (1,175) Kent, Ohio |
| March 22* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | at Illinois | L 58–75 | 24–10 | Assembly Hall (10,032) Champaign, Illinois |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## After the season
### Awards

On March 8, 2010, head coach Geno Ford was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, the seventh time a KSU coach has won the award (Jim McDonald, 1990; Gary Waters, 1999 and 2000; Stan Heath, 2002; and Jim Christian, 2006 and 2008). He was selected by three votes over Keith Dambrot of Akron.