Barbee: 2023-24 Deepest, Most Talented of His Chippewa Squads

CMU men's basketball coach Tony Barbee talks with the media on Thursday during the team's Media Day.

Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography

Barbee: 2023-24 Deepest, Most Talented of His Chippewa Squads

10/19/2023 6:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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2023-24 Basketball Media Day: Tony Barbee, Brian Taylor, Markus Harding press conference.

By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Tony Barbee understands nostalgia and the yearning for the good ol' days.

He's also a realist and he knows that those who are adaptable survive and, if everything goes right, thrive.

Central Michigan men's basketball enters the third year of the Barbee era in 2023-24 and the veteran mentor certainly welcomes some throwback to a time when the Chippewas were competing for Mid-American Conference championships.

He got a taste of that, and what the atmosphere was like in those days, last season when his Chippewas defeated rival Western Michigan, 70-69, on the 40^thanniversary of the Toilet Paper Toss.

A raucous crowd rocked sold-out McGuirk Arena, helping CMU overcome a late deficit to post the dramatic win.

"Can you imagine if you had that environment every game?" Barbee said on Thursday during the Chippewas' Media Day. "That's the challenge. That's the challenge to our fans, to our students and we're going to continue to do our part to make sure that our fans know, our student body knows, that they are a part of this team.

"They are as important to me and our players as the starting point guard or our starting center is. We need them every game no matter who we're playing."

Yes, the good feelings that January night were legit, and they came with a heavy dose of sentimentality, what with Chippewa legend Dan Majerle in attendance.

Reminiscence has its place, but the evolutional reality of college athletics today is constant change, and Barbee and the Chippewas face 2023-24 with just four holdovers from last year's team.

A dozen newcomers dot the roster as Barbee welcomes a mixture of true freshmen, junior-college transfers, and still others who have played elsewhere on the Division I level.

"I didn't make the rules, I've just got to work within them," Barbee said, alluding to the transfer portal. "It's presented a lot of challenges for a lot of programs across the country. It's the dynamics of college athletics.

"It's really become a year-by-year process. At every level it's hit everybody. Especially, the NIL deal has made it extremely challenging for our level, but we do our best to make sure that this is a place where the guys have fun and they have a joyful atmosphere to compete and grow in.

"You've got to adapt, and I think we've done that with how we've approached the last few recruiting classes and especially this one."

And while the Chippewas may be new, that doesn't mean they aren't talented. Quite the contrary, Barbee said.

"This is the deepest team and probably the most talented offensive team that I've had since I've been here," he said. "It's going to be a fun team. Everybody's going to have to have a little patience because we have so many new guys and the schedule is so challenging. We're athletic, we're deep, we can shoot it, we've got a bunch of guys who play above the rim."

Two returnees – players Barbee calls "foundational pieces" – are Markus Harding, a 6-foot-10 junior, and 6-6 guard/forward Brian Taylor.

Taylor, a graduate student from Detroit who played at Illinois-Chicago before coming to CMU in Barbee's first season, is the patriarch of the team as its longest-serving member.

"He's everything you want to build your program around as a coach and he's been a rock for us early in the preseason helping the newcomers get acclimated to everything," Barbee said.

Sophomore Max Majerle, son of the aforementioned CMU legend Dan Majerle, also returns as does redshirt freshman Josiah Sanders, who was a member of last year's team but did not play because of injury.

Among the newcomers is junior guard Anthony Pritchard, a transfer from Tulsa who Barbee labeled a "fantastic pickup for us;" 7-foot freshman Hunter Harding, Markus' brother; Drew Barbee, the coach's son; and 6-6 sophomore swing Aiden Rubio.

As has been the case since Barbee took over the program, the Chippewas will face a rugged nonconference schedule ahead of their Jan. 2 MAC opener at home against Buffalo.

The Chippewas entertain Northwood on Sunday, Oct. 22 in an exhibition game. They open at Oklahoma on Nov. 6 and the schedule includes Florida State, Creighton and Ohio State.

"I think we're right on track and hopefully we can stay healthy," Barbee said. "I want to see on Sunday how far long we are. We're not going to be mid-December form on Sunday, we're not going to be mid-January form on Sunday, but I want to see where we're at coming out of the gates.

"It's coming at us quick, but the guys are really taking it on (and) understanding that the little things add up to big things and those big things can be a painful loss if you don't do them or a big successful happy win if you do do them. We're just trying to create that mindset."