Men's Basketball Media Day: Chippewas Build Around Standout Anthony Pritchard

Fourth-year CMU men's basketball coach Tony Barbee addresses the media on Thursday.

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

Men's Basketball Media Day: Chippewas Build Around Standout Anthony Pritchard

10/24/2024 7:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Our Stories

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Chippewas are coming off a 2023-24 season that saw them finish in fourth place in the MAC with a 12-6 record.

By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Lots of questions. There always are at the start of any season.

One certainty in the mind of Central Michigan men's basketball coach Tony Barbee: He's got the Mid-American Conference's best player in Anthony Pritchard.

"When that's your point guard, it gives you a huge advantage and a huge head start," Barbee said Thursday at the CMU's media day.

Who could argue?

Pritchard last season earned First Team All-MAC honors and shared the league's Defensive Player of the Year Award when he averaged 12.5 points, 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals in his first year at CMU after transferring from Tulsa.

Surely, Pritchard could have moved on, as so many do in this day and age of the easy transfer rules. He even went so far as entering the transfer portal and "kicked the tires," Barbee said.

In the end, the 6-foot-2 senior elected to remain in Mount Pleasant, much to the delight of Barbee and Chippewa fans.

"I weighed my options and talked to other coaches," Pritchard said. "This is the best opportunity for me to play after college. Coach Barbee trusts me with the keys to the team and stuff like that. So why would I leave?"

Pritchard and sophomore guard Cayden Vasko give the Chippewas a solid foundation on which to build as they welcome a dozen newcomers, a collection of freshmen and transfers.

The Chippewas finished 18-14 a year ago, 12-6 MAC and in fourth place, marking a steady rise in Barbee's three years in charge of the program. The Chippewas won seven games in his first season, 10 in his second, and last season he was named the MAC Coach of the Year.

The 6-6 Vasko, who started 31 of CMU's 32 games a year ago, "was just as important to that team as Anthony Pritchard," Barbee said, "but what he does doesn't show up in box scores and doesn't get represented on the all-freshman team and All-MAC type teams.

"When your backcourt brings you that stability, that kind of experience, it is invaluable to share with the plethora of newcomers this year."

And those newcomers help to fuel Barbee's optimism. The Chippewas finished in the top two in every meaningful defensive category a year ago.

"I think this team has a chance to be an even better defensive team than we were last year … and we should be way more explosive offensively than any team I've had here," Barbee said.

Among the top newcomers is versatile 6-6 guard Jakobi Heady, 6-4 guard Kyler VanderJagt, and 6-6 guard Damarion Bonds.

Bonds averaged 14.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists last year at Henry Ford College; VanderJagt is a big-bodied athlete who can play either guard spot; and Heady earned All-Southwestern Conference Second Team honors last year at Bethune-Cookman, where he averaged 15.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while making 75.6 percent of his free throw attempts.

Heady, Barbee said, may be "as good as any scorer I've had since I've been here."

The fresh-blood talent doesn't end in the backcourt, however. Up front, the Chippewas welcome 6-9 freshman Mohammad Habhab, 6-9 Bryan Ndjonga, 6-10 Ugnius Jarusevicius, and 6-10 Armani Mighty to go along with returning sophomore Hunter Harding, a 7-footer.

"This is as big and as athletic and as skilled of a front line since I've been here," Barbee said.

The Chippewas are scheduled to entertain Hillsdale in an exhibition game on Sunday, Oct. 27, and then go to South Alabama for the season opener on Nov. 4. Their home opener is set for Thursday, Nov. 7 against Stony Brook.

"We're excited about it," Barbee said, "but we'll see when we get the opportunity to do it on the court together if they'll become the team that we think they can become.

"Like every coach this time of year, I've got two hands and two feet firmly pressed on the panic button because you just don't know what you have collectively until you see it against live fire."