By Jacob Horton
For the first time in 37 years, the AUM men’s basketball program will be under the leadership of a new head coach when the season tips off Oct.31
The Athletic department named Michael Cheaney as the new head coach of the men’s basketball team back in May. Cheaney replaced longtime AUM coaching legend Larry Chapman.
Cheaney comes into his first year at AUM with over fifteen years of coaching experience at the NAIA level. He has also coached at Division I, II, and III colleges over the course of his career.
Cheaney spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Voorhees College in Denmark, S. C. During his tenure, Cheaney led Voorhees to a 72-55 record and a trip to the NAIA National Tournament.In his first season with the Tigers, Cheaney helped the team to 16 wins, which is more than tripled the total from the year before. He followed with a 22-9 mark in his second season and helped the team to its first national ranking in more than 10 years. In his third year, the coach guided Voorhees to a 23-12 record, won the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament and made an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.Cheaney credits the winning record of AUM athletics as one of the driving forces behind his decision to coach here. He’s looking to add to that success as well.
“I know some people around here are considering us to be rebuilding,” Cheaney said in a recent interview. “I don’t like rebuilding; I like to win. The reason why I came to AUM is that the tradition of winning has always been here, from baseball to soccer, to tennis. I really would like to raise the bar up a little bit and get our guys to reach expectations this year that people think that they couldn’t get to.”
This men’s basketball team is coming off of a year in which it finished an overall record of 9-18. Coach Cheaney, however, believes the Warhawks can compete at a championship level this season.
“It depends on guys staying healthy, and at the same time, how quick they can adapt to the new system,” Cheaney said. “That is going to be the biggest transition. I believe we have pretty good people at every position.”
Where Cheaney hopes he can get the most attribution from this season are his forwards and centers. He feels as though they will be one of their main strengths and the key to winning conference matchups.
“We’re counting on Reggie Brown and Roderick (Robinson), two post guys,” Cheaney said. “They should be our power for us inside because they can change positions, play inside and outside…Conference-wise you’re going to see a lot of big guys that can do that.”
Along with the pressures of putting together a successful season, having to do so while replacing an AUM legend will be no easy task. Coach Cheaney is well aware of that pressure, and hopes to use it as motivation to help carry on Coach Chapman’s legacy.
“(Coach Chapman) tells me all the time that there’s no pressure on me,” Cheaney said. “I probably have put some pressure on myself just because I know it can be done. At the same time, the old coach is sitting around watching practice, probably will be at the games…I want to try and motivate the guys, especially the seniors. Even though I didn’t recruit you, it still would be good for us to go out on top your senior year. It would be another accolade for coach Chapman, and it would also bridge that gap from the old to the new generation.”
The 2014-15 season looks to be promising for the Warhawks under the tutelage of Coach Cheaney. Their season tips off on Oct. 31 when they face Concordia College in the annual Jimmy Faulkner Classic held at Faulkner University. Their first home contest takes place on Nov. 11, when they square off against Selma University.
Contact the writer: jhorton4@aum.edu
Photo Courtesy of AUM Athletics