’Canes try to maintain strength

Miami heads into the 2009-10 season hoping its team will step up and overcome key roster losses. Year after year, the Hurricanes manage to hang around the top teams in the ACC.

And after going 19-13 (7-9 ACC), the Hurricanes — under coach Frank Haith — earned a trip to the National Invitational Tournament, where they lost to Florida in the second round.

Miami lost forward Jimmy Graham, guard Lance Hurdle, forward Brian Asbury and All-ACC guard Jack McClinton to graduation.

Three of them were starters, leaving a huge void on the roster. The Hurricanes’ losses would have been more painful had Dwayne Collins stayed in the 2009 NBA Draft, but he pulled out and returned to school after garnering little attention from pro scouts.

McClinton received the Hurricanes’ first All-ACC nod in school history during the 2007-08 season. He also finished as the ACC’s career leader in 3-point  field goal percentage with .446 and second at the stripe with .893.

Miami countered its losses with the No. 24 recruiting class, according to ESPN.com.

That class includes Rivals.com’s No. 33 overall recruit, Durand Scott. He will attempt to fill the void left by McClinton and could earn himself a starting job by season’s end.

Additionally, Villanova sophomore transfer Malcolm Grant will be in his first year of eligibility after transferring in 2008.

He will most likely begin the season as the starting point guard. Another sophomore — DeQuan Jones — has tremendous athletic skills and is expected to produce from the shooting guard position after playing in every game during his freshman year.

But he’ll probably go through a bit of an adjustment period after playing only 11 minutes per game last season.

Miami has some athletic talent. It also has some solid young players in its 2009 recruiting class as well as its sophomores. Still, that would leave the Hurricanes a step behind last year, considering the departure of key seniors.

As for this season, Miami could hang with the top teams in the ACC.