HISTORY OF UMKC BASKETBALL
and a USBWA all-District VI selection. The Kangaroos hosted the Mid-Con Championships at Kemper Arena.
team selection. Quinton Day was named to the all-newcomer team, while Tim Blackwell was named the CBS Sportsline.com Mid-Con Freshman of the Year. Coach Zvosec was also selected as the Mid-Con Coach of the Year to earn the honor for the first time in school history.
2003-04 The Kangaroos opened the season in the prestigious Preseason 2005-06 NIT at Minnesota. With eight newcomers on UMKC then secured Michael Watson the roster, the Kangaroos were its 200th all-time victory Brandon Temple expected to rebuild during the when it topped Kansas 05-06 season. UMKC, however, State, 93-52, at Municipal finished the season with a 14-14 Auditorium. The team overall record and an 11-5 mark in the Mid-Con. It finished the season with a was the second straight year for the squad to post a 15-14 overall record and double-digit win total and the 11 victories were the a 9-7 mark in the Midsecond most in school history. It was also the first Con. The squad topped time that UMKC had finished among the top-3 in Oral Roberts in the Mid-Con Championships, which the league standings in back-to-back years. were being held at Kemper Arena, before falling to A Nov. 29 meeting against Missouri marked Valparaiso in the semifinals. Senior Michael Watson closed out his career with school history, as it was the first-ever match-up his third straight first team all-conference honor. between the two state schools. UMKC was the No. 3-seed at the Mid-Con Championships, but it was He also broke the UMKC and Mid-Con scoring records, as he finished his career with 2,488 points. upset by Chicago State, 75-66 in the quarterfinals. 2004-05 Quinton Day was a first The 2004-05 was a record-setting team all-conference Quinton year for the Kangaroos. After selection after finishing Day limping to an 0-7 record to start the second in the league in season, UMKC reeled off a school scoring (20.3), second record 11 straight victories - the in assists (4.81) and 11th longest by a Division I team first in steals (2.81). during the season - to post a He also broke the perfect record in the month of single-season school January. The team became the records for steals and first Mid-Con school to amass a assists. Junior Dee Ayuba, perfect month with at least 10 meanwhile, was named to games played. the all-newcomer team. UMKC finished the year with 2006-07 a 16-12 overall record and a 12-4 The Kangaroos couldn’t mark in the Mid-Con, which was good for a second-place finish. live up to lofty preseason Carlton The team, however, was upset in expectations, as the squad Aaron finished the 06-07 season with a 12-20 overall the Mid-Con Tournament by No. 8-seed Oakland, 67-63. record and a 6-8 mark in the Mid-Con. It was the The on-court first time in Coach Zvosec’s tenure that he posted a success translated into an below .500 record in league play. increase at the box office UMKC limped into conference play with a 5-11 for the Kangaroos. overall record after playing at the Great Alaska Three of the top-10 Shootout and at Maryland and Arkansas. During crowds in school history the Nov. 29 game at Wichita State, Quinton Day showed up to cheer became the seventh player in school history on UMKC. The sixthto score 1,000 career points. UMKC opened Mid-Con play with largest crowd (7,132) packed Municipal on two straight victories, but the squad Feb. 22 when UMKC then proceeded to drop 7-of-8 games topped Oral Roberts in to fall to 3-7 in the league. After a showdown for first place. announcing the hiring of new During that game, UMKC’s Athletics Director Tim Hall, the Mike English was listed team hit its stride late in the among the ESPN “Plays of season, as it won 3-of-4 games the Day” for his block of to close out the year to earn Caleb Green. the No. 6 seed at the Mid-Con Carlton Aaron and Championships. Mike English garnered first The Kangaroos upset No. 3-seed English team all-Mid-Con Valparaiso, 84-76, at the Mid-Con honors, while Brandon Tournament before dropping Temple was a second a heartbreaker to No. 2-seed Dee Ayuba
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Oakland in the semifinals (79-83) to end the season. Day earned first team all-conference honors for the second straight season after ranking among the leaders in points, steals and assists. Day also broke the school records for all-time steals and assists, and he finished with a total of 1,404 points. Senior Dee Ayuba, meanwhile, was a second team allconference selection. Matt Brown was hired as the school’s eighth head coach on April 12, 2007. On July 1, 2007, the Mid-Continent Conference officially became known as The Summit League. 2007-08 Head Coach Matt Brown opened his head coaching career with a daunting task in facing No. 4 Kansas. The Kangaroos played with the Jayhawks - a team that went on to claim the 2008 National Championship - before eventually falling 85-62. In his home debut on Nov. 13, Brown picked up his first career victory 79-75 over Washburn. In December, the Kangaroos opened league play at Oakland in dramatic fashion. The team fought back from a 20-point second half deficit to force overtime before falling 114-105. Dane Brumagin scored 40 points in just 28 minutes of action. Brumagin and the team followed it up with a tight loss at IPFW. Brumagin continued his hot shooting as he went off for 35 points. As a result, the forward was named the Mid-Majority Baller of the Week. UMKC had its share of ups and down in year one of the Brown era, as the squad finished with a 9-21 overall record and a 4-12 mark in Summit League play. Brumagin was tabbed as a second team all-league selection, and he ranked 17th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage. Freshman Reggie Hamilton, meanwhile, was the only freshman to be named to The Summit League all-Newcomer team. Guard Tim Blackwell closed out his career as the Tim ninth 1,000-point scorer Blackwell in school history, as he finished with 1,071 points in Blue and Gold. As a team, the Kangaroos set a single season school record for three-point field goals (283) and three-point field goal attempts (739). 2008-09 With a youthful squad featuring 10 underclassmen, the 2008-09 Kangaroos suffered through growing pains en route to a 5-24 overall record and a 1-15 mark in Summit League play. The squad posted a 5-11 mark in games decided by seven points or less and a 2-6 record in games decided by six points or fewer. The prospects of a successful season looked bright in the early portion of the schedule, as the ‘Roos won at Wichita State for the first time in school history on Nov. 19. The squad then posted its second straight win over a Missouri Valley Conference foe when it defeated Bradley, 73-61, in Fort Myers, Fla., in the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
2013-14 UMKC Men’s Basketball Media Guide