Up close with Miami Hurricanes center Lynn Kidd: "I’m thankful I made the decision to come here"
The Miami Hurricanes basketball season tips off Nov. 4 against Fairleigh Dickenson, and the first conference game is Dec. 7 against Clemson. CaneSport has you fully covered throughout the season as Miami looks to return to the NCAA Tournament after a disappointing 15-17 finish last year (6-14 in ACC play). It’s a totally revamped roster from that group, with Matthew Cleveland (13.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG) and Nijel Pack (13.3 PPG, 3.5 APG) the lone main returners. Coach Jim Larranaga has added five key new transfers and four freshmen.
Miami was picked to finish sixth in the ACC preseason poll, trailing No. 1 Duke (956 points), North Carolina (924), Wake Forest (800), Clemson (765) and Virginia (743). The Canes are also among “others receiving votes” in the AP preseason poll, still ranking as the fourth-highest ACC team at No. 38. That’s behind Duke at No. 7, North Carolina No. 9 and in “others receiving votes” Wake Forest is 30th with Clemson 40th and Louisville 46th.
As we kick off your 2024-25 season coverage, today we have your CaneSport TV preseason update with Lynn Kidd, who arrives as a graduate senior transfer from Virginia Tech.
UP CLOSE WITH MATTHEW CLEVELAND
Kidd will give Miami a presence in the middle as a 6-10, 241-pound center who averaged 13.2 points and 6.5 rebounds last season for the Hokies – his 8.2 point-per-game improvement from the prior year led the ACC. He also led the conference and was third nationally in field goal percentage at 66.8 percent. He started all 33 games in which he played last year after only starting three games in his career prior to that.
“I can’t wait to get out there with the new guys,” Kidd said. “I’m thankful I made the decision to come here. … Great teammates, great coaches. I love it.”
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Kidd has played well in scrimmages so far, and says he’s taking on a leadership role and “trying to lead by example.”
He says he picked Miami in part because he feels the Canes can “go all the way” with an NCAA Tournament run.
“I’m confident in my guys, confident in myself, I think we can do it,” Kidd said.
A final thought from Kidd? He says this team is coming together “great” and that “if we want to make it deeper into the tournament we have to have really good chemistry, know your guys. (We) just enjoy being around each other.”
He adds “We have a lot of guys in their last year, and I know we’re going to get it done.”
