Wally Szczerbiak on alma mater Miami (Ohio) being undefeated: 'It's just been a dream for me'

The last undefeated team in Division I men’s college basketball resides in Oxford, Ohio. But on Long Island, the No. 23 Miami (Ohio) RedHawks have provided the thrill of a lifetime for a program legend.

Wally Szczerbiak, the former NBA All-Star and 1995 Newsday Player of the Year at Cold Spring Harbor, was an All-American at Miami and led the school to the Sweet 16 in 1999. This year, the RedHawks (24-0) are playing at a level that they haven’t reached since those days. No one beams with more pride than Szczerbiak, who in addition to being a studio analyst for the Knicks on MSG Network, has been a CBS Sports college basketball analyst since 2010.

“It's just been a dream for me, working at CBS, being able to connect with everyone,” Szczerbiak told Newsday in a recent telephone interview. “My daughter's a sophomore there on campus, so I get to go back and see her and see the team and see [Coach] Travis [Steele] and all the guys. I've gotten to know the players, the coaches, all the staff members. This has just been a magical ride for me, all the fans.”

Miami, which hosts Ohio at 9 p.m. Friday on ESPN, inches further into the national conversation with each win. Szczerbiak has helped increase that spotlight.

He praised his CBS Sports producers and on-air partners for giving him the platform to highlight Miami’s success. He mentioned colleagues like Roy Hibbert (Georgetown) and Clark Kellogg (Ohio State) annually expressing excitement about their teams. Now Miami, which has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2007 and had a losing record in 14 of their previous 15 seasons before last season’s 25-9 campaign, gets a seat at the table.

Szczerbiak also has showcased Miami in his role at MSG, where he’s worked since 2012. In a recent “MSG 150” segment, studio host Bill Pidto kicked it to an exuberant Szczerbiak for a highlight reel of Miami’s 73-71 road win against Buffalo on Feb. 3.

“Wally has not been in this good a mood in quite some time!” Pidto said then.

Szczerbiak said it has been a “real joy” to work for both MSG and CBS. The Knicks are his priority until March, when CBS takes precedence through the Final Four. He takes pride in getting to know every player from their college career to the pros.

As it relates to Miami, how did a Long Island kid end up in Oxford in the first place?

Szczerbiak had a cousin attending Miami when he was being recruited, and she sold him on the campus. He also held a steadfast belief in the coaching staff which, either during his recruitment or career at Miami, included Herb Sendek, Sean Miller, Thad Matta, Jim Christian and Charlie Coles — the first four who are active Division I head coaches.

The college sports landscape obviously has changed,  with athletes being able to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness (NIL) and via revenue sharing directly from their schools. Szczerbiak said he “of course” helps with the program’s resources.

“I've offered as much as I can of my time, of my effort, coming to campus, speaking on behalf of the team, speaking on behalf of the program,” he said. “Obviously being at CBS, use me as an asset to be able to promote the program and to be able to bring light to the story, which is an unbelievable story in today's day and age where mid-majors were not supposed to be doing this.”

Just how far Miami can go is to-be-determined, with its case as a potential at-large NCAA Tournament team — if it does not win the MAC Tournament — becoming a bigger conversation by the day.

After Tuesday night's games, Miami’s strength of schedule is 312th nationally, per KenPom.com. It ranks 51st in the NET, has not played a Quad 1 game and is only 2-0 in Quad 2. Szczerbiak noted that no high-major teams would schedule the RedHawks — who have a 16.5% chance to finish the regular season undefeated, according to KenPom — despite Steele’s best efforts. The 1998-99 RedHawks got an at-large bid as a No. 10 seed after losing in the MAC Tournament final, and they went on to upset No. 7 Washington and No. 2 Utah.

Regardless, this year’s squad is legitimate. Miami is one of the best offensive teams in the country, leading the nation in scoring (92.7 points per game) and field goal percentage (53.6%) and ranking sixth in three-point percentage (39.8%).

Miami has six healthy players averaging at least nine points: 6-8 wing Brant Byers (14.8), 6-5 guard Peter Suder (14.2), 6-6 wing Eian Elmer (11.8), 6-8 forward Almar Atlason (10.6), 6-9 forward Antwone Woolfolk (10.4) and 6-2 guard Luke Skaljac (9.7). Szczerbiak said Miami has the positional size and length to “compete with anyone in the country.”

Said Szczerbiak: “I'm just really enjoying every moment of it.”