Kent State redshirt sophomore post Magnus Entenmann continues to improve and be a presence for Rob Senderoff and the Golden Flashes. Entenmann was pressed into action last year due to several injuries KSU suffered in the front court. His contribution was very impactful and he helped KSU win games down the stretch. In the MAC Championship game he found himself matched up with current Indiana Pacer Enrique Freeman from Akron and held his own.
Entenmann is part of a three headed monster in the post that includes veteran starter Cli’Ron Hornbeak and Junior Rico Gillespie. Hornbeak had a career high 18 points Friday while Gillespie missed the game with a knee injury that isn’t expected to be serious.
Entenmann meanwhile, finished with seven points and a career high five blocks, to earn Kent State’s chain after the game in the locker room.
A preferred walk on from Upper Arlington in Columbus, Entenmann spent a year at International Sports Academy in Willoughby. He is seemingly always in the right position defensively, has the athleticism to get out and hedge ball screens well, blocks out consistently, and offensively has a nose for the ball scoring on put backs and drop offs, with a shooting range that can extend to the three point line.
“He’s just gotten so much better,” Senderoff said after Friday’s win. “I mean two years ago he came here, he was a walk on who came here and redshirted his first year and put on like 30 pounds in the weight room and Coach B (Henry Briscoe) and him work really closely together. He just did a great job transforming his body and then as he’s gotten more reps and more practice he’s gotten more confident.”
“Then last year, he wasn’t playing for most of the year late in the year because of injuries he had an opportunity, actually in the game that Chris Payton got hurt was against Buffalo, we put Mag in not because Chris was hurt but because Chris wasn’t playing very well at the time and Mag came in and completely changed that game for us and I think now he has the confidence that he knows he’s good enough to play with these guys so happy for him, and proud of him and happy for him.”
Entenmann is capable of playing the four in a bigger lineup. With the three bigs inside, that’s 15 fouls to give out on some of the better post players in the league, it also allows Senderoff to “empty the tank” of his post players. Meaning playing as hard as you can for as long as you can and then let the next guy go in.
“He’ll continue to get better too because he’s such a hard worker and he’s a very unselfish guy on the court,” Senderoff said. He’s still just starting, he’s only a redshirt sophomore, he’s just starting to become the player he’s going to be. And right now with Cli’Ron here as a senior and Rico’s here so his minutes aren’t as much as they’ll eventually be but he’s getting and better each day and pushing those guys and when he gets his opportunity like tonight, and he did the first game, he had a huge impact in the first game, he had a huge impact tonight and I expect him to have a huge impact every night we play.”
Entenmann knows that practice is making everyone better in the baseline rotation. “I mean Cli’Ron, Rico and I have been going at it since this summer so it’s about time that we do that to other teams so it’s day in and day out playing against each other really prepares us for these games well.” he said.
SHARING IS CARING: Senderoff continues to bring Jalen Sullinger off the bench, where he was prolific in the 2022-2023 season being named MAC Sixth Man of the Year. With Kent State’s depth, bringing Sullinger off the bench allows them to avoid playing him and Medley together for long stretches, where it could get troublesome defensively against bigger backcourts.
For now, when teams head to their benches, Kent State isn’t experiencing much drop off, and with Sullinger they’re putting an All-Conference player in. Sullinger is working on settling into being a more pure point guard and distributing the ball more. His defense has come a long way since his freshman year as he competes hard on that end.
“He’s worked on trying to become more of a point guard instead of a just a scoring guard and he can obviously really score the ball, he shoots the ball really well so he had a great night in terms of getting guys good looks tonight, six assists and one turnovers so really good job there and again guys have to make shots for them to be assists so guys knocked down shots when he got it to them so that’s a good thing for our team,” Senderoff said after Friday’s game.
Much like in the post, the Flashes have a trio of sorts at point guard with Medley being a pure point guard, Sullinger a scoring combo guard and Jamal Sumlin as a “junk yard dog” style as Senderoff called him. In June, Senderoff compared Sumlin to a “Mike Porrini type” point guard.
Kent State finished with 24 assists on 37 baskets Friday night.
FISHER BACK IN TOWN: Speaking of prolific combo guards, Kent State 2008 MAC player of the Year and 2017 Hall of Fame Inductee Al Fisher took in Friday’s game and was a guest in the second half with Dane Richardson and Jana Ashley on the ESPN+ stream. A native of Pennsauken, New Jersey, Fisher came to Kent sight unseen to play for Jim Christian in August of 2007. Fisher’s offensive arsenal put KSU over the top that year, helping lead them to a 28-7 record, a birth in the NCAA Tournament and their first regular season national ranking in school history.
Of course no one will forget his late night Bracket Buster performance against NBA veteran Patrick Mills and St. Mary’s, a win that would catapult the Flashes to a national ranking. A two time First Team All-MAC performer, the 2008-2009 senior year from Fisher was just as prolific.
Fisher recently moved to Cincinnati and has been a basketball trainer since he played overseas once when his Kent career was over. He is very familiar with current point guard Cian Medley, due to being from the same area of the country in New Jersey.
HARRIERS IN TOWN: Kent State cruised to victory Friday night against Miami Hamilton. Due to their 2-3 zone and Princeton style offense, there’s a reason why Senderoff and Akron’s John Groce wanted to play them, to be exposed to that style and go against it. Hamilton played at Akron last season.
FLASH FACTS: As mentioned, Gillespie missed the game due to a knee injury but is expected to be back soon. He came down awkwardly at Louisiana on his leg. “Rico, he banged his knee the first game so he should be back here in the next day or so.” Senderoff said…Donovan Hunter made his season debut Friday. He missed most of the preseason with an injury. After pulling off his redshirt last January, his skill set is unique as a 6-8 wing who can shoot it. With KSU’s depth he may be caught in a numbers game this year but is probably one play away from cracking the rotation…Marquis Barnett bounced back Friday and played the way Kent State expects after a shaky opener at Louisiana. He had been arguably Kent’s best player in the preseason.