Kethan Babu – Sports Journalist
I’m a sports journalist and photographer from Detroit, Michigan, with experience covering collegiate and high school football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, hockey and volleyball!
I graduated from Miami University (Ohio) with a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism and a minor in finance in 2026. I served as the sports editor of The Miami Student for two years and set the publication’s byline record with more than 250 stories.
While sports editor, I covered every Division-I athletic program at Miami University and served as the beat writer for football and men’s & women’s basketball. I covered three MAC championships at Ford Field and the 2025 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl for football and two MAC tournaments at Rocket Mortgage Arena for men’s & women’s basketball as well as three March Madness games as both a writer and a game photographer.
Latest Works
Miami men’s basketball’s magical season comes to a close with loss to Tennessee
This story was originally published with The Miami Student on March 20, 2026 in collaboration with Cooper Meneghetti
PHILADELPHIA — The Miami University RedHawks men’s basketball team (32-2) took its second and final defeat of the 2025-26 season, losing 78-56 to the University of Tennessee Volunteers (23-11). The loss ends Miami’s journey in March Madness. The RedHawks played their last game of the season at Xfinity Mobile Arena on March 20.
Senior guard Peter Suder’s 27 points would be the only double-digit performance from the RedHawks. Redshirt sophomore wing Brant Byers followed with nine points, and the trio of junior wing Eian Elmer, redshirt sophomore guard Luke Skaljac and freshman guard Trey Perry each added four points.
Tennessee utilized a 29-point performance from senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie to carry the Volunteers into the second round of the NCAA tournament. Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella and senior forward Felix Okpara joined him in the double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
While Miami dominated from behind the arc in its First Four game against Southern Methodist University, the RedHawks were unusually inaccurate from range, shooting 7-29 (24.1%) as a team, their third-worst performance of the season. Miami shot 19-54 (35.2%) from the field, its lowest accuracy of the season.
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‘We’re two-time champions now’: Miami women’s basketball captures MAC championship to solidify spot in March Madness
This story was originally published with The Miami Student on March 14, 2026 in collaboration with Cooper Meneghetti
CLEVELAND – The Miami University RedHawks women’s basketball team captured its first Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship in 18 years with a 68-58 win over the University of Toledo Rockets on March 14. The victory at Rocket Mortgage Arena will send the RedHawks to March Madness next week.
Four different RedHawks scored in the double figures and contributed all but one point to Miami’s total. Junior forward Amber Tretter paved the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds, good for her second double-double of the tournament. Sophomore forward Ilse de Vries scored 17 points and led Miami in 3-point shooting (3-7, 42.9%), while senior guard Amber Scalia and sophomore guard Tamar Singer added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
“I couldn’t be any more delighted with the group that we have,” said head coach Glenn Box in the postgame press conference. “The way they come together, the way they work hard every day, the way they listen. They’ve been such an amazing group. This tournament run, it puts a stamp on everything. We’re two-time champions now. We feel like there’s more out in store for us, but before we get there, we intend to have good times.”
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Best games in Miami history
This story was originally published with The Miami Student on Feb. 27, 2026 in collaboration with Cooper Meneghetti
Miami University athletics holds a storied history, both with its player and coach development in Oxford and with the RedHawks’ notable matchups from the past 150 years. Here are seven of the best games in Miami University history.
Men’s basketball at Marquette, 1978 (NCAA tournament)
The men’s basketball team dominated in the 1977-78 regular season, finishing the regular season at 19-9 and winning the MAC regular season title. The RedHawks earned a bid to that year’s NCAA tournament, where they matched up against Marquette University in the first round.
Marquette entered the tournament as the reigning national champions after downing the University of North Carolina 67-59 in 1977. The Golden Eagles had defeated Miami three times previously in the NCAA tournament dating back to 1955.
Despite this, Miami upset Marquette in the first round, winning 84-81 in overtime. Butch Lee contributed 27 points for the Golden Eagles, but John Shoemaker and Randy Ayers put up 20 points each to guide the RedHawks to the win.
Marquette held a 68-58 score with less than four minutes to go, but after Jermome Whitehead elbowed Shoemaker in the nose and was ejected, Miami swung the momentum in its direction and rallied to tie the game. Shoemaker came back to score six to keep Miami alive. The RedHawks later fell 91-69 to the University of Kentucky in the following round.
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Miami athletes who should have their numbers retired next
This story was originally published with The Miami Student on Feb. 27, 2026
Across the Miami University athletic department, multiple athletes have received the honor of having their jersey numbers retired after their collegiate careers. These are players who etched their names into both Miami and Mid-American Conference (MAC) record books, with some even going on to have success in the professional leagues.
Here are five players from Miami whose numbers the athletic department should consider retiring next.
Lauren Dickerson, No. 13, Women’s Basketball (2016-20)
Dickerson played during the revival of the women’s basketball program, which had finished under .500 in four-straight seasons before 2017-18. In two years with head coach Megan Duffy, the RedHawks went 44-20.
During that two-year stretch, Dickerson averaged 18 points per game.
She averaged double-digit points for all four years at Miami and set a career record for points with 2,208. She is the fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 points and earned two All-MAC First Team honors in 2018-19 and 2019-20, one of four players to receive the honors twice in their careers at Miami.
Dickerson also ranks second in career assists (595) and holds the record for both field goals made (813) and 3-pointers made (315). She has the most 20-point games out of any Miami women’s basketball player, with 51.
The women’s basketball team doesn’t have any retired numbers yet, but Dickerson would be a phenomenal choice to inaugurate the tradition for the team.
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