Early Looks at MVC Players

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Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby BEARZ77 » May 21st, 2017, 8:06 am

It's too early to start all the POY/NOY projections, and as we all know, summer can change things due to injury, academics, late defections/additions. But in general we now know who the Valley is for 2017-18, and what the rosters look like for the most part. I'd be interested in someone from each University to give a snap shot of what their team looks like and some of the players they see as impacting things that might not be so obvious. We all know the top level returnees, but what I'd like to hear are the following:

1] Projected starters and top 8-10 rotation
2] A previous roster guy who was not a star but may be ready to take a leap forward
3] Under the radar recruit who might surprise, if not immediately, then as he develops
4] Most important addition and why
5] Most important subtraction and why[ doesn't have to be too brutal ]

Let's get to know the Valley thru each others eyes and thoughts beyond the hype and awards type debates. I'll come back with my Bear thoughts, but want to give glm and others a chance to get their ideas out as well.
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Early Looks at MVC Players

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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby BEARZ77 » May 21st, 2017, 1:07 pm

Looks like I'll still be the first to respond to my own post. For the Bears I see the starters and top end rotation as follows:
PG Ronnie Rousseau 5'10 SR
SG J.T. Miller 6'4 GR
SF Jarrid Rhodes 6'6 SR
PF Alize Johnson 6'9 SR
C Obediah Church 6'7 JR

Jarred Dixon 6'3 JR can back up all 3 perimeter positions and will battle for the start at one of them.
Ryan Kreklow 6'4 JR will be the designated shooter/zone buster type
Greg "Boogie" Williams 6'5 FRrs can also play all 3 perimeter positions if he's good to go early enough
Reggie Scurry 6'7 JR will be the first off the bench at either frontcourt position
The Bears currently are going with a 12 man roster, so Freshmen Mustafa Lawrence 6'0 PG, Darian Scott 6'11 C, and juco, sophomore to be 6'7 Abdul-Hakim Fofana will all get some play , but how much is to be seen.

Don't be surprised if Jarrid Rhodes becomes a consistent double digit scorer. He had a quietly solid 1st year as a juco transfer averaging 7 ppg, and shooting respectable 42% FG, 39% 3PT,73% FT. Former POY as HS senior in Florida.

As far as under the radar, I like all 3 of the underclass additions, and none will be under the gun to contribute heavily right away, but I think Lawrence was a very underrated get who stands a good chance of being our pg for 3 years after Rousseau graduates.

Rousseau is the most important add, but since he was actually here some last year, I'll go with JT Miller the grad transfer from Howard U. He gives us a proven D-1 double digit scorer[ 15 ppg last yr] which should take some pressure off Alize being the sole focus of defenses.

I hate to say it because he was very talented, but the loss of Kendrix is probably a plus. That's as much on Lusk as Kendrix. They started off badly, then Chris seemed to rally the last half of his sophomore year and was one of the top returning scorers and rebounders in the league heading into last year. But he was suspended prior to the start of the season and spent the rest of the year in and out of the dog house with sporadic performance and effort. His talent kept tempting Lusk , but in the end, they just couldn't jive. Not having the temptation to use him or the distraction of the inconsistency will be a plus unfortunately.

That's one man's look at the Bears.
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby Lusuperfan1 » May 21st, 2017, 3:44 pm

Nice post Bearz. I'll give it a shot for Loyola, although I bet others will chime in as well:

1.) LU has a ton of flexibility in what type of lineups they can put out. I don't know the rotation yet (and Moser likes playing a small lineup), but this is my opinion of the depth chart playing traditional positions:
PG Custer/Skokna/Smith?
SG Richardson/Townes/Satterwhite
SF Ingram/Avery/Williamson
PF Jackson/Negron
C Krutwig/Shanks

2.) Cameron Satterwhite hopefully takes a step forward. Bruno Skokna too. They were two talented guards we brought in that we need to develop. Last year they had ups and downs, but Porter's short leash must have been frustrating. I feel that if they don't, they could transfer.

3.) I don't think he plays a lot next year, but Lucas Williamson is a 6'5 wing who could have a great 4 years at LU. He was a big part (All-City team) of a state championship team at Whitney Young (a perennial Chicago Public League power). Didn't get a ton of love in his recruiting, but could be a nice diamond in the rough for us.

4.) Hopefully all our newcomers make an impact (e.g. Avery and Townes hopefully replace some of the explosiveness of Doyle), but the biggest should come from 6'9 Cameron Krutwig. Another player on the Tribune's first team, he will fill our biggest need from last year as a big body down low. If he's not overwhelmed by the college game, he could be the X factor to flip some of the close games LU lost last year.

5.) I read the important caveat to be one of two things: important as "worst loss for the team" or important as "addition by subtraction". The two transfers (Granic and Chastain) are basically graded as imcomplete so I don't know how much better or worse they'd make next year's team, and so that really only leaves Milton Doyle.
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby BEARZ77 » May 21st, 2017, 4:22 pm

Thanks LUsuperfan1; good info. I think if every team can be represented, we will all have a better sense of what the conference might look like once the season gets here. This is a time to be a true homer w/o any need for debate, just what does each fan base see in their roster.
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby mule » May 22nd, 2017, 7:40 am

BEARZ77 wrote:Thanks LUsuperfan1; good info. I think if every team can be represented, we will all have a better sense of what the conference might look like once the season gets here. This is a time to be a true homer w/o any need for debate, just what does each fan base see in their roster.

Here' are my thoughts on next season's Evansville Aces. The team GRADUATED 7 players from last season's team. Both Duane Gibson and Blake Simmons will return as 5th year seniors. Fresman Javeon Eaves left the program after the season. New comers include freshman John Hall and Silas Adheke who were both red-shirted last season, JUCO SF Marty Hill, and true freshmen Noah Frederking and Evan Kuhlman. The Aces still have 2 or 3 scholarships available. Fans are hoping for a true center to be found yet and turn into the next Moskevicious.
The team is losing 54% of the minutes played, 64% of the scoring, and 42% of the 3 point scoring.

PG-Gibson 6'3 SR, Dru Smith 6'4 SO
SG-Taylor 6'6 JR, Hill 6'5 JR, Frederking 6'4 FR
SF-Simmons 6'5 SR, Hall 6'8 FR, Hainna 6'5 SR
PF-Adheke 6'10 FR, Kuhlman 6'8 FR
C- Traore 6'9 SR

Red-shirt senior Duane Gibson has always flashed the ability to score but often has not looked to shoot from the outside, which hampered the offense and packed in the opposing defenses. His career has been hampered by knee problems. If he stays healthy I look for good leadership and scoring from him.

Silas Adheke was a 6'8 red-shirt freshman last year and paid his own way to school due to a late summer decision that he could not play 2017 at the prep school he attended. It has been rumored that he was the best Aces player at practices, grew to 6'10, and the coaching staff gave him tapes of Carl Malone to watch and emulate. For these reasons I see him as the recruit that flew under the radar and the most important addition to the team.

Jaylon Brown WAS the Aces last season and will be missed the most this season. Unlike Colt Ryan's 4 years of scoring, JB gradually improved to become a scorer and leader his senior season.

Both Gibson and Simmons are 5th year seniors with a lot of experience and knowledge of the system. Solomon Hainna is also a senior and has/or will petition the NCAA for a 5th season. Dru Smith and Hainna were outstanding defenders last season and should only get better. Taylor was the team's 2nd leading scoring last year. Hopefully all the scoring is not thrust on his shoulder this season. A lot will be expected from the new players this season.

If the Aces continue to run the tightly wound motion offense of Coach Simmons as in past years, they will again be a low scoring, low shooting 3 point team and finish in the bottom half of the conference.

The recruiting is trending towards taller forwards that are also 3 point threats. Hopefully this translates the offense to a more open motion offense like Crews' offense of the 90's. The Aces have not had a true power forward since Matt Webster in 2007. Hopefully Adheke will become that missing link. With good freshman play and lack of injuries, the Aces could avoid the PIG game and compete for that 3-6 spot this season.
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby BCPanther » May 22nd, 2017, 9:48 am

UNI will look like this-

Starters-
PG- Juwan McCloud 5'11" Soph
SG- Wyatt Lohaus 6'2" RS Jr
WG- Tywhon Pickford 6'4" Frosh
PF- Klint Carlson 6'7" RS Sr
C- Bennett Koch 6'10" RS Sr

Bench-
F- Luke McDonnell 6'10" RS Soph
G- Spencer Haldeman 6'1" RS Soph
G- Isaiah Brown 6'5" Soph
C- Ted Friedman 6'9" RS Sr
G- Hunter Rhodes 6' Sr
G- Adam McDermott 6'4" Walk on Transfer Soph

Spot Minutes-
C- Justin Dahl 7'1" RS Sophomore
F- Tanner Lohaus 6'7" RS Frosh

Likely Redshirt-
C- Austin Phyfe 6'10"

UNI is going to go as far as the experienced bigs take them. Both have shown flashes of being unguardable but consistency is an issue. Carlson is an elite defender at this level.

McCloud looked much better towards the end of the year and is widely expected to take a giant step forward. Getting Wyatt Lohaus back brings stability that was missing, a very good defender and a guy that can create his own shot. Staff is really excited about Pickford, he was considered the best prospect in Minnesota until a knee injury between his Sophomore and Junior years and had Michigan State checking in towards the end. McDermott is a wild card, shot 45% from 3 in his freshman year at North Dakota, kind of a Matt Bohannon clone, may or may not contribute.

The roster in general continues to get more athletic. Phyfe could play if he's able to lose some weight and surpass Ted Friedman but it's not worth burning a year without decent minutes. He was a Big Ten Football recruit at Tackle so there is some weight to drop. Dahl and T Lohaus are both projects.
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby underdawg » May 23rd, 2017, 12:20 pm

Starters for SIU Salukis:

WE will be a heavily upperclassman team but here goes

PG 6'4" 176 Marcus Bartley--transfer from St. Louis--all stater from Decatur McAuther--can also shoot three well.

Guard: 6'5" 215 lb SEan Lloyd Mt. Zion prep--came on strong last year and averaged 8.7 ppg 3.3 Rbs--is a defensive stopper

Guard: 6'4" 190 lb Armon Fletcher 11.1 ppg last season

PF: 6' 8" 200 Thik Bol--9.1 ppg/ 6.8 rpg/ 2.3 blocks per game

C: 6' 10" 220 Kavion Pippen 10.5 ppg/ 7.3 rpg/ 1.9 Blocks per game


Other contributors: Red-shirt senior 6' 4" 198 Guard Tyler Smith Peters redshirted last year for injury--shot .405 from three; 6'6" 200 guard Jonathan Wiley; 6'3" Ed McGill averaged 11.6 ppg/ 5.6 assists/ 3.4 rbs starting on Panola Tx Juco Nationl tournament team


Under the radar may be 6' 6" guard Brendan Gooch (RS-Frosh) who started on Belleville Althoff State Championship team two years ago

Of course we'll miss Sean O'Brien
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby Redhawk » May 23rd, 2017, 2:12 pm

Since no one else has I will offer up my opinion on ISUr.

You should look away UNIFTW because I might still have "the damn shaded glasses on."

1) Projected Starters:
PG: Evans/Clarance
SG: Copeland
WG: Yarbrough
PF: Fayne
C: Ndiaye

2) Limited use roster player with potential:
Madison Williams. 6-3 Soph combo guard. Played 10 minutes per game but only
avg. 1.6 points because his shooting was abysmal. Extremely athletic and great defender
so if he could get his shooting problems worked out he could be a key rotation player.

3) Under the radar recruit:
Taylor Bruninga. 6-9 incoming Freshman. Late blooming small school prospect with phenomenal
shooting numbers...60% FG, 41% 3pt, 88% FT. Very skinny and played at the lowest level but
avg. 33 pts and 11 boards per game. As with all Muller recruits he is also very athletic for his size.
Might take a couple years to develop but this kid could be really good simply because of his shooting.

4) Most important addition:
There has been a lot of talk about Elijah Clarance. For next season I would say it would be either Milik Yarbrough or Zach Copeland because this team lost a lot of scoring to graduation and these two will be expected to carry the load along with Phil Fayne. Malik is a slimmer version of Mikyle and Zach could be
the best SG the Birds have had since Tyler Brown.

5) Most important subtraction:
Obviously that is Mikyle. The senior leadership he would have provided will be sorely missed.
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby mule » May 23rd, 2017, 2:33 pm

underdawg wrote:
Of course we'll miss Sean O'Brien
Like Jake Odum, O'Brien seemed to be in the league way too long for opposing teams.
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Re: Early Looks at MVC Players

Postby Majik45 » May 23rd, 2017, 2:56 pm

I guess I'll write a quick review for Bradley. We basically didn't lose anyone who played significant minutes last year as we return 97% of our scoring, 96% of our rebounding, and over 98% of our assists. Here is how I see players fitting in:

PG - Hodgson 6'3 Soph, Lundy 6'3 Jr.
SG - Brown 5'10 Soph, Lautier-Ogunleye 6'3 Jr., Pittman 6'3 Jr.
SF - Kennel 6'6 Soph, McGlaston 6'5 Sr., Stipanovich 6'7 Fr.
PF - Thomas 6'7 Sr., Van Bree 6'9 Jr., Childs 6'6 Fr
C - Bar 6'10 Soph, Barker 6'9 Jr.

If Bradley players continue to improve, Bradley could make a jump up the standings as we played 4 freshman extensively in the rotation again last year, Brown, Hodgson, Kennel, and Bar.

Hodgson really came on as a solid point guard near the end of the year, which allows Brown to play off the ball which probably fits his game better, but really we have 3 PG options now. We bring in Juco transfer Luqman Lundy, who averaged 14 points, 5.6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals a game while shooting 43% from 3. I see Brown and Lundy as more combo guards, so minutes at PG/SG will be split between those three with either Lautier-Ogunleye or Pittman filling in a smaller number of minutes.

At other wing, I see Kennel and McGlaston splitting minutes. Kennel being more of a shooter, and McGlaston being the hyper athletic wing to give different looks. I think this could allow Stipanovich to redshirt unless he is so good he forces Wardle to play him. He is a freshman out of St. Louis.

Post positions will probably be a 4 man rotation with Thomas and Bar starting, and Van Bree and Childs providing minutes off the bench. Elijah Childs could end up being a steal of a recruit, as he is a little under sized, but was a very good player in Missouri. His team placed 2nd in the largest class in Missouri, and I think he was first team all state. I'm hoping he can push Callum Barker to the bench to almost no minutes unless we need a true bruiser type player in the game.

If Bradley's players can continue to improve, Bradley could surprise a lot of teams. They really started to play well down the stretch as they won 4 of their last 5 games, and were competitive in 6 of their last 7 games to end the year. The core rotation other than Donte Thomas was all Freshman and Sophmores last year, so I think most Bradley fans are hoping for a 3-6th place finish this year with continued improvement.
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