Who will be named the 2013-14 MVC Freshman of the Year?

[Wufan]

I have to agree with Tyler. Anyone that has new comers that look like their best player (Loyola, Ill St, Evansville) is in for a rude awakening in Valley play UNLESS they were a stellar team last year. New guys should come in and look like new guys. Talent, hunger, potential, but third on the depth chart…otherwise chances are that the rest of your team is that bad, not that the newbie is so good.

Not a slap in the face at Loyola or Doyle, it's just a bad sign of overall team strength.

BTW, Doyle, while very good, was an after thought at KU and was really reaching well above his ability to play minutes when he signed with the beakers.

Sorry, but your analysis is off base. I'll leave it at that for now. Conference play will be here soon enough.

I can handle a discussion and disagreement without being rude. I'm curious why I'm off base and what Doyle is doing. We Wichitans are not overly impressed with someone being a KU castoff. Just another D-I transfer.

[ahunte1]

I voted for Doyle. It's a homer pick, but why not? He is very talented, and I don't know anything about the other FOY candidates.

I'm not sure about the line of argument that newcomers should be 3rd on the depth chart. Doesn't someone have to win FOY? Doesn't that person usually get significant minutes? This isn't the 1960s when freshmen couldn't play. Stauskas and McGary (and Robinson?) were freshmen for Michigan and they went to the national title game.

As a Loyola fan, my only concern about Doyle is that he hasn't played that many real games in his career. He sat out last season as a transfer, and I believe he missed a large portion of his junior year in high school with an injury (which is one reason he wasn't more highly recruited).

[GoRamblers]

I can handle a discussion and disagreement without being rude. I'm curious why I'm off base and what Doyle is doing. We Wichitans are not overly impressed with someone being a KU castoff. Just another D-I transfer.

I'm not trying to be rude. I'd just prefer to get into the season and have the play of the teams speak for itself. My beliefs (and whether they are right are wrong) will certainly play out during the year. I will say this, though. I don't think it is a fair assessment to write off a team should a newcomer be the best player.

Also, I know that WSU fans have a thing against KU. I'm trying my best to not make the discussion about Doyle about KU. I was simply using that to illustrate that Doyle appears to have top tier talent.

[Wufan]

I'm not sure about the line of argument that newcomers should be 3rd on the depth chart. Doesn't someone have to win FOY? Doesn't that person usually get significant minutes? This isn't the 1960s when freshmen couldn't play. Stauskas and McGary (and Robinson?) were freshmen for Michigan and they went to the national title game.

I will explain this line of reasoning using WSU examples as I am most familiar with the Shockers.

The Shockers graduated 4 starters from 2012 and returned one plus part time starter Carl Hall. JUCO POY and first team All-MVC player Cleanthony Early was not a starter nor was he one of our better players until 20 games into the season. Top 100 freshman Fred VanVleet did not start and was not one of our better players until the NCAA tourney. JUCO AA and top 10 national recruit (JUCO) Nick Wiggins wasn't one of our ten best players. Only freshman Ron Baker showed well early on for those new to D-I and he beat out the lone returning starter Demetric Williams.

The previous season JUCO AA Carl Hall only started 15 games. He was the top JUCO forward in the country.

The previous year JUCO AAs Joe Ragland (future first team MVC) and Ben Smith both came off the bench.

The year before that the entire recruiting class transferred due to lack of early PT.

Those 4 years we had a Final Four, a first round exit in the NCAA and NIT as well as an NIT championship. We averaged 28 wins.

The year before that we had a fantastic freshman class lead by Toure Murry (currently with the Knicks). We finished 17-17. Murry won FOY.

I will say again, unless you have a very good team before the freshman show up, having a freshman as your best player is a bad thing.

[Wufan]

I can handle a discussion and disagreement without being rude. I'm curious why I'm off base and what Doyle is doing. We Wichitans are not overly impressed with someone being a KU castoff. Just another D-I transfer.

I'm not trying to be rude. I'd just prefer to get into the season and have the play of the teams speak for itself. My beliefs (and whether they are right are wrong) will certainly play out during the year. I will say this, though. I don't think it is a fair assessment to write off a team should a newcomer be the best player.

Also, I know that WSU fans have a thing against KU. I'm trying my best to not make the discussion about Doyle about KU. I was simply using that to illustrate that Doyle appears to have top tier talent.

I feel the same about the SIU transfer from Illinois. He's just a transfer.

BTW, I'm not writing off Doyle or Loyola, it's just not a good sign for the strength of your team if he looks like your best player.

[Red]

I went with Doyle although I will admit I don't know much about the options. I recall he was a Kansas commit at one point or maybe even a transfer? I assume this means he has some game.

[bleach]

I voted for T-Mac because he is a center on a team that needs a center. If all the reports are accurate, he's D1 ready physicaly and it is easy to impress at center in this league.

[PantherSigEp]

Ted Friedman will most likely start as the 5 for UNI by all indications. Jeremy Morgan will be playing off the bench as the #4 or 5 guard. Not saying that makes it definitive but it would seem likely that Ted has a better shot at the award than Morgan does.

[MVCfans]

Just a reminder, voting for this poll ends tonight. We will then begin NOY voting. If you have any last minute NOY nominees, please add them to that thread.

[uniftw]

Ted Friedman will most likely start as the 5 for UNI by all indications. Jeremy Morgan will be playing off the bench as the #4 or 5 guard. Not saying that makes it definitive but it would seem likely that Ted has a better shot at the award than Morgan does.

Agreed....though being the #4 guard makes him the first guard off of the bench.

It means
UNI is lacking in the post - a shock to no one right now
UNI has a ton of guards - a shock to no one ever with a Jacobson coached team

Jeremy would probably be starting this year but Wes Washpun is eligible this year and is an athletic freak with speed, size, jumping, defense. Not a great shooter though....he reminds me of what Johnny Moran would have been if Johnny had athleticism. Wes jumped over Chip Rank (6'6) to win the dunk contest at UNI's McLeod Madness event http://instagram.com/p/fpp4_4sBFZ/

Jeremy is going to be a great player at UNI, but a year of growth isn't going to hurt him. If he doesn't win FOY, oh well. Watching his senior highlight tape shows the talent he has, but it's so hard for a guard to come into the MVC and look great right away. The guard play in this league is always real tough...coupled with the fact ath UNI usually has about eleventy billion guards on the roster.

Friedman is more likely to get the numbers to look like a FOY for UNI. He is likely going to start at the 5 from day 1. He's already got a big build to grow with at 6'9 230-240ish and is, from all accounts out of practice, as good/better than Tuttle and pushes people around. We'll see with that I guess.



Neither one of those two is the best player at UNI though...and if a freshman was our best player this point in the season it better mean we signed Andrew Wiggins because if it doesn't it means we aren't real good.