Why will your team win the Valley?

[Wufan]

Practice will be gearing up in days and the season is just weeks away! It's that time of year when all the returning players are ready for a "break-out" season, and all the fresh faces are are highlight reels on the edge of a legendary career at YOUR school! With that said, I'd like to learn a little about my Valley foes for the upcomming season, so even if you don't believe your team has a chance, I'd like to hear why others shouldn't sell your team short!

[Wufan]

Wichita State:

The Shockers are again a very deep team, and although we are loosing a ton of scoring, rebounding, and minutes in the paint, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that this is OUR year. Gone are Durley, Blair, Ellis, and Hatch, but back are Seniors Joe Ragland, David Kyles, Toure Murry, Ben Smith, and Garrett Stutz.

About half way thru the season, Joe Ragland and Ben Smith figured out the difference between being a juco AA and being a starter in the MVC. Rags greatly improved his early TO problems to finish second in the confernece in A/TO ratio and although he only shot 31% from 3, he shot better than 45% in his two years at JUCO. If he begins to hit his shot from deep, look out! Ben Smith is a quick, 6-5 wing that loves to grab the offensive boards, and at over 40% from 3, is one of the better Shocker sharp-shooters. He was All-Bench last year and will look to move up to All-Valley if he can take away the starting wing from David Kyles.

Kyles had a break-out season last year and shot over 45% from 3 until a late season slump. Still, he is a dynamic offensive threat that could be the Shox leading scorer this year. The defense is better and the bone-head plays from his underclass years seem to be a thing of the past. He'll team with 4 year starter Toure Murry to form one of the best back-courts in the league. Junior combo-guard Demetric Williams will round out most of the bench minutes this year. His game is very similar to Bradley's Sims-Edwards and UNI's Anthony James, though he hasn't yet translated it to the same type of on-court success. Little is expected from the freshman backcourt trio of Cotton, Wessel, and Ede in their first year, though the thought is that it is due to lack of minutes rather than lack of talent.

In the front court, Stutz will have to make a Paul Miller like jump in output as a senior. The 7-footers's footwork and lowerbody strength improved last year, and it is the hopes of Shocker fans that the summer big man camp put the finishing touches on the centers polished game. If he stays out of foul trouble and can keep up with the smaller, quicker center's in the Valley, look out! The other returning post for WSU will be junior Ehime Orukpe. The fellow 7-footer continues to ooze with potential and is EASILY a 20/20 guy if you watch him do unguarded drop-step dunks! Seriously, watch him in the pre-game warm-ups this year. It's jaw dropping. Game time has been a different story as the Nigerian born gazelle is a step-and-a-half slow once the ball is in his hands. If he reacts this year, rather than thinking, he will be a monster. Look for him to back up Stutz and collect 5 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks, 5 turn-overs, and 5 fouls in 15 minutes of action.

A trio of highly regarded new-comers will vie for playing time at the PF position, headlined by sure-fire starter Carl Hall. Hall is 6-8, 230 and plays inside of 10 foot at all times. His quick leap and great timing help him to be a tremendous rebounder and shot-blocker. His size allowed him to shoot 60% from the field as a juco freshman and sophomore. He'll learn his position fast, he'll have to! As the #4 overall JUCO prospect last year, he will be thrust into the roll of Shocker star whether he's ready or not. His back-up will either be 6-7 juco transfer and Ramon Clemente clone, James Anacreon, or first team Parade All-American and Jake Kock clone, Jake White. The 6-6 freshman, Ede, or Ben Smith will back-up the PF position in case of emergency.

[bigdawg]

SIU wins the valley if

1) The Brazilian national team shows up in Carbondale and enrolls
2) The other nine MVC teams boycott the regular season because Sycs have proven all that matters is three days in March to be considered successful.

[Red]

Illinois State - The reality is that expectations are rather low. Anything is possible, but it will require Jackie to go 25/15 and have some young guys really play above themselves.

[panther-state]

Ben Jacobson

[beatingrillz]

:bow: Ben Jacobson

He doesn't play anymore!

[Wufan]

Good stuff! Anyone care to talk about some of the newcomers that will be relied upon?

[SycamorePsycho]

Jake Odum

[PowderBlue]

Indiana State:

The Sycs return 4 or 5 of their starters from last year, depending on the time of year you pull the lineup from. Jake Odum is well documented around these parts, somewhat rightly so. He's probably already the best pure point guard that Indiana State has had in quite some time...and he's coming into his (RS)Sophomore year. What most don't know is that he's also quite possibly the best perimeter defender on the team...and at the worst, he's second only to his backup (Steve McWhorter). He has a fantastic Basketball IQ and has a knack for knowing the right buttons to push. He will hit some growing pains this year as teams start to key on him, but the supporting cast is strong.

At this point, Myles Walker, Carl Richard, Dwayne Lathan, and Jordan Printy (All Seniors) probably round out the rest of the starting 5. From what I understand, Carl has spent some time working on his ball handling and dribble drive, which should make this a pretty dangerous combo in the 3 around 2 or 4 around 1 motion. Jordan is a spot up shooter who would have started more consistently last year if not for Aaron Carter becoming a more well rounded player. Lathan's athleticism is pretty well documented...what remains to be seen with him is if he can really buy into the motion offense and play within it's perceived constraints to his game. Myles is a bruiser, and he's only gotten bigger and (hopefully) better in the offseason. He came up big in the MVC Tournament, but showed why the bigger schools didn't come after him vs. Syracuse. I look for lots of boards from the big fella this year.

Just like last year, the Sycs are deep in the backcourt. Odum, McWhorter, and Lathan can all play the point along with newcomer Devonte Brown (who may redshirt). You could see any of Printy, McWhorter, Lathan, Brown, Brandon Burnett (another RS candidate), or either of the Eitel twins at the 2. Lathan is probably best suited at the 3, but so is Carl, Burnett's size (6'6") makes him good for the wing, and Koang Doluony (6'8") (who has never played big enough to be a presence at the 4) can all play the wing.

The perceived weakness lies in the frontcourt...but that could finally be changing. Jake Kitchell (RS Freshman) is the tallest player on the team at 6'10" and chose Indiana State over several BCS Schools and has been touted as a game changer. In High School, he was more of a perimeter post player, but he's been asked to get a little bigger and become more of a complete post. He's going to play a big role in the Sycs season both in spelling Walker and possibly playing the 4. RJ Mahurin probably starts out above Kitchell on the depth chart, but he doesn't have the talent of Kitchell and should get passed by the start of conference season. Mahurin is another perimeter post that is probably better suited to play the 4 than the 5. IF Justin Gant (who may also RS...common trend at State right now) plays, State will be deeper on the inside than any year since 2000-2001. At 6'8", Gant plays bigger than his height and is more of a banger than a finesse post player. The problem is, at 210 lbs in HS, he could win those battles. That won't happen in college. I look for him to RS if he hasn't beefed up.

State also has two other players (one transfer and one with grade issues that probably won't play), but I won't comment on them.

Possible 1st/2nd Units Come January:

Odum(SO)-Printy(SR)-Lathan(SR)-Richard(SR)-Walker(SR)
McWhorter-Eitel-Doluony-Mahurin-Kitchell

If Gant plays and Kitchell is as good as advertised:
Odum(SO)-Printy(SR)-Richard(SR)-Kitchell(FR)-Walker(SR)
McWhorter-Eitel-Lathan-Mahurin-Gant

[BirdmanBB]

Redbirds newcomers.....

Nic Moore - Solid PG from Indiana. I would assume he is considered runner-up for the Mr. Basketball award. Probably should have won it, if it weren't for a short playoff run. The award went to one of the Zellers (who's two older brother have won the award.....politics). He is only 5'10", but he handles the ball extremely well, has great court vision and will make some passes that will amaze you. A lof of redbird fans believe he will take over the starting role at some point. He definitely looks like the type of PG we need to be successful in the valley this year.

Tyler Brown - Juco transfer SG. We needed to not only replace our scoring at this position with the departure of Austin hill, but also improve upon it. Brown looks like he could be that guy, however, he is very streaky or hot/cold (whatever you want to call it). He will have nights where he can light it up, but he will also have nights where he will fizzle out (as shown in his Juco career).

Jordan Threloff - Redshirt Freshman Big man. As with anywhere, it takes alot to develop a big man, but he seems to be coming along very nicely and will be a more than adequate backup to Jackie Carmichael. He was very impressive on our canada trip and it would not surprise me to see both him and Carmichael on the floor together to try and re-enact what we had a couple years ago with Dinma Odiakosa and Carmichael on the floor at the same time. Has potential to be one of the best big men in the MVC in a couple years.

Darious Clark - Another Juco transfer who we expect to play a bit of the 2-3. Nothing too crazy special about him except that he does have a solid frame and should be able to be a bit of the muscle on this team. Not going to be a world beater, but won't hurt us. I personally think the signing of him will allow us to redshirt the next guy I list and could have been the reason why he was broguht in.

Johnny Hill - Some fans think he will play this year and others including myself think he would be best served taking a redshirt year. He has an incredibly high ceiling, but he is still getting used to play and officiating at this level. He put up a bunch of points against Simeon H.S. (i am sure you have all heard of Simeon) in the state finals last year in Bradley country. Said to be our best Chicagoland recruit since Osiris.

Bryant Allen - walk on PG transfer from University of Minnesota. He transfered in and recieved a football scholarship but was kicked off the team. He is continuing to pay his own way at ISU and will be a part of the basketball team this year. He should fill in nicely at the point from time to time.

John Jones - Big man from barbados who was a recruiting steal we got because an NCAA ruling on his eligibility bumped him up a year. Projected to go to a BCS or High Major. He is a raw talent, but said to be an NBA prospect. Since the ruling that allowed him to commit to ISU, the NCAA pulled it back and now are re-investigating his elligability. Coaches say the outlook looks promising, but you never know. He is supposedly still practicing with the team, but I would imagine should be a redshirt candidate this year.

Nick Zeisloft - Pure shooter who we expect to redshirt. Needs a lot of work defensively but has the potential to turn into a really nice palyer once he gets the hang of it.

Projected starters: Cousin, Brown, Wilkins, Ekey and Carmichael

Primary Backups: *Moore, Blue, Clark, Upshaw and Threloff

*expect Moore to take over the starting PG role once he gets comfortable at this level. He will be a top MVC player by the time his career is over.