Southern Illinois hires Scott Nagy

[bleach]

Normally if you have a new coach and a new roster you are picked near the bottom. This year that describes half the league and the rest have at least half a new roster. The portal makes a better talent pool to fill from but it's all about who got guys that fit and can get them to gel. I guess we'll see who is good at that cause the days of developing players over years is gone. It sounds like having returnees is a plus but I think it mostly means you are stuck with them because they can't move up.

[FunchessonPopcorn]

To be fair, Nagy has a track record of competing for conference titles at every stop. In his last 13 years, he has won six regular season titles, been to five NCAA tournaments and two NITs. In that time, his worst league finishes were 4th (once), 5th (once) and 6th (once). Will that translate to the Valley? I don't know, but with full disclosure, I'm an admitted Nagy Stan.

It's why I would rate SIU a bit higher than some of the others with new rosters and coaches. I'm not convinced they're a top-three-type team, but I don't expect a play-in finish either.

I think Cuonzo is better suited for a mid-major job and will have the Bears competitive this season. They won't be at the bottom of the league and probably are battling SIU in that 5-6-7 range.

I think McCollum might surprise a bit at Drake, but that probably means something in the 8-9 range this year. Could be better if the guys he brought with him are legit.

There are a lot of unknowns, to be sure.

Agreed on Nagy. He knows what he is and what he wants, and I think he did well getting it, especially considering the circumstances. On paper of course. How players mesh can always be a bit mysterious, even in the old days when you weren’t nearly building it up from scratch more years than not.

[BEARZ77]

To be fair, Nagy has a track record of competing for conference titles at every stop. In his last 13 years, he has won six regular season titles, been to five NCAA tournaments and two NITs. In that time, his worst league finishes were 4th (once), 5th (once) and 6th (once). Will that translate to the Valley? I don't know, but with full disclosure, I'm an admitted Nagy Stan.

It's why I would rate SIU a bit higher than some of the others with new rosters and coaches. I'm not convinced they're a top-three-type team, but I don't expect a play-in finish either.

I think Cuonzo is better suited for a mid-major job and will have the Bears competitive this season. They won't be at the bottom of the league and probably are battling SIU in that 5-6-7 range.

I think McCollum might surprise a bit at Drake, but that probably means something in the 8-9 range this year. Could be better if the guys he brought with him are legit.

There are a lot of unknowns, to be sure.

He's a solid coach, but he did have a period from 2007-2011 when he went 54-69 overall and finished 10th, 7th, 4th, and 5th in the Summit. And of those seasons you mentioned , the 4th and 6th came in the last 3 years along with a tied for 3rd this past . But as mentioned he also has won titles and had nice streaks of quality teams , so I fully expect him to have SIU competitive

[MissouriValleyUnite]

SDSU was moving up from D2 in the mid-2000s and thus Nagy had to recruit a team ineligible for the postseason. Once SDSU completed their transition and became eligible, Nagy finished 4/5/2/1/2/1/1 before moving to Wright St.

[dean_siu]

I still can't believe the Salukis passed on Chris Lowery for this bum. We had an opportunity to regain dominance once again in the MVC and be a top 25 program in the country. Instead, we opted to be happy finishing middle of the pack on a regular basis in a very mediocre conference. Disappointing to say the least.

[IllinoisState]

I still can't believe the Salukis passed on Chris Lowery for this bum. We had an opportunity to regain dominance once again in the MVC and be a top 25 program in the country. Instead, we opted to be happy finishing middle of the pack on a regular basis in a very mediocre conference. Disappointing to say the least.

Lowery has no head coaching experience since he fizzled out at your school. How can you be so sure he'd be good this time around?

[siudawgs]

SIU filled its last scholarship with 6-8 forward Antwaun Massey out of New Mexico JC. Averaged 11 and 7 and looks pretty athletic on video.

Not sure if he’ll crack the rotation or not but another interesting frontcourt option for what shapes up as a very athletic squad.

10 out of SIU’s 13 scholarship guys are newcomers after a hectic two months for the new staff.