MVCfans.com

1. Drake
2. UNI
3. Bradley

Who knows about the rest.

usmcsaluki wrote:1. Drake
2. UNI
3. Bradley

Who knows about the rest.

In favor of Drake #1:
Return Coach DD. He always seems to knit his guys together and get the best of a team.
Return Tucker DeVries, Darnell Brodie, Nate Ferguson, and Connor Enwright.
Gaining a good PG.

Not in favor of Drake #1:
Losing:
Roman Penn Guard 6'0"
- #1 on assist% in MVC. 18th nation for A:TO and over 25 Ast%
- All-time leader in assists at Drake.
- All-time leader in Assist% at Drake.
DJ Wilkins. 5 year starter. All-time leader in 3-pt makes.
- All time leader in career minutes played.
- All time leader in 3-pt makes.
- #5 all time in career Assists at Drake.
Garrett Sturtz
- 60.8 EFg% #130 in the nation, (‘20 #11 Nation, ‘21 #500, ‘22 #123, ‘23 #130 #3 in the Valley)
- All time leader in D-Rebounds at Drake.
- All time leader in Total-Rebounds at Drake
- #5 in steals at Drake.

Those three guys had a huge impact on their team. Huge.

Drake fans can explain what they're getting in transfers to fill those gaps. But they are big shoes to fill.

I'll take a shot...

1-UNI
2-Drake
3-Bradley
4-Missouri State
5-Belmont
6-Indiana State
7-Murray State
8-Illinois State
9-UIC
10-Southern Illinos
11-Evansville
12-Valpo

POY-DeVries
DPOY-Leons
COY-Jacobson
NCOY-Atin Wright, Drake

First Team-
DeVries
Born
Leons
Tyson
Clay

Second Team-
Wright
Swope
Perry
T Anderson
I Rivera

Third Team-
Avila
Burford
Wood
Moore
Heise

1. Drake - Counting on Brodie consistently playing like the beast he was in March. Need transfers to click
2. UNI - If they can tighten up their defense, have enough pieces to win league
3. Indiana State - I like the blend of returnees, newcomers and coaching, though Gray's eligibility in question?
4. Missouri State - Would probably pick them higher if not for track record of not maximizing talent
5. Belmont - Might have league's best big three (Tyson, Gillespie, Davidson) but depth is my main question
6. Bradley - Could contend, but pretty reliant on some transfers who (mostly) have not proven themselves
7. SIU - Obvious scoring question marks, but there is a lot of length and athleticism to work with
8. Illinois State - Not sold yet on their PG play or post situations, but definitely on the upswing
9. UIC - Like their transfer guards (if healthy), Okani and I think Jones will be among league's most-improved
10. Murray State - There were some red flags w/this roster last year, and not sure they've added enough
11. Evansville - Feels good to not pick the Purple Aces last ... they need to be much more competitive
12. Valpo - Expect them to play hard for Powell but the roster is very much under construction

I think Cade Tyson could give DeVries a run for his money for Valley POY, with Born also in the mix.

In my opinion:

UNI
Drake
Bradley
ISU blue
Belmont
Missouri State
ISU red
Murray State
SIU
UIC
Evansville
Valpo

Top
INSU, Drake, Bradley, UNI, Belmont

Middle
Missouri State, Murray State, Illinois State

Bottom
SIU, UIC, UE, Valpo

Right now I see it like this, with a smaller split between top and 2nd than the others

Top
INSU, Drake, UNI

2nd:
Bradley, Belmont, Missouri State

3rd:
Murray State, Illinois State, SIU

Bottom
UIC, UE, Valp

I could see Bradley moving up, Bears moving down (potentially up but still not sold on Ford), and ISUr could make it interesting depending on gel, etc.

As Others have said, I think Belmont's big 3 are maybe best 1 or 2 groups in the league, but I'm unsure where they go for production on their bench.