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Figure we needed a new thread here of guys that announce they are staying in the Valley.

Bradley got the first big announcement last night that Duke Deen is coming back next year. He was Valley first team this past year. If all the Indiana State players leave with Schrertz, is the he the conference pre-season player of the year nominee?

SIU doesn’t have any players of note but I am hearing that Gray Dawg will be back Brown Dawg is still on the fence.

Deen and Hickman are the only two players from the 1st, 2nd or 3rd team that have eligibility left who are not in the transfer portal or assumed to be in the case of the Indiana State players. I know Bowen Born is a former All Conference player as well, but the league is going to look a lot different.

Missouri State has a roster of
Raphe Ayres, Nick Kramer, Davion Hill, and Tommy Pinegar.

Pinegar is a walk on type player and Hill was injured, so really only two Bears returning who played. Ayres has played 4 years in Springfield already and is a good glue guy. Kramer is a sharp shooting SLU transfer who showed promise last year but season was hampered by injury.

With Cuonzo announced as coach, curious to see if guys like Damien Mayo and NJ Benson choose to return after entering their names into the portal. Will be interested to see what players show up to the press conference, as I know that most if not all of them are still on campus. I think Mayo and Benson both are at the right level in terms of mid-major basketball and I don't believe either would command much NIL money. Benson definitely more-so than Mayo.

UNI -

Tytan Anderson
Bowen Born
Jacob Hutson
Trey Campbell
RJ Taylor
Kyle Pock
Wes Rubin

All have confirmed they'll be back

achrist70 wrote:Deen and Hickman are the only two players from the 1st, 2nd or 3rd team that have eligibility left who are not in the transfer portal or assumed to be in the case of the Indiana State players. I know Bowen Born is a former All Conference player as well, but the league is going to look a lot different.

Nevermind it looks like Hickman has entered the portal.

achrist70 wrote:

achrist70 wrote:Deen and Hickman are the only two players from the 1st, 2nd or 3rd team that have eligibility left who are not in the transfer portal or assumed to be in the case of the Indiana State players. I know Bowen Born is a former All Conference player as well, but the league is going to look a lot different.

Nevermind it looks like Hickman has entered the portal.

Wardle seems like he could be exceptionally tiresome to deal with on a daily basis, but Hickman is about a perfect a fit for that system as there is.

I'm not exactly sure where he could end up that would be a better playing situation.

Regardless, it seems like the Valley gets to reset every year.

I believe Hickman will be able to make a step up in competition. He's a solid shooter that could plug into a lot of Power 6 lineups. I imagine he'll be able to get a decent NIL payout from a bigger school.

I don't know him or his exact situation, but I don't think guys are only transferring because they don't get along with their coach (Which used to be the main reason). Players just know that if they can improve their situation, they should explore that opportunity. Just like we do as working adults.

TylerDurden wrote:

achrist70 wrote:

achrist70 wrote:Deen and Hickman are the only two players from the 1st, 2nd or 3rd team that have eligibility left who are not in the transfer portal or assumed to be in the case of the Indiana State players. I know Bowen Born is a former All Conference player as well, but the league is going to look a lot different.

Nevermind it looks like Hickman has entered the portal.

Wardle seems like he could be exceptionally tiresome to deal with on a daily basis, but Hickman is about a perfect a fit for that system as there is.

I'm not exactly sure where he could end up that would be a better playing situation.

Regardless, it seems like the Valley gets to reset every year.

The Cincinnati message boards were salivating over potentially landing Hickman. He's not the speediest guy out there and his ball handling can be sketch at times, but he can win you games with his shooting and his on-ball defense is very solid. Could easily see him getting 15-20 mpg at a P6.

Buxcies wrote:I believe Hickman will be able to make a step up in competition. He's a solid shooter that could plug into a lot of Power 6 lineups. I imagine he'll be able to get a decent NIL payout from a bigger school.

I don't know him or his exact situation, but I don't think guys are only transferring because they don't get along with their coach (Which used to be the main reason). Players just know that if they can improve their situation, they should explore that opportunity. Just like we do as working adults.

Oh, I get that. I probably could have worded things a bit better and didn't mean to imply that Wardle's personality was the root cause (or even a cause), but moreso a tipping-point sort of thing if you were 50/50 about staying or leaving.

I agree he can go be a role-player and/or spot-up shooter for a P6, but at Bradley he has a prominent role as a ball handler, playmaker and scorer - and that likely would increase next season.

I wouldn't be shocked to see him end up at Indiana. They are in desperate need of shooting and he's a local kid.