MVC

MVC Basketball Preview: 2009-10

CHN — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:13:47 -0500

The MVC race is always up for grabs, and perhaps another surprise team like UNI lurks. Perhaps no league has as much parity as the Valley, where even the bottom teams are improved.

Conference Rank: 8th

10 year average: 9th

MVC Conference Page

All-MVC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Osiris Eldridge	Illinois St	Jr
G	Josh Young	Drake	Jr
G	P'Allen Stinnett	Creighton	So
G	Adam Koch	Northern Iowa	Sr
F	Dinma Odiakosa	Illinois St	Sr

Player of the Year - Osiris Eldridge Freshman of the Year - Ben Simons (Drake)
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
High-Major All-Americans Osiris Eldridge (1st Team) Adam Koch (3rd) P'Allen Stinnett (3rd) Josh Young (3rd) Kevin Dillard Dinma Odiakosa		Points: Josh Young 15.4 Rebounds: Dinma Odiakosa 7.5 Assists: Clevin Hannah 4.3

MVC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

41	Creighton	MVC	1	NCAA
59	Northern Iowa	MVC	2	NIT
72	Bradley	MVC	3	NIT
76	Illinois State	MVC	4	NIT
94	Wichita State	MVC	5	CBI/CIT
117	Southern Illinois	MVC	6	CBI/CIT
137	Indiana State	MVC	7
154	Drake	MVC	8
203	Evansville	MVC	9
228	Missouri State	MVC	10

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the MVC?

College Basketball Preview - 348 Team Ranking - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

Poll: Best Non-BCS Conference in 2009-10?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:05:41 -0500

MVC Preseason Poll & Awards

Press Release — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:56:24 -0400

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The Northern Iowa men's basketball team has been picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference, according to the preseason poll announced today during the league's annual Basketball Media Day.

Northern Iowa, which returns all five starters after sharing the regular-season title with Creighton last year, earned 38 of 39 first-place votes in the survey of league coaches, beat writers, sports information directors and play-by-play men.

Pollsters have accurately predicted the league's regular-season champ only 11 times out of 25 since 1985-86. Two teams have been picked for second place but gone on to take the regular-season crown, Southern Illinois in both 2002-03 and 2006-07.

The preseason poll doesn¹t always match the year-end standings. Last year's Northern Iowa was picked sixth and ended up in a tie for first. The year before that, Drake was picked ninth, only to finish 28-5 and win the league title.

2009-10 MVC Preseason Poll
Rk.    School (1st place votes)    Total
1.    Northern Iowa (38)    389
2.    Creighton (1)    336
3.    Illinois State    299
4.    Southern Illinois    272
5.    Wichita State    216
6.    Bradley    208
7.    Indiana State    173
8.    Drake    105
9.    Missouri State    92
10.    Evansville    55
Poll determined by panel of league sports information directors and media.

Preseason All-MVC Team
Osiris Eldridge*, Sr., G, Illinois State
Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Jr., G, Northern Iowa
Tony Freeman, Sr., G, Southern Illinois
Adam Koch, Sr., F, Northern Iowa
P¹Allen Stinnett, Jr., G, Creighton
Josh Young, Sr., G, Drake
*Preseason Player of the Year

Honorable Mention:
Kevin Dillard, Southern Illinois
Clevin Hannah, Wichita State
Jake Kelly, Indiana State
Sam Maniscalco, Bradley
Harry Marshall, Indiana State
Toure¹ Murry, Wichita State

MVC Preseason Poll & Awards

Press Release — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:10:19 -0400

ST. LOUIS - UNI, which returns all five starters and nine of 10 players from last year’s regular-season co-champ and State Farm MVC Tournament winner, has been picked to earn the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball title in 2009-10.

The Panthers are hoping the pollsters are correct, although recent history could suggest otherwise, as only once in the past four years has the pre-season poll correctly picked the regular-season champ (last year Creighton was picked to win and shared the regular-season title with UNI, which was picked to finish sixth.)

The Panthers - also picked to win by The Sporting News College Basketball Preview, Lindy’s College Basketball Preview, and Athlon Sports College Basketball Preview - join a small group of defending Missouri Valley men’s basketball champs to return all five starters.

It marks the second time in league history the Panthers have been pegged as the preseason favorites. UNI was also picked to win the league in 2005-06. UNI finished fifth in the conference race in 2005-06, but earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

MVC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
School (First-Place Votes) Total
1. UNI (38)......................389
2. Creighton (1).................336
3. Illinois State................299
4. Southern Illinois.............272
5. Wichita State.................216
6. Bradley.......................208
7. Indiana State.................173
8. Drake.........................105
9. Missouri State.................92
10. Evansville....................55
Poll determined by panel of league sports information directors, media, and coaches.

2009-10 MVC Preseason All-Conference Team
Name, School, Pos., Ht., Wt., Year, Hometown, High School
Kwadzo Ahelegbe, UNI, G, 6-2, 200, Jr., Oakdale (Minn.) Tartan High
Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State, G, 6-3, 215, Sr., Chicago (Ill.) Phillips Academy
Tony Freeman, Southern Illinois, G, 6-1, 195, Sr., Maywood (Ill.) St. Joseph’s/Iowa
Adam Koch, UNI, F, 6-8, 255, Sr., Ashwaubenon (Wis.) High
P’Allen Stinnett, Creighton, G, 6-3, 180, Jr., Las Vegas (Nev.) Brewster Academy [N.H.]
Josh Young, Drake, G, 6-1, 174, Sr., Lawton (Okla.) Lawton Christian High

Honorable Mention: Kevin Dillard, Southern Illinois; Clevin Hannah, Wichita State; Jake Kelly, Indiana State; Sam Maniscalco, Bradley; Harry Marshall, Indiana State; Toure’ Murry, Wichita State

Preseason Player of the Year - Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State

Poll: Who Will Win the MVC?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:33:53 -0400

College Basketball: Preseason Conference Ranking

CHN — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:43:04 -0400

After finishing 1st in the RPI the last two years, the ACC should fall back slightly thanks to the big-name departures at UNC & Wake Forest. This should allow one of the Big 12, Big Ten, or even SEC a shot at being #1. The Pac-10 is weak enough that a high-major like the A-10, MVC, or MWC could surpass it.

Chime in with your thoughts below if you agree or disagree with CHN's preseason conference ranking.

2009-10 Conference Ranking

*08-09 is last year's conference RPI. Commentary by Shawn Siegel, ranking by CHN.

	Conference	08-09*
1	Big Ten 9 of 11 teams go into season with ncaa hopes, and as many as 7 may reach that goal	2
2	Big 12 ku is the clear title contender. the bottom few teams are weak though and the middle-tier is hit or miss	3
3	ACC no dominant team like last year, but solid as always.	1
4	SEC rise of uk brings league back to prominence after down year..	6
5	Big East lose tons of big name players, and still held down by likes of depual, rutgers, etc	4
6	Pac-10 conceivable the pac-10 only receives 3 tourney bids.	5
7	Atlantic 10 should get at least 2 invites to the ncaa tournament	8
8	MVC with improvement expected from usual leaders creighton & siu, mvc should be solid all-around	9
9	MWC just about every top team loses a top player, but mwc should be one of the more entertaining leagues	7
10	Conference USA though memphis takes step back, rest of league is better than usual.	10
11	WAC after some down years, wac will once again be compeititve league	11
12	Horizon butler has top 10 hopes, but squads like csu and green bay lose key seniors.	12
13	Colonial while still 1 bid league, likes of odu, n'eastern, gmu, and vcu are all quality	14
14	Sun Belt more then just wku, the entire east division is solid	17
15	MAAC siena, niagara, and rider all have postseason hopes	13
16	WCC gonzaga and smc both worse then season ago	15
17	MAC #'s should be better than last year, but west division still a struggle	21
18	Big West led by up-and-coming long beach state. always finish around this #.	18
19	Summit darling ndsu loses a lot, so usual contenders like oru and oakland should be at forefront again	26
20	Big Sky with exception of sacramento st, this is a solid league top to bottom.	24
21	Southland underrated league always good for some non-conference upsets	19
22	Ivy cornell will be the best the ivy has offered in quite some years	29
23	Southern steph curry's departure opens up door for charleston	20
24	America East decimation of binghamton will hurt league #'s	16
25	Atlantic Sun the league's upper half is as solid as it's been for a few years	27
26	Patriot could use a rebound from former top gun bucknell.	22
27	OVC morehead st continues its improbable rise..	23
28	Big South outside of radford, not much to get excited about here..	25
29	NEC nec hasn't had much going for it in recent years	28
30	MEAC as usual, will battle swac for title of country's worst	30
31	SWAC solid jackson st gives swac hope of surpassing meac	31

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

Creighton Basketball Preview: #41

Joel Welser — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:41:13 -0400

Overall Rank: #41

Conference Rank: #1 Missouri Valley Conference

2008-09: 27-8, 14-4

2008-09 postseason: NIT

Coach: Dana Altman (308-160 at Creighton, 391-227 overall)

Creighton was as close as anybody to making it into the NCAA Tournament. Instead they had to settle for the NIT. The Missouri Valley Conference’s most dangerous team always aims for the NCAA Tournament and this year will be no different even without point guard Josh Dotzler and super shooter Booker Woodfox.

Key Losses: G Josh Dotzler, F Kenton Walker, G Booker Woodfox

Key Newcomers:

However, Coach Dana Altman has brought in plenty of talented newcomers who can help out on the perimeter. Junior college transfers Darryl Ashford and Wayne Runnels are both capable of immediately bolstering the offensive spark from the wing. Point guard Andrew Brock is the most highly touted of the incoming freshmen and should be the backup point guard from day one. Big 6-8 wing Ethan Wragge and redshirt freshman Josh Jones will provide even more depth.

Backcourt:

Woodfox led the team with 15.8 points per game and connected on an incredible 47.6 percent of his attempts from long range. It will take more than one player to replace Woodfox, but the Bluejays have a surprising amount of options. P’Allen Stinnett is not nearly as consistent of a shooter, but he does a great job of getting to the basket. Cavel Witter was a superb sixth man last year and might be again this year after averaging 7.7 points during his first season in Omaha, Nebraska. The most important backcourt player could be wing Justin Carter. He averaged 8.1 points and a team high 5.5 rebounds from the power forward position last season. With the talent on the wings, it is likely that Creighton will once again put the 6-4 Carter at the four spot and play small.

Frontcourt:

Playing small works alright when you have so much talent on the perimeter, but it would be helpful if Kenny Lawson was a better rebounder. The Bluejays were consistently outrebounded last year and there is no reason for that to be any different this time around. However, Lawson does give this team a quality interior scoring threat and that opens up space for the shooters and slashers on the wing. Without Kenton Walker to provide depth up front, it will be up to Casey Harriman to turn into a more productive player. Harriman, at 6-5, does not have the size to play the five spot, but he is a decent outside shooter who can give Carter a break at the four spot and give the team a little more size.

Who to Watch:

Antoine Young spent his freshman season learning from Josh Dotlzer. While Dotzler was a true point guard in every sense of the phrase, Young can add a little more scoring punch to the point guard position. And without Woodfox, that might not be a bad thing. However, Young is still pretty inexperienced and has to emerge as a leader of this team and, more importantly, keep the turnovers down.

Final Projection:

The lack of size on this team is pretty alarming. Lawson averaged less than 20 minutes per game last season and somebody has to be the big body in the middle. Chad Millard is an experienced option, but he averaged less than ten minutes per game last year. The good news is that Lawson rarely gets into foul trouble and if he can physically play 25 to 30 minutes per game it would go a long way to helping this team get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Antoine Young, Sophomore, Guard, 4.9 points per game

Cavel Witter, Senior, Guard, 7.7 points per game

P’Allen Stinnett, Junior, Guard, 12.5 points per game

Justin Carter, Senior, Forward, 8.1 points per game

Kenny Lawson, Junior, Center, 8.5 points per game

Next Top 144 Teams
42		43		44		45

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews - Preview Interviews

Northern Iowa Basketball Preview: #59

Joel Welser — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:53:24 -0400

Overall Rank: #59

Conference Rank: #2 Missouri Valley Conference

2008-09: 23-11, 14-4

2008-09 postseason: NCAA

Coach: Ben Jacobson (59-38 at Northern Iowa, 59-38 overall)

Most did not expect too much from Northern Iowa heading into the 2008-2009 season. The team was relatively young and inexperienced and there were so many other dangerous teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers proved everybody wrong and won the conference and gave Purdue a run for their money in the NCAA Tournament.

Key Losses: G Travis Brown

Key Newcomers:

Coach Ben Jacobson only lost one key player from last year’s team, but there are seven new players who could suit up for the Panthers this season. Guard Anthony James and big men Jake Koch and Austin Pehl redshirted last year and will look for minutes off the bench this year. Tyler Lange, Matt Morrison and Marc Sonnen are the incoming freshmen. Sonnen, a 6-3 guard, can handle the ball and score off the wing. Of all the freshmen, he is the one who has the best shot of replacing Travis Brown’s minutes. But the better option may be junior college transfer Antonio Jones.

Backcourt:

The backcourt will not miss Brown too much. Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Ali Farokhmanesh, Johnny Moran and Kerwin Dunham should do just fine. Ahelegbe emerged as a fine point guard last year and an even better scorer. His outside shot is not that great, but it is good enough to keep the opposition honest and Ahelegbe will do most of his damage getting to the basket. Farokhmanesh is the shooter on the team and knocked down 2.2 long balls per contest last season. Moran is a pretty good shooter as well, but it is his ability to hit the glass that allows UNI to start three players who are 6-2 and under.

Frontcourt:

Having a small group on the perimeter is also acceptable because the frontcourt is huge. Adam Koch is 6-9 and 245 pounds and is not afraid to mix it up with anybody under the basket. He is a very dynamic scorer who will finish in the paint and stretch out the defense with his outside shooting ability. At 7-1, Jordan Eglseder is even taller. He is not the consistent scorer that Koch is, although he has made huge strides in that department lately, but he is a fine shot blocker and just his presence under the basket is intimidating to most opponents. The size of players like Dunham, who is 6-6, gives the team some versatility when Koch or Eglseder need a break, but the newcomers could fill in part of that role as well this year.

Who to Watch:

Lucas O’Rear is also an option to play power forward when the big guys need a rest or run into foul trouble. The 6-6 forward earned the Missouri Valley Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year Award last season after averaging 5.2 points and 5.5 rebounds. O’Rear is a tough player around the basket and he probably will be again this season. Koch and Eglseder are going to be in the game as long as they can, but O’Rear will fill in for them very well and should be even better now that he is an upperclassman.

Final Projection:

On paper there is no reason for Northern Iowa not to win the MVC again. However, in the end it will most likely come down to the conference tournament to decide who is going to go to the NCAA Tournament. The MVC is a strong conference, but it will not be like years past when there will be a couple teams looking for an automatic berth. But if UNI picks up where they left off at the end of last year, they could be looking at another trip to the big dance.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

Projected Starting Five:

Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Junior, Guard, 11.8 points per game

Ali Farokmanesh, Seniro, Guard, 9.6 points per game

Johnny Moran, Sophomore, Guard, 8.4 points per game

Adam Koch, Senior, Forward, 12.1 points per game

Jordan Eglseder, Senior, Center, 10.2 points per game

Next Top 144 Teams
60		61		62		63

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews - Preview Interviews