ST. LOUIS -- For the first time since joining the league (1990-91), Missouri State has been tabbed the favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball title.
MVC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll Story (PDF)
The Bears return four starters from last year’s 17-win team that tied for sixth in the MVC race. Alize Johnson earned Newcomer of the Year honors in his junior year last season and has been selected as the pre-season MVC Player of the Year for 2017-18. He averaged a team-best 14.8 points and a league-best 10.6 rebounds in 2016-17.
| Place |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Total |
| 1 |
Missouri State (30) |
381 |
| 2 |
UNI (8) |
337 |
| 3 |
Loyola (1) |
321 |
| 4 |
Illinois State (1) |
256 |
| 5 |
Southern Illinois |
226 |
| 6 |
Valparaiso |
214 |
| 7 |
Bradley |
182 |
| 8 |
Indiana State |
116 |
| 9 |
Evansville |
88 |
| 10 |
Drake |
79 |
The Bears received 30 first-place votes and 381 points to outdistance UNI, which earned 337 points and eight first-place tallies to finish second. Loyola and Illinois State also received a first-place vote and finished third with 321 points and 256 points, respectively.
Kyle Weems was the last Missouri State player to earn pre-season Player of the Year designation (for the 2011-12 season). Doug McDermott of Creighton earned the Larry Bird Trophy that year, although Weems earned first-team all-league plaudits.
This year’s six-player first-team unit features a pair of Loyola Ramblers: Aundre Jackson (14.1 ppg, 66.9 FG pct.) and Donte Ingram (13.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg). Notably, the league’s top four active scorers are represented on the first-team squad, including Ingram (816 career points), Reed Timmer of Drake (1,348), Brenton Scott of Indiana State (1,311) and Bennett Koch of UNI (633).
Johnson, meanwhile, is the only returning first-team selection from last year. Ingram, Scott and Timmer earned third-team all-MVC honors in 2016-17, while Jackson was a member of the league’s All-Newcomer Team.
Pollsters have accurately predicted the league’s regular-season champ five-straight years, but only 17 times out of 32 total since 1985-86, but the pre-season favorite Bears can take solace in that 29 of those 32 predicted champs have gone on to post-season play, with 21 of those 29 playing in the NCAAs.
The 2017-18 season begins a new chapter in the 111-year history of the Missouri Valley Conference as Valparaiso became the league’s 34th member on July 1. With the addition of Valparaiso, the league’s new 10-member configuration spans four Midwestern states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri).
| FIRST TEAM |
Pos |
Ht. |
Yr. |
Hometown (High School) |
| *Alize Johnson, MSU |
F |
6-9 |
Sr. |
Williamsport (Pa.) St. John Neumann High |
| Donte Ingram, LUC |
G/F |
6-6 |
Sr. |
Chicago (Ill.) Simeon |
| Brenton Scott, INS |
G |
6-1 |
Sr. |
Fort Wayne (Ind.) Northrup High |
| Bennett Koch, UNI |
F |
6-10 |
Sr. |
Ashwaubenon (Wis.) High |
| Reed Timmer, DU |
G |
6-1 |
Sr. |
New Berlin (Wis.) Eisenhower |
| Aundre Jackson, LUC |
F |
6-5 |
Sr. |
Kennedale (Texas) High |
|
|
|
|
|
| SECOND TEAM |
|
|
|
|
| Thik Bol, SIU |
F |
6-8 |
Sr. |
Omaha (Neb.) Iowa Western CC |
| Darrell Brown, BRAD |
G |
5-10 |
So. |
Memphis (Tenn.) Germantown |
| Klint Carlson, UNI |
F |
6-7 |
Sr. |
Waverly (Iowa) Waverly-Shell Rock |
| Phil Fayne, ILS |
F |
6-9 |
Jr. |
Elk Grove (Calif.) Franklin High |
| Ryan Taylor, UE |
G |
6-6 |
Jr. |
Gary (Ind.) St. John's Northwestern Military |
| Tevonn Walker, VALPO |
G |
6-2 |
Sr. |
Montreal (Quebec) Vanier College |
*pre-season MVC Player of the Year
Voting by coaches, sports information directors and a media panel
BRADLEY
Bradley returns all of its significant contributors from a team that ranked among the top 25 improved teams in the nation last season, increasing its win total by eight victories, and posting its best finish in the Conference in seven years.
Bradley returns all five starters, including 96.8 percent of its points, 95.8 percent of rebounds and 98.4 percent of assists. Darrell Brown was the MVC rookie leader in points and Koch Bar led all freshmen in rebounds and blocks.
DRAKE
Drake begins its first season under the direction of Niko Medved, who took the reins at Drake after four successful seasons at Furman where he guided the program to back-to-back postseason appearances and was named the SoCon Coach of the Year.
Anchoring the roster is senior Reed Timmer. A third-team All-MVC selection in 2016-17, Timmer has been a starter in each of his three seasons at Drake and one of the top scorers in the league each of the last two seasons. He enters his senior season already ranked in the top 10 in career scoring at Drake with more than 1,300 career points.
EVANSVILLE
With the graduation of senior and MVC scoring leader Jaylon Brown, junior Ryan Taylor looks to take the next step as the Aces’ offensive weapon. Taylor was second on the squad last season with 14.1 points per game. Duane Gibson, who was third on the team with 7.1 PPG, is back for his senior campaign as well is Blake Simmons. Simmons sat out last year due to injury, but has been on the mend and is ready to return to the lineup.
Dru Smith made his way onto the MVC All-Freshman Team, and his improvement as his inaugural collegiate campaign moved along was impressive.
ILLINOIS STATE
Five letterwinners return from last year’s team, including lone returning starter Phil Fayne. Fayne ranked fourth on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg), second on the team and seventh in the MVC in rebounding (6.3 rpg), and second on the team in blocked shots (1.1 bpg).
Seven newcomers join the 2017-18 team, including three freshmen, one junior college transfer, one graduate transfer and two Division I transfers who will be eligible this season.
INDIANA STATE
Indiana State returns one of the league’s best players in Brenton Scott. Scott averaged 15.9 points per game last year while connecting on 73 three-point field goals. The senior is the top returning rebounder on the club after averaging 4.9 caroms a year ago. He’s one of two returning Sycamores who contributed more than 2.0 assists per game last year – the other is talented Jordan Barnes.
Barnes averaged 20.9 minutes per game, notching 6.5 points per game.
LOYOLA
Coach Porter Moser welcomes back three starters from last season’s 18-win team and will incorporate arguably Loyola’s best recruiting class in over a decade. One year after finishing fifth, the Ramblers will be looking to claim their first-ever MVC crown.
In addition to Ingram and Jackson, two backcourt veterans will also provide some scoring punch and leadership: Clayton Custer (11.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.0 spg) and Ben Richardson (42.3 percent 3FG).
MISSOURI STATE
Four starters return from a club that advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals a year ago, and at the top of that list is senior forward Alize Johnson. The all-MVC first-teamer has continued to evolve over the summer, working out for the Boston Celtics in April and being named MVP of the Adidas Nation’s event in Houston in August.
The Bears will also look to third-year man Obediah Church on the front lines (74 blocks). Seasoned veterans include seniors Jarrid Rhodes and Ronnie Rousseau III, while MSU will get additional guard help from third-year standouts Jarred Dixon, an MVC All-Bench Team selection in 2017, and Ryan Kreklow (42 treys).
NORTHERN IOWA
Senior Bennett Koch is UNI’s top returning scorer at 11.0 points per game. In his last 14 games last season, Koch averaged a team-best 14.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game. Klint Carlson averaged more points per game for the third consecutive season (8.3 ppg). He ranked No. 4 in the league at 36.6 minutes per game.
Sophomore Spencer Haldeman earned a spot on the MVC’s All-Freshman Team (7.6 ppg), while junior Wyatt Lohaus will return after taking a medical redshirt in 2016-17 (ankle). Also, sophomore Juwan McCloud started 28 of 30 games and ranked second on the team in steals (32).
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
With 10 upperclassmen, the Salukis boast one of the oldest and most experienced rosters in the league. Headlining the front court is 6-foot-8 senior shot-blocking specialist Thik Bol. In his first season at SIU last year, he blocked 76 shots, the third-most in a season in school history. He was also a factor on offense, where he chipped in 9.1 points per game.
The coaching staff feels it has one of the deepest backcourts in recent memory. The most accomplished player in the group is athletic wing Armon Fletcher (6-4, 190, Jr), who has scored 496 points in his first two seasons and is still developing a versatile skill set that includes a feathery 3-point stroke.
VALPARAISO
Valpo is coming off of a 24-win campaign in 2016-17, a season which saw it claim a third consecutive Horizon League regular season title and a fifth in the last six years.
But the Crusaders lost seven letterwinners from last year’s team – most notably forward Alec Peters. Peters was an NABC Third Team All-American and the Horizon League Player of the Year as a senior. In late June, Peters became Valpo’s first NBA draft pick since 1998, going with the 54th overall pick to the Phoenix Suns.
The group of returnees is highlighted by senior Tevonn Walker, a Horizon League All-Defensive Team selection last season (11.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg).