For the second-straight year, Drake has been picked as the preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball race by a voting panel consisting of coaches, sports information directors, and media. The Bulldogs finished tied for second in the MVC race last year and reached the State Farm MVC Tournament title game for the second-straight season. Four Drake student-athletes earned preseason honors (among 16 total players selected).
Tucker DeVries of Drake earned preseason Player of the Year honors, and is joined on the First Team by Marcus Domask of Southern Illinois; Ben Krikke of Valparaiso; Rienk Mast of Bradley; Roman Penn of Drake; and Ben Sheppard of Belmont. Tucker is one of four MVC student-athletes playing for their fathers in men’s basketball, joining Hunter Jacobson (UNI), Jaden Schertz (Indiana State), and Griffin Yaklich (UIC).
Pollsters have accurately predicted the league’s regular-season champ six of the past 10 years, but only 18 times out of 37 total since 1985-86. Notably, a total of 31 of those 37 predicted champs have gone on to post-season play, with 21 of those 31 playing in the NCAAs.
In March 2023, The Valley will conduct its 33rd St. Louis-based postseason men’s basketball championship. With 33-straight years at the same neutral site, Arch Madness is the second-longest neutral site tenured collegiate tourney in the nation (following only the Big East in New York City). Loyola won the 2022 event, defeating second-seeded Drake in the title game for the second-straight year.