2011 Valley forecast
1. Creighton
On paper Creighton looks loaded for a title run in 2011, coach Greg McDermott’s second year in Omaha. All-MVC forward Doug McDermott is the headliner of the team, but he has lots of help. Gregory Echinique, last year’s Valley leader in blocked shots and field goal percentage, should be the top center in the league. Antoine Young will battle Jake Odum of the Sycamores for the top point guard honors. Jaheens Manigat became a strong defender by the end of his freshmen campaign, and has shown he is a very capable three-point shooter. For the last spot in the starting lineup, it could be Josh Jones, who flashed serious scoring ability in the second half of the year. Or it could be Gonzaga transfer Grant Gibbs, who was a national top 150 player out of high school. Or it could be Ethan Wragge, arguably the best three-point shooter in the Valley who missed the majority of last season with plantar fasciatis. Throw in a four-man freshmen class considered the best in the Valley and Creighton looks like the team to beat.
2. Indiana State
The surprise team of 2010 should be one of the top contenders in 2011. Led by Jake Odum, Dwayne Lathan, Jordan Printy and Carl Richard, ISU blue has the best backcourt in the Valley. Myles Walker is their top returning front court player. Help up front should come from hometown PF Justin Gant, who picked the Sycamores over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
3. Wichita State
Wichita loses an outstanding group of seniors from 2010. JT Durly, Gabe Blair, Aaron Ellis and Graham Hatch will be sorely missed. The team will have to lean on what should be one of the best backcourts in the Valley. Joe Ragland and David Kyles should be very solid. Toure` Murray is the x-factor…if he can rebound from a lackluster junior season, he could be an all-Valley performer. Garret Stutz, Ben Smith and JUCO All American center Carl Hall will need to shore up the front line.
4. Northern Iowa
It will be very hard to replace the toughness and leadership that Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Lucas O’Rear provided in 2010, but Anthony James, Jake Koch and Johnny Moran are a pretty good core to build around. They don’t appear to have much else returning for potential impact players, but they do bring in what looks to be a good 5 man recruiting class, headlines by freshmen Matt Bohannon and Seth Tuttle.
5. Missouri State
The good news is reigning Valley POY Kyle Weems returns to Springfield for the 2011 season. The bad news is everyone else is gone, including coach Cuonzo Martin, who moved on to Tennessee. Don’t underestimate the impact of losing Jermaine Mallett, Will Creekmore, Nafis Ricks and Adam Leonard. That was a very, very good senior class that just left Springfield.
Two JUCO recruits rated in the top 100 by Rivals.com will need to contribute right away or it’s going to be a long season for the Bears.
6. Evansville
Colt Ryan improved on his freshmen season, which was very impressive, and became one of the most dangerous scorers in the Valley last year. If he keeps improving, he will challenge for first team all-MVC in 2011. Denver Holmes and Ned Cox also return to the backcourt. Top rebounder Kenny Harris returns at small forward, but he needs to improve his abysmal field goal percentage (38.5%) to help the team. Evansville is lacking in quality big men, which could present matchup problems with certain teams.
7. Drake
Rayvonte Rice had a dynamite freshman year for the Bulldog’s, leading the team in scoring and rebounding. Frank Wiseler, their top assist man last year, and Jordan Clarke, their #2 rebounder, return as well. They have a pretty solid core for 2011 but it is hard to envision them catching up with Evansville.
8. Southern Illinois
Carlton Fay and Gene Teague are gone, leaving Mamadou Seck to carry the front court for the Saluki’s. Seck had a very good first year in Carbondale, leading the Saluki’s in rebounding and finishing as their #2 scorer. Kendal Brown-Surles is a solid point guard but there doesn’t appear to be much else there.
8th almost feels too high for the Saluki’s right now, except Illinois State and Bradley are probably worse. The Saluki’s need several players to step up their game or this may be Chris Lowery’s last year.
9. Illinois State
Austin Hill is gone, who was the Redbird’s only real threat to take over games last year. So is their top rebounder, Tony Lewis. Not good news for a team that finished ninth in the league last year.
Jackie Carmichael, their #2 scorer and rebounder in 2010, has shown flashes but must become more consistent if Illinois State is going to move up the standings. Help is on the way from Tyler Brown, the #12 JUCO player in the country according to Rivals.com. So far, coach Tim Jankovich has proven he could win with Porter Moser’s players and not much else. Another season like last year and the seat will start getting warmer.
10. Bradley
Andrew Warren graduated, Sam Maniscalco is now with the Illini and Jim Les got his walking papers…simply put, the Braves are a mess. Dyricus Simms-Edwards is the lone bright spot returning for the Braves.
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