Freshman of the Year in the Valley

[tornado]

It's not too early...as the preseason mags that'll come out in the fall will all be picking their choices for the Valley incoming Freshman of the Year.
(most picked SIU's Anthony Booker as last year's FOY, and were off a bit)

So who is going to be the Valley Freshman of the Year....several incoming Valley kids were prominently named at All Star games
last night both in Illinois and in St. Louis. I think this is going to be a very special year in the Valley with a number of strong freshmen.

Here is my pick for the MVC All Freshman Team with the FOY highlighted in RED

Jordan Prosser (Bradley)
Colt Ryan (Evansville)
Terrence Johnson (ISU)
Michael Porter (Missouri State)
Kenny Manigault (Wichita State)

[Braves4Life]

I think Prosser has a great opportunity to be FOY since he has the chance to fill a BU team weakness (lack of bigs) and get plenty of PT -- if he can earn it.

However, it is often easier for the little guys to have an immediate impact with their quickness since strength is more important for the big boys, and few freshmen possess that. Therefore, I think WSU's Kenny Manigault could also be considered a favorite for FOY.

[DUBulldog]

It's not too early...as the preseason mags that'll come out in the fall will all be picking their choices for the Valley incoming Freshman of the Year.
(most picked SIU's Anthony Booker as last year's FOY, and were off a bit)

So who is going to be the Valley Freshman of the Year....several incoming Valley kids were prominently named at All Star games
last night both in Illinois and in St. Louis. I think this is going to be a very special year in the Valley with a number of strong freshmen.

Here is my pick for the MVC All Freshman Team with the FOY highlighted in RED

Jordan Prosser (Bradley)
Colt Ryan (Evansville)
Terrence Johnson (ISU)
Michael Porter (Missouri State)
Kenny Manigault (Wichita State)

I haven't seen any of the incoming freshman, other than Drake's, but there's at least 3 freshman who will be in the mix for starting positions at DU, and a couple of them, Ben Simons and Aaron Hawley have looked very good this summer.

Simons was runner-up for the Mr Basketball award in Michigan, in a very close vote. He's a 6-7 wing player who can flat out shoot it. He also has decent quickness and has a very quick release on his shot. He is pretty skinny right now, but that's less of an issue for a wing player.

Hawley is another 6-7 wing who was the leading vote-getter for the Arkansas Class 7-A all-state team (largest schools). Earlier this week, he was the MVP of Arkansas' HS all-star game. Hawley is very athletic, can handle the ball and can stick the jumper out to 3-point range. He's not as good a shooter as Simons, but is more athletic and stronger.

Both have an excellent chance at starting for DU this fall, as does 6-9 freshman Seth Van Deest.

A lot of times, these awards are significantly affected by who gets a lot of playing time as a freshman.

[Da Coach]

I have read a lot about Simon. He probably would have gone to a major-level school if not for an injury late in his junior year.
I have seen Van Deest, and he is also very skinny. I would be surprised if he plays as much as Simon. All 3 have a chance to be good players, but Like Jordan Prosser, they will need time to adjust to the size and speed of D1 ball.

[scout4126]

I'm liking Justin Clark a ton, he'll likely fill the role Osiris did as a freshman. He's the next big thing at ISU. Not sure what the other schools in the Valley have coming in off the top of my head but he's definitely going to be in consideration.

[DUBulldog]

I have read a lot about Simon. He probably would have gone to a major-level school if not for an injury late in his junior year.
I have seen Van Deest, and he is also very skinny. I would be surprised if he plays as much as Simon. All 3 have a chance to be good players, but Like Jordan Prosser, they will need time to adjust to the size and speed of D1 ball.

I agree that Van Deest is very skinny, but due to Drake having no returning interior players, he will probably start by default. He's extremely fundamentally sound, and has a very nice touch for a big man. He will definitely take his lumps physically this coming season.

I agree they'll all need time to adjust, but with Drake having no returning players taller than 6-5, all three figure to get extensive minutes in their freshman season. Not many teams will be so dependent on freshman as Drake will be.

[tornado]

I'm liking Justin Clark a ton, he'll likely fill the role Osiris did as a freshman. He's the next big thing at ISU. Not sure what the other schools in the Valley have coming in off the top of my head but he's definitely going to be in consideration.

Justin Clark, like his teammate Jon Ekey were both known for their 3-point shooting...but here, provided free of charge, are the precise numbers.
What they show is not accurate 3-point shooting, but prolific 3 point shooting at a surprisingly LOW accuracy.
Remember, once in college, these guys who are taking as many as 82% of their shots from behind the arc, will finally face D-I defernses and have to shoot from a foot further back.

Even if their shooting percentages drop only a tiny bit in college, then one has to ask whether the Redbirds really need a thousand extra shot attempts per season that hit at less than a 25% success rate?
And in those 3 years with 2 D-I kids on their team, their team's record was 44-39, barely above .500, without much hardware to show for it.

Here are the numbers according to Maxpreps, which appears to have full stats on Chrisman for the past three years.
They are just stats...make what you want of them...

Justin Clark
2006-2007: 81-295 (27.45%) [73.4% of all FG attempts were from beyond the arc]
2007-2008: 103-305 (33.77%) [56.6% of all FG attempts were from beyond the arc]
2008-2009: 62-258 (24.03%) [48.4% of all FG attempts were from beyond the arc]
3 year totals..246-858 (28.67%)

Jon Ekey
2006-2007: 59-249 (23.69%) [81.9% of all FG attempts were from beyond the arc]
2007-2008: 77-259 (29.72%) [73.2% of all FG attempts were from beyond the arc]
2008-2009: 73-276 (26.44%) [69.0% of all FG attempts were from beyond the arc]

3 year totals..209-784 (26.65%)

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/W1VLIvkVvkGbGXVUkzXsNA/chrisman-bears/basketball/stats.htm

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/W1VLIvkVvkGbGXVUkzXsNA/chrisman-bears/basketball-winter-07-08/stats.htm

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/W1VLIvkVvkGbGXVUkzXsNA/chrisman-bears/basketball-winter-06-07/stats.htm

[Tone Bone]

Hopefully SIU won't need any of our freshman to win FOY to be successful. 6'8 big man Jordan Meyers is expected to redshirt, while diminutive point guard Kendal Brown-Surles and space eating big man 6'9 Eugene Teague could possibly find their way into the rotation this fall. SIU will be relying heavily on last season's freshman class, which includes Athlon magazine's pre-season FOY Anthony Booker as well as the real 2008-09 FOY Kevin Dillard. If any of our freshman are even in contention for FOY, then we're either in big trouble or one of them is far exceeding expectations.

SIU was after Prosser as well. I fully expect him to be a good player for you guys, but I will caution against expecting too much out of freshmen big men. If I had to guess who will win FOY, I would guess either EU's Colt Ryan or CU's Andrew Bock.

[tornado]

I am thinking Bock will still be the understudy for Antoine Young

[Braves4Life]

SIU was after Prosser as well. I fully expect him to be a good player for you guys, but I will caution against expecting too much out of freshmen big men. If I had to guess who will win FOY, I would guess either EU's Colt Ryan or CU's Andrew Bock.

I totally agree with your point about freshman big men Tone Bone. It's much easier for little, quick guys like Dillard to excel as freshmen... and why I think WSU's Manigault is this year's fav. By the way, I still think Booker will be a stud before he's done at SIU and expect him to be much improved this year, FWIW.