Missouri State losing a player

[tornado]

one of their top returnees, a part time starter and a guy who really killed us down there

http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/msu-21.htm

Chris Kendrix is leaving and transferring...
We knew something was up when they signed the new juco kid but didn't have any open scholarships - now we know where the scholarship will come from

Austin Ruder is leaving and transferring as well

[Da Coach]

Missouri State player leaving

Chris Kendrix is a 6'5" junior guard, who was a 3-star recruit out of high school where he averaged 24 ppg. As a freshman at Missouri State he became a starter and averaged 6.3 ppg and 3.7 rpg. As a sophomore, he was a regular starter, averaged 28 mpg, and was 3rd on the team in scoring with 12.1 ppg and in rebounding with 4.8 rpg, and he shot 35.5% from three. But this season as a junior, he fell out of favor with Head Coach Paul Lusk and was relegated to a reserve role and averaged only 13.7 mpg, just 8th highest on the team, and less than half the playing time as last season. His production fell to 5.4 ppg and 2.8 rpg. Fans and some media were critical of how Lusk used Kendrix as Missouri State, which was picked 4th in the preseason poll, had a disppointing season and fell into a tie for 7th with Bradley.

Kendrix' career stats-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3138294/chris-kendrix

Austin Ruder is graduating this spring and will be eligible immediately as a 5th year grad transfer. His best seasdon was as a freshman, but he never regained his shooting proficiency after that first season, and he too was relegated to a deep reserve role this past season (13 mpg, 9th highest).-
Ruder's career stats-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/66438/austin-ruder

[Da Coach]

Despite losing Dequon Miller, Austin Ruder, and Chris Kendrix, Missouri State returns a lot of talent and could be the preseason pick to finish as high as 1st. They return 4 starters, including the Newcomer of the Year, Alize Johnson, plus they get their starting point guard for the first half of last season back, Ronnie Rousseau III, who left the team in January. Plus they have several good recruits coming in, including Greg Williams, who was actually a 2016 recruit and was picked by some as the top incoming freshman in the MVC last season, but then he missed the whole year with medical complications. They also have juco All-American Reggie Scurry arriving from Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa, the same juco that Luqman Lundy from.
Here is a nice early preseason summary from their fine beat writer-

http://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2017/04/13/valley-insider-big-signing-day-gives-bears-enough-win-valley/100443444/

[tornado]

This sounds real familiar....
He even says so - "
"I know, I know … you’ve heard that before.
Including from me. "
...hopefully they will stay healthy and have a solid year...

Before last season- lots of promise, predictions of finishing in the upper half of the Valley and even a season ticket money back guarantee!!
Some said last fall that Missouri State would "make a run for the top" in the MVC, including their beat writer

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825123283&postcount=16

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825123076&postcount=10

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825123072&postcount=8

http://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2016/07/01/valley-insider-missouri-state-bears-hoops-contenders/86602244/

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825124724&postcount=35]

..in the end they finished tied for 6th with Bradley at 7-11

[tornado]

Austin Ruder is leaving and transferring as well

Ruder to Oral Roberts

[Da Coach]

Ruder to Oral Roberts

Austin Ruder will have 1 more year of eligibility at ORU as a grad-transfer.

http://www.ozarkssportszone.com/2017/04/25/austin-ruder-announces-transfer-to-oral-roberts/

This is a very strange transfer....they do not even have a head coach yet. Scott Sutton was fired a couple weeks ago, and there has been no word out of ORU since about who might replace him.
Apparently, the interim ORU coach, Rodney Perry recruited Ruder to transfer to ORU, which is odd.
Usually a grad-transfer will go to a school with a chance to win. But, ORU was a really bad team last year (8-22 and dead last in the Summit League), and with the loss of 4 of their top 6 scorers, recruits asking for their release, and this late coaching change, they will probably be one of the worst teams in Division I next year.

[tornado]

Ruder's playing time at Missouri State plummeted as Lusk recruited bigger and more athletic players...
He played 30 minutes per game as a full time starter just a couple years go, now he was 9th in playing time in 2016-17...
I think he's just interested in going somewhere that he'd get playing time and he knows ORU won't have anyone else with the mess they've created for themselves.
He will instantly be one of their best and most experienced guards, and all the playing time he would want is his to lose...

[Da Coach]

Ruder's playing time at Missouri State plummeted as Lusk recruited bigger and more athletic players...
He played 30 minutes per game as a full time starter just a couple years go, now he was 9th in playing time in 2016-17...
I think he's just interested in going somewhere that he'd get playing time and he knows ORU won't have anyone else with the mess they've created for themselves.
He will instantly be one of their best and most experienced guards, and all the playing time he would want is his to lose...

Well, playing time should not be a problem, but that is not what he said in the interview in the article I posted a link to.
He said it was all about making the NCAA Tournament-

http://www.ozarkssportszone.com/2017/04/25/austin-ruder-announces-transfer-to-oral-roberts/

Here is what Austin Ruder said about his transfer-

“I think it’s a really good opportunity for us to turn it around this year,” said Ruder. “No one will be expecting a lot because of the recent struggles, but I know we are going to get to work right away to make sure we have a successful season. The ultimate goal is to make the NCAA tournament. Whatever it takes is what I’m going to do, and I think that will be the culture that is built in the program.”


The article goes further-
The opportunity to help resurrect ORU Basketball and get the program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008 is appealing – as is the chance to end his personal journey with a bang – alongside Coach Perry.

I hope he is not too disappointed if ORU doesn't make the NCAA Tournament, since their chances are virtually zero.