2019-20 prediction

[tornado]

Just for anyone else's amusement - here's my picks for the EARLY Pre-Season predictions...

MVC:
1- Bradley - reclaiming their rightful spot for a long time to come
2- UNI - this will be all coaching, he won't really have the manpower that anyone would expect a 2nd place finish..
3- Drake - they get a nice grad transfer again - Drake will be known a grad-transfer-central
4- Missouri State
5- Loyola - Krutwig can't carry the team all alone
6- Valpo - Derrick Smits will surprise people
7- Evansville - McCarty will get votes for COY
8 - ISU- - more grumbling - players will defect..
9- Indiana State
10- SIU - complete rebuild...

OK - 3 months have passed and a few further personnel changes taken place - so I will revise...

1- Bradley
2- Loyola
3- Missouri State
4- UNI
5- Drake
6- Indiana State
7- Valpo
8- Evansville
9- SIU
10- ISU

[Da Coach]

Here is a Big East basketball blogger and self-proclaimed college basketball expert tweeting in response to the report that 2.3 point per game scorer & 8.9% three point percentage threat Ricky Torres received a waiver and will be eligible to play for Illinois State in 2019-20. He believes it puts Illinois State at the top in the MVC and a Top 100 team. He also believes Loyola, Missouri State, and Valpo will be at the top with them (no mention of Bradley)-

https://twitter.com/BradCav2/status/1140999660657680385

Illinois St will be interesting. Tentatively top 100, could be higher. MVC at the top with them, Loyola, Missouri St, Valpo should be competitive

For the record, the MVC did not have a single team anywhere close to the Top 100 last year (NET or RPI).
The highest ranked teams last season were Drake, ranked 127 in NET, and Loyola, ranked 128 in NET.
http://warrennolan.com/basketball/20...issouri-Valley

And note that Illinois State's NET ranking was 199 this past season! That was 8th best in the MVC, and just 9 slots away from being the worst ranking in the MVC last year!
Yet that analyst believes that even after losing more production from last year than any other MVC team, Illinois State will make a massive 100 slot jump over 7 other MVC teams and into the Top 100 next year and to the top of the MVC!

ISU lost their top 2 top rebounders and 2 top scorers in Phil Fayne (1st team All-MVC in 2019 & 2nd team in 2018 ) and Milik Yarbrough (2nd team All MVC in 2019 & 1st team in 2018 ), plus they lost Keyshawn Evans (their only real point guard and assists leader), lost one of their top 3-point threats Josh Jefferson (shot over 40%), lost frequent starter William Tinsley, and lost their best 3-point shooter Isaac Gassman (40.5% on threes).

I am on record saying that I believe getting Rickie Torres eligible will help them next season, since they do not return any other players with D1 point guard experience.
But I don't quite see them as a Top 100 team.

And, I am also not buying his assertion that Valparaiso will be competing for the top with them. Valpo lost most their team from last season (Smits, Golder, Evelyn, Lavender, Sorolla), and even with all that talent, they finished dead last in 2018, and next-to-last in 2019 in their two seasons in the MVC. They do have some decent talent returning in Javon Freeman and Ryan Fazekas, along with a couple transfer guards who will help some. But their only inside player with any experience will be Mileek McMillan, who only played 8 mpg and averaged just 2.8 ppg and 1.4 rpg last season.

[tornado]

Mileek is a head case that never seems to do what the coach wants - I am surprised he's still there..
..he launched MORE 3-pt attempts per minute on the court than anyone else on the team except Bakari Evelyn - hitting just 26%!....
so while he's out there roaming the wing - you got one of the biggest players in the MVC grabbing a whopping 1.5 rebounds a game -
NOT even as many rebounds as Antoine Pittman or Ari Boya grabbed!!

Another expert, Blaine Lewallen of the Daily Vidette, covers all the point guard options and seems to think
ISU is pretty deep now that Torres is eligible.

http://www.videtteonline.com/sports/lewallen-point-guard-emergence-key-to-isu-basketball-turnaround/article_22994154-91e6-11e9-a3a5-8f82e1e49da4.html

[Mikovio]

Illinois State Penitentiary can win all the preseason accolades they want if it makes Dan Muller's job more secure!

[Da Coach]

...

Another expert, Blaine Lewallen of the Daily Vidette, covers all the point guard options and seems to think
ISU is pretty deep now that Torres is eligible.
http://www.videtteonline.com/sports/...2e1e49da4.html

IMO, that article by the student in the Vidette about who will be the next ISU point guard was pretty good. He seems to still long a little too much for Paris Lee who left 2 years ago, and he is a little too optimistic about some of their point guard prospects, especially Division II transfer walkon Lijah Donnelly and incoming freshman Antonio Reeves. I would be stunned if Reeves sees any time at point guard this season, and probably won't ever. He is so skinny (6'5", 160 pounds), he might be better off redshirting. But I think ISU will now be OK at point guard, though not great, now that they have Torres to go along with Copeland, and Horne.

The writer also gives a nice summary of all of Ricky Torres' junior college stats from 2016-17 and 2017-18, but completely omits his miniscule stat numbers from last season at Wichita State.