Valley Recruits

[Da Coach]

UIC gets a commitment from a pretty good player- Tyler Stevenson, a 6'8" senior from Southern Mississippi. He was their leading scorer (14.6 ppg) and rebounder (7.5 rpg).
He has 1 year of eligibility left for his Covid season.
Bio- https://southernmiss.com/sports/mens...stevenson/8676
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...yler-stevenson
https://twitter.com/tylerds_14/statu...22982518816770

Bad news for UIC... their top incoming transfer, 6'8" Tyler Stevenson, who averaged 14.6 ppg and 7.5 rpg last season at Southern Mississippi, had suddenly decommitted and announced he will transfer to Mississippi State-

https://twitter.com/portal_updates/status/1542943378110808068

[Da Coach]

Murray State lands a 2023 commit- John McCrear, a 6'9" forward from Woodford County High School
https://basketballrecruiting.rivals....ns-on-the-rise
https://twitter.com/TravisGrafHoops/...97862329483265

https://verbalcommits.com/players/john-mccrear

2023 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Win Miller, Brigham Rogers
Illinois State- Johnny Kinziger, Chase Walker
Murray State- John McCrear
UNI- R.J. Taylor
Valparaiso- Zane Doughty

[Da Coach]

Belmont gets a commitment from 2023 Brigham Rogers, a 6'9" forward from Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, Georgia.

https://twitter.com/BrighamRogers/status/1543269899845476355

https://verbalcommits.com/players/brigham-rogers

https://www.hudl.com/profile/14743855/Brigham-Rogers

[Da Coach]

Illinois State gets their second 2023 commitment- Chase Walker is a 6'8" forward from St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, Ohio.
He is reported to 335 pounds!

https://verbalcommits.com/players/chase-walker

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/...ls/9019671002/

He also had offers from Liberty, Stony Brook, and Toledo-
Link has video highlights- https://www.aseaofred.com/new-libert...-chase-walker/

[Tommy]

That’s one big dude! And they beat out Geno to get him!

[Da Coach]

Valparaiso gets a commitment from 2023 Zane Doughty, a 6'9" center from Ben Davis HS in Indianapolis.
He also plays with the Indy Heat. He played with Indiana Elite last summer.
https://twitter.com/DoughtyZane/stat...32888767287305

https://verbalcommits.com/players/zane-doughty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3axLdkjfSmI

[Da Coach]

Valparaiso lands a very late 2022 recruit- a 6'8" forward from the Netherlands, Ibra Bayu. He attended high school at the Perkoimen School in Pennsburg, Pa.
https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbask...tball-program/
https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbask...969/ibra-bayu/

Valpo now ties Bradley for the most natives of the Netherlands on their team (2). They also signed juco Jerome Palm in the class of 2022-
https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbask...6/jerome-palm/

[Da Coach]

UIC also adds a late 2022 recruit- 2022 Bessanty-Aime Saragba- a 6'9" forward from Marseilles, France. He played last year at Trinity Collegiate School in Darlington, South Carolina.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/13804072/Bessanty-Saragba

https://phenomhoopreport.com/unsigne...santy-saragba/
https://uicflames.com/sports/mens-ba...e-saragba/8567

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC6oVJKj_gA

Updated list of 2022 & 2023 MVC commitments-
2022 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Kyler Vanderjagt, Keith Robbins, Cade Tyson, Keishawn Davidson, Jake Dykstra, Drew Friberg
Bradley- James "Pop" Weathers, Christian Davis, Cody "Duke" Deen, Goanar Biliew
Drake- Will Lovings-Watts, Sardaar Calhoun, Andrew Alia (walk-on), Eric Northweather
Evansville- Logan McIntire, Zaveion Chism-Okoh, Chris Moncrief, Matthew Ragsdale (decommitted), Sekou Sada Kalle, Yacine Toumi, Gabe Spinelli, Kenny Strawbridge, Marvin Coleman, Cameron Gehlhausen (walk-on)
Illinois State- Takai Simpkins (decommitted), Tajuan Simpkins (decommitted), Colton Sandage, Malachi Poindexter, Darius Burford, Luke Kasubke, Seneca Knight, Joe Petrakis
Indiana State- Robbie Avila, Jayson Kent, Robert Martin, Courvoisier McCauley, Cade McKnight, Trenton Gibson
Missouri State- Jonathan Dunn, Jalen Hampton (decommitted), N.J. Benson, Bryan Trimble, Jr., Dalen Ridgnal, Chance Moore, Damien Mayo, Jr., Tommy Pinegar (walk-on), Jonathan Mogbo, Alston Mason, Matthew Lee, Kendle Moore, James Graham, Kanon Gipson (walk-on)
Murray State- Braxton Stacker, Justin Morgan, Jaxon Edwards, Quincy Anderson, Kenny White, Jr., Jamari Smith, Rob Perry, JaCobi Wood, Patrick Chew, Brian Moore, Sam Murray, Marlon Lestin
SIU- Cade Hornecker, Xavier Davis, Jawaun Newton, A.J. Ferguson, Clarence Rupert, Terrance Jacobs, Jr.
UIC- Jalen Jackson, Cameron Fens, Steven Clay, Tyler Stevenson (decommitted), Trevante Anderson, Toby Okani, Christian Jones, Shaun Williams, Bessanty-Aime Saragba
UNI- Trey Campbell, Ege Peksari, Hunter Jacobson
Valparaiso- Maximus Nelson, Nick Edwards, Quinton Greene, Jerome Palm, Ibra Bayu

2023 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Win Miller, Brigham Rogers
Illinois State- Johnny Kinziger, Chase Walker
Indiana State- Camron Manyawu
Murray State- John McCrear
UNI- R.J. Taylor
Valparaiso- Zane Doughty

[Da Coach]

Valparaiso lands a very late 2022 recruit- a 6'8" forward from the Netherlands, Ibra Bayu. He attended high school at the Perkoimen School in Pennsburg, Pa.
https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbask...tball-program/
https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbask...969/ibra-bayu/

The scholarship opening for this recent Valparaiso commit by Ibra Bayu was apparently made available by a career ending injury to one of Valparaiso's returning starters.
Thomas Kithier, a 6'8" forward who transferred from Michigan State and was a starter for Valpo last season, reportedly suffered an injury earlier this month and will not play this season. He averaged 10.1 ppg and a team-leading 6.6 rpg last season as a senior, and his 56.5% FG percentage was tops on the team. He planned to return to school this season and play his extra "Covid" season. He missed several games last year with back issues, and apparently suffered another back injury earlier this month. Because of the injury, he decided to end his college basketball career and not attempt to come back and play this season.
https://spartanswire.usatoday.com/20...ending-injury/

With the loss of Kithier, it means Valparaiso will return only 2 of their top 7 scorers from last season.


One other Valpo player got good news. Kobe King, a transfer from Wisconsin, who was 2nd on the team in scoring last season (14.0 ppg), was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA and will play for the Beacons in 2022-23. It sounds like the NCAA was rather generous with granting another year of eligibility for him.
He played in 3 seasons at Wisconsin (2017-2020), but then left school in the middle of his 3rd season there and missed the last few months of the 2019-20 season. He announced that he was transferring, and committed to Nebraska, but then backed out of that commitment and sat out the entire 2020-21 season. He hired an agent, and entered the NBA G-League draft. But then when the G-League announced they would shut down and not play in 2020-21 due to Covid, he decided not to go pro and return to college. But, because he had signed with an agent, he needed a special waiver from the NCAA to resume his college career, which was granted. He then transferred to Valparaiso and played in 2021-22. Although the NCAA granted all college players who played in 2020-21 an extra "Covid" season of eligibility, this Covid rule did not apply to King, since he sat out that season and was not in college. So he sought and was granted another waiver from the NCAA giving him a 5th season of eligibility in 6 years since he enrolled at Wisconsin in 2017.
https://bustingbrackets.com/2022/08/...ack-kobe-king/

[Da Coach]

One other interesting roster change in the MVC-
UIC's leading scorer from last season was Damaria Franklin, a 6'3" guard who transferred to UIC in 2021 after 2 seasons of junior college and one season at Tennessee Tech (OVC). He averaged 13.3 ppg at Tennessee Tech in 2020-21, and 17.8 ppg in 2021-22 at UIC. He also lead UIC in rebounding with 6.9 rpg last season. He would have been a serious candidate for this season's preseason All-MVC teams, since no returning MVC player averaged more than 15.1 ppg last year.
However, today he announced he is leaving UIC and has entered the Transfer Portal.-

https://twitter.com/jakelieberman2/status/1562955781258895366

This is a really tough blow to UIC Head Coach Luke Yaklich. Not only does he lose his top scorer and rebounder, but it is virtually impossible to recruit a replacement player just a few weeks before the 2022-23 season begins.
A transfer at this time of the year is highly unusual, and it is a bit suspicious. In this new era of NIL deals, one might wonder if he is leaving to move to a school that offers a lucrative NIL deal.

[Da Coach]

One other interesting roster change in the MVC-
UIC's leading scorer from last season was Damaria Franklin....today he announced he is leaving UIC and has entered the Transfer Portal.-[/B]
https://twitter.com/jakelieberman2/s...55781258895366

Damaria Franklin is immediately getting a lot of attention from other schools.
He has heard from Iowa State, Mississippi State, DePaul, Memphis, Murray State, Arizona State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Tampa.

https://twitter.com/HoopScoopMedia/status/1563324368864038913

[Da Coach]

Damaria Franklin is immediately getting a lot of attention from other schools.
He has heard from Iowa State, Mississippi State, DePaul, Memphis, Murray State, Arizona State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Tampa.
https://twitter.com/HoopScoopMedia/s...24368864038913

UIC senior Damaria Franklin commits to Memphis.

https://twitter.com/Marsssss_3/status/1564284732476723202

[Nashville Cat]

UIC has been devastated by the portal and decommits. It's hard not to see them with Evansville and Valpo near bottom of MVC standings. I fear the Valley's collective NET rankings are going to be poor.

[Da Coach]

Indiana State gets a commitment from 2023 Cameron Manyawu, a 6'8" forward from Staley HS in Kansas City, MO.
Last season as a junior, he averaged 7.1 ppg and 5.2 rpg

https://verbalcommits.com/players/cameron-manyawu

https://kchighschoolhoops.com/player...=2881&season=9
Videos-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T35wexgCFyQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDXZJ3YW6Rw

Updated list of 2022 & 2023 MVC commitments-
2022 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Kyler Vanderjagt, Keith Robbins, Cade Tyson, Keishawn Davidson, Jake Dykstra, Drew Friberg
Bradley- James "Pop" Weathers, Christian Davis, Cody "Duke" Deen, Goanar Biliew
Drake- Will Lovings-Watts, Sardaar Calhoun, Andrew Alia (walk-on), Eric Northweather
Evansville- Logan McIntire, Zaveion Chism-Okoh, Chris Moncrief, Matthew Ragsdale (decommitted), Sekou Sada Kalle, Yacine Toumi, Gabe Spinelli, Kenny Strawbridge, Marvin Coleman, Cameron Gehlhausen (walk-on), Matus Malovec
Illinois State- Takai Simpkins (decommitted), Tajuan Simpkins (decommitted), Colton Sandage, Malachi Poindexter, Darius Burford, Luke Kasubke, Seneca Knight, Joe Petrakis
Indiana State- Robbie Avila, Jayson Kent, Robert Martin, Courvoisier McCauley, Cade McKnight, Trenton Gibson
Missouri State- Jonathan Dunn, Jalen Hampton (decommitted), N.J. Benson, Bryan Trimble, Jr., Dalen Ridgnal, Chance Moore, Damien Mayo, Jr., Tommy Pinegar (walk-on), Jonathan Mogbo, Alston Mason, Matthew Lee, Kendle Moore, James Graham, Kanon Gipson (walk-on)
Murray State- Braxton Stacker, Justin Morgan, Jaxon Edwards, Quincy Anderson, Kenny White, Jr., Jamari Smith, Rob Perry, JaCobi Wood, Patrick Chew, Brian Moore, Sam Murray, Marlon Lestin
SIU- Cade Hornecker, Xavier Davis, Jawaun Newton, A.J. Ferguson, Clarence Rupert, Terrance Jacobs, Jr.
UIC- Jalen Jackson, Cameron Fens, Steven Clay, Tyler Stevenson (decommitted), Trevante Anderson, Toby Okani, Christian Jones, Shaun Williams, Bessanty-Aime Saragba
UNI- Trey Campbell, Ege Peksari, Hunter Jacobson
Valparaiso- Maximus Nelson, Nick Edwards, Quinton Greene, Jerome Palm, Ibra Bayu

2023 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Win Miller, Brigham Rogers
Illinois State- Johnny Kinziger, Chase Walker
Indiana State- Camron Manyawu, Eli Shetler
Murray State- John McCrear, Lawrent Rice
UNI- R.J. Taylor
UIC- Ethan Pickett
Valparaiso- Zane Doughty

[Da Coach]

Indiana State lands another 2023 recruit- Eli Shetler- 6'6" shooting guard from Andover HS in Andover, Kansas-

https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/eli-shetlar

https://www.hudl.com/profile/9614047/Eli-Shetlar