Valley Recruits

[Da Coach]

Okoro would be a good get for any team in the Valley. Illinois and Purdue were recruiting him hard while he was at Normal West. I would think both of those schools would be in contention also.

Okoro has reportedly had a lot of schools recruiting him since he entered the transfer protocol, including several high-majors-
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/sta...13127000621056

And he had offers out of high school by the likes of Oregon, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri, DePaul, Purdue, Illinois, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, NC State, Georgetown, and others.

Here are his stats for 2 seasons at Oregon- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../francis-okoro

What strikes me is that he showed no significant improvement from his freshman season to his sophomore season. He averaged about 3 ppg and 3-4 rpg, and his numbers in Pac-12 conference play were even worse- 2.4 ppg and 1.8 rpg as a sophomore. Maybe injuries were a factor?

And the limited amount I saw of him playing, he appeared to have little offensive game other than open layups and dunks, and occasional put-backs. Despite his imposing size and physical presence, his rebounding numbers were modest (1.8 rpg in Pac-12 play). He only had 2 assists in the entire Pac-12 season, and he is a bit of a liability at the free throw line- 47% both seasons at Oregon.

I can't help but wonder if he might have been a bit over-rated? Maybe he'll do better in the MVC?
I have read that he wants to sit out the 2020-21 season, even if the NCAA changes their rules requiring it. Is that true?

[egib52]

I can't help but wonder if he might have been a bit over-rated. Maybe he'll do better in the MVC?
I have read that he wants to sit out the 2020-21 season, even if the NCAA changes their rules requiring it. Is that true?

I also read he wants to sit out next year because he has some injuries he wants to get fully healed.

[Da Coach]

I also read he wants to sit out next year because he has some injuries he wants to get fully healed.

Yes, I have seen that mentioned, but it does seem unusual to me. I wonder what kind of injury would require missing all summer and all of next season? The 7+ months he has between their last game (March 7) and the start of next season in October would usually be enough to recover from almost any injuries, other than a knee reconstruction. He did miss 2 of Oregon's games last season, but none in the final month of the season.

[BraveBird]

Pantagraph reporter Jim Benson tweeted that Okoro is going to have shoulder and ankle surgery, thus the need for time to recover.

[egib52]

Rumor on an Illini board is that he is going to SLU. That seems odd as ISU would be a better fit based on my MVC bias.

[Da Coach]

Rumor on an Illini board is that he is going to SLU. That seems odd as ISU would be a better fit based on my MVC bias.

It is confirmed. Francis Okoro commits to St. Louis University. Tough luck to ISU fans.

https://twitter.com/chibestfrank88/status/1253824156761829378

[Da Coach]

It is confirmed. Francis Okoro commits to St. Louis University. Tough luck to ISU fans.

https://twitter.com/chibestfrank88/status/1253824156761829378

One other interesting factor- St. Louis University does not have any open scholarships. So before Okoro can sign and begin receiving a scholarship, Head Coach Travis Ford will have to do a little "trimming" of the roster.

[Da Coach]

One other interesting factor- St. Louis University does not have any open scholarships. So before Okoro can sign and begin receiving a scholarship, Head Coach Travis Ford will have to do a little "trimming" of the roster.

St. Louis Head Coach has solved his oversigning problem after Francis Okoro committed.
6'10" freshman post player Madani Diarra has suddenly decided to transfer out.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/madani-diarra

[LongTimeFan]

Maybe Madani Diarra will end up at ISU Red.

[Da Coach]

Maybe Madani Diarra will end up at ISU Red.

I wouldn't rule it out. But probably not.
He only played in 4 games all year for St. Louis, and it was not because of any injuries. He played a total of 10 minutes (average of 2.5 minutes per game), and he never scored a single point all season. The 4 games he played in were all big blowouts (20+ point margins) and he still only got in for a couple minutes at the end of those 4 games. St. Louis coach Travis Ford obviously did not think he was ready for Division I basketball.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../madani-diarra

[Da Coach]

Loyola picks up a transfer... Damezi Anderson, Jr. was a 4-star 6'7" SF recruit for 2018 out of Riley High School in South Bend, IN. He committed to Indiana University over offers from Purdue, Michigan, UConn, DePaul, and others. He played the last 2 seasons at IU, but is now transferring to Loyola.
https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/mens-b...anderson/13962

http://verbalcommits.com/players/damezi-anderson-jr

In his 2 seasons at IU, he has seen limited playing time, and his production has been minimal. Here are his stats-


This commitment puts Loyola 1 over the scholarship limit, so expect someone on their roster to be jettisoned.
Damezi Anderson will have 2 seasons of eligibility left at Loyola, though he will likely have to sit out next season per NCAA rules.

Updated 2020 & 2021 MVC commitments list-
Class of 2020 recruits-
Bradley- Darius Hannah, Connor Linke, Jayson Kent, Sean East II
Drake- Jordan Kwiecinski, Bryceson Burns, Darnell Brodie, ShanQuan Hemphill
Evansville- Trey Hall, Jax Levitch, Emmette Page, Iyen Enaruna, Alex Matthews
Illinois State- Alston Andrews, Emon Washington, Josiah Strong, Howard Fleming, Alex Kotov, Dusan Mahorcic, Jayden Johnson (walkon)
Indiana State- Julian Larry, Nick Hittle, Kailex Stephens, Tobias "T.J. Howard, Sam Mervis, Ndongo Ndaw, Randy Miller, Jr.
Loyola- Baylor Hebb, Jacob Hutson, Damezi Anderson, Jr.
Missouri State- Sky Wicks, Demarcus Sharp, Nic Tata, Dawson Carper, Raphe Ayres, Keaton Hervey, Melvyn Ebonkoli
UNI- Tytan Anderson, Nathan Heise, Bowen Born, Michael Duax, Drew Daniels (walkon), Goanar Mar
SIU- Eric Butler, Dalton Banks, Zachary Gibson (walk-on), J.D. Muila, Steven Verplancken,
Valparaiso- Connor Barrett, Jacob Ognacevic, Sheldon Edwards, Goodnews Kpegeol

2021 recruits-
Drake- Connor Enright
Indiana State- Lincoln Hale
Missouri State- Issac Haney
UNI- Michael Duax

[Da Coach]

Valparaiso head coach Matt Lottich wasted little time filling the open scholarship from Javon Freeman-Liberty's departure.
They just got a commitment from Kansas State transfer Goodnews Kpegeol.

He is a 6'6" shooting guard out of high school in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2018. He initially went to a Florida prep school in the fall of 2018, then at the semester break enrolled at Kansas State. He was immediately eligible, however, Bruce Weber felt he was not ready for Division I play, so he redshirted the remainder of his freshman year (2018-19 season). Then in April, 2019, Weber did not think he was showing enough progress to get significant playing time the next season as a redshirt freshman (in 2019-20), so he left Kansas State and transferred to Southwest Mississippi Community College, a small Division II junior college in Summit, Mississippi not known for producing a lot of Division I basketball players. He played there for 2019-20 and averaged 12.0 ppg, which was 3rd on the team. He also averaged 5.8 rpg (2nd on the team), and shot 34.8% from three, and 63.5% on FTs. He is described as a very athletic wing player with pretty good ball-handling skills.
https://southwestbearathletics.com/r...th=&rp_id=3015
https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/...s-kpegeol/6195

http://verbalcommits.com/players/goodnews-kpegeol

https://themercury.com/k_state_sport...07fa8a0bf.html

Here is a highlight video-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2tlJ5SDo60

Valparaiso has no more open scholarships.
He will be a redshirt sophomore next season and have 3 years of eligibility at Valpo.

[Da Coach]

Drake landed a transfer over the weekend, and it is a slightly familiar name.

Shanquan Hemphill, who goes by his nickname Tank Hemphill, is also a one-time Bradley recruit. He was a senior who redshirted the 2019-20 season at Wisconsin-Green Bay, so he has a season of eligiblity left. He left UWGB after their coach was fired a couple weeks ago, and is transferring to Drake. He might be immediately eligible as a grad-transfer if he graduated from UWGB, but it is not clear if that is the case. If he doesn't qualify as a grad-transfer, he might have to sit out a year.

https://godrakebulldogs.com/news/2020/5/29/shanquan-hemphill-joins-drake-mens-basketball-program.aspx

He was a 2018 6'6", 190 pound forward recruit from Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers. He is originally from Gary, Indiana.
Our Bradley coaches recruited him throughout the 2017-18 season, probably as a contingency recruit, since there is no evidence that Bradley ever offered him.
Here was our initial report on him in October, 2017-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...796#post454796

As noted in the above links, he played on the same team at Florida Southwestern as Tremell Murphy and Anthony Murphy, who were also Bradley recruits, and who both went to Drake. Anthony graduated this year, but Tremell Murphy redshirted this past season and will play one more season at Drake in 2020-21.

In April, 2018, Shanquan Hemphill committed to Green Bay.

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/26052-2018-beyond-recruiting-targets?p=463369#post463369

In 2018-19, he started every game and was their 3rd leading scorer with 11.7 ppg, and their 2nd leading rebounder with 5.6 rpg. But then an injury caused him to redshirt the 2019-20 season.-
https://greenbayphoenix.com/sports/m...-hemphill/2730

Drake now has filled all their scholarships and has none remaining for 2020.

[Da Coach]

Evansville has picked up a new commitment-

6'5" shooting guard/small forward Alex Matthews from John Hardin HS in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
https://www.courierpress.com/story/s...ws/3159446001/

Evansville has no more open scholarships.

Updated 2020 & 2021 MVC commitments list-
Class of 2020 recruits-
Bradley- Darius Hannah, Connor Linke, Jayson Kent, Sean East II
Drake- Jordan Kwiecinski, Bryceson Burns, Darnell Brodie, ShanQuan Hemphill
Evansville- Trey Hall, Jax Levitch, Emmette Page, Iyen Enaruna, Alex Matthews
Illinois State- Alston Andrews, Emon Washington, Josiah Strong, Howard Fleming, Alex Kotov, Dusan Mahorcic, Jayden Johnson (walkon), Sy Chatman
Indiana State- Julian Larry, Nick Hittle, Kailex Stephens, Tobias "T.J. Howard, Sam Mervis, Ndongo Ndaw, Randy Miller, Jr.
Loyola- Baylor Hebb, Jacob Hutson, Damezi Anderson, Jr.
Missouri State- Sky Wicks, Demarcus Sharp, Nic Tata, Dawson Carper, Raphe Ayres, Keaton Hervey, Melvyn Ebonkoli
UNI- Tytan Anderson, Nathan Heise, Bowen Born, Michael Duax, Drew Daniels (walkon), Goanar Mar
SIU- Eric Butler, Dalton Banks, Zachary Gibson (walk-on), J.D. Muila, Steven Verplancken, Chris Cross (walk-on)
Valparaiso- Connor Barrett, Jacob Ognacevic, Sheldon Edwards, Goodnews Kpegeol

2021 recruits-
Drake- Connor Enright
Indiana State- Lincoln Hale
Missouri State- Issac Haney
UNI- Michael Duax

[Da Coach]

Southern Illinois gets a commitment from 6'1" guard Chris Cross of Urbana HIgh School in Urbana, Illinois. as a preferred walk-on.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/chris-cross

https://www.wcia.com/sports/urbanas-cross-commits-signs-with-southern-illinois/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0SVdV7q-Rk