Valley Recruits

[Da Coach]

Belmont lands a transfer from Tennessee Tech- Keishawn Davidson- a 6'2" sophomore guard who started every game for Tennessee Tech and averaged 10.4 ppg, 4.3 apg, and he shot 40.3% from three this season.
https://twitter.com/keisaucy2/status...67686634655744
https://www.ttusports.com/sports/mbk..._keishawn_pc91

This commitment is Belmont's 5th incoming recruit for 2022-23. It puts Belmont at 17 projected scholarship players for next year. Obviously, several from their current roster will not be returning.

[Da Coach]

Indiana State picks up another transfer-
Courvoisier McCauley, a transfer from DePaul, has committed to Indiana State. DePaul finished next to last in the Big East in 2021-22, after finishing last the previous 5 seasons.
https://gosycamores.com/news/2022/4/...asketball.aspx

Courvoisier McCauley is a 6'5" senior guard from Indianapolis, who played his first 2 college seasons at Lincoln Memorial University, a Division II college in Tennessee coached by current Indiana State coach Josh Schertz. He transferred to DePaul 2 years ago, but has not seen much playing time. He averaged 3.1 ppg in 2020-21 and 5.7 ppg in 2021-22. He shot 31.4% from three in his 2 seasons at DePaul.
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...isier-mccauley

2022 MVC commitments so far-
Belmont- Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Kyler Vanderjagt, Keith Robbins, Cade Tyson, Keishawn Davidson
Bradley- James "Pop" Weathers
Drake- Will Lovings-Watts, Sardaar Calhoun
Evansville- Logan McIntire
Illinois State- Takai Simpkins, Tajuan Simpkins, Colton Sandage
Indiana State- Robbie Avila, Jayson Kent, Robert Martin, Courvoisier McCauley, Cade McKnight, Trenton Gibson
Missouri State- Jonathan Dunn, Jalen Hampton, N.J. Benson, Bryan Trimble, Jr., Dalen Ridgnal
Murray State- Braxton Stacker, Justin Morgan, Jaxon Edwards
SIU- Cade Hornecker
UIC- Jalen Jackson, Cameron Fens, Steven Clay
UNI- Trey Campbell
Valparaiso- Maximus Nelson, Nick Edwards

2023-
UNI- R.J. Taylor

[jturner38]

You forgot one for Indiana State. Point guard Robert Martin out of STL who just won state championship

[Da Coach]

You forgot one for Indiana State. Point guard Robert Martin out of STL who just won state championship

Thanks. Oddly, Verbalcommits.com and several other recruiting sites have not reported this commitment and still show Robert Martin as uncommitted-

https://verbalcommits.com/players/robert-martin-iii

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/robert-martin-271041

https://247sports.com/player/rob-martin-46128944/

Martin verbally committed to Indiana State back in February-
https://www.tribstar.com/sports/loca...ther%20suitors.

[Da Coach]

Indiana State picks up another transfer portal commitment-
Cade McKnight, a 6'9" forward transferring from Division II Truman State

https://verbalcommits.com/players/cade-mcknight

McKnight will be a grad-transfer with one more year of eligibility left.
Bio- https://trumanbulldogs.com/sports/me...-mcknight/5742

https://gosycamores.com/news/2022/4/7/basketball-sycamores-pick-up-two-time-all-american-cade-mcknight-for-2022-23-campaign.aspx

He redshirted his first season at Truman State in 2017-18, then was the Freshman of the Year in the GLVC in 2018-19 when he averaged 13 ppg and 5 rpg.
In 2019-20, as a sophomore, he averaged 14 ppg and 4.5 rpg. In 2020-21 as a junior, he was the GLVC Conference Player of the Year, averaging 18 ppg and 5 rpg. And this past season (2021-22) he averaged 19.4 ppg and 6.5 rpg and was 1st team All-GLVC for the second year i a row. He was also named NABC All-American for the 2nd year in a row.

[Da Coach]

UNI gets a commitment from a high school junior, 2023 R.J. Taylor. He is a 5'11" guard from Grand Blanc High School in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/r-j-taylor

https://twitter.com/rj21taylor/statu...60387861606401

https://www.abc12.com/sports/for-the-second-year-in-a-row-grand-blancs-rj-taylor-makes-ap-1st-team/article_3512c2b2-b6ee-11ec-808d-bb0d71dcba25.html

[Da Coach]

MIssouri State gets a commitment from a transfer portal player-
Dalen Ridgnal, a transfer from Georgia. He is a 6'7" junior forward who played 2 seasons at Cowley County junior college, then played last season for the University of Georgia. Georgia was 6-26 last season and 1-17 in the SEC, leading to the firing of head coach Tom Crean.
Ridgnal would have 2 seasons of eligibility left with the Covid year.
He played in 28 of Georgia's 32 games this past season, and averaged 2.7 ppg and 2.9 rpg.
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../dalen-ridgnal
Bio- https://georgiadogs.com/sports/mens-...n-ridgnal/5623

[Da Coach]

Indiana State gets another transfer off the Division II portal-
Trenton Gibson- 6'4" senior guard from Tusculum University in Tusculum, Tennessee. He will be a grad-transfer with 1 season left to play.
He averaged 17.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 5.3 apg this season, and he shot 34.6% from three.

https://twitter.com/IndStBasketball/status/1512809585282891776

Bio & stats- https://www.tusculumpioneers.com/spo...n_trenton_b8cf

He is the 3rd former D2 player to commit to Indiana State head coach Josh Schertz this spring, plus Indiana State also had 3 former Division II players on this year's roster.

[Da Coach]

I've dropped Loyola from the list of MVC schools' recruits since they will not be in the MVC next year.
But if anyone is interested, they have picked up a couple players off the transfer portal in the last couple days-
Yesterday, Loyola got a commitment from Philip Alston, a 6'6" sophomore forward from California University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school. He averaged 21 ppg and 10.8 rpg there.

And today they got a commitment from Bryce Golden, a 6'9" senior forward from Butler-
https://butlersports.com/sports/mens...e-golden/10152
He was a starter for Butler who averaged 8.8 ppg and 3.6 rpg. He has 1 year of eligibility at Loyola.
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...6/bryce-golden

[Da Coach]

Illinois State picks up another transfer portal player- Colton Sandage, a 6'2" shooting guard who transferred from Western Illinois. He spent his first 2 years (2018-19 & 2019-20) at Vincennes junior college where he averaged 8.5 ppg as a freshman and 8.7 ppg as a sophomore. Then he spent the last 2 seasons at WIU, where he averaged 9.5 ppg as a junior and 13.4 ppg this past season as a senior. He has 1 year of eligibility left for his Covid year-
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...colton-sandage

He is originally from Bloomington, Illinois.


Updated list of 2022 MVC commitments so far-
Belmont- Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Kyler Vanderjagt, Keith Robbins, Cade Tyson, Keishawn Davidson
Bradley- James "Pop" Weathers
Drake- Will Lovings-Watts, Sardaar Calhoun
Evansville- Logan McIntire
Illinois State- Takai Simpkins, Tajuan Simpkins, Colton Sandage, Darius Burford, Malachi Poindexter, Luke Kasubke
Indiana State- Robbie Avila, Jayson Kent, Robert Martin, Courvoisier McCauley, Cade McKnight, Trenton Gibson
Missouri State- Jonathan Dunn, Jalen Hampton, N.J. Benson, Bryan Trimble, Jr., Dalen Ridgnal, Chance Moore
Murray State- Braxton Stacker, Justin Morgan, Jaxon Edwards
SIU- Cade Hornecker, Xavier Davis
UIC- Jalen Jackson, Cameron Fens, Steven Clay
UNI- Trey Campbell
Valparaiso- Maximus Nelson, Nick Edwards, Quinton Greene

2023-
UNI- R.J. Taylor

[bradleyfan124]

Illinois State picks up another transfer portal player- Colton Sandage, a 6'2" shooting guard who transferred from Western Illinois. He spent his first 2 years (2018-19 & 2019-20) at Vincennes junior college where he averaged 8.5 ppg as a freshman and 8.7 ppg as a sophomore. Then he spent the last 2 seasons at WIU, where he averaged 9.5 ppg as a junior and 13.4 ppg this past season as a senior. He has 1 year of eligibility left for his Covid year-
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...colton-sandage

He is originally from Bloomington, Illinois.


Updated list of 2022 MVC commitments so far-
Belmont- Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Kyler Vanderjagt, Keith Robbins, Cade Tyson, Keishawn Davidson
Bradley- James "Pop" Weathers
Drake- Will Lovings-Watts, Sardaar Calhoun
Evansville- Logan McIntire
Illinois State- Takai Simpkins, Tajuan Simpkins, Colton Sandage
Indiana State- Robbie Avila, Jayson Kent, Robert Martin, Courvoisier McCauley, Cade McKnight, Trenton Gibson
Missouri State- Jonathan Dunn, Jalen Hampton, N.J. Benson, Bryan Trimble, Jr., Dalen Ridgnal, Chance Moore
Murray State- Braxton Stacker, Justin Morgan, Jaxon Edwards
SIU- Cade Hornecker, Xavier Davis
UIC- Jalen Jackson, Cameron Fens, Steven Clay
UNI- Trey Campbell
Valparaiso- Maximus Nelson, Nick Edwards, Quinton Greene

2023-
UNI- R.J. Taylor

Da Coach. Question. Alot of people are complaining stating that the Transfer Portal is benefitting the Power conferences. And I was one of them. However to be honest I am not sure I am seeing that. I see D2 players transferring up to mid-majors or lateral moves between mid-majors. I am sure there will be some players picked up by the Big Boys but not as much as I thought there might be. What do you think?

[Da Coach]

Da Coach. Question. Alot of people are complaining stating that the Transfer Portal is benefitting the Power conferences. And I was one of them. However to be honest I am not sure I am seeing that. I see D2 players transferring up to mid-majors or lateral moves between mid-majors. I am sure there will be some players picked up by the Big Boys but not as much as I thought there might be. What do you think?

The majority of kids in the transfer portal are from low-major and mid-major schools, where you just don't find a high percentage of players who are high-major caliber players. So you may never see massive numbers of mid-major players transferring to high-majors. But the numbers appear to be increasing every year.
But the mid-major players who do excel, are coveted by the high-majors. And virtually every high-major head coach scours the portal and recruits players they think will help their team, which is why those schools love the portal. Now with the NCAA portal, they can contact and recruit those transfers legally, instead of doing it surreptitiously and illegally, which no doubt went on a lot before the portal. Not that the portal replaces their normal recruiting, but it now makes available to them a huge pool of players to pick off from mid-major rosters to fill their roster spots, or to improve their teams.
Jake LaRavia is an example that good mid-major players can greatly benefit and improve a Power-5 program. LaRavia transferred to Wake Forest, a 6-win team in 2020-21. He had a terrific season, increased his scoring to 15 ppg, was 2nd team All-ACC and helped turn a 6-win Wake Forest team into a 25-win team. There are several more examples in past seasons- Javon Freeman-Liberty, Liam Robbins, D.J. Horne, etc. who were lured away to higher level teams. And this season there will be many more.

There are a lot of players in the current portal like Terry Roberts. They are coming off one or more good years at a mid-major and are in demand by high-major schools looking for depth or to fill open roster spots. It might not be enormous numbers, but just in the MVC alone there are several key players who are transferring and will be picked off by high-majors.
Belmont just lost one of their best players (Will Richard to Florida),
Bradley loses their top scorer and assists player Terry Roberts
Illinois State loses their best player Antonio Reeves, and their best shooter Josiah Strong
Indiana State loses Tyreke Key, multiple-time 1st team All-MVC
Murray State loses their entire roster- 3 of them have already committed to an SEC school, and there are a couple more who are likely to go high-major
UNI loses Noah Carter, another All-MVC player, and his list of "final 5" are all from the Top 6 conferences (VA Tech, Missouri, Marquette, Arkansas, & Florida)
That list includes 3 of the top 10 scorers in the MVC this past season (plus Tyreke Key who was a top 3 scorer each of the three previous seasons), the top 3-point percentage shooter, and the top assist player in the MVC.
And there may still be more to come. They will all end up at High-major schools. The high-major coaches love the portal.
Example- Bill Self, who just won the NCAA Tournament at Kansas, had 4 transfer portal players on his roster this year. Though they might not all have played significant parts in their tournament run, this is an example of how high-major coaches use the portal - Joseph Yesufu from Drake, Cam Martin from D2 Missouri Southern, Remy Martin from Arizona State, and Jalen Coleman-Lands from Iowa State/DePaul/Illinois all played a part in Kansas' success.

[Da Coach]

Missouri State gets a transfer portal commitment from Arkansas transfer Chance Moore. He is a 6'5" freshman guard who was a 4-star recruit. However, he only played a total of 8 minutes all season, playing in only 5 of 37 games and he made a total of 2 baskets all season.

https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/roster/chance-moore/

https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/...t-to-transfer/

[Da Coach]

Southern Illinois gets a commitment from a transfer from George Mason- Xavier Johnson- he is a 6'1" junior guard. He averaged 7.7 ppg this season, and 4.6 assists per game, and he shot 38.5% overall and 34.1% from three.

Bio- https://gomason.com/sports/mens-bask...r-johnson/6390
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...xavier-johnson

[Da Coach]

Drake gets a commitment from a high school guard-
Andrew Alia- 6'2" combo guard from Kenosha St. Joseph HS. He is way under the radar and does not appear at all in any of the databases of VerbalCommits.com, Rivals.com, 247Sports.com, ESPN.com, or Scout.com.
He averaged 18 ppg his senior year and was named Honorable Mention Division 4 All-State.

Reports are that he is a recruited walk-on.