Valley Recruits

[egib52]

UIC gets a commitment from Colorado State junior guard Isaiah Rivera. He averaged 8.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, and shot 37.9% from three this past season.
Bio- https://csurams.com/sports/mens-bask...ah-rivera/9903
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../isaiah-rivera

Rivera is from Geneseo, IL and was a 2020 recruit by Bradley -

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/26052-2018-beyond-recruiting-targets?p=463179#post463179

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...386#post481386

He was one of the portal guys I was hoping to get.

[Da Coach]

Illinois State adds a new layer from the portal, though not new to the MVC...
Dalton Banks is a 6'2" junior combo guard at SIU, who has been in the portal for several weeks. He has played 3 full seasons at SIU, and after starting part-time in 2021-22, he was exclusively a bench player in 2022-23. His minutes also dropped from 23 mpg in 2021-22 to 14 mpg in 2022-23. He has never been a good 3-point shooter at SIU (career 29.5%), but has given SIU some valuable minutes off the bench. This past season, he averaged 3.9 ppg.
Bio- https://siusalukis.com/sports/mens-b...ton-banks/6050
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...1/dalton-banks

He has 2 seasons of eligibility left if he uses his extra Covid season.

2023 MVC Commitments (click on name to see more info about each recruit)-
Belmont- Win Miller, Brigham Rogers, Sam Orme, Drew Scharnowski, Malik Dia
Bradley- Demarion Burch, Almar Atlason, Trey Pettigrew, Kyle Thomas, Emarion Ellis
Drake- Chico Johnson, Kevin Overton, Ethan Roberts
Evansville- Michael Day, Braylon Jackson, Tanner Cuff, Chuck Bailey, Tyler Myers (walk-on), Cameron Haffner, Ben Humrichous
Illinois State- Johnny Kinziger, Chase Walker, Ty Pence, Dalton Banks, Brandon Lieb, Ty Blake (walk-on)
Indiana State- Camron Manyawu (decommitted), Eli Shetler, Jayden Daughertry, Derek Vorst, Isaiah Swope, Aaron Gray, Jake Wolf, Ryan Conwell
Missouri State- Nick Kramer, Cesare Edwards
Murray State- John McCrear, Lawrent Rice, Shawn Walker, Jr.
UNI- R.J. Taylor, Kyle Pock, Wesley Rubin, Jacob Hutson
SIU- Kennard Davis
UIC- Ethan Pickett, Andrew King, Isaiah Rivera
Valparaiso- Zane Doughty (decommitted), Jahari Williamson, Yanis Bamba, Weston Aigner

[Nashville Cat]

Illinois State adds a new layer from the portal, though not new to the MVC...
Dalton Banks is a 6'2" junior combo guard at SIU, who has been in the portal for several weeks. He has played 3 full seasons at SIU, and after starting part-time in 2021-22, he was exclusively a bench player in 2022-23. His minutes also dropped from 23 mpg in 2021-22 to 14 mpg in 2022-23. He has never been a good 3-point shooter at SIU (career 29.5%), but has given SIU some valuable minutes off the bench. This past season, he averaged 3.9 ppg.
Bio- https://siusalukis.com/sports/mens-b...ton-banks/6050
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...1/dalton-banks

He has 2 seasons of eligibility left if he uses his extra Covid season.

2023 MVC Commitments (click on name to see more info about each recruit)-
Belmont- Win Miller, Brigham Rogers, Sam Orme, Drew Scharnowski, Malik Dia
Bradley- Demarion Burch, Almar Atlason, Trey Pettigrew, Kyle Thomas, Emarion Ellis
Drake- Chico Johnson, Kevin Overton, Ethan Roberts
Evansville- Michael Day, Braylon Jackson, Tanner Cuff, Chuck Bailey, Tyler Myers (walk-on), Cameron Haffner, Ben Humrichous
Illinois State- Johnny Kinziger, Chase Walker, Ty Pence, Dalton Banks, Brandon Lieb, Ty Blake (walk-on)
Indiana State- Camron Manyawu (decommitted), Eli Shetler, Jayden Daughertry, Derek Vorst, Isaiah Swope, Aaron Gray, Jake Wolf, Ryan Conwell
Missouri State- Nick Kramer, Cesare Edwards
Murray State- John McCrear, Lawrent Rice, Shawn Walker, Jr.
UNI- R.J. Taylor, Kyle Pock, Wesley Rubin, Jacob Hutson
SIU- Kennard Davis
UIC- Ethan Pickett, Andrew King, Isaiah Rivera, Marquise Kennedy
Valparaiso- Zane Doughty (decommitted), Jahari Williamson, Yanis Bamba, Weston Aigner

Coach, am I'm missing Jacob Hutson on this list?

[PhiAlphaBoy]

What's going on at Missouri State? Last I heard there was still speculation that Ford could be terminated for his alleged indiscretion. Has this effected their ability to recruit or do they not have any openings?

[Da Coach]

Coach, am I'm missing Jacob Hutson on this list?

Yes. Thanks for noting. I added him.

[Da Coach]

What's going on at Missouri State? Last I heard there was still speculation that Ford could be terminated for his alleged indiscretion. Has this effected their ability to recruit or do they not have any openings?

Missouri State ended up deciding to retain Head Coach Dana Ford. He has 2 years left on his contract there.
There are only 9 players set to return in 2023-24, leaving 4 potential scholarship openings for Ford. He has yet to sign anyone, the only MVC team without any commitments for the class of 2023.

Here was an article by their excellent beat writer Wyatt Wheeler from a couple weeks ago about their quiet spring.
https://www.news-leader.com/story/sp...e/70085600007/

Missouri State has 4 openings- Two post-grad players, Kendle Moore and Bryan Trimble, Jr., used up their college eligibility, and they have 2 players in the transfer portal- 6'8" starting center Jonathan Mogbo, and 6'11" backup center Dawson Carper, though it's possible one or both could pull out and return to MSU.
Carper, despite still being in the portal, still appears to be with the team. He was seen with Coach Ford and other members of the team making a visit to a local elementary school yesterday,
https://twitter.com/MSUBearsHoops/st...47566600339457

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Thanks for the update Da Coach. Obviously Ford is not as big on player loyalty as Wardle, which might explain why his team's chemistry has always been such a mess.

[yoda]

in a radio interview Monday, Dana Ford said the reason they haven't signed anyone yet is that they are "holding out"
and targeting ".. trying to get a couple upper level guys" - "impact players".
There's also fans on their boards whining that they should have joined CUSA back several yrs ago when it was rumored they had that opportunity.

(ps - both of the interviews from 4/17 can be heard on podcast here - https://969thejock.com/sports-talk-podcast/ )

[Da Coach]

Drake gets a transfer from the portal-
Ethan Roberts of Army has committed to Drake. He is a 6'5" freshman who averaged 12.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg (both ranked 2nd highest on the team), and he shot 40.7% from three last season at Army. He was voted the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. He is originally from Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Bio- https://goarmywestpoint.com/sports/m...-roberts/19183
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../ethan-roberts

[yoda]

There is a report, not yet confirmed by ISU, that Illini transfer Brandon Lieb will transfer to Illinois State.

[yoda]

Brandon Lieb has confirmed this "rumor"

https://twitter.com/brandonlieb12/st...538304/photo/1

Lieb spent 3 years at Illinois, barely played, and will have 2 years remaining.
In 2022-23 averaged 3.7 min per game but got in only 16 games, 1 ppg, 1 rpg,
hit 7 of his 12 shots but only 1 of his 5 FTs.

[Da Coach]

Indiana State picks up another transfer from the portal. Former Morehead State guard Jake Wolf committed to Indiana State tonight. He is a 6'5" grad-transfer who played 3 seasons at Lipscomb (one of those was a redshirt year), then 2 seasons as a starter at Morehead State. This past season, he averaged 9.1 ppg and 3.2 rpg, and shot 36% from three. He has one season of eligibility left for his Covid year.
Bio-
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...750/jake-wolfe

[Da Coach]

Illinois State gets a commitment from 2023 Ty Blake, a senior at Normal University HS. He is a 6'4", 175 pound SG/SF who will join the team as a preferred walk-on for the 2023-24 season. He chose to walk on at ISU over offers from Wabash, Augustana College and Illinois College.

https://www.videtteonline.com/sports/u-highs-ty-blake-announces-commitment-to-isu-mens-basketball/article_150f259c-df19-11ed-8f5d-b3ea7924b294.html

[Da Coach]

Missouri State finally lands a couple transfers-
Nick Cramer- 6'3" freshman guard at St. Louis University. He is originally from St. Louis University HS. He was a 2-time All-State player in high school, and averaged 19.2 ppg his senior season. He redshirted in 2022-23, and has 4 years of eligibility left.
https://twitter.com/studurando/statu...57811523158016
Bio- https://slubillikens.com/sports/mens...k-kramer/12012

Cesare Edwards- 6'9", 225 pound sophomore forward from Xavier University. In his 2 seasons at Xavier, he played in only about half of Xavier's games, and only averaged 7 minutes per game, 2.1 points per game, and 1.7 rebounds per game. He was a 4-star recruit from Hartsville, SC, and averaged 17.2 points, 15.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.0 blocks per game as a senior.
Bio- https://goxavier.com/sports/mens-bas...-edwards/10842
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...cesare-edwards

https://247sports.com/player/cesare-edwards-46058956/

[Da Coach]

Portal- Ryan Conwell- 6'4" shooting guard, a freshman at University of South Florida. He is a graduate of Pike HS in Indianapolis, class of 2022, where he averaged 22.6 ppg and 6.7 rpg his senior year. He had many mid-major offers a year ago before he committed to USF, including MVC offers from Indiana State, Murray State, Evansville, and SIU. There is no mention anywhere that Bradley recruited him in high school, but it's possible.
He played 18.6 minutes per game as a freshman at USF, and started 21 of 32 games. He averaged 5.1 ppg and 1.9 rpg, and he was 30.0% from three.
He entered the portal last week. He would have 3 more seasons of eligibility.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/ryan-conwell

Bio- https://gousfbulls.com/sports/mens-b...-conwell/14145
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...7/ryan-conwell

One-time Bradley recruit Ryan Conwell, a transfer portal player from South Florida, has committed to Indiana State, their 7th commit for 2023-

https://verbalcommits.com/players/ryan-conwell