Valley Recruits

[Da Coach]

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Drake center Darnell Brodie is a 5th year senior, having spent 2 years at Seton Hall (2018-19 & 2019-20), and the last 3 at Drake (2020-21, 2021-22, & 2022-23).
But there is an unofficial report tonight that Brodie will not be participating in their Senior Night Wednesday, possibly a suggestion he plans to return next season-
https://twitter.com/drakedawgs/statu...61455642009601

https://twitter.com/UrbyJT/status/1627452529393995776

But a year ago, it was reported that this current season would be his extra "Covid year"-
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...ie/9733665002/....

Drake center Darnell Brodie has already spent the last 5 years playing Division I basketball, 2 seasons at Seton Hall and the last 3 seasons at Drake.
He opted not to participate in Drake's senior night, and he appealed to the NCAA to be granted a 6th year of eligibility.
Today on the MVC coaches video press conference, head coach Darian DeVries announced that Brodie's appeal has been granted and he will return in 2023-24-
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...r/70462596007/

Drake should be one of the top picks in the 2023-24 preseason poll with Brodie's return, along with returning MVC Player of the Year Tucker DeVries, All-Freshman point guard Connor Enright, and a couple returning reserves. They will also have 9 newcomers- 5 incoming freshmen and 4 transfer portal players.
Drake heads to Spain for a 4-game foreign trip from July 29-Aug. 7.

[Da Coach]

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Today on the MVC coaches video press conference, head coach Darian DeVries announced that Brodie's appeal has been granted and he will return in 2023-24.

Here are the archived audio files from Tuesday's MVC Coaches Teleconference.

https://mvc-sports.com/news/2023/7/25/mvc-mens-basketball-coaches-teleconference-july-25-2023.aspx

Coach Wardle had good things to say about most of the players, including all the new players, and Jonović and Davis, who were not mentioned in the recent Dave Eminian article.
Interesting to hear summer updates from all the other coaches, too.

[yoda]

Indiana State land a 2023 commitment from a Lithuanian big man who was on the Lithuanian U20 roster
didn’t get many minutes at the U20 Championships


https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/st...59956276019201

https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u...tinas-Kiudulas

[Da Coach]

Illinois State gets a commitment from 2024 Cade Norris-

https://twitter.com/CadeNorris8/status/1698737527971054052

Cade Norris is a 6'3" shooting guard from Hilliard Bradley High School in Hilliard, Ohio.
He is the younger brother of Loyola guard Braden Norris.

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

[Da Coach]

Illinois State gets a commitment from another 2024 recruit-
Jack Daugherty- a 6'7" senior from Brookfield Central HS in Wisconsin

https://twitter.com/WisBBYearbook/status/1701667769178055088

https://wisportsheroics.com/small-wisconsin-hs-player-jack-daugherty/

Looks like he also had offers from other MVC schools UIC, SIU, Indiana State, as well as from several other midmajors-

https://verbalcommits.com/players/jack-daugherty

[Da Coach]

Drake gets their first 2024 commitment- 5'10" Point guard Emerson "KJ" Tenner-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/505646-2023-and-beyond-recruits?p=512274#post512274

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

[bradleyfan124]

Drake gets their first 2024 commitment- 5'10" Point guard Emerson "KJ" Tenner-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/505646-2023-and-beyond-recruits?p=512274#post512274

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

He made a mistake. He would have been better off at Bradley...

[Da Coach]

Drake gets their first 2024 commitment- 5'10" Point guard Emerson "KJ" Tenner-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/505646-2023-and-beyond-recruits?p=512274#post512274

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner, Andrell Burton, Jr.
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

Drake got a second commitment today for 2024- Andrell Burton, Jr., a 6'6" small forward from Campus High School in Wichita, Kansas.
Burton visited Drake this past weekend along with their other 2024 commit, Emerson Tenner.

https://news.yahoo.com/why-drake-college-basketball-team-221340759.html

[Da Coach]

UIC gets a commitment from Carlos Harris III, a 6'2" point guard from Chicago Curie HS

https://verbalcommits.com/players/carlos-harris-iii

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner, Andrell Burton, Jr.
Evansville- Kaia Berridge
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Indiana State- Merritt Alderink, Robert Sean Birmingham
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Murray State- Jordan McCullum, D.J. Shine
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
UIC- Carlos Harris III
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

[Da Coach]

Ben Sheppard was the only player in the NBA Draft with a direct connection to the Missouri Valley Conference. He was taken by the Indiana Pacers 26th overall. Looks like he made a good decision to stay in the draft. As a 1st round pick, he will get a guaranteed 3 year contract.

The #1 overall pick to the San Antonio Spurs was French pro Victor Wembanyama, a 7'3" player with incredible skill. We first posted about him 2 years ago, when we saw videos of him playing on the same club team in France as former Bradley player Max Ekono-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...ge9#post498950...

In the Indiana Pacers first 2 preseason exhibition games (both losses), Ben Sheppard scored 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists off the bench in their first game, and 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench in their second game. A pretty good start for the former Belmont guard.

The San Antonio Spurs' #1 overall pick, 7'3" Victor Wembanyama, has played 1 preseason game so far. In that game Monday, the Spurs lost 122-121 in OT to the OKC Thunder. Wembanyama scored 20 points in just 19 minutes of playing time. He was 8-13 from the floor, and 2 of 5 from three. He also had 5 rebounds, but also had 4 turnovers. The turnovers should get better after he realizes his dribble-driving moves won't work quite as well in the NBA as they did in his French league games.

[Da Coach]

....

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner, Andrell Burton, Jr.
Evansville- Kaia Berridge
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Indiana State- Merritt Alderink, Robert Sean Birmingham
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Murray State- Jordan McCullum, D.J. Shine
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
UIC- Carlos Harris III
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

Murray State gets their second commitment for 2024- D.J. Shine, a 6'2" point guard at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.- https://verbalcommits.com/players/dj-shine

[Da Coach]

....
2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner, Andrell Burton, Jr.
Evansville- Kaia Berridge, Ramondo Battle II
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Indiana State- Merritt Alderink, Robert Sean Birmingham
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Murray State- Jordan McCullum, D.J. Shine
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
UIC- Carlos Harris III
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

Murray State gets a 2024 commitment from D.J. Shine, a 6'2" point guard at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire- Verbal Commits | D.J. Shine

[yoda]

UE lands a 2024 pg from New Zealand
Kaia Berridge- https://verbalcommits.com/players/kaia-berridge

[Da Coach]

Evansville lands another 2024 commitment- Ramondo Battle II, a 6'8" forward from Walters State, a juco in Morristown, Tennessee.- https://twitter.com/AMFKristensen/st...95755658400009

He also had an offer from UT-Martin- https://verbalcommits.com/players/ramondo-battle-ii

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner, Andrell Burton, Jr.
Evansville- Kaia Berridge, Ramondo Battle II
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Indiana State- Merritt Alderink, Robert Sean Birmingham
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Murray State- Jordan McCullum, D.J. Shine
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
UIC- Carlos Harris III
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

[Da Coach]

Evansville lands another 2024 commitment- Ramondo Battle II, a 6'8" forward from Walters State, a juco in Morristown, Tennessee.- https://twitter.com/AMFKristensen/st...95755658400009

He also had an offer from UT-Martin- https://verbalcommits.com/players/ramondo-battle-ii

2024 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Eoin Dillon, Cooper Haynes
Drake- Emerson "KJ" Tenner, Andrell Burton, Jr.
Evansville- Kaia Berridge, Ramondo Battle II
Illinois State- Cade Norris, Jack Daugherty
Indiana State- Merritt Alderink, Robert Sean Birmingham, Christian Nitu
Missouri State- Julius Thedford
Murray State- Jordan McCullum, D.J. Shine
Northern Iowa- Will Hornseth, Redek Born
UIC- Carlos Harris III
Valparaiso- Justus McNair, Ibrahim Diakite

Indiana State gets a commitment from 2024 Christian Nitu, a 6'11" from Fort Erie International Academy Basketball in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. He is originally from Toronto.- https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/christian-nitu