Valparaiso's Javon Freeman-Liberty transfers to DePaul

[Da Coach]

Back on April 1, Valparaiso's Javon Freeman-Liberty announced that he would put his name into the NBA Draft-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/492415-mvc-transfers-and-players-lost?p=492707#post492707

But he did not hire an agent, and retained the right to return to college.
The good news- Today he announced that he is withdrawing from the NBA Draft and returning to college.
The bad news- He also announced he will not return to Valparaiso, and will transfer.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1255138608563929092

This is devastating news for Valpo and their fans. He averaged 19.0 ppg this past season, which was the 2nd highest average in the MVC. He was a first team All-MVC player, and runner up to A.J. Green for Player of the Year. He was also on the All Freshman team his first season, and All-Defensive team both seasons.

https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/roster/2018-19/10062/javon-freeman-liberty/

Recall that Freeman-Liberty also entered the transfer portal last year, declared his intent to transfer, and was granted his release . But 2 months later, he returned to Valparaiso for his sophomore season.

If he does not return to Valparaiso, that would seem to project the Crusaders to drop into the bottom tier of the MVC next season.

[Da Coach]

Paul Oren, Valpo's terrific beat writer, has already posted this article about Javon Freeman-Liberty's decision to transfer-
Javon Freeman-Liberty pulls name from NBA Draft, will enter transfer portal
https://www.nwitimes.com/sports/javon-freeman-liberty-pulls-name-from-nba-draft-will-enter-transfer-portal/article_0514e75c-5338-5047-b7d9-02bd921d518b.html

Just after the MVC Tournament, he pladged to return to Valpo-
Freeman-Liberty pledges to return as Valpo ponders postseason options

https://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/freeman-liberty-pledges-to-return-as-valpo-ponders-postseason-options/article_2f907ef7-4886-55a7-a030-e89bd28e37b0.html

[Dub]

Bad news. I was looking forward to defeating him a few more times.

[bigjimmy]

I'm sure the Power 5 conferences didn't have anything to do with this.

[Da Coach]

I'm sure the Power 5 conferences didn't have anything to do with this.

There are pretty reliable reports that when he announced he would transfer a year ago after his successful freshman year, he hoped to transfer to Northwestern. However, after entering the transfer portal and talking to other schools, he was apparently short on academics to enroll at Northwestern. Thus, he returned to Valparaiso.

[LittleBrave]

Great player, but I don't see him garnering a ton of minutes at a power school.
I wish him the best and was fun to see him vs BU this past season.

[ihatetea]

He’s better than or at least as good as Rayvontae Rice who went on to play well at Illinois. This is a huge blow to the valley. How bad would the valley have to be for a strong candidate for valley poy to not be able to get minutes at a power conference school?

[egib52]

He will definitely play at a HM. However, I hope his "handlers" focus on fit, and not stage. He needs to go somewhere that they are weak on the wing. It would be unfortunate for him to shoot for an open spot a KY or UNC only to have to battle with several other players for minutes. Unfortunately, I think he is not seeing the forest from the trees. Korver, McDermott, Hawkins, and several others got plenty of attention being the Valley POY. He had that opportunity.

[Da Coach]

Rayvonte Rice was a nice player at Illinois, but he would have probably been a Player of the Year in the MVC. Did his transfer really help his career? I think one could make a pretty convincing argument that it did not help him. He went undrafted by the NBA, and has spent the 5 years since his graduation in 2015 playing in lower-level pro leagues overseas-
2015-16 Tezenis Verona of the A2 League in Italy (2nd tier pro league)
2016-17 Aix Maurienne Savoie of the LNB Pro B League in France (2nd tier pro league)
2017-18 Basket Ravenna of the A2 League in Italy (2nd tier pro league)
2018 PetroChimi Bandar Imam of the Iranian pro league (very low caliber pro league in Iran)
2018 Avtodor Saratov of the Russian VTB league
2019-20 Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli league

In fact, I can't really find any cases of past MVC players who significantly helped their careers by transferring to a higher level school. I can cite a number of cases where the opposite has happened, and star players became a mediocre or average players at the higher level, and their careers may have suffered because of it. And I am not talking about a lateral or downward transfer. Those kinds of transfers for players who aren't getting enough playing time often do work out. I am referring to star players who transfer up because they believe they are too good for the MVC.

I think a comparable example to Javon Freeman-Liberty of a former MVC player transferring up would be Ryan Taylor who played at Evansville from 2016-2018. Taylor played his freshman season at Ohio U, then transferred to Evansville, sat out a year, then played 2016-17 and 2017-18 in the MVC.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...-taylor-2.html

In 2016-17 as a sophomore, Taylor averaged 14.1 ppg,
In 2017-18 as a junior, Taylor lead the MVC in scoring with 21.3 ppg, and he shot 42.4% from three. He was voted 1st team All-MVC-
https://mvc-sports.com/news/2018/2/2...nce-teams.aspx

But he transferred after his junior season to Northwestern as a grad-transfer. He played the 2018-19 season at Northwestern, and only averaged 9.8 ppg. His rebounding numbers dropped in half, and his 3-point shooting dropped to just 33.3%. He was the 3rd leading scorer on the 2018-19 Northwestern team that finished dead last among the 14 Big Ten teams. Of course, he was not on anyone's All Big Ten ballot, never got drafted by the NBA. He might have been a Player of the Year candidate in the MVC, and could have gotten drafted and been guaranteed a nice contract.

Most here probably won't remember Marcus Arnold, but he was a very good player for Illinois State back in 2002-03 and 2003-04. He averaged 8.4 ppg as a freshman and 12.3 ppg as a sophomore at ISU.-
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...-arnold-1.html
But then he was enticed by Bruce Weber to transfer to Illinois. There, he barely got off the bench as a junior or senior. His averages fell to 3.5 ppg as a junior and 2.0 ppg as a senior, and all his offensive and defensive numbers declined substantially. He was a starter for ISU in 28 of 29 games as a sophomore, but only started 1 game out of 66 in his junior and senior years. His transfer was an absolute failure for him.
There are other instances where a transfer to a higher level failed to help, and I can dig them up if anyone wants more examples.

Can anyone recall a former MVC player who transferred up and benefited significantly from it? The closest I can recall might be Jordan Caroline. He was a player from Champaign who went to SIU and had a very good freshman season playing for Barry Hinson in 2014-15. He was on the All-Freshman team in 2015 and averaged 9.2 ppg.-
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...aroline-1.html
He transferred to Nevada and had a nice career there playing for some good Nevada teams. But I believe he would have been All-MVC and a possible Player of the Year in the MVC. In the end, he was passed over by the NBA and not drafted, and is toiling in the G-League.

One more comment about Javon Freeman-Liberty- For a wing player, he has a couple significant problems that will hurt him at a higher level. He has shot less than 29% from three in both his seasons at Valpo. If he goes to a Big Ten school, he will be guarded by wings that are bigger than he is and better defenders than he's faced in the MVC. He is only 6'3", which is small for wing players in the Big Ten, compared to Rice (6'5"), Taylor (6'6"), and Caroline (6'7"). Plus, at 6'3", he will not get nearly as many points in the lane as he has in the MVC, and he will have a hard time rebounding as well. He will probably be forced to become more of a perimeter shooter, and with his size and marginal 3-point shooting efficiency, I will predict his scoring will drop significantly.

[houstonbrave]

I agree JFL really needs major improvement in his outside shooting to succeed at a P5 school. Also he really needs to lock himself in the weight room. He is so slight that I can see him getting beaten to a pulp in a league like the Big 10.

[Tommy]

Coach - couldn't agree more. Freeman-Liberty had a great coach at Valpo and I think they are going to be a force in a few years. He would have been a stud in the MVC for as long as he was around and that would have no doubt gotten him recognition, but instead he'll go to a power conference and be fighting for playing time and highlights with all the other rotating in and out high level recruits and I just don't see how that can work in his favor.

On the bright side, as the rest of the MVC gets weaker, it only helps BU become more dominant, and honestly, that's all I really care about. If we can become a 25+ win team on a regular basis, I could live with that!

[MacabreMob]

Did Victor Williams do pretty good at Oklahoma State? (after transfer from Illinois State)

[Da Coach]

Did Victor Williams do pretty good at Oklahoma State? (after transfer from Illinois State)

Yes. Good memory. He is one of the few examples of someone who transferred up and did very well for himself.
Here is his 1998-99 ISU stats as a freshman- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...illiams-1.html
And, 2000-2003 at OK State- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...illiams-2.html

Another one was Nic Moore, another ISU point guard, who transferred to SMU and did well-
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...c-moore-1.html

Must be something about ISU that snuffs out their talent.

[Da Coach]

Looks like former Valparaiso player, and the leading scorer in the MVC this past season. Javon Freeman-Liberty. has aannounced he will transfer to DePaul-
https://twitter.com/AintuJavon/statu...97358566002689

[Tommy]

Meanwhile, some DePaul fans believe he will commit to DePaul today

Leaving a better coach at Valpo.

I just checked and if the site I found is accurate, DePaul hasn't had anyone drafted into the NBA since 2007, and that's about the last time DePaul was relevant. I don't think they've had a .500 record since and they are almost always last in the conference.

I just don't understand why you'd want to go to a team that's gotten rolled over for the last decade, especially considering some of the teams that were supposedly interested according to ESPN (Oregon, Arkansas, Marquette, Georgia, BYU). I think he's going to regret this move.