2024-25 Preseason picks

[bradleyfan124]

Mid-Major Madness Preseason Player of the Year- Duke Deen - https://x.com/mid_madness/status/1840756795373166758

Other picks-
Newcomer of the Year- Samage Teel of Indiana State - https://x.com/mid_madness/status/1840758451452236049

Freshman of the Year- Makhai Valentine of Missouri State - https://x.com/mid_madness/status/1840761537214255181

Question: Does Zek Montgomery qualify for the Newcomer of the Year award?

My pick for Newcomer of the Year.......Corey Thomas, Bradley

[Tommy]

Other picks-
Newcomer of the Year- Timoty van der Knaap

Freshman of the Year- Jaquan Johnson

Question: Does Zek Montgomery qualify for the Newcomer of the Year award? HE SHOULD! He's new to the valley (again)!

[Da Coach]

Another college basketball blog ranks Bradley # 75 nationally. They have a pretty thorough writeup about the Braves team - https://collegehoopstop50.com/2024/0...radley-braves/

Only 2 MVC teams in Top 100 - https://collegehoopstop50.com/category/missouri-valley/

Top 100 page- https://collegehoopstop50.com/category/top-100-2/

[yoda]

IMG_3137.jpg
In his article about Bradley picked #1
Dave Eminian says this about opening night MVC schedule:
”Northern Illinois get Duquesne”

how silly is that?
Northern Illinois has nothing to do with the MVC,
so I assume he means Northern Iowa, but they aren’t playing Duquesne either - they’re playing Dubuque. (Duquesne plays Lipscomb)

[BUBraves2006]

All the expectations are there. Now we have to make it happen.

[Da Coach]

From the MVC- Preseason poll - https://mvc-sports.com/news/2024/10/...-favorite.aspx

[tomahawk chop]

It is great to get all this early recognition yet it still needs to be proven on the court. This is a good position to be in and hopefully our team will perform as expected and win the regular season championship and Arch Madness. Looking forward to the start of the season.

[Da Coach]

Preseason All-Conference teams- Here are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams -
Congratulations to Bradley's two 1st-teamers Duke Deen and Darius Hannah, and to 2nd-teamer Zek Montgomery!
And as expected, Duke Deen is the Preseason Player of the Year!

[Dub]

Nice to get some recognition, but with the extreme turnover in players and coaches across the league, I’d rate these projections as historically short on reliable evidence. I like our chances, and our carryover speaks to knowing our team and chemistry pretty well… but everyone else is a wildcard. No reason to doubt that one or more of the other teams will seize the opportunity and shock everyone.

[Da Coach]

I agree. Some of the preseason projections will turn out to be wrong because of the limited amount of information we have on all the new players in the league.
A couple names on the Preseason All-MVC teams that surprised me a little... One is SIU's Kennard Davis. I think he will become a very good player, but his numbers from last year are underwhelming. He was the 8th highest scorer on the SIU team last year (4.2 ppg), and his offensive game is somewhat limited (41.7% FG%, 30% 3pt%). He is not a perimeter scorer, and for his size (6'6", 220 lb) his rebounding numbers (3.0 rpg) are less than Duke Deen's.
And the other I would maybe question is Drake's Bennett Stirtz. He played 2 seasons at Division II Northwest Missouri State for new Drake head coach Ben McCollum, who has a lot of confidence in him. I've never seen him play, but it's surprising to see him land on the 3rd team Preseason All-MVC having never played a game at the D1 level. Maybe he's the next Ben Humrichouse, but I'd have to see it before I'll believe it.
If I was to pick a new incoming transfer, there are a couple I might have picked ahead of Stirtz-
Boden Skunberg of ILSU. He's a 5th year player who lead North Dakota State with a 14.1 ppg average last season and 15.1 ppg the year before, and he did it against D1 opponents.
Max Weisbrod of UNI was the Player of the Year in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at D2 Northern Michigan University and lead them to the D2 NCAA Tournament. He averaged 17.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, and he shot 39.1% from three.
And there are others...

I have compiled stats for all 16 of the players named on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Preseason All-MVC teams (below).
Does anyone have any issues with these picks, and who might have also been a considertion for All-MVC pick that was not listed.

1st team-
Duke Deen- 5th year, started 35 of 35 games last year, 13.9 ppg, 43.7% FG%, 38.1% 3pt%, 3.2 rpg, 3.9 apg
Tytan Anderson- 5th year, started 33 of 33 games last year, 11.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 50.2% FG%, 25.0% 3pt%
Darius Hannah- 5th year, started 35 of 35 games last year, 11.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 61.2% FG%
Johnny Kinziger- 2nd year, started 9 of 32 games last year, 8.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 39.2% 3pt%
Cooper Schwieger- 2nd year, started 31 of 31 games last year, 13.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 50.2% FG%, 36.3% 3pt%
JaCobi Wood- 5th year, started 32 of 32 games last year, 12.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.1 apg, 45% FG%, 37.4% 3pt%

2nd team-
Trey Campbell- 3rd year, started 31 of 33 games last year, 9.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.3 apg, 39.7% 3pt%
Nick Ellington- 5th year, started 32 of 32 games last year, 11.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.7 apg, FG%, 0% 3pt%58.8%
Jacob Hutson- 5th year, started 33 of 33 games last year, 9.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 56.6% FG%, 45.8% 3pt%
Zek Montgomery- 4th year senior, started 15 of 31 games last year, 9.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.5 apg, 43.0% FG%, 31.5% 3pt%- at Rhode Island
Malachi Poindexter- 5th year, started 25 of 32 games last year, 8.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, 33.6% 3pt%

3rd team-
Kennard Davis, Jr.- 2nd year, started 10 of 32 games last year, 4.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, 41.7% FG%, 30% 3pt%
Ali Dibba- 4th year, started 30 of 31 games last year at Abilene Christian, 15.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.2 apg, 47.7% FG%, 34.7% 3pt%
Cam Manyawu- 2nd year, started 10 of 32 games at Wyoming last year, 7.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.9 apg, 60.7% FG%, 0% 3pt%
Filip Skobalj- 4th year, started 29 of 31 games last year at UIC, 8.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 47.0% FG%, 41.8% 3pt%
Bennett Stirtz- 3rd year, started 34 of 34 games last year at D2 Northwest Missouri State, 15.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 51.0% FG%, 32.7% 3pt%,

[Da Coach]

The Big Ten released their 2024-25 preseason media poll today - https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...an-underrated/

1) Purdue
2) Indiana
3) UCLA
4) Illinois
5) Michigan State
6) Oregon
7) Rutgers
8 ) Ohio State
9) Michigan
10)Maryland
11 Iowa
12 tie) Wisconsin
12 tie) Nebraska
14) USC
15) Washington
16) Northwestern
17) Penn State
18 ) Minnesota

[Da Coach]

Another Twitter blogger, Erik Haslam, posts his 2024-25 Division I team rankings using his own "Haslametrics" - https://haslametrics.com/

His team summary for Bradley shows that he is projecting BU to finish the regular season with an overall record of 27-2, and 19-1 in the MVC. - https://haslametrics.com/ratings2.php?yr=&tid=165
He does not include the game against non-D1 Judson, and only includes the first game in the Myrtle Beach tournament -

27-2 overall and 19-1 in the MVC sounds good to me

MVC rankings- projected record (Overall & MVC)- click on team name to see full profile
83) Bradley- 27-2, 19-1
109) Murray State- 19-9, 15-5
128') Indiana State- 18-11, 12-8
129) Drake-- 15-10, 12-8
130) Southern Illinois- 16-11, 12-8
141) Northern Iowa- 16-13, 10-10
145) Belmont- 16-13, 10-10
154) Missouri State- 14-13, 11-9
172) UI-Chicago- 12-14, 10-10
184) Illinois State- 10-18, 7-13
243) Valparaiso- 8-21, 2-18
314) Evansville- 2-28, 0-20

[Tommy]

Holy cow! That’s a high bar to set! That would be a dream season, but I would be shocked (pleasantly) if that happened.

[Da Coach]

Holy cow! That’s a high bar to set! ...

Not for Evansville and Valpo...
But seriously, as much as I'd like to see Bradley dominate the MVC and go 19-1, there is no way that will happen.
I think the Haslametrics formula doesn't give enough weight in favor of the home team and against the road team.
Every road game in the MVC will be tough, and I can't see Bradley losing just 1 of them.

[Tommy]

Not for Evansville and Valpo...
But seriously, as much as I'd like to see Bradley dominate the MVC and go 19-1, there is no way that will happen.
I think the Haslametrics formula doesn't give enough weight in favor of the home team and against the road team.
Every road game in the MVC will be tough, and I can't see Bradley losing just 1 of them.

Can’t argue with that. Road game wins are like gold. Still hoping the high turnover experienced this year in the Valley helps us succeed early and often!