2024-25 Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Preview
2024-25 Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Preview
After writing an in-depth review of the AAC, ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, MWC and SEC, it's time to evaluate my favorite non-power five leagues: the MVC! Rankings and analysis per team are below.
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Introduction
As a fun way to prepare for this upcoming college basketball season, I’ll review the nation’s top conferences before doing deep dives on the less-heralded conferences as we move closer to the start of the season!
All of my college basketball-related content can be found here.
Let the rankings begin!
Rankings
1. Murray State
The Racers bring back Ja’Cobi Wood and Nick Ellington, and those two will lead the pact for Coach Prohm. They lost about 50% of their minutes but got key replacements with guard Kylen Milton, who put up 17 points per game at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, while also grabbing Kye Lindsay from Texas Tech.
Terence Hardum and Alden Applewhite give Murray State seven starter-level players with good size and defensive versatility. Top-notch decision-making and taking great care of the basketball is the Murray State brand of basketball, whereas they ranked 31st in the country last season.
On top of that, the Racers have the personnel to be a plus-rebounding team with potentially the best offense in the conference. That’s where quality additions like AJ Ferguson (Southern Illinois) add more depth.
After a 20-20 record for Prohm in his first two seasons, it’s his season to battle for the conference title.
2. Northern Iowa
Continuity is a key factor to win, especially at the mid-major level. The Panthers bring back their top two scorers, Tytan Anderson and Trey Campbell, who both play with size and toughness. It’s On top of that, Coach Jacobsen added a key transfer from Loyola-Chicago in Ben Schwiegler, who made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.
Their conference star center in Jacob Hutson also came from the same A-10 program. Depth is what will give the Panthers the nod here. Although they are a sophomore-heavy team, Leon Bond III, who transferred in from Virginia, brings a year of Tony Bennett coaching experience. No matter how you look at it, there’s a starting five that can decide games in various ways.
On top of that, Coach Jacobsen got most of his players back, with this team’s X factor being the wing-sized volume shooter Kyle Pock, who shot 28.4% on 74 attempts last year as a freshman, where the improvement of personnel around him brings the need for him to increase his volume as a sophomore.
3. Bradley
The Braves were the top defense last year, mostly being carried by Malevy Leons and Connor Hickman, who both left the program. It’s a testimony to Bradley’s developmental staff that Leons pursued his career in the NBA while Hickman got himself the power-five transfer to Cincinnati.
Regardless, this remains a stacked team, with Almar Atlason being the next one to leap after having a stellar summer with Iceland at the FIBA U20s. The sophomore has a chance to be this team’s best player, where the consensus puts its target on All-Conference First team member Duke Deen, while Darius Hannah will be their dominant frontcourt piece.
Christian Davis and Zak Montgomery are two other experienced starters, giving Coach Wardle a solid group, whereas Demarion Burch is another name whose role on the team will grow. Regardless, the main challenge is to compensate for the lost defensive quality of both Leons and Hickman. That’s where the margins for error are the smallest.
4. Belmont
It’s rewarding but rough for the Bruins to see Cade Tyson (North Carolina), Malik Dia (Ole Miss), and Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland) leave the program. As one of the best developing programs in the country, the Bruins will have to focus on making the best out of the new crop of incoming transfers.
Jonathan Pierre was a star at the Division II level at Nova Southeastern, being the leading factor to their 36-0 season while being the only player at or above 6-foot-9 to put up 100 assists. After a rough season at Memphis, Pierre is my favorite to win Conference Player of the Year as Belmont’s de facto scoring leader and offensive weapon.
Carter Whitt is another top transfer, coming over from Furman. The strong leading guard will be another productive factor for Coach Alexander, who also added Aiden Noyes from Richmond. With Isaiah Walker staying, Belmont has strong depth among its wings and guards. The X factor for this team will be Brigham Rogers, who has had a promising freshman campaign and will have his backup in another freshman: Drew Scharnowski.
Coach Alexander is a creative coach. I expect Belmont to experiment with many four, or even five-out concepts. Having a roster built where plus-sized guards and wings were the focus. That will help him to be one of the top offenses in the conference. However, defensively, the Bruins will struggle, and thus fall outside of the top three.
5. Illinois State
The Redbirds managed to keep essential starters on its roster. Johnny Kinzinger has had a solid freshman campaign as a 40% three-point shooter on 100 attempts. On top of that, Malachi Poindexter brings valuable experience and has Preseason All-Conference Second Team honors.
They will lead the pact for Coach Pedon, who did a fantastic job by adding Boden Skunberg, another sharpshooter who comes over from South Dakota State, with Landon Wolf making the inner-conference step from Northern Iowa. Illinois State ranked 348th in three-point shooting last year, and they have more than enough weapons to be a volume-shooting team.
The quality of the roster wasn’t their issue. And with a key scorer in Dalton Banks staying on board, the Redbirds have more than enough quality to push for a top-five finish. They won four of their last six conference games last year, including an upset victory against Indiana State. We’ll likely see them continue their good performance with massive shooting quality gains to show for it.
6. Drake
Coach DeVries left the program, and they got one of the best Division II coaches to replace him. Coach Ben McCollum made Northwest Missouri State one of the hot names in college basketball, ready for them to be a Division I program in the future.
It’s time to rebuild Drake, as they lost their entire roster. This shouldn’t be a bad thing in itself, as it allows Coach McCollum to build his roster to put Bulldogs basketball back on the map.
Four of his former players joined him, with Bennett Stirtz, Daniel Abreu, and Isaiah Jackson being the three best contributors on paper. The aforementioned Stirtz is even selected for the Preseason All-Conference Third Team while entering his sophomore year!
On top of that, Cam Manyamu is an All-Conference level center who rounds out a starting five full of quality. Despite building through the portal, Drake has a young group filled with underclassmen and juniors. Despite the level of quality, I predict that the lack of continuity while processing a coaching change will lead to 2024-25 being a transition season for a much brighter future.
7. Valparaiso
Coach Powell has had a rough first year with only three conference wins. However, I expect them to significantly improve due to a combination of retention and solid transfer portal additions.
A brand value riser is the Beacons reuniting the Schwieger twins. On the Missouri Valley media day, Coach Powell spoke to The Field of 68, saying that Carson Schwieger has the potential to be Freshman of the Year. And looking at the depth among freshmen and sophomores, it’s clear that Valparaiso is content with the young group to build for the future.
However, we’ll likely see two seniors leading the teams in production, being the guard tandem of Darius DeAveiro who’ll serve as a pass-first point guard, with Isaiah Stafford carrying the scoring load as the two-guard. He put up close to seventeen points in his first year as a Beacon before having two fantastic years at the JUCO reigns.
This team should at least get to eight conference wins to make it a successful season.
8. Indiana State
The Sycamores have had one of the most successful seasons any mid-major team has had in the last decade. However, their dream year where they continued to play big games until April comes at the expense of retaining only 3.1% of their minutes. Coach Schertz left for Saint Louis, whereas his associate head coach Matthew Graves took over the highly-wanted Indiana State job.
With very little time to hit the portal, Coach Graves did what every long-term investing coach would do: make sure to add many underclassmen. Aaron Gray will get rewarded as a returner and culture carrier with an extended role. Samage Teel (Presbyterian) is a gifted shooter and shot-creator who will carry a large chunk of the scoring load, while Markus Harding (Central Michigan) gives them an experienced big body in the interior.
This upcoming season is a transition year for Indiana State. There is talent with a clear culture, which will lead to them collecting some wins in conference play. But I don’t expect the Sycamores to be an impactful team in Coach Graves’ debut season.
9. Southern Illinois
Kennard Davis, Jr. and Ali Dibba are the two big names for the Salukis, both Preseason All-Conference Third Team members. However, we cannot forget the impact Elijah Elliot (Rio Grande) and Davion Sykes (Texas State) will have, with Damion Mayo, Jr. completing the starting five as he comes over from conference rival Missouri State.
Coach Nagy is one of the greatest who has coached at the mid-major level. Ever. In his three decades serving as the main man, he won five conference titles while being the Horizon League Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons between 2018 and 2020.
But it takes time to adjust to a new program. Southern Illinois will be relevant, but the lack of depth is why I have them as the ninth-best program. The X factor for this team will be their floor-stretching four, Jarrett Hensley, who emerged as a solid three-point shooter last year.
10. Missouri State
After losing Alston Mason to Arizona State, Coach Martin was forced to hit the reset button for the Bears. And he has brought in many underclassmen and juniors to build around, with Dez White being the main guy. After a promising freshman year at Austin Peay, the tough and strong scoring guard will likely be the most productive player on this roster.
However, the most underrated transfer here is Mozae Downing-Rivers, coming over from the JUCO reigns, where he won the national championship. He’s a clear mid-major-level starter who will serve as a connecting guard. The returning Nick Kramer is a sharpshooter who will see his three-point volume increase, with Sam Murray II and Allen Udemadu being the strong interior presence that will round out this team’s rotation.
Many pieces to work with. But a youthful roster without a true conference star doesn’t give Missouri State a good shot at competing in Coach Martin’s debut season.
11. UIC
Coach Ehsan took over at Illinois Chicago after serving as an assistant at Stanford. And he didn’t inherit a winning team, as Isaiah Rivera (DePaul), CJ Jones (Kansas State), and Toby Okani (West Virginia) all earned power-five transfers. With seven other outgoing transfers, it’s time to hit the rebuild button. The challenging part for the Flames is that they didn’t have much time to acquire the players they wanted.
Regardless, Coach Ehsan and his staff deserve credit for the roster they compiled. The floor-stretching Filip Skobalj (JR.) is one of the top shooters at the mid-major level, while Ethan Pickett is their second returner who will thrive in an expanded role. The plus-sized ball handler brings the much-needed creativity Illinois Chicago needs.
The name to keep an eye on is Jordan Mason (Texas State). The lightning-quick paint touch generator will do wonders for Coach Ehsan’s concept of floor spacing. Therefore, adding shooters like Joshua Reaves (Mount St. Mary’s) makes more sense, as the Flames will be a volume three-point shooting team where the biggest question marks are on the defensive end and their lack of true depth.
12. Evansville
The Purple Aces lost two key players Ben Humrichous (Illinois) and Yacine Toumi (Seton Hall). It’s a testimony to their development that led to power-five transfers, but the lack of matching talent additions via the portal forced Coach Ragland to continue with a less competitive roster.
The returning Joshua Hughes (6’10”) and Tanner Cuff (6’7”) will be the main two names to keep an eye on. Incoming leading guard Tayshawn Comer (Eastern Kentucky) will be the main scorer among the Evansville guards. Connor Turnbull comes over from Coach Ragland’s previous gig at Butler, reuniting him with the floor-stretching big he recruited to Evansville.
However, incoming JUCO transfer Ramondo Battle II is the most underrated transfer for this team. While scoring close to fifteen points per game, the true wing ball handler is a potential power-five conference transfer this team has. Outside of the aforementioned names, there’s not much depth available, making it an uphill battle to compete for the Purple Aces.
Finalizing Summary
To summarize the piece, here’s the list for my 2024-25 Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Preview:
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