(St. Louis, MO) – Who are the SIUE Cougars? Many in the Ohio Valley Conference and in the midwest are waiting to find out. The Cougars are recent additions to the OVC after transitioning from Division II to Division I and are still feeling their way into ‘big boy’ basketball.
Last season the Cougars were 9 and 18 and racked up five conference wins. With the departure of Jerome Jones and Mark Yelovich, Head Coach Lennox Forrester has turned a large part of his recruiting focus to the college transfer world. He has come up with some good players, but it is returners Kris Davis and Michael Messer (Lafayette High School – St. Louis) that could be key to this year’s second voyage into OVC waters.
The backcourt could be in good hands with transfers Doninvine Stewart (Bradley), Christian Salecich (SLU) and Cameron Craig (Coffeyville, KS) ready to go with some post high school experience.
The Cougars were picked to finish last in the OVC’s West Division by the league coaches and SIDs. With so many new players, the “unknown” is a big factor in that selection.
SIUE plays a demanding schedule this year. On top of the rugged OVC schedule they open at Arkansas, host Saint Louis U, travel to Oregon State and play on the road at Loyola-Chicago and Southern Illinois Carbondale from the Missouri Valley Conference.
The transition from a lower division of college basketball has not been kind to the Cougar win total nor their RPI rating. They haven’t won more than ten games in any of the last five seasons and haven’t posted an RPI under 300.
Do Good
Twitter Feed
Three more road wins so far in @ValleyHoops as @BradleyUMBB @BelmontMBB & @UIC_MBB capture road wins. Looks like @DrakeBulldogsMB will do so too. #FatherHarry
Well @RacersWBB followed the men's example and swept Iowa in the @ValleyHoops race! Racers are 6-1 & if @BelmontWBB holds on to their Iowa sweep, the Bruins and Racers will be tied for first. What a trip for those two teams! #FatherHarry
After today's action, @EIUWBB is 8-0 in @OVCSports play. 4 teams @usiwbb @TTUWBB @LRTrojans @LindenwoodWBB are tied at 6-2. Six other teams are under .500. Great race to the finish lies ahead. #FatherHarry
Really entertaining game between @BelmontMBB & @UEAthletics_MBB. Under four minutes left in a one point game. Gabriel Pozzato back in the Aces' lineup. Rogers is playing like I've expected. Triples are dropping. It's fun and @kylejpeach bringing it on #ThePlus #FatherHarry
