Familiar Faces in New Places

Valley Connections Run Deep

(St. Louis, MO) – Despite gigantic player movement in college basketball we find some Missouri Valley Conference familiar faces in new places. Several players have changed teams but stayed in or returned to the Valley and we find family connections have a connecting affect.

Since five new head coaches have joined Valley programs, there is even more player relocation than might be expected, but some long standing ties have created new MVC homes for some very familiar faces.

Zek Coming Home

After a year outside of the Valley and playing a little out of position, Zek Montgomery has returned to the MVC and to the Bradley Braves. Montgomery played 52 games with Brian Wardle’s Braves, starting 25 and collecting 312 career points in the Valley. Last season he played more wing than guard at Rhode Island and averaged a career high 9.6 points and 4.1 rebounds.

Wardle is excited to have Montgomery back and says the Louisville, Kentucky native is spending the summer getting reacclimated to playing with the ‘ball in his hands’.

The 6’6 Montgomery gives Bradley a ‘big guard’ to pair with 5’8 Duke Deen and provides great flexibility in a lineup that contains 6’9 Darius Hannah, 6’7 wing Christian Davis and an emerging talent in guard DeMarion Burch.

Intra-Conference Moves

Potential game changers have transferred within the conference. Southern Illinois is at the center of this activity. New head coach Scott Nagy landed two Missouri State players and the Salukis saw one contributor head to Murray State.

Damien Mayo and Tyler Bey moved from Springfield to Carbondale and that could be a titanic change. Mayo appeared in 60 games for former coach Dana Ford (starting 38) and is the quintessential ‘coach on the floor’. The 6’3 St. Louis native’s statistics don’t impress, but his leadership and grit are team-building factors.

Nagy says he ‘makes the right plays’.

 

Bey arrived to the Missouri State campus with a huge set of press clippings. His experience at the NBA’s Overtime Elite program and high ratings on the recruiting sites made him a ‘can’t miss’ MVC player. Injuries and other issues had Bey in and out of the Bears’ lineup and something of a mystery to Valley watchers.

As a 6’9 guard his upside is intriguing. During early SIU workouts Bey seemed to struggle, but Nagy the New Jersey native was one of the team’s best players during the last several summer practices.

 

After starting 22 games for Bryan Mullings, A.J. Ferguson has moved to Murray State. The 6’7 Ferguson is an athletic, high flyer and is a bringer of energy.

https://x.com/SIU_Basketball/status/1759025216066551991

Ferguson averaged 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds las season and is entering his third Valley season. While not a great three-point shooter, he is a capable defender, gets to and makes free throws and has a strong competitive streak.

Big Potential

Former Valley ‘all-bench team’ member Landon Wolf moves over from Northern Iowa to Illinois State. Wolf found himself in a ‘numbers game’ in Cedar Falls and played just 14 minutes per game during his sophomore season.

The red-shirt junior brings some much needed shooting ability to the Redbird lineup. As a proven three-point shooter (career .385), he is an immediate upgrade for the shooting deficient Redbirds of 2023-24.

Lightly used Sam Murray II moves from Murray State to Missouri State. The 6’9 junior appeared in forty games, scoring 37 points during his two Racer seasons. Well-traveled, Tyem Freeman is part of Rob Ehsan’s first roster at Illinois Chicago. Freeman red-shirted at Missouri State (2019-20) and played two seasons at Central Florida and one at Kent State. He converted .454 from deep for the Golden Flashes.

Ehsan says Freeman is an interesting player and could have a big role at UIC.

 

Familiar Faces – Family Ties

Little brothers are populating the Missouri Valley Conference. Familiar faces Redek Born and Cade Courbat have joined Ben Jacobson’s Northern Iowa program. Their older brothers Bowen and Chase respectively aren’t with the team anymore, but the younger siblings have signed on.

Jacobson says there are significant similarities and differences between the two Born brothers.

Bowen took his nearly 1,500 career points with him to Colorado State. He will spend his graduate season with former Drake coach Niko Medved and assistant coach and UNI legend Ali Farokhmenesh.

The Panthers will also be joined by former Valley member Ben Schwieger. After a redshirt season while Loyola Chicago was still in the Valley, Schwieger was named to the Atlantic Ten’s 2023 ‘all-freshman’ team. Injuries held the Aurora, Illinois native to ten games last season.

Speaking of former Ramblers, Braden Norris’ little brother Cade will join Landon Wolf at Illinois State. Norris is a three star recruit and as Ohio’s thirteenth best player. Coach Ryan Pedon says Norris has a high basketball IQ and makes winning plays.

After a stellar season by Valparaiso’s Cooper Schwieger (no relation to Ben), his twin brother has joined the team. Carson tranferred from Nagy’s old team, Wright State. The new Schwieger redshirted with Nagy and spent his ‘free season’ working on his body, getting stronger and quicker. Both Schweigers performed in high school at Blue Valley Southwest (Kansas City) and then spent a prep year at highly touted Link Year Academy.

Head coach Roger Powell thinks Carson can contribute and Cooper will become one of the dominant Valley players.

 

What About the Coaches?

Bryan Mullins’ brother and assistant coach Brendan preceded Ferguson to Murray State. The elder Mullins has extensive MVC experience having assisted at SIU and Illinois State. Staying in the Valley Mullins has brought experience and outstanding recruiting skills to the Racer program.

After a year at Wyoming, Bryston Williams returns to the MVC. Williams worked with first-year Drake coach Ben McCollum at Northwest Missouri and spent two seasons with Josh Schertz at Indiana State.

Will Veasley is staying in the Valley. The highly regarded Veasley is a former Butler player and like Williams has NBA experience. Veasley spent the last three seasons at Illinois Chicago.

Speaking of the Flames, Johnny Hill is part of the UIC staff. Hill has extensive coaching experience and enjoyed a solid playing  career at Illinois State, UT Arlington and Purdue.

Luke Smith has returned to Belmont. The former all Ohio Valley star coached two seasons at Travecca Nazarene. Peter Funk moves from Valparaiso to Evansville. Funk was the Beacons’ Director of Basketball Operations and is now an assistant with the Purple Aces.

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