Four Tier Rankings – Part Four – Blank Canvas

Three Teams with Unformed Rosters

(St. Louis, MO) – Three highly respected coaches have teams with unformed rosters. As of this writing, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso and Illinois Chicago have gaping holes on their teams and this triad remains a mystery for us to evaluate. Each squad seems to be largely a blank canvas.

This final edition of ‘Four Tier Rankings’ of Missouri Valley Conference basketball programs is the hardest to frame. While we wait for these roster spots to be fill, if we were giving offseason grades, these would be ‘incomplete’.

Parts One (Stacked and Ready), Two (Scary Potential) and Three (Big Improvements) allowed us to attempt deep dives into the talent pool of nine Valley squads. We’re convinced these coaches will land talented players, but the combination of graduation and transfers, has caused each of these teams to be a blank canvass.

As always our scouting reports are listed in alphabetical order and our high school state rankings are found at prephoops.com.

Four Tier Rankings – Blank Canvass

Illinois Chicago Flames – 12-20 (4-16)

Recent signings have removed some of the mystery surrounding the Flames, but the considerable overhaul of the UIC roster makes this team a blank canvass to us. Two important returners give coach Luke Yaklich something to build around and recent commitments from talented players points toward better things for UIC’s second MVC season.

The Core

Six players who logged significant UIC minutes last year return. Gone are the team’s top two scorers, but leading rebounder and third leading scorer Toby Okani is back (11.4 ppg and 6.8 boards). Junior Filip Skobalj (7.7) played a significant role and four freshmen had productive seasons giving Yaklich confidence about their sophomore seasons.

East St. Louis guard Christian Jones (6.0) started 19 games and handed out over two assists per contest. Fellow rookies Jaden Brownell, Steven Clay and Cameron Fens all played between eleven and thirteen minutes per game. Brownell showed the ability to hit the three (.395). 6’10 center Fens gave glimpses of being an adequate rim protector with 26 blocks while Clay averaged 3.4 points per game.

While only Okani and Skobalj participated in all 32 of UIC’s contests, the four freshmen all appeared at least 22 times.

Prephoops.com called Jones the tenth best player in Illinois, Clay the fifth best in Wisconsin and Brownell eighth in Utah during their senior seasons. Only Fens (14^th in Iowa) was ranked outside of the top ten in their respective states.

This core is unproven, but has definite potential for growth.

The Newcomers – Veterans on the Way

While evaluating his current roster, Yaklich clearly thought he need veterans in the backcourt. He has landed three Division 1 guards and one from the junior college ranks.

A name familiar to Valley fans, Marquise Kennedy joins UIC as a grad transfer. The Chicago native and Loyola-Chicago veteran has had a productive, though limited career due to nagging injuries. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.2 rebounds for last year’s Ramblers’ squad. When healthy Kennedy is an explosive and dangerous offensive player and very cabable on the the defensive end.

The other three guards bring size, experience and similar looking statistics. Another home-grown product is Colorado State transfer Isaiah Rivera. The Genesso, Illinois native averaged just under nine points and nearly four rebounds for last year’s Rams. The 6’5 senior was an integral part of CSU’s 2022 NCAA Tournament team.

Houston Christian transfer Andrew King is a 6’3 guard who averaged just under nine points and four rebounds for a ten-win Huskies squad. The sophomore-to-be also handed out 4.6 assists per game for the Southland Conference team.

Ethan Pickett has spent two seasons in the junior college ranks and last season averaged 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds at Triton College. Each of these four backcourt members has earned a reputation as effective defenders.

In the ‘guard-driven’ Missouri Valley Conference, loading up on bigger, physical, defensive-minded and versatile guards is a wise strategy. While UIC is largely a blank canvas due the youth of the returners and questions about how the four new guards will mesh with one another, better days could be ahead for the Flames.

Southern Illinois Salukis – 23-10 (14-6)

After the most successful season since 2007, how could this team be a blank canvas? As of this writing, Bryan Mullins’ roster remains a huge work in progress. Gone are grad transfers and history making players like Marcus Domask and Lance Jones. Both left for the Big Ten and likely much larger NIL-driven paydays.

Backup guard Dalton Banks transferred to Illinois State and seldom used Foster Wonders left for Green Bay. Jawaun Newton has graduated and to date the Salukis have nine players on their roster and one in-coming high school signee. Two of those nine players are walk ons and five of the nine have COMBINED to play 29 games last season and score a cumulative 71 points.

It’s a blank canvas.

The Core – Four With Experience

Xavier Johnson, Clarence Rupert, Trent Brown and Troy D’Amico have sizeable experience and are well known. None of them have been a Division 1 ‘prime time player’.

Johnson is the player Mullins will be building around. After three seasons at George Mason and collecting 511 points, he played in the shadow of Domask and Jones last season. While just a career .330 shooter from deep, the 6’1 guard was a spectacular .427 in 2022-23. Unless big time transfers come in, expect Johnson to lead the Salukis in scoring.

Trent Brown returns for a ‘covid year’. The proverbial ‘good soldier’, Brown has been a trusted and reliable, four-year player for Mullins. He understands Mullins’ culture and systems and will be a foundational piece of this roster rebuild. Brown has worn the Saluki uniform over 100 times and has scored just over 400 points. While not a ‘star in the making’ he will provide leadership and continuity.

The Bigs

A pair of junior big men are ready to take on larger roles. Clarence Rupert and Troy D’Amico are teammates that make ‘winning plays. Neither are overly athletic, nor do their numbers impress, but each will do the little things that produce team success. Rupert participated in the 2022 St. Peters NCAA Tournament success, won a state title in high school and helped the Salukis to 23 wins last season. He is a physical inside presence.

D’Amico is one of the highest rated players ever recruited at SIU and could be the secret weapon on this team. He knocks down threes (.379 for his career), dives on the floor, passes well and makes smart intuitive plays. Watch for D’Amico to contend for a spot on the ‘most improved team’ next Spring.

While inexperienced, sophomores Cade Hornecker and Scottie Ebube are big and and have big upsides. Hornecker and the red shirt Ebube were both highly decorated high school players. The 6’10 Ebube has battled injuries, but if healthy can be a handful in the paint. D’Amico was ranked as the tenth best player in Illinois senior class. Ebube was ranked eleventh. The two Salukis faced one another during their prep careers.

Hornecker is a seven-footer from Texas, where he was ranked twenty-sixth. During his small sample size of action last season (11 games), he made six of eight field goal attempts and all four of his shots from the charity stripe. He moves well for a big man.

If Mullins wants to ‘go big’ this season, he potentially has the horses to do so.

The Newcomer – There’s Only One So Far

Vashon High School is consistently one of the best high school programs in the State of Missouri and Wolverine small forward Kennard Davis is on his way to Carbondale. The 6’6 Davis is ranked fourth in the State scoring nearly 15 points per game converting roughly 40 percent of his shots from deep. Davis was the leading scorer for the Missouri State champs.

He has a bright Missouri Valley Conference future, but is the only committed recruit so far.

SIU’s roster is a blank canvas.

Valparaiso Beacons – 11-21 (5-15)

Valparaiso has a new coach and coaching staff, a relatively new athletic director and will have virtually a brand new roster some time soon. The Beacons are a blank canvas. First year head coach Roger Powell Jr and his staff are busy hitting the recruiting trail, looking for those players that will fit the style and culture they want to build in northern Indiana.

Gone, via grad transfer is All-Valley performer Ben Krikke and other graduates Kobe King, Quinton Green and Nick Edwards. Retiring for physical reasons are Joe Headstrom and Emil Freese-Vilien. Maximus Nelson and Preston Ruedinger transferred out.

We believe Powell and his experienced coaching staff will recruit well, but this is a desperately thin bench during the first week of May. No returning Valpo player (and there are four of them) started more than ten games and none of them averaged more than 17 minutes per game.

There are two hold-over recruits from the Matt Lottich’s efforts, that as of now are still in the fold. Powell has recently added two more players. The former Valpo assistant and Chicago-land native knows the region and his history at Gonzaga and Wake Forest suggests he knows how to recruit and knows how to win.

High level players he has previously coached believe in ‘The Rev’.

 

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Fresh Face, Fresh Vibes 💡 pic.twitter.com/Y29yTMOlwU

— Valpo Basketball (@ValpoBasketball) May 4, 2023

 

The Core – Faithful Part-Timers

Jerome Palm, Connor Barrett, Ibra Bayu, Darius DeAveiro and walk on Joe Vick stuck around after the firing of Lottich. Palm is a 6’10 native of Netherlands who started nine games while participating in 23. Valpo is his third school after playing at Daytona (Florida) State College and Hillsborough Community College.

He has battled injuries and so have the other three scholarship returners.

While Barrett was relatively healthy last season, he has missed numerous games during his Beacon career. He is arguably the most accomplished of the Valpo returners. He was averaging 6.5 points per game during his freshman season before an injury ended that campaign. The 6’6 wing participated in just 13 contests his sophomore year before getting in 31 last season. When healthy, Barrett routinely makes threes (.353) and frees (.789).

DeAveiro’s season game to an end after playing in 25 games. While not scoring at a great clip, the Orangeville Prep (Canada) product was handing out 2.7 assists per game. DeAveiro’s prep team, won multiple Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association championships.

Valpo’s other Dutch player is Ibra Bayu who showed real promise during his rookie campaign. The 6’8 forward made nearly 51% of his field goal attempts while averaging 2.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. His season ended with an injured hernia. Lottich’s staff expected big things from Bayu who had played just three seasons of organized basketball before becoming a Beacon.

The Newcomers – More Canadians

Lottich had the ability to recruit internationally and particularly in Canada (see Ben Krikke) and two of Lottich’s early signees, Canadians Yanis Bamba and Jahari Williamson are still in the fold. Bamba rated as Canada’s third best player is a 6’6 guard from Montreal and Williamson is a 6’1 point guard from Ontario.

Since his hiring, Powell  has picked up junior college transfer Isaiah Stafford and Central Michigan transfer Ola Ajiboye. The 6’8 Chicago native averaged three points and 3.4 boards for the Chippewas last season.

Stafford’s versatile game (12.5 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game) were extremely valuable to the junior college national champion John A. Logan squad.

There is much promise in these newcomers, but with so many roster spots to fill, it is clear that Valpo is a blank canvas.

Knowing these coaches and that there is a ton of talent still in the portal and coming out of the prep scene, we believe any of these teams could be competitive next season, but for now each of these teams remains a blank canvas.

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