Missouri Valley Next Generation Stars

Who Replaces Green, Mosley and Prim?

(St. Louis, MO) – Who are the Missouri Valley next generation stars? All five of the Missouri Valley Conference’s all-conference players are gone. The league’s top four scorers are gone and the conference’s three top assist men are elsewhere. Nine of the Valley’s top three-point shooters are no longer around.

Who replaces A.J. Green, Isiaih Mosley, Gaige Prim, Terry Roberts and Lucas Williamson?

It is a young and unproven Missouri Valley Conference we will watch this season. There are three new teams, one team is gone and new coaches at two of the old teams. Saying this is a transition year in the Valley is an understatement, so who are the next generation stars?

Seven players from last year’s second and third-team all-league lists return and a ton of talent has transferred in, or traveled in on the new teams’ rosters. It isn’t as simple as plugging in last year’s next-level players.

While the ‘portal pandemic’ continues, at least eleven new players averaged at least ten points per games at their previous Division One stop and three of them received some sort of all-conference notation in their former league.

All-American junior college players are on practically every Valley roster and we’ve never seen this many three and four-star recruits coming aboard. Calling this a transition year is like calling Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine a border skirmish.

So, who are the Valley’s next generation stars? Here are ten players that should be on the league’s preseason all-conference team.

Next Generation Stars Numbers 9 & 10

Bowen Born and Ben Krikke will be all- conference performers. This is Born’s year to shine at Northern Iowa. After being forced into a starting role during his freshman year and being named the Freshman of the Year he was pushed back to the bench last season. So, he became the league’s best Sixth Man!

The 5’11 lefty will take the reins of the UNI offense and the former Iowa ‘Mr. Basketball’ will star in and offensive role. His 2,494 prep points remind us that he can score and his 91 percent free-throw percentage indicates he can shoot.

As Ben Jacobson acclimates his team to life after Green, Born will be this year’s go-to scorer. His backcourt mate, Nate Heise could give him a run for his money as UNI’s all-conference vote-getter. Heise is a hard-nosed defender and scored more and shot it better than Born last season. At 6’4 he can also score in the lane.

As a two-time, third-team honoree Valparaiso’s Ben Krikke will move up the ladder this season. The 6’9 lefty may be the Valley’s most efficient player. He makes 54 percent of his shots and doesn’t waste his time shooting threes. While that could change this season, the Canadian forward (14.4 ppg) knows how to get to the block, cut through the lane and finish around the rim.

His teammate Kobe King could also be considered. The 6’4 wing averaged 14 points per game and like Krikke, grabbed nearly five rebounds per contest. King isn’t really a three-point shooter either, but is in better shape this season and could be a much bigger factor in the Beacon’s offensive scheme.

Numbers 7 & 8

The first newcomer on our list is Indiana State’s Courvoisier McCauley. As a former Lincoln Memorial player ‘Voss’ knows coach Josh Schertz’s system and under Schertz was a Division 2 all-American. McCauley transferred to DePaul where he averaged nearly six point per game.

The 6’5 grad-transfer recorded seven, double-digit games at DePaul and during his final season at LMU he converted nearly 44 percent of his long distance attempts. Schertz calls him a natural scorer and Sycamore watchers believe he’ll be the team’s leading scorer.

Two other former LMU players received league-wide honors last season and when they played with McCauley, he was the star. Assuming I am correct, that would place four players with all-conference type of skill on Indiana State’s dark-horse looking roster.

Drake’s Roman Penn is so good and so efficient that Valley watchers almost overlook him. He has battled through injuries during his time in Des Moines, but has grabbed a first-team nod, two third team mentions and a newcomer award. While not a great three-point shooter, he makes every other Bulldog better.

His 11.1 point scoring average doesn’t reveal his offensive prowess and his 3.9 assists per game don’t scream ‘assist king’ at you, but he can do it all. His ability at 6’1, to get in the lane and score or get fouled is uncanny and he rarely misses a free-throw (.831).

Penn’s biggest obstacle to landing on an all-conference team are his teammates. Garrett Sturtz (second), D.J. Wilkins (defense) and Tucker DeVries (second) are stars in their own right.

Numbers 5 & 6

Bradley’s Rienk Mast is the Valley’s best returning ‘big man’. While others may challenge him as the season wears on, for now, he’s the ‘big man on campus’. At 6’9 and 240 pounds he is a physical specimen. There doesn’t appear to be an ounce of fat on that sculpted body and he puts it to use.

Mast is the Valley’s reigning rebounding champion (8.4 per game) and averaged 11.6 points per game. The Netherlands native was on the 2021 all-freshman team and was a third-teamer last season along with being named to the ‘all-improved’ team. Coach Brian Wardle says Mast is a relentless worker and has greatly improved his outside shooting.

He made just 29 percent (27 total) from deep, but if that number moves higher, he will be virtually unguardable.

Our second newcomer is Murray State’s Rob Perry. The Stetson transfer is another tall guard with good athleticism. Perry was the ASUN’s 2020 Freshman of the Year and last season averaged 15.9 points and 5.7 rebounds before an injury ended his season after 14 games.

Perry racked up 1,108 points in three seasons at Stetson and proved he could hit the three, score from the line and be a factor on the glass. Head coach Steve Prohm’s first season in the Valley will go a lot more smoothly because of Perry’s presence.

Prohm has three-star Braxton Stacker and four-star Sam Murray coming from the high school ranks and other significant D1 transfers joining the Racer program. Murray State will be very talented.

Numbers 3 & 4

Missouri State coach Dana Ford is touting forward Donovan Clay as the Valley’s Player of the Year. If the 6’8 senior is a focal point of the Bears’ offense, Ford could be right. Clay is already a lock-down defender and sturdy rebounder (6.1 per game). While deferring to high-scoring teammates last season Clay averaged 8.4 points per game. He completed 54 percent of his shots and the former all-freshman team member (at Valpo) led the Bears in minutes played and was the MVC’s third leading shot blocker.

More offensive opportunities would sky-rocket his all-conference and player of the year campaign.

Missouri State has some very talented incoming players. Former four-star recruit Chance Moore comes over from Arkansas and former three-star recruit James Graham arrives from Maryland.

Marcus Domask is having a great Southern Illinois career. While he has picked up two second team honors and a Freshman of the Year trophy, the Salukis have played to just a .500 winning percentage. All-league voters tend to look at wins when considering the player of the year award.

Domask played just ten games in 2020-21 and that hindered SIU’s success rate. During his three seasons in ‘Little Egypt’ the Wisconsin native has amassed 1,065 points by being able to score at all three levels. We at Valley Hoops Insider call him a ‘poor man’s Doug McDermott’.

The 6’6 forward can score in traffic, hits the three and is a career .825 from the free-throw line. Domask does all the little things you want and is the focal point of every other team’s scouting report. Domask was second only to Green on the Valley’s minutes played list.

Teammate Lance Jones could make a run at all-conference awards. He was on the Valley’s third-team in 2021 and landed on last season’s all-defense team. The fellow senior has scored 1,059 career points and led the Salukis with 61 triples.

Next Generation Stars Numbers 1 & 2

While not new to his team, Ben Sheppard is new to the Missouri Valley Conference. People will remember that Belmont was 25-8 last season with some Bruin all-time greats on its roster. Nick Muszynski and Grayson Murphy were four-year all-stars in the Ohio Valley Conference. Murphy was a two-time defensive player of the year.

Sheppard however, was the team’s leading scorer (16.2 ppg), a first-team performer and Casey Alexander maintains he was the team’s best on-ball defender. The 6’6 guard rebounds (3.9 per game), is electric in the open floor and converted 72 three-point attempts last season.

Belmont’s quick-paced offense will be a challenge for Valley teams and Sheppard will be the Bruins’ go-to guy. Keishawn Davidson (10.4 ppg) is a great offseason pick up from Tennessee Tech and Princeton transfer Drew Friberg (9.3) is 6’7 and lethal from deep. Valley squads won’t be able to put all their energy on stopping Sheppard.

Because Drake’s Tucker DeVries is going to be on everyone’s list as the preseason player of the year, I didn’t want to do so, but here I am.

The kid is flat out great. At 6’6 he can score from anywhere and is the Valley’s best player. Coach DeVries’ son averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds on his way to the Freshman of the Year award. He made 75 triples and 79 free throws.

While he was outstanding all season, his coming out party was during Arch Madness. After a 13-point performance during an opening round win over SIU, he scored 23 in the semifinal, overtime win over Missouri State. Wilkins was out with an injury and Penn was playing on a broken foot and the freshman led the way, making eight of eight free-throw attempts.

Drake plays a very balanced type of game. Four returners averaged double-figures in scoring last season. For DeVries to win the top player award, he may need to look to score a little more often, but expect the younger DeVries to hoist the Larry Bird Trophy next March.

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