Missouri Valley – An International Flair

(St. Louis, MO) – Missouri Valley Conference rosters are littered with players from foreign lands. One of the league’s leading shot-blockers, Thik Bol is from the Sudan. Illinois State forward MiKyle McIntosh is from Canada. There are Eastern Europeans, Australians, players from African nations and from South America. We even have a Brit!

How do those players make to the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave?’ The answer is as varied as the players and where they are from. Some move to the United States to play high school basketball, hoping to get noticed, recruited and signed to a college scholarship. Some know somebody, who knows somebody, who knows somebody.

The competition to find quality players has never been more stiff and Loyola head coach Porter Moser says there is definitely a market for foreign players that perhaps haven’t been noticed by everyone else.

Moser has also learned that it is also difficult to get a definitive read on players due to the obvious inability to spend time with those prospective student-athletes.

 

 

Bruno Skokna and Vlatko Granic, both from Croatia, are two Ramblers that Moser is hoping develop into significant contributors.

While Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing says the Sycamores don’t have the kind of budget that allows them to scour the foreign markets, but assistant coach Lou Gudino works with former players and connections to find players. ISU needs to find those talented players, due to the fierce competition for Indiana-born players.

 

 

Lansing’s Southern Illinois counter part, Barry Hinson says the key to international recruiting is working through existing relational networks. Hinson says basketball has become truly international.

 

 

SIU’s networks brought them Bol and Rudy Stradnieks (Latvia) and prior to that the Salukis landed four other European players.

Two years ago, Bradley head coach Brian Wardle found himself in need of warm bodies. As the first year coach of a depleted roster, Wardle searched everywhere for quality players. He landed London’s Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and the Netherlands’ Luuk van Bree. The former Milwaukee coach has signed Koch Bar (South Sudan) and Australian national team members Callum Barker and Jayden Hodgson.

Wardle says, sometimes what you need, dictates where you go.

 

 

One of the best foreign born players in Valley history is Evansville’s Egidijus Mockevicius. The 6’11 Lithuanian was an all-Valley performer and one of the greatest rebounders in MVC history. Head coach Marty Simmons says not only is Evansville a good landing place for internationals, but once you’ve signed one player from a country or region, that often leads to signing another.

 

 

 

Illinois State’s McIntosh is Canadian, but like many foreign born players, he played his high school basketball in the United States. Redbird coach Dan Muller says while ISU has signed numerous players from other countries, they are usually players like McIntosh who prepped in the US.

 

 

Senegal native Daouda Ndiaye continues to become a larger part of the Redbird championship and post-season hopes. The 7′ sophomore missed the first nine games of the season and played perhaps his best game when he scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots in a recent victory over Bradley.

Several other international athletes will be joining Valley teams next year.

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