Our MVC – All-Decade Team

A Decade of Transition for The Valley

(St. Louis, MO) – After a decade of transition the Missouri Valley Conference, we name our All-Decade Team. League operations seem to have settled into a place of normalcy once again. Two top-level programs left the Valley and were replaced by teams that had to earn their stripes. That process seems to be in full bloom.

Because of those transitions, naming an all-decade team and a ‘Player of the Decade’ could be controversial or strained. However, at Valley Hoops Insider we don’t shy away from the choices that have to be made. As the 2010’s come to a close, who are the members of our all-decade team?

Criteria Established

We decided a player had to play at least two years in the conference, be named to at least one all conference team and we weighted heavily on whether that player ever won a league-wide honor and how they performed in postseason play.

There were just eight different ‘Players of the Year’ because Doug McDermott and Fred VanVleet each won the award twice. Our ten-man team was practically impossible to pick. While McDermott and VanVleet stand out for wildly different reasons, the next eight players were are difficult to separate from several others we are pained to omit.

Colt Ryan – Evansville

Ryan is probably our most controversial All-Decade team pick. While he landed on two all-conference teams and one second team nod, he was never a ‘Larry Bird Trophy’ winner and his team had very limited success. However, his 2,279 career points (most in program history at his graduation) have to account for something. Had UE been able to put better talent around him, the sharp-shooting guard may have gone down in history as one of the Valley’s greatest players.

His 183 career steals are still an Evansville record and he recorded over 400 assists. The Purple Aces won three games during the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). He was named to the 2014-15 all-newcomer and all-freshman teams. Ryan twice landed on the Scholar-Athlete team. He was the decade’s first ‘Freshman of the Year’.

Reed Timmer – Drake

If Ryan isn’t controversial, than Reed Timmer is. The Drake lefty also played for a team with limited success. Timmer is the only Bulldog to ever reach the 2,000 point plateau. If academics matter, and they should, Timmer is the only three-time winner of the Valley’s Scholar-Athlete Award.

During Timmer’s senior season, Drake finally played in the postseason, qualifying for the CIT.

D.J. Balentine – Evansville

Balentine surpassed Ryan in virtually every way. After playing behind Ryan for a season, the prolific scoring Balentine took his game to higher plateaus. He soared past Ryan’s career scoring mark, totaling 2,464, handed out 472 assists and led his team to the CIT title. During his ‘understudy’ season under Ryan, he was named to the league’s All-Bench team.

Balentine’s Aces never won the Arch Madness tournament, but he was twice named to the all-tournament team. He was a three-time, first team All-Valley performer. During the 2013-14 season Balentine was named to both the all-league team and the ‘most improved’ squad.

Jake Odum – Indiana State

Odum was a two-time, all-Valley performer and received second team honors once. During the 2010-11 season, he was named to the All-Freshman, Newcomer and Defensive teams. The point guard finished his career as the Sycamores’ sixth leading scorer (1,568 points), second in assists (603) and third in steals (204).

ISU played postseason basketball in each of Odum’s four seasons, including an NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the 2011 conference tournament.

Kyle Weems – Missouri State

Kyle Weems was the 2011 Larry Bird Trophy winner. The most difficult decision of the All-Decade team was between the Bears’ Alize Johnson and Weems. The difference came in Weems landing one second team and two first teams acknowledgements, his Bird Trophy and a regular season championship.  After losing in the tournament final, the Bears split two games in the National Invitation Tournament. Johnson’s teams never advanced to post season play.

Weems finished his career as MSU’s second, all-time leading scorer (1,868 points). During his four-year career, he also finished tied for fourth in rebounding (844), and was sixth in blocked shots (114) and fifth in steals (146). Though from a previous decade, he was named to the 2009 all-freshman team.

Johnson’s two-year career at MSU was amazing. He was the 2017 Newcomer of the Year’ and a two-time all league performer.

Cleanthony Early – Wichita State

Early was part of a magical Wichita State run. During his two-year stint in the Valley, Early was a two-time all-league player and was a 2014 All-American. The Shockers were an incredible 65-9 during his career.

As a # 9 seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament the Shockers defeated top seeded Gonzaga on their way to the March Madness Final Four. They lost to Louisville by four in the national semifinal. Early was named to the All-Final Four team, scoring 24 points and grabbing ten rebounds in the loss to the Cardinals.

They followed that with a 34-0 regular season and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. After defeating Cal Poly they lost a two-point decision to Kentucky. It was a thriller played here in St. Louis. Early was valiant in defeat, scoring 31 points.

Seth Tuttle – Northern Iowa

After winning the Valley’s ‘Player of the Year’ award, Seth Tuttle was also honored as a 2015 All-American. He was a two-time all-Valley player. Tuttle’s teams never won a regular season crown and never finished lower than third in the league’s race. After winning Arch Madness (2016) the Panthers split two NCAA Tournament games. Tuttle’s postseason career record was 6-3. UNI went 3-1 in the 2013 NIT.

His 1,747 career points are UNI’s fourth best total. Tuttle is the program’s fourth leading rebounder (917) and seventh best blocker of shots (95). He is tied with former Creighton star Kyle Korver and Balentine for fourth most ‘Player of the Week’ awards with seven.

Ron Baker – Wichita State

Baker and VanVleet. VanVleet and Baker. They were inseparable, indivisible and amazingly successful. Their careers overlapped with Early’s and the great WSU runs of 2013 and 2014. Baker could shoot. His 1,636 points are eighth on the school’s all-time list and his 242 career three-pointers are second best. He finished his career ninth in assists and fourth in steals.

Baker participated in 13 NCAA Tournament games and the Shockers went 9-4. He was a 2015 All-American and a three-time all-Valley selection. Wichita State’s four-year record during Baker’s career was an astounding 121-23 and a more impressive 63-9 in league play.

We have saved the best two for last. Here is how our twitter poll finished.

 

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Who should be the #ValleyHoopsInsider @ValleyHoops ‘Player of the Decade’?

— Harry Schroeder (@FatherHarry1) December 23, 2019

Doug McDermott – Creighton

McDermott’s career overlapped with those great Shocker teams, and sadly the Bluejays left the Valley prior to his senior season, or those two great programs would have had more epic battles. ‘Doug McBuckets’ has had a solid NBA career, but his collegiate experience was other worldly.

Not only did McDermott sweep the 2011 ‘Newcomer’ and ‘Freshman’ awards. He went on to be named All-Valley three times and won back-to-back ‘Larry Bird – Player of the Year’ awards. He was a two-time All-American. His 581 points are a Valley, freshman scoring record. Creighton went 5-2 while participating in the College Basketball Invitational.

McDermott scored an incredible 3,150 points (2,216 in three Valley seasons). The Bluejays won back-to-back Arch Madness titles (2012 & 2013) and they split four NCAA Tournament games those seasons. McDermott scored 33 points during the 2012 Arch Madness title game and was the back-to-back ‘Most Outstanding Player’ in those tournament titles.

During his final Valley (junior season) he was the nation’s second leading scorer and he claimed 13 ‘Player of the Week’ awards, second only to Bradley’s Hersey Hawkins’ total of 14.

Player of the Decade – Fred VanVleet – Wichita State

VanVleet’s career was great and his NBA career has been significant. His collegiate accomplishments couldn’t be more different than McDermott’s in appearance. While he scored 1,439 points, it was the other parts of his game that set him apart. The 6’ guard is Wichita State’s all-time assist and steals leader (637 & 225). He was the point guard for all of that success we described in Baker’s biography.

VanVleet was a three-time All Valley player and was twice the league’s ‘Larry Bird – Player of the Year’, but not consecutively! He was the league’s top choice in 2014 & 2016. Three times he was named to the Valley’s all-defense team and he joined Balentine on the conference’s 2014 ‘most improved’ team.

Like McDermott, he was a two-time All-American. His sheer greatness was in his ability to lead his team and do what was necessary to win and make everyone around him better. While he was racking up all-conference honors, eight times, his teammates were named to either the first or second teams of those same seasons. He was named to the all-defensive team twice with teammate Tekele Cotton and once with Baker.

What would the Valley have looked like in 2013-14 if Creighton had not left for the Big East? The Bluejays went 27-8 and 14-4 in the Big East while WSU was going 18-0 in Valley play and finishing 35-1. Would the Valley have become the like the Midwest version of the West Coast Conference with Gonzaga and St. Mary’s battling out every year?

Instead, after the 2017 season, Wichita State left too.

All-Decade Team Honorable Mentions

The All-Decade Team has to have an honorable mention list. Loyola’s Clayton Custer won the Bird Trophy and led his team to a Final Four and prior to that Milton Doyle helped put the Ramblers on the MVC map. He was never a Bird winner, but swept the 2014 Necomer and Freshman awards. Illinois State’s Paris Lee turned the rare trick of being the ‘Player of the Year’ and ‘Defensive Player of the Year’. WSU’s Cotton was a two-time ‘Defensive Player of the Year’ and was the ‘Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 version of Arch Madness.

It has been a great decade of Valley basketball.

The next decade begins Wednesday. Let the first chapter be written!

Do Good