Rising Star Ben Humrichous

Leading an Evansville Resurgence

(St. Louis, MO) – Evansville has already tripled the amount of wins from last season and rising star Ben Humrichous is a season-changing player. One of the Missouri Valley Conference’s top newcomers, Humrichous leads the Purple Aces in scoring and the team is 14-4 when he’s in the lineup.

They went 1-7 when he was out with a foot injury.

The 6’9 wing leads the Valley in three-point shooting (.444) and is eighth in field goal percentage. While grabbing nearly five rebounds per game and scoring 15.1 points per game, he is a matchup nightmare. Like Riley Minix of Morehead State he has made a seamless jump from NAIA hoops to Division 1 basketball.

Rising Star From One Level to Another

The Tipton High School (Indiana) star had just three college basketball offers and accepted one from Huntsville University. He grew physically, mentally and as a player during his three seasons at Huntsville. Humrichous grew two inches and was a consistent double-digit scorer.

 

 

But he always dreamed of playing Division 1 basketball. He graduated in three years and went looking for the right landing spot. Evansville became an obvious ‘best choice’. Both former assistant coach Marcus Wilson and current assistant Craig Snow were important in the recruiting process and Humrichous says head coach David Ragland was outstanding.

 

 

Five players remained from Ragland’s first roster and those holdovers and the plethora of newcomers meshed easily. Humrichous says the Aces have great chemistry and describes coach Ragland as a great listener and has instilled his players with confidence and a ‘team identity’.

 

 

This Year’s Team

After winning just five games last season, the current UE squad has tallied 15 victories and there is great excitement and confidence around the program. During Ragland’s first two seasons the Ford Center crowds have begun to grow.

Two of the team’s eleven losses have come in back-to-back buzzer beating fashion. Humrichous says his teammates and coaching staff have not allowed that to hinder their confidence nor their work ethic. With five Valley games and Arch Madness remaining the Aces still have a shot at winning 20 games.

 

 

The rising star enjoys and respects his teammates. He lives with at least two of them (Yacine Toumi and Antonio Thomas) and thinks they have the talent and character to be a successful MVC team. Humrichous says Toumi and Gage Bobe are players that grown immensely. He describes Bobe as the ‘ultimate leader’.

 

 

Humrichous says veteran guards Kenny Strawbridge Jr and Antonio Thomas have played a huge role in the Evansville resurgence. He says Strawbridge helped him in his transition to this higher level and Thomas, another one of his ‘house-mates’ is a steady force that calms his teammates.

 

 

Tanner Cuff and Chuck Bailey III are keys to the Evansville future. Bailey is a multiple winner of the Valley’s ‘Freshman of the Week‘ award and Cuff’s role has steadily grown. Humrichous says he and Cuff connected around mutual interests, including Bible study and that Bailey is an explosive player.

 

 

Coach Ragland has assembled a talented, hungry and smart group of players. The resurgence in Evansville is real and Humrichous is the Purple Aces’ rising star.

You may watch this entire interview on YouTube or listen to it at Valley Hoops Insider Podcasts.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo courtesy of gopurpleaces.com.