Success in the Portal and Beyond

Valley Recruiting – Part One – First Four Teams

(St. Louis, MO) – Did Missouri Valley teams enjoy success in the portal? After a devastating Spring of lost talent, MVC coaches launched into an unprecedented journey into the transfer portal. More traditional kinds of recruiting continue, but the ‘portal pandemic’ is the new norm.

Once the curtain fell on the 2023-24 season, the Valley saw a talent drain like none we’ve ever seen. Fifteen of the top 16 conference players left via graduation or transfer. Only Bradley’s Duke Deen remains from the league’s top three all-conference teams. During this most unique of MVC offseasons we also saw leadership changes at five of the Valley’s twelve programs.

Departing players, new coaches, growing NIL monies all contribute to this new landscape. Valley coaches prefer the traditional model of recruiting, but they also know they must have success in the portal.

We are taking an alphabetical look at the Valley squads, so during ‘Part One’ of our ‘Success in the Portal’ series we’ll look at the newcomers from Belmont, Bradley, Drake and Evansville.

Belmont Bruins – Casey Alexander

No team lost as much star power as Belmont. Three, all-conference sophomores left for greener ‘name-image and likeness’ pastures and Casey Alexander faced the need to fill massive holes in his roster.

Belmont has been the picture of stability and sustained success for decades, but this may have been Alexander’s and the program’s most demanding off season of all. Losing Cade Tyson (16.2 ppg), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (17.2 ppg) and Malik Dia (16.9 ppg) would devastate lesser coaches and programs, but Alexander is convinced he’s found success in the portal.

Alexander signed five Division 1 transfers and three high school players. That’s an inversion from last year’s four prep players, two D1’s and one junior college player. Carter Whitt (Furman), Brody Peebles (Liberty), Jonathan Pierre (Memphis), Aidan Noyes (Richmond) and Tyler Lundblade (TCU) bring serious experience in Nashville.

Peebles, Noyes and Whitt are very familiar to Alexander and Belmont fans. The sixth-year head coach says he expects all five transfers to be significant contributors.

 

The head coach admits that the new era of recruiting is not the way he prefers it, but he wanted his team to get older and is excited about the make up of this season’s roster.

 

Peebles (10.7 ppg) and Whitt (7.9 ppg and 3.5 assists per game) are graduate transfers and Pierre experienced astronomical junior college success prior to his season at Memphis. Noyes and Lundblade have been highly rated players, but have battled injuries during their collegiate careers.

Alexander’s three freshmen, Cooper Haynes, Eoin Dillon and Jabez Jenkins are all ranked as top 20 players in their respective states. Haynes is rated as the seventh best player in Tennessee.

The Bruin program has recorded fourteen-straight, twenty-win seasons and has produced a two-season MVC record of 26-14.

Bradley Braves – Brian Wardle

Wardle has built a stable, winning program that maintains a consistent identity. They are the outlier in the ‘portal pandemic’ era. Bradley signed just Division 1 player and even he is a former Bradley Brave.

Zek Montgomery (see ‘Familiar Faces’) returns after a season at Rhode Island. Division 2 transfer Connor Dillon comes to Peoria after scoring over 1,400 points for Winona State and junior college double-double machine Corey Thomas brings depth to the Bradley front court.

Montgomery’s addition gives Bradley the most ‘proven’ Missouri Valley Conference roster.

Dillon is a 39% three-point shooter and the 6’10 Thomas is rated as the nation’s 57^th best junior college player.

Wardle says one positive about shopping in the portal is that you can find ‘experience’ in the portal.

 

Bradley returns starters Duke Deen and Darius Hannah and heavily experienced Christian Davis, Almar Atlason and Demarion Burch. Deen is the Valley’s lone returning all-conference player. Atlason was named to the MVC’s ‘all-freshman’ team.

Wardle’s high school signees are three-star players JaQuan Johnson and Timoty van der Knaap. The 5’11 Johnson is the State of Wisconsin’s ninth ranked player.

Five Valley teams have new head coaches. Drake, Illinois Chicago, Indiana State, Missouri State and Southern Illinois are led by new leading men. The change at Drake is the only one of the five due to a coach (Darian DeVries) leaving on his own terms.

Drake Bulldogs – Ben McCollum

Ben McCollum comes to Des Moines from Division 2 Northwest Missouri. His stellar Bearcat record (394-91) reminds us of Josh Schertz’s D2 totals. Not surprisingly, the two know each other well. He is a four-time D2 national champion.

Drake’s roster doesn’t look anything like the one that hoisted the Arch Madness Trophy last March.

Following Schertz’s successful Indiana State blue-print, McCollum has four former Northwest Missouri State players on this year’s team. Bennett Stirtz, Isaiah Jackson, Daniel Abreu and Mitch Mascari made the 144 mile move from Maryville, Missouri to Des Moines.

Three of the former Bearcats are grad-transfers. Only Stirtz retains eligibility beyond this season. After averaging over 15 points, three rebounds and three assists, the 6’4 Stirtz was a second team, all MIAA player. Abreu and Mascari were double digit scorers for McCollum last year.

McCollum is excited about incoming freshman Isaiah Howard and junior college wing Tavion Banks. He adds that Schertz wishes he had brought even more Lincoln Memorial players with him to Terre Haute.

 

Banks joins Drake after being rated as the nation’s eleventh best junior college player at Northwest Florida State College. Howard was ranked as the State of Missouri’s fifth best player.

A pair of Wyoming transfers signed with Drake. Cam Manyawu and Kael Combs are each Missouri natives that McCollum previously recruited and are now a part of his team. Manyawu is a 6’8 forward that had a productive season with the Cowboys (7.5 ppg & 6.7 rebounds per game). Combs and Manyawu were each top ten Missouri players in 2023.

Two Kansas natives are joining the roster. Indiana State transfer Eli Shetlar and incoming freshman Joey Matteoni come from the Sunflower State. Shetlar was the state’s second ranked player in 2023 and Matteoni is the third ranked player during the past season.

McCollum’s ten new players join hold-overs Nate Ferguson and Andrew Alia. The first-year coach says one of his high priorities with summer work outs was about connectivity and getting familiar with each of his new players.

 

Drake will participate in both the Charleston Classic and the Wildcat Classic.

Evansville Purple Aces – David Ragland

David Ragland’s six man recruiting class includes two Division 1 players, two foreign freshmen, an NAIA star and one junior college standout. Perhaps the prize of this recruiting class is Butler transfer Connor Turnbull. The 6’10 post averaged 4.1 points for the neighboring Bulldogs. When coming out of Fort Zumwalt North (2022) he was ranked as the State of Missouri’s third ranked player.

After playing 22 games as a freshman, injuries limited Turnbull to just nine contests last year. While the sample size is small, Turnbull has connected on 45% of his long distance attempts.

Turnbull isn’t the only talented newcomer.

Eastern Kentucky transfer Tayshawn Comer is a proven back court contributor. The 6’1 Indianapolis native enjoyed two productive seasons at Eastern Kentucky after a highly decorated high school career. He started 66 Atlantic Sun contests and averaged over three assists per game during his time quarterbacking the Colonel offense.

Ragland says the veteran Comer and versatile Turnbull will be instant contributors.

 

Three-star foreign players bring some immediate talent and experience to Ragland’s third Evansville team. Kaia Berridge (New Zealand) and Gabriel Pozzato (Italy) bring athleticism and versatility to the Aces. Junior college star Romando Battle will help fill the hole left by the transfer of Yacine Toumi.

Ragland says Berridge and Battle will help in critical ways.

 

Ragland believes Pozzato has a big upside and will help the Purple Aces with his physical abilities. He is a 6’7 multi-position player that has impressed Ragland and the other Evansville players.

 

After the success of signing an NAIA star in Ben Humrichous last season, Ragland signed a 17 point-per-game NAIA scorer in 6’6 Trent Hundley.

If Evansville is to continue its upward trajectory, these new players will be the key to that positive direction.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo courtesy of gowyo.com and photographer Troy Babbitt.