Who Are the MVC’s Best Freshmen?

(St. Louis, MO) – There are dynamic seniors dominating the Missouri Valley Conference landscape. Wichita State’s all-American duo of Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker are all that we expected. Evansville’s prolific pairing of D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius are as good of an inside-outside combo as there is in the nation.

Southern Illinois’ Anthony Beane is leading the league in scoring and Northern Iowa’s Wes Washpun is having another outstanding season.

But who are the rookies who are making a mark on the MVC this year and destined to do so in years to come?

Markis McDuffie

One of the most explosive athletes in this year’s freshman class is Wichita State’s Markis McDuffie. A four-star player coming out of high school, McDuffie has not disappointed.

The 6’8 wing has demonstrated his ability to score and make highlight reel types of plays. He averages 7.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, but Head Coach Gregg Marshall says it’s McDuffie’s coachability that he truly appreciates.

 

 

McDuffie has reached double figures in scoring six times including three times in six MVC contests.

Northern Iowa Head Coach Ben Jacobson says McDuffie is a gifted offensive player, but what he appreciates about the New Jersey native is his ability and willingness to defend and rebound.

 

 

Missouri State Trio

After a slow start, Missouri State has found their ‘sea legs’ once they’ve hit the conference season. One of the reasons for that improvement connects with how three MSU freshmen are growing into their roles.

Obediah Church, Jarred Dixon and Ryan Kreklow have been almost force fed into the Bears’ lineup. Austin Ruder went down and so did Shawn Roundtree and those three freshmen were the proverbial ‘next men up.’

Church has been the best of the Baby Bears so far. Church is amongst the league leaders in blocked shots, he rebounds with tenacity and has a growing offensive game. He averages 7.4 points and 6.2 rebounds along with those 1.6 blocked shots.

Kreklow was nearly red-shirted, but as the season has worn on, he has contributed and improved with each passing week. He is an emerging outside scoring threat and has a great basketball pedigree.

Dixon has given Head Coach Paul Lusk some versatility in the back court and has been a significant contributor all season. Lusk says he is happy that he kept Kreklow around and that Church and Dixon have bright futures.

 

 

Bradley’s Baby Braves

First year coach Brian Wardle has a whole team of freshmen. Ten of his players are in their first year of collegiate basketball. Five have stood out.

Dwayne Lautier-Ognuley (England), Luuk van Bree (Netherlands) and Callum Barker (Australia) are the foreign contingent and Ronnie Suggs (Washington, Missouri) and Antoine Pittman (Rockford, IL) are the US portion of that group. Lautier-Ogunley (8.1) is the leading scorer of this group and the highest scoring freshman in the MVC.

van Bree, Suggs and Pittman are tied at 7.3 points per game. Watching his older brother Scott fight through the collegiate wars at the University of Washington and in the NBA helped the younger Suggs’ transition from prep star to dependable freshman. Callum’s 4.9 rebounds per game are the second best freshman total to Missouri State’s Church.

Wardle says Suggs is growing into his game.

“Ronnie’s coming along. He came in as a scorer and I think he has really struggled to find his shot,” said Wardle. “I like that he’s been aggressive and taken the shots, but he’s learning a lot. He’s a young man that has a very bright future. He’s coming along in those areas of before and after practice improvements. We need him to score and give us some punch.”

Suggs and the other nine freshmen on Wardle’s roster have contributed about 85  percent of the Bradley playing time this season. As the youngest team in Division 1 basketball the Braves are taking their lumps, but these five and Scottie James, in particular give Carver Arena fans a reason to hope for better days.

Sycamore Seedlings

Emondre Rickman and Laquarious Paige are earning respect on a veteran laden Indiana State team.

Rickman’s athleticism and length have been important for ISU’s rim protecting, rebounding and the occasional twitter filling dunk. Paige has shown the ability to be a solid perimeter player in the guard oriented MVC.

Rickman (Collinsville, Illinois) has had some special moments including scoring 10 points at Eastern Illinois. Head Coach Greg Lansing says those two players are laying a solid foundation for bright futures in the Valley.

 

 

Stubbed Toe Redbird

Illinois State is really high on Roland Griffin, but the high flying Redbird has turf toe and has missed some games and isn’t healthy enough to truly contribute. The 6’7 wing cracked the ISU starting lineup and then injured his toe.

Head Coach Dan Muller says despite the temporary setback, Griffin is going to be a very good Valley player.

 

 

Others

One of the most celebrated players in this class was Wichita State’s Landry Shamet. Another four-star recruit for Gregg Marshall’s team injured his left foot early in the season after averaging 8.7 points in the first three games of the season. Marshall hopes the 6’4 guard can return to the lineup in mid February.

Evansville is very high on prolific high school scorer Harris Brown. They expect him to soften the blow of losing D.J. Balentine next year, but Brown has been slow to adjust to the college game.

SIU’s Barry Hinson is high on his freshman class that includes Austin Weiher, Rudy Stradnieks and Edwardsville High School’s Armon Fletcher. Each of those players have given hints of good things to come.

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