Why the Valley’s Best Days Are Ahead

(St. Louis, MO) – Did Loyola signal a new day of success for the Missouri Valley Conference or was it the last flash in the pan for a fading entity? Valley watchers have been nervous about the 111-year-old league’s future with the departures of Creighton and Wichita State.

When the Bluejays left, Loyola was added from the Horizon League and promptly finished last in MVC standings and attendance wasn’t good. When the Shockers left, Valparaiso was added from the Horizon  and, you guessed they, finished last.

But Loyola’s recent postseason success, Gentile Arena’s rising attendance and interesting story lines have brought a new excitement and burgeoning respect to the Valley.

Multiple factors will play into the Valley’s future success and/or failure. Loyola’s recent rise to power has done some amazing things for the Chicago-based school and the rest of the league. The Valley brand has been polished up and looks better than it did 12 months ago.

The $8 million received by league members over the next six years from the Loyola run to the Final Four doesn’t hurt either.

But can the league capitalize on recent success? If so, how does the Doug Elgin-led league go about staying in the top seven to ten conferences in college basketball?

Next season can be one of the best in recent Valley history. It’s not likely that another MVC team will run to the Final Four, but the overall strength of the league should be solid.

Three new head coaches at Drake, Evansville and Missouri State should pump new life into some struggling programs and the talent level across the league is sound. So what does next year hold?

Believe It or Not – Increased Talent

Across the board, the talent level is growing. Even at Loyola where the Ramblers lose key cogs Aundre Jackson and Donte Ingram, there is the very real possibility that the raw talent level will be as good if not better than this historic season.

The return of ‘Player of the Year‘ Clayton Custer, fellow senior Marques Townes and reigning ‘Freshman of the Year‘ Cameron Krutwig, gives ‘Coach of the Year‘ Porter Moser plenty to build around.

Expected growth by freshmen Lucas Williamson and Christian Negron should help offset the graduation losses and incoming freshman Franklin Agunanne is a highly regarded power forward from Dallas. New Mexico transfer Aher Uguak (6’7 small forward) sat out this season and won’t have to learn the Ramblers’ ways.

With all due respect to some of those powerful Wichita State teams, Illinois State might be one of the most talented MVC teams we’ve seen in recent years. Even with the transfer of 7’ center Daouda N’Diaye the Redbirds return their ‘Big Three’ of all-conference Milik Yarbrough, Keyshawn Evans and Phil Fayne. Add to that group three highly rated transfers in Matt Chastain (Loyola), and junior college transfers Zach Copeland and Josh Jefferson. ISU seems loaded. Oh, and Dan Muller also has two, 6’9 freshmen on the way.

Bradley loses Donte Thomas, but have virtually their entire roster returning and veteran Antoine Pittman returns to active duty after red-shirting last season. After a solid freshman season Elijah Childs is ready to take on a larger role in 2018-19. 6’4 freshman-to-be Armon Brummett from nearby Decatur, IL meets a need.

Indiana State has a chance to be one of the most improved teams in the Valley, if not the nation. Returning are record setting three-point shooter Jordan Barnes and important contributors Devin Thomas and Tyreke Key. Joining that group are high level transfers Cooper Neese (Butler) and Christian Williams (Iowa). Williams played in over 50 games for the Hawkeyes (starting six) and Neese left Butler before ever playing for the Bulldogs. He averaged over 27 points-per-game at Cloverdale High.

Three-star (or better) players will be showing up at Northern Iowa (A.J. Green), Missouri State (Jared Ridder), Valparaiso (Ryan Fazekas and Javon Freeman-Liberty) and Southern Illinois (Darius Beane).

Questions remain at Drake and Evansville. With recent coaching changes, it is too early to know about the make up of their rosters. Evansville’s Walter McCarty has just four players remaining (at this point) and Drake’s Darian DeVries saw five seniors graduate and the status of six current recruits is up in the air. However, both coaches come to their jobs with great reputations and they should be fine.

Scheduling the right kinds of competition is a key ingredient to how the Valley is viewed next season, but the talent level continues to grow, schools are investing more and more resources into their programs. We believe the Valley’s best days are still to come.

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