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MVC Top Freshmen for 2015-16

tornado

tornado

New member
Season hasn't started but no reason we can't start guessing who the best freshmen are going to be...

Below I have listed every freshman in the MVC that I know about - I count 40 of them - a truly banner year in the MVC for FRESHMEN!
.....NINE are BU guys - feel free to add if there are any others..

Since ISU has already been playing some games, and since I have read of a few reports from
MVC team's early practices, and I have talked with a few who have seen our guys on the court,
I will offer my thoughts on who is going to stand out in 2015-16..
this is my ranking from top to bottom but it will change when we see more from everyone...and beyond the first few....the rest are largely based on their high school numbers...

Roland Griffin, ISU - Griffin has shined in all three of ISU's exhibitions, 12pts/2 rebs, then 11 & 6, then 20 pts/5 rebs - pretty decent! Has already earned the top spot!
Joel Okafor, BU - will battle for the 2nd best PG in the MVC - he is very good
Larry Shamet, Wichita - lots of hype already - should be very good
Ronnie Suggs, BU - big, talented 6-6 guard - could be our next Andrew Warren!
Keyshawn Evans, ISU - had one decent game in Spain against the team ISU killed, then little production vs. the good teams
Elvis Harvey, ISU - prob the 2nd best production of the ISU frosh - will be needed if Hawkins is a goner
Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, BU - ready to play at this level, talented combo guard
Billy Wampler, Drake - kid can flat out score, but is he athletic enough to get points in the paint? - LINK
Obediah Church, Missouri State - this kid can play and they will have to find playing time for him, and he will help fill in for their returning big man who is injured.
Davante Cooper, BU - has the size (6-10) and talent to help immediately. Not many MVC players this size - maybe just Mockevicius - who contribute much

Eric Hamilton, Wichita - maybe a year away given how many guys in front of him
Armond Fletcher, SIU - a redshirt freshman who will get a fair shot at playing time since they have a thin roster - could be pretty good.
Scottie James, BU - James can play - he will show why we didn't go hard for Peyton Allen, can score like Jeremy Crouch & Andrew Warren
Luuk van Bree, BU - kind of an unknown - will he play the wing or low post - has the ability to do both, but will play & contribute
Luke McDonnell, UNI - classic UNI big guy - maybe won't play a ton as a freshman but will do fine in their system
Robin Thompson, Missouri State - kind of an unknown - redshirted last year but athletic & 6-6, could surprise.
Ryan Kreklow, Missouri State - will have to be a good outside shooter to get playing time
Joahannes Dolven, Drake - athletic but lack of top opponents leaves him a ways to go.
Laquarius Paige, Indiana State - will be a RS freshman so might have a little advantage in experience but wasn't very productive when he did play.
Antoine Pittman, BU - athletic but will need to develop a good outside touch.

Emondre Rickman, Indiana State - athletic but still kinda raw...
Markis McDuffee, Wichita - could get a some time due to his size & athleticism
Nick McGlynn, Drake - forward but will need time to see how he does
Callum Barker, BU - getting a late start, has big body but needs to be active & score
Harris Brown, Evansville - Aces return everyone so the new guys will have a battle to get playing time.
Tyrone Taylor, Wichita - again, really no place for the guy to play this year.
Pernell Adgei, Loyola - Loyola's only freshman but pretty raw and could be a RS candidate.
Rudolfs Stradnieks, SIU - big guy but raw..however SIU lacks in so many areas he should get to play
Jarred Dixon, Missouri State - MSU returns all their starters so playing time will be sparse...
Spencer Haldeman, UNI - with a few good guards already ahead of him I think he'll have to wait his turn.

Austin Weiher, SIU - as desperate as SIU is for experienced big men Weiher will get a shot at some playing time, but suspect his production minimal
Dominik Olejnikzak, Drake - 6-11 post player from Poland but might find more athletic kids in the rotation ahead of him.
Casey Schlatter, Drake - a redshirt freshman but not real athletic
Justin Dahl, UNI - another big guy with a ways to go - might as well redshirt
Peter Hanley, BU - will get some court time if he doesn't want to redshirt but is a tweener - hard to see him playing low post at 6-6..
David N'Diaye, ISU - not playing in Spain but far from "developed" - probably redshirt candidate
Lincoln Conrey, UNI - I think this guy is a walk-on..
Brett Barney, Wichita State - I think this guy's a walk on and won't get much time
Matt Hein, ISU - only a few points each game - again, probably RS candidate
Bronson Kessinger, Indiana State - a talented kid but had an awful injury in January and will likely sit out 2015-16
 
Last edited:
Fantastic job of putting this list together, thanks!

For WSU I think you're spot on. Taylor just doesn't have anywhere to play barring injury (or injuries). I also don't think most fans expect much from Hamilton just yet. He's large but still raw from a game perspective.

Mcduffie has a ton of upside, but again, where does he play? Shamet's a different story. His talent, size and drive are going to mean he will command some minutes, somewhere. He's too good.

Coach Marshall has spoiled the hell out of us. It's a great time to be a fan here.
 
Wu- thanks - and I envy you guys getting so spoiled...
we've been sidetracked for a few years by some really bad decisions and completely baffling choices in recruiting, scheduling, and team management..
But I hope we can catch up soon with you guys!
 
Kessinger could have been an instant impact player at ISU, I saw him play in high school a couple times and he has a lot of talent. Shame he got hurt on a dirty play.
 
just a fantastic job putting this list together and mighty ambitious ranking 40 players that haven't played a D-I game. Hats off to you.

Two places where I disagree with you (but what do I know):

1. Church at MSU is a stud athlete and big man. He might see minutes due to the state of the Bears program, but I think he is too raw to make an impact. He's probably a Shayok Shayok type as a freshman. Better as an upperclassman.

2. Olejnikzak at Drake should be an immediate contributor off the bench. He seems to be skilled with good instincts and coordination for someone of his size. Mark him down for 15-20 mpg.

I really hope to see some WSU freshman on the floor this year, but every time I look at the potential rotation, the freshman end up on the third team. Eric Hamilton is the biggest, thickest, oldest freshman (6-9, 230 lb prep freshman), but he's also the most raw from a talent perspective and doesn't understand the game at the same level as the other guys. The other three freshman at WSU are athletic, talented, and SKINNY. Shamet is probably going to back up one of the guards. Taylor, McDuffie, and Hamilton will have to wait a year to make major contributions.
 
hey - I admit I don't know a lot about all of them, but put them up there so we can follow thru the season -
and I am admitting up front I could be way wrong on some of them...and I plan to re-shuffle after a while to keep the top guys at the top...
I heard a report that Church was looking really good & impressing early on so put him in the Top 10..
Remember - one of their big guys might be out for a while so there's some front court playing time available, and none of their returnees put up more than about 8 ppg

and on Olejniczak - there were reports that he had only taken up basketball after he got to high school - maybe about 3 years total...
players like that simply don't possess the savvy, court sense, coachability for a while - I'd say he might fit more in the line of a Shayok - raw..


Here's an assessment written last fall

Dominik Olejniczack 6'11'' C 1996

For somebody that has been playing basketball for just 3 years the Polish center has made some
outstanding progress. Has a really nice touch offensively around the rim, almost like a little
floater. Doesn't really have moves yet, but can finish on drop off and has been very effective on
P&R. Defensively it is where it gets interesting, he has a really good body, has timing for blocks
and good lateral movements to show on P&R. He has been great from Poland in protecting the
rim and grabbing rebounds. Suffers a lot when he plays against more athletic players. Maybe is
not too athletic, but there is a lot of upside to work with.

..then over the past year he went to Sunrise Christian - and while a lot of their players got noted, I can't find a thing on any game he played there?
Anyway - we'll know soon - he and the Drake Bulldogs are in Copenhagen, Denmark and play their first exhibition game in a couple hours!

edit - they are playing now & Olekniczak has 4 pts at half
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=825114431#post825114431
 
tornado said:
hey - I admit I don't know a lot about all of them, but put them up there so we can follow thru the season -
and I am admitting up front I could be way wrong on some of them...and I plan to re-shuffle after a while to keep the top guys at the top...
I heard a report that Church was looking really good & impressing early on so put him in the Top 10..
Remember - one of their big guys might be out for a while so there's some front court playing time available, and none of their returnees put up more than about 8 ppg

and on Olejniczak - there were reports that he had only taken up basketball after he got to high school - maybe about 3 years total...
players like that simply don't possess the savvy, court sense, coachability for a while - I'd say he might fit more in the line of a Shayok - raw..


Here's an assessment written last fall

Dominik Olejniczack 6'11'' C 1996

For somebody that has been playing basketball for just 3 years the Polish center has made some
outstanding progress. Has a really nice touch offensively around the rim, almost like a little
floater. Doesn't really have moves yet, but can finish on drop off and has been very effective on
P&R. Defensively it is where it gets interesting, he has a really good body, has timing for blocks
and good lateral movements to show on P&R. He has been great from Poland in protecting the
rim and grabbing rebounds. Suffers a lot when he plays against more athletic players. Maybe is
not too athletic, but there is a lot of upside to work with.

..then over the past year he went to Sunrise Christian - and while a lot of their players got noted, I can't find a thing on any game he played there?
Anyway - we'll know soon - he and the Drake Bulldogs are in Copenhagen, Denmark and play their first exhibition game in a couple hours!

edit - they are playing now & Olekniczak has 4 pts at half
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=825114431#post825114431
Click to expand...

Dominik played over seas last year, not in the states and not at SCA. That said, you did a **** fine job as I only had two disagreements with you out of 40 players.
 
appears in ISU's last game in Spain the Evans either didn't play or just didn't score?
N'Diaye did play (2 pts/1 reb) and Hawkins didn't
 
I suppose he could be a steal - but we're talking pretty obscure here...
and unless someone who is currently on the roster is leaving then he might be a walk on because everyone they previously had as a scholarship player (13 of them) are still on their roster - could Kessinger possibly be delaying entry and reclassify so he doesn't waste a year on his clock?
 
tornado said:
I suppose he could be a steal - but we're talking pretty obscure here...
and unless someone who is currently on the roster is leaving then he might be a walk on because everyone they previously had as a scholarship player (13 of them) are still on their roster - could Kessinger possibly be delaying entry and reclassify so he doesn't waste a year on his clock?
Click to expand...

he's actually going to be using one of our 2016-2017 scholarships since TJ Bell is injured and won't be playing this year, it's an NCAA rule we used.
 
isufan said:
Indiana State added a new freshman today from Texas, to add to your list.

Curtis "Trey" Knight III, from Cedar Park, Texas, we assume he'll play this season.

http://www.sycamorepride.com/showth...G-Curtis-quot-Trey-quot-Knight-III-(8-14-2015)
Click to expand...

in the SIU article about the Valley Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing says..
"...ISU exploited a loophole to bring guard Trey Knight to ISU from Cedar Park, Texas.
Immediately eligible, Knight will likely redshirt in 2015-16 given the depth of ISU's backcourt.
The idea was to make sure ISU had enough practice players to get through the season."

He also confirms Bronson Kessinger will not play this year & will redshirt...and TJ Bell is out for the year.
 
gonna have to make a note to revise my ranking of MVC freshmen...
Drake's Dominik Olejniczak just put up 15 pts & 13 rebounds in one of their Euro games
 
Update...just some comments I saw on a few of the freshmen in the MVC....

Scottie James - the few who have seen him play talk about excellent 3-pt shooting

Robin Thompson isn't really a true freshman - he played 8 games/started 3 last year then redshirted- average 1.6 ppg

Antoine Pittman in a new video- LINK

Emondre Rickman should get more playing time now that TJ Bell was injured & out for the year

Rudy Stradnieks played very little in his nation's U20 competition

Jarred Dixon avg 26 ppg in high school

Austin Weiher coming off redshirt year - still an unknown

Dominik Olejnikzak had some good games in Drake's foreign tour

Casey Schlatter had a 31-point game in their summer league over in Iowa but that's not too unusual as it seems little defense is played

Todd Golden, the beat writer for Indiana State still contends that Trey Knight is likely to redshirt and Bronson Kessinger "will redshirt for sure"

Here are the Wichita Freshman from L to R
#12 Brett Barney, #11 Landry Shamet, #10 Ty Taylor, #32 Markis McDuffie, #25 Eric Hamilton
CPMpA2kUwAAbyGg.jpg:medium
 
Wichita's Shocker Madness is in the books...
based on multiple comments from observers - seems the Wichita freshmen are rated highly as they should be..

Shamet was very good - probably their best freshman
Hamilton was also good
McDuffie - despite the hype seems to be a year away
Taylor looked good but as a PG where's he gonna play?
The others were barely mentioned
 
tornado said:
Wichita's Shocker Madness is in the books...
based on multiple comments from observers - seems the Wichita freshmen are rated highly as they should be..

Shamet was very good - probably their best freshman
Hamilton was also good
McDuffie - despite the hype seems to be a year away
Taylor looked good but as a PG where's he gonna play?
The others were barely mentioned
Click to expand...

Speaking of rediculously optimistic speculation regarding intrasquad skirmishes, Jarred Dixon for MSU looked like a Freshman who will get lots of minutes.
 
Every Valley team has played at least one open exhibition and Bradley has played two - all were wins and virtually all the MVC FRESHMEN played and we have a little chance to know what they have.

I re-shuffled this listing of MVC freshmen but I realize it's only one game (or two in Bradley's case)
But if the kid played, especially if he started and got a lot of playing time and/or looks to be a freshman who will be getting a lot of time,
or really produced - then he moves UP on the list - if not, then he doesn't move or he moves down.
But also - we see that a lot of these freshmen simply won't have anywhere to play as they have guys ahead of them.
..and please - just because they move up or down is not a slam or a claim they won't be good - just a subjective ranking at the current time.


Luuk van Bree, BU - starter, had one double double - maybe one of the two best freshman performances in the MVC thus far
Callum Barker, BU - a nice surprise - started & in double digits both exhibitions - and the other top performance in MVC
Joel Okafor, BU - starter - solid PG
Larry Shamet, Wichita - Started for the Shockers but prob won't when FVV back, 10 pts, 4 reb
Armond Fletcher, SIU - 10 pts, 4 rebs - one of the better freshman performances.
Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, BU - starter, solid
Obediah Church, Missouri State - STARTED, 7 pts, 5 rebs
Roland Griffin, ISU - 8 pts, 5 rebs off the bench
Harris Brown, Evansville - 8 pts, 5 rebs
Tyrone Taylor, Wichita - 11 pts 2 rebs off the bench

Jarred Dixon, Missouri State - was one of two freshmen at MSU that started- 9 pts, 5 rebs
Ronnie Suggs, BU - started one game, looked good
Eric Hamilton, Wichita - 8 pts, 4 rebs off the bench
Markis McDuffee, Wichita - 4 pts, 6 rebs on a loaded WSU team
Emondre Rickman, Indiana State - 8 pts, 4 rebs off the bench
Davante Cooper, BU - looks to be our backup center
Scottie James, BU - flashes of nice ability off the bench
Antoine Pittman, BU - good production off the bench
Rudolfs Stradnieks, SIU - 7 pts, 4 rebs
Ryan Kreklow, Missouri State - 5 pts as a sub

Keyshawn Evans, ISU - didn't look as good- only 2 pts off the bench
Elvis Harvey, ISU - did not score - prob will be decent sub but has guys ahead of him
Luke McDonnell, UNI - 6 pts, 3 rebs
Billy Wampler, Drake - was a sub - had 5 pts
Dominik Olejnikzak, Drake - 3 pts, 6 rebs as a sub
David N'Diaye, ISU - 4 pts, 8 rebs but got eaten up trying to play defense- but might play as they are not deep in the paint
Spencer Haldeman, UNI - 5 pts, 2 reb
Austin Weiher, SIU - 6 pts, 5 rebs as a sub
Nick McGlynn, Drake - 5 pts off the bench
Laquarius Paige, Indiana State - still has not played - injured ankle

Joahannes Dolven, Drake - scoreless -
Robin Thompson, Missouri State - scoreless
Pernell Adgei, Loyola - scoreless
Casey Schlatter, Drake - 6 pts
Justin Dahl, UNI - scoreless
Peter Hanley, BU - will get to play some but prob 10-11th in PT
Lincoln Conrey, UNI - scored one pt
Brett Barney, Wichita State - 5 pts
Matt Hein, ISU - scoreless - surprised if he doesn't RS
Bronson Kessinger, Indiana State - not playing - maybe RS due to the prior injury
 
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