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Early 2023-24 projection

I have a feeling the MVC will have 3-4 teams in the top 100 by the end of the year and be on the bubble of being a 2-bid league. This may be the best Valley since Wichita left.
 
Thanks for the link, I hadn’t seen this site!

Looking at Torvik’s individual player projections on Bradley, he has them repeating not so much on the strength of the additions as on the returning core of Leons/Deen/Hickman/Hannah. Losing Mast and Montgomery it was easy to underestimate how much talent they still do have returning.
 
UNI is going to be a tough matchup for the entire Valley this year. I'm hopeful for us but a lot is going to depend on Leons being more selfish/aggressive, Hannah continuing to develop and a couple of our new guys being ready to contribute quickly. Hickman being more consistent would be a huge boost I really like the way he can play at times, when he's confident he's dangerous. Very much looking forward to the season.
 
ManMythLegend said:
UNI is going to be a tough matchup for the entire Valley this year. I'm hopeful for us but a lot is going to depend on Leons being more selfish/aggressive, Hannah continuing to develop and a couple of our new guys being ready to contribute quickly. Hickman being more consistent would be a huge boost I really like the way he can play at times, when he's confident he's dangerous. Very much looking forward to the season.
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Hickman should be better and more consistent next year. He isn't a natural fit at point but does it well enough, and is better playing the 2 spot. With the additions to the roster this year I think it will be likely Hickman's minutes will be more balanced toward the 2 spot in the future, which will help a lot.
 
Stryker said:
Hickman should be better and more consistent next year. He isn't a natural fit at point but does it well enough, and is better playing the 2 spot. With the additions to the roster this year I think it will be likely Hickman's minutes will be more balanced toward the 2 spot in the future, which will help a lot.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree with you more.
 
Hannah will have to stop fouling so much. His build makes it hard to play the 5 for extended periods. I'm hoping for some productive minutes from Jonovic. It would seem that NIU will be the team to beat. Everyone back and a good coach.
 
LongTimeFan said:
Hannah will have to stop fouling so much. His build makes it hard to play the 5 for extended periods. I'm hoping for some productive minutes from Jonovic. It would seem that NIU will be the team to beat. Everyone back and a good coach.
Click to expand...

UNI will be in the mix, but I am not quite as impressed with their 2023-24 prospects. They were the 8th place team in 2022-23 with a losing record in the MVC 14-18 overall, and 9-11 in MVC. Only the dregs of the Valley (ISU, Valpo, UIC, Evansville) finished lower.

Yes, they have virtually everyone back, but that can be a blessing and a curse. They will still have some of the same problems they had this past season. They were nowhere near the top in any offensive or defensive category in the MVC stats, which is unusual for a UNI team.
Also, I think the other MVC teams figured out how to defend Bowen Born and UNI as the season progressed. UNI started the MVC schedule 8-3, then lost 8 of their last 9 MVC games. Born was averaging 20 points per game in the non-conference games, and averaged 16.8 ppg in the 20 MVC games.

Also, I don't see Phyfe returning. It would be his 7th year at UNI if he did. The last year he played (2021-22) he was a shell of his former self (5 ppg, 2 rpg, playing in 30 games). He'd need to get a waiver for a 2nd redshirt year, and he's need to pay his own way. They have 3 big men arriving in their 2023 recruiting class, and they are already over the 13 scholarship limit and do not have a scholarship for him. As of now, UNI is at 14 scholarships, even without Phyfe, so will have to shed at least one other scholarship player.
They do have a nice recruiting class (Forwards Wesley Rubin & Kyle Pock, guard R.J. Taylor, and Loyola transfer Jacob Hutson). But can they climb over the 7 teams ahead of them? With all the roster turnover in this era of portal, immediate eligibility, and NIL, it's possible, but I am not sold on them yet.

UNI 2023-24 projected roster-
https://www.panthernation.com/forum/...952#post727952
? Austin Phyfe- 7th year Sr.- doubtful to return
1) ? James Betz- 5th year, Covid-senior
2) Bowen Born- 4th year, senior
3) Nate Heise- 4th year, redshirt-junior
4) Tytan Anderson- 4th, year senior
5) Cole Henry- 5th year, redshirt-senior
6) Jacon Hutson- 4th year, senior
7) Landon Wolf- 3rd year, redshirt-sophomore
8 ) Ege Peksari- 2nd year, sophomore
9) Trey Campbell- 2nd year, sophomore
10) Michael Duax- 3rd year, redshirt-sophomore
11) Chase Courbat- 3rd year, redshirt-sophomore
12) R.J. Taylor- 1st year, freshman
13) Kyle Pock- 1st year, freshman
14) Wesley Rubin- 1st year, freshman
 
Da Coach said:
UNI will be in the mix, but I am not quite as impressed with their 2023-24 prospects. They were the 8th place team in 2022-23 with a losing record in the MVC 14-18 overall, and 9-11 in MVC. Only the dregs of the Valley (ISU, Valpo, UIC, Evansville) finished lower.

Yes, they have virtually everyone back, but that can be a blessing and a curse. They will still have some of the same problems they had this past season. They were nowhere near the top in any offensive or defensive category in the MVC stats, which is unusual for a UNI team.
Also, I think the other MVC teams figured out how to defend Bowen Born and UNI as the season progressed. UNI started the MVC schedule 8-3, then lost 8 of their last 9 MVC games. Born was averaging 20 points per game in the non-conference games, and averaged 16.8 ppg in the 20 MVC games.

Also, I don't see Phyfe returning. It would be his 7th year at UNI if he did. The last year he played (2021-22) he was a shell of his former self (5 ppg, 2 rpg, playing in 30 games). He'd need to get a waiver for a 2nd redshirt year, and he's need to pay his own way. They have 3 big men arriving in their 2023 recruiting class, and they are already over the 13 scholarship limit and do not have a scholarship for him. As of now, UNI is at 14 scholarships, even without Phyfe, so will have to shed at least one other scholarship player.
They do have a nice recruiting class (Forwards Wesley Rubin & Kyle Pock, guard R.J. Taylor, and Loyola transfer Jacob Hutson). But can they climb over the 7 teams ahead of them? With all the roster turnover in this era of portal, immediate eligibility, and NIL, it's possible, but I am not sold on them yet.

UNI 2023-24 projected roster-
https://www.panthernation.com/forum/...952#post727952
? Austin Phyfe- 7th year Sr.
1) James Betz- 5th year, Covid-senior
2) Bowen Born- 4th year, senior
3) Nate Heise- 4th year, redshirt-junior
4) Tytan Anderson- 4th, year senior
5) Cole Henry- 5th year, redshirt-senior
6) Jacon Hutson- 4th year, senior
7) Landon Wolf- 3rd year, redshirt-sophomore
8 ) Ege Peksari- 2nd year, sophomore
9) Trey Campbell- 2nd year, sophomore
10) Michael Duax- 3rd year, redshirt-sophomore
11) Chase Courbat- 3rd year, redshirt-sophomore
12) R.J. Taylor- 1st year, freshman
13) Kyle Pock- 1st year, freshman
14) Wesley Rubin- 1st year, freshman
Click to expand...

Anything can happen in the MVC seemingly, at least since WSU was dominating it a while ago. Given Jacobson, I have no doubt UNI will be improved as compared to last year. However, I think the MVC was historically weak last year, and will probably be somewhat improved next year. A team that does improve may not actually see a better record next year if the rest of the league sees improvement, especially if the bottom 4 teams actually field better rosters next year. Fewer easy wins to nab. Its all a crapshoot at this point though.
 
I think UNI will be better but I also think Bradley will be much improved because of our talented guards. I do not see the Valley being much improved because too many teams lost good players to the transfer portal. It is very hard to replace experienced players with new ones.
 
I Look at Southern who was a force to contend with this year will only be a fraction as good next year unless recruiting really picks up for them
 
I think a lot of UNI's early season issues related to the abundance of newcomers and underclassmen on their team. Our last ball game with them was very close if you remember. We have lost four of our 8 rotational players from last year and we will miss their skills and experience. We were able to wear teams down with our depth. We will be the team that needs to integrate several new players, even if they are experienced. Wardle seems to get his team to gel as the season progresses but early conference games will be hard and count toward the seasons record.
 
Nice work from ValleyHoopsInsider.com blogger Harry Schroeder.
Here is his 4-part, "Four Tier" review of the 2023-24 MVC teams-

Part 1- Stacked and Ready (his projected top 3 contenders- Bradley, UNI, Missouri)-
https://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/f...ings-part-one/

Part 2- Scary Potential (3 teams that could be contenders- Belmont, Drake, Indiana State)-
https://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/m...ary-potential/

Part 3- Big Improvements (3 teams with 2nd year coaches- Evansville, Illinois State, Murray State)-
https://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/f...-improvements/

Part 4- Blank Canvas (3 teams with unformed rosters- UIC, SIU, Valpo)-
https://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/f...-blank-canvas/
 
Da Coach said:
UNI will be in the mix,...
UNI 2023-24 projected roster-
https://www.panthernation.com/forum/...952#post727952
? Austin Phyfe- 7th year Sr.
1) James Betz- 5th year, Covid-senior...
Click to expand...

Some news Re: UNI-
Last night, the UNI basketball team had a Spring Caravan event and Ben Jacobson addressed the fans in Waterloo, IA.
(Monday they were in Dubuque)
He said James Betz is graduating and not coming back, and that Phyfe still hasn't been cleared so is quite questionable for '23-24.
https://wcfcourier.com/northern-iowa...e49c693b7.html
https://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/uni/college-athletics-the-panther-caravan-makes-a-stop-in-waterloo/article_ac440afe-0a98-5b62-9073-62e977aae194.html

BTW- why can't Bradley do this sort of thing? It would greatly boost fan involvement & support and help ticket sales.
I have personally suggested of the Athletic Director & MBB off-season events, and have never gotten a return call or email. Bradley used to do things like that and maybe not so coincidentally, the average attendance at games back then was 9-10,000.

One last rumor, last season (2022-23) Illinois State played in a December event called the Indy Classic (and lost to Ball State).
It is rumored that Indiana State will play in this event this coming season.

Also
Da Coach said:
Nice work from ValleyHoopsInsider.com blogger Harry Schroeder.
Here is his 4-part, "Four Tier" review of the 2023-24 MVC teams-

Part 1- Stacked and Ready (his projected top 3 contenders- Bradley, UNI, Missouri)-
https://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/f...ings-part-one/
Click to expand...
Why does he say that Jonovic will be a freshman this coming season 2023-24?
He seems to hint that playing only 5 games still allows Jonovic to claim 2022-23 as a redshirt year.
 
In that article- https://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/f...ings-part-one/
... he also calls Demarion Burch an "early signee", which also is not true. Burch verbally committed on January 13, 2023, and he signed on the first day of the spring signing period, April 12.
https://twitter.com/BradleyUMBB/stat...99937124945921

But as I said, other than a couple minor misstatements, his articles are very good, IMO.
Also, Betz not returning solves UNI's scholarship problem. They were projected to have 14 scholarship players for the 2023-24 season even without Phyfe. But now they are back down to the limit of 13. But it is more evidence that Phyfe won't be returning, either, since they do not have a scholarship for him.
 
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