Andrew Glatczak
The Homer Drew era is done, so Mid-Continent teams
finally get a reprieve, right?
In the words of Lee Corso, not so fast, my friend.
Valparaiso is not going anywhere yet. Even though
Homer Drew stepped down at Valparaiso, his son Scott,
a former assistant to his dad and an ace recruiter,
was anointed the replacement, keeping the program in
the family. And while Valparaiso loses some key
members of last year�s team, most of the teams that
challenged Valpo last year lose quite a bit too. Oakland loses four players who averaged double figures
in Mid-Con play, IUPUI loses leading scorer Charles
Price and UMKC loses three starters. Even Oral Roberts
loses two starters from last year, and remember the
Golden Eagles were only 17-14 last year; it may be
expecting a lot of ORU to jump from being good to
greatness. Of course, Southern Utah faced the same
thing two years ago and came through just fine.
So, for now the Crusaders are still the pick.
Transition year or not, Valpo is still Valpo, and
unless someone knocks them off they are the team to
beat. The Crusaders lost several key players, but
still return experience and, judging by their
ambitious schedule, aren't expecting to drop off too
far this year. Out of conference Valpo faces Syracuse,
Missouri, Notre Dame, Purdue, UNC Charlotte, and
Cincinnati. ORU looks to be the Crusaders' main
competition, and the Golden Eagles are the "sexy" pick
by many publications to knock off Valpo. But watch out
for IUPUI. The Jaguars have advanced further in the
conference tournament both years they were eligible,
and Ron Hunter's program doesn't seem far from making
an NCAA Tournament breakthrough. Most of the rest of
the conference can drawn out of a hopper.
Valparaiso continues to be the Mid-Continent's
flagship program and best chance for national
recognition. Last year the Crusaders beat UNC-Charlotte, Rhode Island, and West Virginia in addition
to hanging right with Arizona and Kansas. However,
other Mid-Con schools have shown improvement in recent
years on the national scene. Last year IUPUI went to
Atlanta and beat Georgia Tech, giving the Jaguars
their biggest win since becoming a full-fledged
Division I member three years ago. Plus, last year the
league was 42-52 in non-conference Division I play,
including a 9-4 record against the Horizon League.
Valparaiso
Valpo had an impressive season (25-8), but the team's
tentative performance in the NCAA Tournament against
Kentucky left a sour aftertaste to the year. The
experienced Crusaders proved they could play with
better teams earlier in the year but looked
overmatched and almost afraid against a Wildcat team
that seemed to be ripe for an upset. Homer Drew's
retirement puts his son Scott in the spotlight. It was
Scott who helped Valpo bring in some highly rated
recruiting classes, and he's working on another
monster one next year.
Valparaiso loses all-conference performers Lubos
Barton and Milo Stovall, former juco star Antonio Falu
transferred after 15 games and Jared Nuness, the last
link to the 1998 Sweet 16 team, has finally used up
his eligibility. Still, don�t fret for the Crusaders,
who have height and strong, if relatively
inexperienced, guard play. Senior Raitis Grafs (12.6
ppg, 6.8 rpg) returns at center and will be counted on
for even more this year with Barton gone. Senior
Stalin Ortiz (11.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and sophomore Ali
Berdiel (4.4 ppg, 1.9 apg) are expected to make up the
backcourt, with senior Greg Tonagel and juco transfer
Roberto Nieves among the backups. The forward spots
are somewhat of a mystery, but returning junior
Joaquim Grimes and freshman Dan Oppland should see
extensive action. Grafs could even play some at the
four spot when seven-footer Antti Nikkila comes in.
While not as experienced as last year's team or as
loaded as the 1998 Sweet 16 team, the cupboard is far
from bare at Valparaiso. Yes, there are a few question
marks: How will the new backcourt and former backups
fare in starting roles? Can the newcomers jump in and
provide the depth like in past years for the
Crusaders? How much of an adjustment will there be for
Scott Drew moving from assistant to the head role?
Expect the point play to be at least serviceable, and
don't be surprised to see a lot of the big lineup with
Grafs and Nikkila, which will tower over most
Mid-Continent frontlines and challenge even the best
teams on the schedule. This team is battle-tested and
used to playing the big boys, so even with the new
faces don't expect much to change. Don't be surprised
to see Valpo upset a few of those "name" teams on its
schedule, and make the Crusaders the choice by a nose
over Oral Roberts and IUPUI.
Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles made strides last year, playing
pretty solid ball and going 15-7 after a 2-7 start
that included a loss to Division II Cameron. The
season ended for Scott Sutton and crew in depressing
fashion, however, after ORU was upset by IUPUI in the
Mid-Continent Tournament semis.
Oral Roberts has all the ingredients back to challenge
Valparaiso this year. Senior all-conference forward
Reggie Borges returns after averaging over 20 ppg in
conference play last year and 14 ppg overall while
starting only seven games on the year. Quite possibly
the league's best backcourt also returns with senior
gunner Tyrone Tiggs (13.1 ppg, 76-189 3 pt. FG) and
junior Luke Spencer-Gardner (9.6 ppg, 5 apg). Junior
Ralph Charles, senior shot-blocker dynamo Kendrick
Moore (3.3 bpg), 6-11 redshirt soph Matt Gastel and
freshman Cameron Tragardh will also figure heavily in
the frontcourt. Backcourt depth is provided by
redshirt junior Josh Atkinson and juco transfer guard
Corey Stokes. Atkinson was a starter two years ago and
averaged 11.6 ppg, but sat out last year, and Gastel
also played significantly (7.2 ppg and 10 starts) two
years ago. If both revert back to their 2000-01 form, look out.
The Golden Eagles don't quite stack up to Valpo in the
height department (not many do) but have plenty of
skill underneath and on paper definitely look to have
an edge in backcourt play over the Crusaders. Oral
Roberts will need to prove it can handle the favorites' role; it started to learn how to win last
year, can it continue to the next step? The schedule
offers the chance to build momentum early; home games
against Arkansas, Wichita State and SMU offer the
chance to impress with some wins over relative "name"
teams that will be ripe for picking. And the early
season road schedule is doable; a visit to Tulsa could
be a real measuring stick for the year. The key will
be how the redshirts come back for ORU and whether the
team meshes with all the talent on hand. There hasn't
been this much excitement surrounding ORU since its
teams were nicknamed the Titans, and it's awfully
tempting to pick the Golden Eagles to win the league.
Ultimately though, the Mid-Continent is still
Valparaiso's to lose, but it wouldn't be a surprise at
all if ORU is dancing in March for the first time
since 1984.
IUPUI
Indiana-Purdue at Indianapolis coach Ron Hunter is one
of the most pleasantly animated coaches in the land to
watch on the sideline, an entertainer in the mold of
ex-ESPN cult hero Dick Fick from Morehead State.
Besides being funny, Hunter is proving to be pretty
good. Last year the Jaguars won at Georgia Tech and
after finishing sixth in the league in the regular
season made it to the Mid-Continent tournament final
before being clobbered by Valpo by 33.
The championship was a learning experience, and don't
be surprised IUPUI (15-15 last year) shows off its
newfound knowledge this year. Seven players who
started last year return, led by senior forwards Josh
Mullins, Dannorris Harvey, and Antoine Lewis and guard
Bryan Buchanan. All averaged between six and 11 points
a game, but its possible that still another senior
could be the team's most important player. 6-7 forward
Josh Murray transferred in from Ball State, where he
averaged eight points and eight rebounds a game in
2000-01, and should fill in nicely for the departed
Charles Price and his 12 points and 7 boards per game.
The frontcourt looks good, the main concern is point
guard, where junior Matt Crenshaw (6.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg,
4.6 apg) and senior Wright State transfer Marcus May
will battle it out.
The experience returns, now its just a matter of how
much improvement players made in the offseason and how
the transfers fit in on the court with the holdovers.
This is a program on the way up though. A championship
run may be too much to ask, but eight seniors on the roster make IUPUI a team opponents certainly won't
want to play late in the season. To no surprise, there
is no game with Georgia Tech this year, but games with
Ball State and Northwestern and possible shots at
Notre Dame and Purdue in tournaments will give more
teams in the Midwest a chance to see that the school
with the funny name and funny coach is nothing to
laugh at.
Missouri-Kansas City
The Kangaroos were a Mid-Continent team that actually
had more trouble in conference than out last year.
UMKC finished 18-11 but only 7-7 in the MCC with a
semifinal loss to Valpo in the Mid-Continent
tournament. The Kangaroos 2-3 zone defense kept most
non-conference foes off balance but wasn't as much a
surprise to MCC teams. UMKC beat Missouri Valley teams
SW Missouri State and Northern Iowa and played Kansas
and Oklahoma State of the Big 12 tough, but was 0-5
against Valpo and Oral Roberts, sealing the team's
fate as a tier below the top teams last year.
This year UMKC, like most Mid-Con teams, loses more
starters (3) than it returns (2), but also like most
returns one of their best players. 6-1 junior guard
Michael Watson is back after averaging 21.9 points a
game last year. He took a ton of shots last year to
get his points (35.3 FG %) so the hope for coach Rich
Zvosec is that Watson is a little more efficient this
year. The other starter returning is 6-9 senior
forward Tom Curtis (2.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg), who again will
do dirty work inside. The only other returnees who saw
significant action last year are 6-5 senior forward
Randall Athison (3.3 ppg) and 6-10 sophomore center
Dan Leadbetter. Like Oakland, UMKC has a number of
promising newcomers. 6-9 sophomore center Carlton
Aaron goes 300 pounds. The Temple transfer didn't play
much for the Owls, but his size can't be ignored at
the Mid-Continent level. Juco Brandon Temple is
expected to step in at the point, hopefully freeing
Watson to do his thing at the two spot instead of
having to handle the ball so much. James Williams and
Jeffrey Bramble are two 6-8 juco transfers who also
should have an impact at the forward spots, while 6-10
Shaw University transfer Randall Logan gives UMKC 300
more pounds of beef on the inside.
Missouri-Kansas City's defense should keep the
Kangaroos in games, assuming the big guys are mobile
enough to rotate in the scheme. Remember how Temple's
matchup zone was exploited last year when quickness
was a problem. Backcourt scoring shouldn't be a
problem with Watson, the question will be whether the
frontcourt guys can light it up some. UMKC has
excellent size and lots of beef, so it should be fun
to see the Kangaroos play three Big 12 teams before
conference play starts. This, like Oakland, is another
interesting team to watch. Watch for the Kangaroos to
finish just ahead of Oakland, as the newcomers here
are mostly jucos versus Oakland's freshmen. Right now
there's just too many question marks to put UMKC any
higher than fourth, but don't count out a possible
Mid-Continent tourney run.
Oakland
The Golden Grizzlies lose four starters from a team
that went 10-4 in conference, 17-13 overall.
Highlights included a 26-point trouncing of Detroit
and going 3-1 against Mid-American Conference teams,
but an upset by IUPUI in the first round of the
Mid-Con tourney was not the way the season was
supposed to end for the team picked by many to unseat
Valparaiso for the championship last year.
Gone are Brad Buddenborg, Dan Champagne, Jason Rozycki
and Mychal Covington, who accounted for nearly 45
points and 16 rebounds a game last year. The only
significant scoring threat back is junior guard Mike
Helms, who averaged 18.4 ppg last year. Surprisingly,
he also grabbed 4.2 rebounds a game, impressive for a
guy only 6-0. Other returnees are 7-0 junior center
Jordan Sabourin, who started 14 games last year, and
junior forward Kelly Williams. The newcomers to this
team, though, are where it gets interesting. 6-7
sophomore guard Rawle Marshall is a transfer from Ball
State, and will be expected to step in right away and
take some of the scoring load off Helms' back. 6-6,
260 lb. sophomore forward Courtney Scott is a transfer
from Iowa who is eligible for the second semester and
brings girth to Oakland's inside game. Plus, coach
Greg Kampe welcomes five freshmen to campus this fall,
and forwards Courtney Williams (6-9) and David Ritzema
(6-10) and center Shawn Hopes (6-7) could give Oakland
a downright huge inside game if all three develop
quickly.
Oakland is the MCC's most intriguing team entering
2002-03. What looks to be a stellar class of newcomers
could make the Golden Grizzlies a darkhorse in the
conference race, or at the very least a spoiler. Also,
a softer pre-conference schedule could mean a better
record than previous years heading into conference
play, which would be a big boost to a young team. The
key will be the development and meshing of all the new
talent, as well as finding someone to take some of the
scoring pressure off Nelms. However this year goes,
this school has had quite a bit of success since
moving to Division I, and that is a direct reflection
on Kampe and the coaches. It's not easy when you're in
a league in the land TV forgot and when you have to
recruit at a school that sounds like it should be in
California. This year Oakland is one of those classic "year away" teams, but don't be surprised if that year
gets here faster than expected.
Southern Utah
It's tempting to pick the Thunderbirds higher just out
of respect for coach Bill Evans. But there's just too
many unknowns this year, even if it is hard to picture
SUU having another season like last year again, when
an inexperienced team started 3-11 on its way to 11-16
but 8-6 in the conference.
SUU lost Dan Beus (13.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg), one of the
holdovers from the 2001 NCAA Tournament team. Only
four players from last year's team return, meaning
newcomers will be filling many key roles. The good
news is those four were among the six leading scorers
for SUU, so maybe the newbies will be needed more for
depth than headlining roles. Leading returnees are
senior off-guard Jay Collins (11.2 ppg) and senior
forward Donnie Jackson (7.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg). Other key
returnees are junior guard Jason Baker (6.9 ppg) and
senior forward Kevin Henry (5.3 ppg), although Baker
is expected to redshirt. Among the new players being
counted on to make an impact in the backcourt are
redshirt juco guard Jordan Mulford (5-8), juco Al
Williams (6-4) and redshirt freshman Rand James. In
the frontcourt, center Nik Fitzgerald (who played one
year at SUU before tranferring to a junior college
last year) and forwards Aaron Miles (a 6-8 senior who
played in all but one game last year), Robbie Warren,
a 6-8 juco transfer, and 6-7 juco transfer David
Palmer.
The Thunderbirds under Evans are traditionally a
stingy defensive team, and that will help offset any
lack of firepower. SUU has the tools where, if some of
the newcomers can provide a spark, this team could
conceivably move higher. The middle teams in the
Mid-Con all have question marks, so whoever finds
answers quickest will have an excellent chance at finishing in the upper division. Plus, it's hard to
imagine this program just slipping back to mediocrity
after the NCAA experience two years ago, even if just
about all the faces from that team are already gone.
But at this point, there's just too much inexperience
and not enough to expect this team to compete with the
likes of Valparaiso and Oral Roberts for the
championship.
Western Illinois
The Leathernecks pulled a reverse-Oral Roberts last
year, starting out strong but petering out in
conference play. WIU knocked off Hampton in
non-conference play and was 9-5 in non-conference
games, but 3-11 in conference added up to a
disappointing 12-16 finish. Of course, 12-16 was much
better than the previous year's 5-23, but with all the
seniors it's hard to understand why this team wasn�t
more of a threat in conference. And it wasn't like WIU
was losing nailbiters; seven of the 11 losses came by
double-figures.
Jim Kerwin has been the man in Macomb for 10 years
now, and more often than not he's gotten more out of a
team than expected. This would be a nice year to do
so, as the Leathernecks lost five players who started
14 or more games last year. The only returnees who
started more than a few games are 6-5 senior forward
Shawn Mason (11.5 ppg) and 6-3 swingman J.D. Summers
(6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg). Lorenzo Lawrence, a 6-3 senior
guard, is also back after scoring 5.9 points per game
off the bench last year, so Western does return some
firepower in the backcourt spots, although last year's
point man, Brian Williams, will be missed. Matt
Robins, a 5-11 senior guard, also returns after coming
off the bench and playing in all but one game. He
averaged only 2.1 ppg last year, but may have the
inside track at the point this year, if 6-2 juco
transfer Ray Harris doesn't take it. Inside, Luis
Rivas was limited by injuries last year, playing in
only five games. However, the 6-6 forward/center
averaged 11 ppg in the games he appeared in, and he
could be a big key as to how far WIU goes this year.
With all the personnel losses, the Leathernecks will
need big-time help from new blood. Frosh David
Genslinger (6-9) and Kenny Smith (6-4) and 6-6 juco
Will Lewis were the only frontcourt recruits, and they
will be pressed into action, if only for depth
purposes if not actually starting.
Like Oakland, Southern Utah and UMKC, Western Illinois
is a team coming into this year with a lot of question
marks. Western is exceptionally short, even by MCC
standards-only one player over 6-6. The Leathernecks
will need a lot of role players from last year to step
up and some newcomers to contribute heavily from the
start. It would be nice to have some continuity in the
starting lineup after Kerwin spent most of last year
mixing and matching, trying to find the right
combination or react to injuries. The early season
schedule isn't nearly as friendly as last year, and
with nine straight games away from home to start the
year it will take a whale of an effort to be better
than last year's 12-16 mark. Kerwin has pulled rabbits
out of his hat before, so don't count him out, but at
this point it looks like a long year in Macomb.
Chicago State
And then there's poor Chicago State, bringing up the
rear of the Mid-Continent like it has all too often.
Bo Ellis seemed to have the Cougar program on the
right track when the 1999-2000 team won 10 games in
just his second season. Even the 2000-01 team that
went 5-23 played some people tough, losing a close one
to DePaul and beating IUPUI twice. But then the bottom
fell out from underneath again, in the form of a 2-26
season last year that included wins over only five-win
Youngstown State and Division III Lakeland College of
Wisconsin. The Cougars also took the collar in MCC
play, going 0-14. It's hard to believe this program
actually was winning 20+ games a year at the Division
I level in the mid-1980s under Bob Hallberg; lately
this has been looking more and more like a place where
it may be close to impossible to win in D-I.
Here's hoping Chicago State doesn't become the next
U.S. International, Brooklyn College, or Houston
Baptist. The Cougars actually return three of their
top four players last year; unfortunately, those are
the only returnees who even played last year. The
frontcourt doesn't look half-bad. Clark Bone, a 6-8
senior center, averaged 12.3 ppg and 8.4 rpg last year
and will be a candidate for all-league honors this
year. Forwards Kelvin Smallwood and Rubeen Perry also
return after averaging 9.6 and 8.4 points a game,
respectively. Smallwood goes 6-6; Perry 6-9, so CSU
will have the size if not the depth up front to
challenge teams. The backcourt looks like an absolute
mess; no one with any kind of experience returns.
Sophomore Craig Franklin has missed the last two
years, but at least he's been around the program.
Other options will be juco transfers Tony Hansbro and
Steve Turner and freshmen Anthony Mlachnik and Derrick
Wimmer.
Once again the outlook is gloomy for the Cougars. The
starting frontline is pretty good, but there's no
proven depth behind it and nobody knows how the
backcourt situation will shake down. Add to this a
schedule that doesn't allow a home game until December
19th, and it's hard to paint a rosy picture. The fact
that so many other Mid-Con schools have holes to fill
should help, but it's hard picturing CSU winning any
more than six or seven games this year.
Mid-Continent Conference
Predicted order of finish:
1. Valparaiso
2. Oral Roberts
3. IUPUI
4. UMKC
5. Oakland
6. Southern Utah
7. Western Illinois
8. Chicago State
