Ramblermania.net

I have to agree that it's Wichita State and Illinois State at 1-2.

I think Missouri State could really do some damage and be the "surprise team" this year if they put it all together. Word is their non-conference schedule wasn't what some hoped for, but I was really impressed with their guards Dequon Miller and Jarred Dixon. Obediah Church could also be a nightmare down the line after averaging 6-6 as a freshmen big. I think they have a shot at 3rd in the MVC.

UNI lost a lot but they still have some legitimate big men in Bennett Koch and Klint Carlson and Jeremy Morgan is a defensive stud who could be all conference by season's end. They're kind of thin at guard but some fans are high on Wyatt Lohaus and many are excited about their 3 star pg Juwan McCloud....they lost a lot in their 3 seniors but it's hard to bet against Ben Jacobson, I expect them to finish 4-6 in conference.

Indiana State and SIU I'm less familiar with... I expect both to be middle of the road. Indiana State is always gonna be tough with the way they play D and Brenton Scott is a STUD but other than that they lost a lot of leadership and on paper their recruits don't seem overly impressive (I did limited research on this so I could be way off).

SIU has Mike Rodriguez and Sean O'Brien coming back so they'll still have scoring, but it won't be nearly as easy as it was with Anthony Beane. Kid was a monster and killed us at Gentile.

Evansville's roster was devastated by their graduations. I have a hard time seeing them anywhere higher than 8 Balentine and Mock were generational types of talent at Evansville, still a bummer that they couldn't sneak in the tournament.

I sadly see Drake continuing their struggle. They have some nice shooters but for whatever reason can't consistently put it together, I don't know that they escape Thursday.

Bradley could be a wildcard and snag the 6 seed from InSt, LU, or SIU. As the season went on they played stronger and stronger. They have a lot of experienced youth and if they learn to win could be a force down the road; I really like Wardle brings as a coach.

We have what i would consider top 3 incoming class; if all pans out well I could see us as high as 3. But to be safe i'm going to say we finish 9-9 or 10-8 in conference and snag the 5 seed!

Can't believe I forgot about Townes' transfer year, I guess I thought he was a graduate transfer for a minute.

I think Custer and Richardson probably start, reunited as the Kansas state champion backcourt from Blue Valley Northwest High School. We saw how that kind of prior familiarity worked with the two players from Coffeyville, Peterson and James. With the departure of Turk, Richardson becomes the most proven and potent three point threat-- he led the team (and the MVC) with 44.4% accuracy last year, and had the second-most made threes. Despite only starting 17 of 32 games last year, Doyle almost certainly starts as the only senior on scholarship, and it'll be interesting to see how his scoring and leadership changes when not having to set the offense and dish the ball. We're also almost certainly going to have 3-star juco Treyvon Andres playing a Montel James-type role in the front court, though perhaps with more raw strength, athleticism, and power. At 6'8", 230, he's going to have one inch and 20 pounds over James, and his 16.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and 2.3 assists per game shows what kind of energy we can expect.

The last starting slot is between Donte Ingram, Matt Chastain, and Aundre Jackson. Believe it or not, Ingram has appeared in every game since arriving at Loyola two years ago. He's one of only four players who played in every game in 2014-15, and one of only two who appeared in every game last year. The only player who started more games than Ingram last year was Peterson. As a sophomore, he played 25.9 minutes per game, way up from 18.3 minutes as a freshman. He was asked to play inside a lot more early in the season as a sophomore (taking the place of Christian Thomas) until Montel James really focused on inside play in the second half of the season. Ingram seemed to take some time to feel his way into games last season. His field goal percentage (especially behind the arc) and rebounds per possession went down noticeably-- so there's some question as to whether he feels comfortable starting, or likes to analyze what he can do in a game by coming off the bench. If he wants to start on a regular basis, he'll need to revert to the efficiency he had as a freshman. On the bright side, Ingram became the team's second-best free throw shooter as a sophomore (84.7%).

Chastain may get some starts if he shows the kind of offensive (and defensive) numbers he impressed with in high school. He'll certainly get a lot of minutes, even as a freshman, because he's a prolific scorer who's unafraid to take charge. At 6'6", 190, he needs to put on a few pounds of muscle to take the physicality that goes on inside the paint in the MVC.

Aundre Jackson promises to provide toughness and physicality at 6'5", 230, and has juco experience and knows how to finish around the basket.

So it looks like Custer, Richardson, Doyle, Ingram, and Andres, in my opinion.

I heard from reliable source that we were going to have home game against Wright State and Milwaukee. UIC on the road.\
That was a secondary source so take it for what it was worth.

25yearstreak wrote:I heard from reliable source that we were going to have home game against Wright State and Milwaukee. UIC on the road.\
That was a secondary source so take it for what it was worth.

Are we rejoining the Horizon?