2007-08 Horizon League Men's Basketball Preseason Prospectus
Sept. 11, 2007
2007-08 Prospectus in PDF Format
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The Horizon League enjoyed one of its most successful seasons ever in 2006-07. Now with ten teams on board, the League prepares to take another step forward this winter, as Wright State prepares to defend its title against charges from regular-season co-champion Butler, newcomer Valparaiso and seven other challengers.
Butler reached the regional semifinals in the NCAA Championship, giving the League its third Sweet 16 team in the last five years. And the Bulldogs did it as an at-large entry, joining Wright State to give the League two representatives in the Big Dance for the first time since 2003.
Wright State started slowly under new coach Brad Brownell, but rode a wave of momentum through January and February to finish tied atop the regular-season loop standings. The Raiders stood at 5-6 on Dec. 27, but won 18 of their next 21 games entering the NCAA Tournament games, setting the school (Division I) single-season victories standard with a 23-10 mark (13-3 in League play).
League Player of the Year and tournament MVP DaShaun Wood led the League in scoring (19.6 points per game) and steals (1.94 per contest), paving the way in the League Championship as the Raiders advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993. Wood is gone, however, leaving the Raiders looking for new leadership.
Sophomore guards Vaughn Duggins and Todd Brown are the top candidates for that role, after both earned spots on the League's All-Newcomer Team in 2006-07. Duggins tops the list of Raider returners at 9.0 points and 2.5 assists per game, while Brown added 8.6 markers per outing in his debut campaign. Senior forward Jordan Pleiman provides strength inside, shooting nearly 57 percent from the field for his 7.3 points-per-game average and pulling down 7.3 rebounds per contest.
Butler grabbed national headlines throughout the 2006-07 campaign, opening the year by winning the NIT Season Tip-Off championship and eventually becoming the League's first-ever top-ten team when BU was ranked ninth by ESPN/USA Today and tenth by the Associated Press in early February. The Bulldogs return three starters from that group that set a League single-season record for victories (29-7) and defeated Old Dominion and Maryland before falling to eventual national champion Florida in the NCAA tourney.
Butler led the nation with a rate of 9.5 turnovers per game and finished fifth in Division I defensively, allowing only 57.1 points per game. The Bulldogs enter the 2007-08 campaign under new leadership, however, after National Coach of the Year Todd Lickliter left in April to take the reins at Iowa. Veteran assistant Brad Stevens takes over, leading a group that boasts an impressive backcourt tandem in seniors A.J. Graves and Mike Green, along with the three-point shooting of senior Pete Campbell.
Graves drew AP All-America Honorable Mention last season, ranking fourth in the League at 16.9 points per game to lead Butler to its lofty rating. Graves, the MVP of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament, hit 63 consecutive free-throw attempts in one stretch and finished second in the nation at nearly 95 percent from the stripe. Green won the League's Newcomer of the Year honor for his all-around effort, which included norms of 13.9 points, six rebounds and four assists per game. Campbell eclipsed the League's three-point percentage record, shooting 52 percent from behind the arc to average 9.1 points per game overall. In League play, those numbers increased to 58.1 percent (another League standard) and 12.4 points per contest. He led a Bulldog attack that canned a loop-record 321 triples.
Loyola was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the League title, bringing four senior starters into the season. Injuries derailed the Ramblers' push, although the team finished 21-11 overall (10-6 in League play) for its best showing since the 1984-85 campaign when LU went 27-6 and reached the NCAA's Sweet 16. Loyola's 21-win total included a 75-71 triumph at Butler on Feb. 22, giving Wright State home-court advantage for the tournament. For this year's crew to match that level of success, veteran coach Jim Whitesell must replace those four departed starters, including three-time First-Team All-League choice Blake Schilb (17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and four assists per game in 2006-07) as well as guard Majak Kou (12.9 points per outing).
The Ramblers led the League in scoring offense (69.9 points per game) last season, but lose 49 percent of that output to graduation. Junior guard J.R. Blount will likely be the first option for Loyola after averaging 12.9 points per game a year ago, ranking 15th on the League charts. Forward Andy Polka made a dramatic impact as a freshman in 2006-07, finishing third in the circuit in rebounding (7.2 per outing) and averaging 6.3 points per contest, while junior forward Leon Young battled elbow ailments to average 8.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in his 26 appearances.
Green Bay brings back four starters from the last year's 18-15 team. The Phoenix, 7-9 in League action, lost their floor leader in Ryan Evanochko (15.0 points and a League-high 5.24 assists per game), but feature one of the circuit's top three-point arsenals with juniors Mike Schachtner and Ryan Tillema along with sophomore guard Troy Cotton. Schachtner was tenth in the League in scoring at 14.9 points per outing last winter, and ranked among the top performers in all three shooting categories---third in field-goal percentage (.456), second in free-throw accuracy (.912) and fifth in three-point precision (.456). Cotton stepped into a starting role early in the season and hit 46.2 percent behind the arc for his 7.6 points-per-game pace, while Tillema added 8.6 points per outing after missing the early portion of the schedule due to mononucleosis.
Junior forward Terry Evans is one of the League's top defenders, earning All-Defensive Team honors in each of his first two seasons in Green Bay. He ranked second on the look charts with 1.70 steals per game in 2006-07, adding 6.3 rebounds per game to finish seventh on that chart as well as 7.7 points per outing.
Valparaiso joins the League after a successful 25-year run in the Mid-Continent Conference. The Crusaders (16-15 overall last year) reached the NCAA Tournament seven times during that time, and long-time coach Homer Drew brings a veteran crew into this season with four returning starters---all of whom averaged double figures in scoring---led by sophomore guard Samuel Haanpaa and junior guard Brandon McPherson. Haanpaa averaged a team-high 12.0 points per game last winter, canning 75 three-pointers on 46 percent accuracy behind the arc (12th-best in the nation), with McPherson providing 11.3 points and 3.3 assists per game.McPherson shot 51.6 percent from the field, as well.
Up front, junior forward Urule Igbavboa was a Second-Team All-Mid-Con choice last season, averaging 11.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest with ten double-doubles. His 56.3 percent field-goal percentage helped Valpo to a .460 clip as a team, a mark that would have led the Horizon League a year ago. Senior guard Shawn Huff chipped in with 11.4 points per game, shooting 87 percent from the free-throw line.
Youngstown State posted its best record (14-17 overall, 7-9 in loop play) in six years as a League member, hosting a first-round League Championship game last winter for the first time. The Penguins face an uphill battle to repeat that success, following the graduation of seniors Quin Humphrey and Keston Roberts, whose combined 35.1 points-per-game norm represented more than half the team's total. Humphrey ranked second in scoring at 18.8 points per game and was fourth off the glass with 7.1 rebounds per game.
Veteran sideline boss Jerry Slocum likely will rely on senior guard Byron Davis and the frontcourt tandem of senior John Barber and junior Jack Liles to lead this year's squad. Davis finished fifth in the League with an average of 3.87 assists per game, augmenting his 8.6 points-per-game scoring pace. Barber and Liles each added more than seven points per outing, with Liles also among the League leaders in rebounding (sixth at 6.4 per contest) and blocked shots (fourth with 1.16 per outing).
Perhaps no team experienced as much adversity as UIC (14-18 overall, 7-9 in the League), which lost coach Jimmy Collins to illness for much of the year, and several players to injury at various points of the schedule. Twelve different Flames started at least one game in 2006-07, and more changes are expected after First-Team All-League choice Othyus Jeffers (15.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season) left the program. But Collins is back for the 2007-08 campaign, with guards Josh Mayo poised to lead UIC.
Mayo averaged 12.2 points and 3.19 assists per game as a sophomore last winter, finishing sixth on the League charts in the latter category. Senior guard Robert Bush added 6.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest as a part-time starter. Up front, the Flames rely on another transfer in junior center Scott VanderMeer. The 6-11 VanderMeer, who came to Chicago from Bowling Green, set a League single-season record with 111 blocked shots and ranked fifth in the nation at 3.47 rejections per game. He also grabbed 5.6 rebounds per contest.
Milwaukee endured some growing pains under coach Rob Jeter, finishing 9-22 overall and 6-10 in the League. The Panthers dropped to sixth in the League standings after winning three consecutive loop titles, but try to return to the top of the standings with four returning starters, led by a pair of seniors in guard Avery Smith and forward Paige Paulsen. Smith scored 30 or more points three times last season, including 36 versus Oakland (Dec. 2), 33 at Drake (Feb. 17) and 32 against Detroit (Jan. 25). Paulsen, the only Panther to have started a Division I game before last season, added 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. He had a pair of double-doubles last season, including a 27-point, 12-rebound effort in his UWM debut versus Radford.
Senior guard Allan Hanson and junior guard Ricky Franklin are the other two returning starters for Milwaukee. Hanson provided rates of 7.7 points and 2.9 assists per outing, while Franklin chipped in with 7.2 points per game. Hanson's totals included a dozen double-figure scoring totals, with Franklin hitting twin figures ten times.
Detroit's hopes depend on one of the League's top players in Brandon Cotton. The senior guard finished third on the League scoring charts at 18.1 points per game a year ago, scoring in double figures 26 times and posting eight or nine in each of his other four outings. He had two 30-point games in February, scoring 31 versus Green Bay and 33 at Youngstown State. Senior guard Jon Goode leads the Titans' long-range attack, hitting a team-high 49 three-pointers on 38 percent shooting behind the arc while Chris Hayes provided 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2006-07.
The Titans must replace the front-court efforts of departed center Ryvon Covile, who led the League in rebounding (10.6 per game), field-goal percentage (.564) and double-doubles (16) while averaging 13.7 points per game last season. Veteran sideline boss Perry Watson has high expectations for junior forward Chris Hayes (5.2 points, 3.6 rebounds per game) to fill that void.
Cleveland State lost four of its top six scorers from last year's squad but coach Gary Waters' team features one of the League's most underrated frontcourt performers in junior forward J'Nathan Bullock, who averaged 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season. The latter number ranked fifth on the League charts and included four double-doubles. Sophomore guard Joe Davis chipped in with a rate of 9.2 points per outing, while Kevin Francis averaged 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per appearance before becoming an academic casualty at mid-season.
The Vikings have been eagerly anticipating this year's debut of junior guard Cedric Jackson. A two-year starter at St. John's University, Jackson played in 54 contests for the Red Storm and averaged 4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per contest in 2005-06 after opening 25 games as a freshman the previous winter. A versatile scorer, he is expected to step into the starting role as CSU's point guard this winter.
A trip to the NCAA Tournament is on the line at the 2008 Horizon League Championship, which begins March 4. The third through sixth seeds host seeds 7-10 that evening, with the winners joining the top two schools for the remainder of the tourney. Action continues at the site of the number-one seed on Friday-Saturday, March 7-8, with that NCAA ticket awarded to the winner of the (Tuesday, March 11) championship showdown.
