Butler takes favorite's role in Horizon League preseason men's basketball poll
Oct. 9, 2007
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INDIANAPOLIS -- One season removed from its record-setting 2006-07 campaign, the Butler University men's basketball team opens the 2007-08 season as a near-unanimous favorite to win the Horizon League championship, according to the results of the League's official preseason poll announced Tuesday (Oct. 9).
The Bulldogs were picked by 42 of the 46 voters in a canvass of League coaches, sports information directors and media members, making Butler a runaway favorite in the voting. Butler collected 456 of a possible 460 points, well ahead of defending League champion Wright State University (354 points). The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay finished third in the balloting with two first-place votes and 333 points, just ahead of fourth-place University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (325).
Loyola University Chicago ranked fifth with a 264-point total, including the other two first-place votes. League newcomer Valparaiso University was sixth with 227 points, with the University of Detroit Mercy seventh at 201. The University of Illinois at Chicago (171), Cleveland State University (118) and Youngstown State University (81) rounded out the poll.
Butler returns three starters, including a pair of All-League selections in senior guards A.J. Graves and Mike Green. The tandem helped pace Butler to a League-record 29 victories last year, including a 13-3 League record to earn a share of the regular-season title. Butler became the circuit's first-ever entry into the national top ten when the Bulldogs were ranked ninth by the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and tenth in the Associated Press media survey last February. Butler subsequently advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament with victories over Old Dominion University and the University of Maryland before falling to eventual champion University of Florida.
Graves was a First-Team All-League choice last winter, finishing fifth in the League in scoring (16.9 points per game) and ranking second in the nation with a .948 free-throw percentage. He canned a League-best 98 three-pointers last winter. Green was named the circuit's Newcomer of the Year in 2006-07, adding that honor to the Second-Team All-League accolades he earned with rates of 13.9 points, six rebounds and four assists per game.
Wright State captured its first-ever Horizon League championship last March, matching Butler's 13-3 League ledger and defeating the Bulldogs twice in the final month of the season. The latter of those came in the League Championship title showdown, with WSU's 60-55 triumph giving the Raiders their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1993. Sophomore guard Vaughn Duggins (9.0 points and 2.5 assists per game) and Todd Brown lead the way for Wright State, which compiled a 23-10 overall record in 2006-07.
Green Bay brings back four starters from the group that finished 18-15 overall (7-9 in League play) last season. Junior forward Mike Schachtner finished tenth on the League scoring charts at 14.9 points per game a year ago, ranking among the loop's top five performers in all three shooting-percentage categories. Junior forward Terry Evans is a two-time member of the League's All-Defensive Team, rating second in the League in steals (1.70 per game), third in blocked shots (1.42 per outing) and seventh in rebounding (6.3 per game) last season.
Milwaukee attempts to rebound from last year's 9-22 mark that included a 6-10 League ledger. The Panthers had won back-to-back League titles but opened the 2006-07 campaign with only one player having started a Division I game. That player, current senior forward Paige Paulsen, averaged 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while senior guard Avery Smith topped the team scoring charts with a 15.5 points-per-game norm that was seventh-best in the League last season. Smith scored 30 or more points three times for Milwaukee, which has four returning starters in 2007-08.
No team symbolizes the differing opinions among League voters better than Loyola, which was slotted in
all ten positions on various ballots. The Ramblers notched their best record in more than two decades last season, posting a 21-11 overall record, including a 10-6 loop ledger to finish third in the League standings. Junior guard J.R. Blount (12.9 points per game) is the lone returning starter for Loyola, although LU boasts two reliable front-court performers in sophomore forward Andy Polka (6.3 points and a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game) and junior forward Leon Young (8.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per outing).
Valparaiso (16-15 last season) makes its Horizon League debut in 2007-08 following a successful 25-year run in the Mid-Continent Conference. Veteran head coach Homer Drew leads a veteran group into the new circuit, with four starters who each averaged at least 11.3 points per game for the Crusaders last season. Sophomore guard Samuel Haanpää was one of the nation's top three-point shooters in 2006-07, hitting 45.7 percent of his shots behind the arc while averaging 12 points per game. Junior forward Urule Igbavboa (11.6) senior guard Shawn Huff (11.4) and junior guard Brandon McPherson (11.3) complete the quarter of twin-figure scorers, while Igbavboa also led the Crusaders with a rate of 7.5 rebounds per outing on the way to Second-Team All-Mid-Con status.
Detroit relies on a pair of senior guards in Brandon Cotton and Jon Goode to improve upon the team's 11-19 record (including a 6-10 League ledger) from last year. Cotton earned Second-Team All-League status for the third year in a row last winter for his 18.1 points-per-game scoring average that was third-best in the League. Cotton's scoring pace and career total of 1,464 points are the highest among active players, with the latter number including 26 games with 20 or more points. Goode averaged 9.2 points per game despite only starting six games a year ago.
UIC battled through a series of injuries and other diversions for a 14-18 record last season, tying for fourth place in the standings with a 7-9 League record. The Flames have two returning starters, with junior guard Josh Mayo and junior center Scott VanderMeer leading the way in 2007-08. Mayo averaged 12.2 points per game last season, shooting 41 percent from three-point range and 89 percent at the free-throw line. The 6-11 VanderMeer shattered the League's single-season record with 111 blocked shots, finishing fifth in the nation at 3.47 per game while also averaging 5.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest.
Cleveland State compiled a 10-21 record (3-13 in League play) in head coach Gary Waters' first season at the school last winter.. The Vikings bring ten newcomers into play this season, including junior guard Cedric Jackson, a two-year starter at St. John's University. Jackson sat out last season after averaging 4.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per outing for the Red Storm in 2005-06. Up front, junior forward J'Nathan Bullock ranked fifth in the League in rebounding (6.5 per game) while leading CSU with his 13.5 points-per-game scoring norm. Sophomore guard Joe Davis chipped in with 9.2 points per contest in his debut campaign.
Youngstown State made its best showing (14-17 overall, 7-9 in League play) since joining the circuit in 2001, but must replace more than half of its scoring following the graduation of Quin Humphrey and Keston Roberts. That duo combined to average 35 points per game, with Humphrey winning First-Team All-League honors for the second year in a row. Senior guard Byron Davis is the team's top returning scorer, averaging 8.6 points and a team-high 3.87 assists per game last season. Junior forward Jack Liles ranked fourth in the League in rebounding at 6.4 per game last season, with senior forward John Barber averaging 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per outing off the bench.
The voters provided a variety of forecasts, although all 46 placed Butler first or second in the poll. Every other school experienced at least a five-place range, however, with Valparaiso, Detroit and UIC all tabbed anywhere from second to tenth and Milwaukee picked as high as second by some voters and as low as ninth by others.
The 2007-08 Horizon League men's basketball season opens Nov. 9 with Butler, Cleveland State, Green Bay and Milwaukee in action. Green Bay visits Ohio State for the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Nov. 12, with Butler taking part in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout the following week (Nov. 21-24). The 90-game League schedule begins Dec. 6 with four loop match-ups, as Valparaiso plays its first League contest at Wright State, while Butler travels to Detroit, Green Bay plays at Loyola and Milwaukee visits UIC. Wright State hosts Butler two days later in a re-match of last year's League Championship final.
The 2008 Horizon League Championship begins March 4 at campus sites, with the third through sixth seeds hosting seeds 7-10. From there, action shifts to the home of the regular-season champion, with the second round and semifinals slated for March 7 and 8, respectively, ahead of the March 11 championship. The higher seed remaining after the semifinals earns the right to host that event---televised live on ESPN---with the League's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on the line.
The League will release its women's basketball preseason poll on Wednesday (Oct. 10), with the preseason All-League men's and women's teams announced Thursday (Oct. 11).
