Men's Basketball Schedule
Friday, Nov. 9
Northern Michigan at Detroit, 7 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network
Grambling at Cleveland State, 7:30 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network
University of Mary at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network
Toledo at Loyola, 8 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network
Georgia Southern at #rv/- Valpraiso, 8:30 p.m. -- Horizon League Network
Wright State at Idaho, 10 p.m. ET
Saturday, Nov. 10
Chicago State at Green Bay, 2 p.m. ET
Youngstown State at George Washington, 4 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 11
UC Riverside at UIC, 2 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network
Milwaukee at South Carolina, 3 p.m. ET
Let’s cut to the chase: Butler has left the Horizon League.
Entering the 2012-13 men’s basketball season, however, the goals remain the same: compete for the Horizon League regular season and tournament championship.
Do that, and the team(s) representing the Horizon League in the NCAA Tournament will be well prepared to win into March, just as the Horizon League tournament champion has done in nine of the last 12 NCAA Tournaments.
THE CHAMPIONS
Behind a new coach, two returning starters and having lost a player to the Big Ten, Valparaiso was not supposed to challenge for the Horizon League regular season title.
Not only did the Crusaders do just that, they won the League outright, reaching the finals of the Horizon League Championship before losing to Detroit.
Now, the challenge for the Crusaders will be to play with a season-long target on their backs. Valparaiso brings back all five starters from last year’s team, including Player of the Year Ryan Broekhoff.
In his breakout junior season, Broekhoff led Valpo with 14.9 points per game while pacing the Horizon League with 8.5 rebounds per game. Broekhoff’s effort last year helped him secure a place on the Australian National Team, where he was one of just two players in Boomers camp. Despite being one of the last cuts from the Olympic squad, Broekhoff returns to Valparaiso as the League’s best version of a Swiss Army knife – able to impact the game in a variety of ways.
Last year, Broekhoff’s emergence was aided by the return to health of Kevin Van Wijk. Limited because of back troubles for two seasons, Van Wijk found a way to stay healthy last year, dominating in the low post, hitting at a 61.7 percent clip from the floor. Van Wijk’s efforts led to a spot on the All-League First Team after he put up 14.1 ppg.
With Bobby Copobianco and Vashil Fernandez adding size to the front court, Broekhoff should be able to slide to his more natural ‘3’ position, while Alex Rossi adds increased shooting depth after transferring from California to be closer to home.
With all five starters returning, head coach Bryce Drew ramped up his non-conference schedule, including trips to Saint Louis, New Mexico, Murray State, Missouri State and Nebraska.
CHAMPIONS, TOO
While Valparaiso was tabbed the preseason favorite in the Horizon League, the team that knocked the Crusaders off on their home court for the League title seems poised to battle for another championship.
After an up-and-down regular season, Detroit put its collective talent together in March, becoming just the second team to win the Horizon League Tournament by winning four games. In the NCAA Tournament, the Titans put forth a game effort before falling to eventual tournament runner-up Kansas in the second round.
This year, Ray McCallum will be firmly in control as he enters his junior year. As a sophomore, McCallum earned Preseason Player of the Year recognition before averaging 15.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 4.0 steals per game; in the Horizon League Tournament, McCallum was even better, putting up 19.8 ppg to earn Tournament MVP honors.
For the second straight summer, McCallum starred on the camp circuit. A year after using camps to earn a place on Team USA for the World University Games, McCallum impressed at both the CP3 Elite Guard Camp and Deron Williams Skills Academy this summer.
Joining McCallum in the Titans’ title defense will be two high-flying forwards, Doug Anderson and Nick Minnerath. Anderson wowed fans with his high-flying capabilities; Minnerath added a sneaky inside-outside game in combination with his own dunking prowess before a knee injury cut short his season just five games into the year.
Jason Calliste will look to build on his success in the League Tournament, in which he hit several key three-pointers for Detroit.
While Detroit loses three key players off last year’s team, the Titans will also be adding Juwan Howard, Jr., whose freshman season at Western Michigan saw him average 9.3 ppg.
Much like Valparaiso, Detroit will challenge itself in the non-conference season, traveling to Miami, St. John’s, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Temple in the first two monts of the year.
THE DARK HORSES
While Valparaiso and Detroit received the lion’s share of first-place votes from coaches, media and sports information directors, two teams loom as spoilers – Green Bay and Youngstown State.
The nation’s 13th-youngest team last year, Green Bay has flipped the script in 2012-13, returning all five starters and the majority of its rotation. In just his third season, head coach Brian Wardle has assembled a roster that can compete in a variety of ways, starting in the low post with junior Alec Brown.
In his sophomore year, Brown averaged 13.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg and turned in 89 blocks, breaking his own single-season record and becoming Green Bay’s all-time leader in the category in just two years.
With Brown commanding attention down low, space is opened up for Brennan Cougill, Kam Cerroni and Keifer Sykes. Cougill, at 6-foot-9 and 265 pounds, presents an interesting matchup, as he can join Brown in the post or play pick-and-roll on the three-point line with Sykes.
Cerroni led the Horizon League in three-point shooting, knocking down 46.5-percent of his attempts, bumping up his scoring to 10.4 ppg in League play.
Sykes, meanwhile, spurred Green Bay’s run down the stretch of the year, averaging 14.7 ppg and 4.8 apg over the last 17 games of the season. While 5-foot-10, Sykes was able to use his speed to consistently break down opposing defenses, getting to the rim or dishing to Brown, Cougill and Cerroni, among others.
Green Bay should also be bolstered by the return of Daniel Turner, who went down with a torn ACL at the new year. Turner’s rugged play on the interior helped Brown and Cougill on the glass and should do much of the same this season.
The Phoenix took a five-game winning streak into the Horizon League Tournament last year, only to suffer a 77-60 loss at Youngstown State in the tournament opener. That same Penguins squad will be among the contenders in the Horizon League this season.
For YSU, its 16-15 record last year represented its best win total since the 2000-01. Playing bombs away basketball, the 38.1 percent of the Penguins’ points came via the three-pointer, where YSU shot 38.1 percent on the year.
Blake Allen led the way, converting 42.9-percent of his attempts and averaging 12.8 ppg. However, it was Kendrick Perry who proved to be the straw that stirred the drink for the Penguins. Perry led the Horizon League with a 16.8 ppg and 2.4 steals per game average.
While Perry’s slashing game and Allen’s outside shooting lifted the Penguins, Damian Eargle provided the much-needed inside presence for YSU. Listed at just 6-foot-7, Eargle’s wingspan proved problematic for opposing teams throughout the year; Eargle’s 116 blocks set a new Horizon League single-season record, and his 207 career blocks sit just 19 from the conference career mark.
With the trio in tow, expectations are running high in northeastern Ohio, and head coach Jerry Slocum has upgraded his schedule accordingly, taking the Penguins to Georgia, Duquense and South Florida.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Two years ago, Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters relied on Norris Cole to lead the Vikings. Last year, it was seniors D’Aundray Brown, Jeremy Montgomery and Trevon Harmon who took the team to the NIT. This year, with just one senior on the roster, Waters will turn the roster over to his underclassmen, including sophomore Anton Grady.
In just 21.2 minutes per game, Grady led Cleveland State in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage while posting an offensive efficiency rating (105.1) that implies he could be the Vikings’ go-to player this year. Whether or not that comes in the post (as it did last year), or on more pick-and-roll sets remains to be seen, but the respect for Grady was reflected in his preseason Second Team All-League selection, making him one of two sophomores on the team.
Tim Kamczyc is Waters’ lone returning starter and will be counted on for continued high pick-and-roll sets, in which his 46.0-percent three-point percentage looms over opposing defenses. Who is running those sets remains to be seen, as Sebasitan Douglas and Charlie Lee each saw time in the backcourt last season backing up Harmon.
While Waters’ team will be young, it will also be extremely athletic, with Marlin Mason, Junior Lomomba and Trey Lewis all vying for playing time. Mason was supposed to be a redshirt candidate last year, but Waters needed the raw talent after a rash of injuries. In limited minutes, Mason displayed that athleticism, averaging 3.7 ppg. Lomomba and Lewis both bring distinguished resumes to Cleveland State after highly-productive high school careers in Wisconsin and Michigan, respectively.
ON POINT
Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter is hoping lightning strikes twice. Two years ago, Kaylon Williams joined the Panthers and immediately slid into the point guard role, stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis and leading the Horizon league in assists in consecutive seasons.
Now, Williams has graduated, leaving a big role to fill for the Panthers. Again, Jeter will turn to the junior college ranks, bringing in Jordan Aaron from Southeastern CC to take Williams’ place. In his sophomore season at Southeastern, Aaron averaged 14.3 ppg and 3.9 apg.
Aaron will be surrounded by a solid returning cast, including James Haarsma on the inside and Paris Gulley on the perimeter. Haarsma, in his first year with the Panthers after transferring, proved among the toughest players in the Horizon League, averaging 10.8 ppg and 5.4 rpg. In conference play, Haarsma was Milwaukee’s leading scorer, converting over half his attempts while working in the low blocks.
Gulley, meanwhile, displayed a flair for the dramatic, knocking down several key three-pointers for the Panthers throughout the year. Like Aaron, Gulley came to Milwaukee from Southeastern CC, sliding into the starting lineup and averaging 8.5 ppg and connecting on just under 40 percent of his three-point field goal attempts.
Two years ago, Milwaukee was in a similar place, having to replace its point guard and being tabbed fifth in the preseason poll. All Jeter’s squad did was earn the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League Tournament.
ON THE WAY UP
The last two years have been a struggle for the two Chicagoland-based Horizon League schools, Loyola and UIC. However, the arrival of several newcomers has hopes high in both places.
On the North Side, Porter Moser hopes the addition of Cully Payne brings a marked turnaround from last year’s 7-23 campaign. In his first year with Loyola, Moser spent the better part of the year searching for the right combination, giving 10 different players starts. Payne, now eligible after sitting out last season, should solve Moser’s search for a point guard. In his freshman season at Iowa, Payne earned All-Big Ten Freshman Team accolades.
Payne will have one of the League’s most underrated players to turn to in Ben Averkamp. With teams locked in on stopping him last year, Averkamp averaged 15.4 ppg to go along with 7.1 rpg. A Second Team All-League pick at the end of his junior year, Averkamp will be looking to be part of the turnaround of Loyola’s program before he departs for medical school after his career ends.
A full season of health for Jordan Hicks would go a long way to ensuring Loyola’s resurgence as well; Hicks received a fifth year of eligibility after an injury-plagued career. Last year, the swingman put up 8.4 ppg to go along with 3.8 rpg.
However, Loyola is still one of the nation’s youngest teams; with 16 players holding 16 years of collegiate experience, the Ramblers rank as the seventh-youngest team in the country. Sophomore Joe Crisman will be counted on to provide a spark, while freshmen Matt O’Leary and Nick Osborne lead a seven-man class.
Down the red line, head coach Howard Moore will be trying to work eight newcomers into a UIC roster than saw nine newcomers join its ranks last season.
Among those newcomers, however, include Joey Miller and Josh Crittle, two players who arrive with extensive playing experience. Miller earned Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week honors three times in his first season at Eastern Illinois, while Crittle started 25 games for Central Florida.
Adding the duo to returning starters Gary Talton, Marc Brown, Hayden Humes and Daniel Barnes, and suddenly UIC has depth it had not possessed in Moore’s first two years in charge of the Flames. Talton and Barnes formed UIC’s backcourt, averaging over a third of UIC’s points, steals and three-pointers on the year. Talton emerged in his junior year to lead UIC in scoring, field goals, free-throw percentage and assists, while Humes led UIC in rebounding in 10 of its last 12 games and shot 41.8-percent from three-point range.
Moore will add five true freshmen into the mix, including 7-foot center Matt Gorski, who will have a chance to contribute immediately after starring at Fishburne Military Academy.
PICKING UP THE PACE
Last year, Billy Donlon was preparing to break in one of the country’s youngest teams at Wright State. With the dawn of the season here, Donlon will once again be leading one of the nation’s youngest programs, as the Raiders are the sixth-youngest team in the nation.
Donlon’s squad is one of just a handful nationally to be without a senior; despite the lack of experience, Donlon will be encouraging his team to pick up the pace, just one year after Wright State played as one of the slowest teams in the country.
In 2011-12, Wright State’s adjusted tempo was 292nd in the country; with the speedy Reggie Arceneaux running the point, Donlon is committed to not allowing the defense to set up for a more athletic Raiders team. In Arceneaux’s freshman year, the 5-foot-9 point guard averaged 8.5 ppg while handing out 2.1 assists.
Still, despite playing at a quicker tempo on the offensive end, look for Wright State to again be among the stingiest defensive teams in the League. In Donlon’s first two years, the Raiders have ranked fourth and 12th in defensive turnover rate.
A DECADE OF SUCCESS
Whomever comes out of the Horizon League to reach the NCAA Tournament will be well-tested for the rigors of the 68-team field. In the last 11 years, Horizon League teams have collectively earned 19 NCAA Tournament wins, despite seeing its seven-year tournament winning streak come to an end last season.
Yes, Butler has left the Horizon League. But rumors of the League’s demise and lack of relevance are unfounded. Nine teams will be out to make sure of that this season.
