What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/9/2019

Thursday, May 9, 2019

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/9/2019

How the best hires from 2018 could translate to the 2019 coaching carousel--Mid-Major Madness

Dana Ford, Missouri State

After an up-and-down non-conference run, Ford had the Bears in contention for the Valley regular season title into the final weeks of the season. His recruiting chops were on full display in year one, as he locked up local prep talent and brought in instant impact transfers in point guard Josh Webster and dynamic forward Tulio Da Silva. That continued into this offseason, as the Bears landed Anthony Masinton-Bonner (Colorado State) and Lamont West (West Virginia) to create a team that should be the Valley’s clear favorite in 2019-20.

Coach that fits the profile: Ford seemed destined for big things the second he began to turn things around at Tennessee State at an impossibly young age. The same goes for T.J. Otzelberger who, albeit by inheriting a roster with Mike Daum, found big success over three seasons at South Dakota State after being the staff recruiting darling at Iowa State and Washington. He steps in at UNLV, which, like Ford at Missouri State, is a program many see with untapped potential, especially for a highly regarded recruiter.
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Darian DeVries, Drake

The longtime Creighton assistant jumped the state line back to his Iowa roots and engineered a resurgent season at Drake. The Bulldogs won 24 games and earned a share of the Valley regular season conference title, one year after Niko Medved parlayed his own inaugural 17-17 season into a move to Colorado State. DeVries inherited senior center Nick McGlynn and sophomore point guard Noah Thomas but not much else, and, as it turned out, was able to add a number of impact players right away in JuCo transfers D.J. Wilkins and Anthony and Tremell Murphy, as well as Iowa graduate transfer Brady Ellingson. The Bulldogs played a more aesthetically pleasing brand of offense, and had a balanced team that surprised within the Valley.

Coach that fits the profile: Elon’s Mike Schrage most closely fits the bill. Like DeVries, his entire coaching career has been spent as an assistant, with over a decade of experience at high major programs (Ohio State, Butler, Stanford). Mullins, Jay McAuley (Wofford) and Danny Sprinkle (Montana State) fit the assistant-only profile as well.