What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/13/2020

40 Under 40: We rank the best young coaches in college basketball--ESPN

35. Dana Ford, Missouri State (35)
Ford just completed his second year as head coach of the Bears after a four-season run as the head man at Tennessee State. TSU improved from 5-25 the season before Ford arrived to 20-11 in just his second campaign. -- John Gasaway
40. Bryan Mullins, Southern Illinois (33)
His profile and prospects were magnified when he served as the associate head coach under Porter Moser during Loyola Chicago's run to the Final Four in 2018. His first season as the head coach at Southern Illinois this season included a respectable 16-16 mark and a 10-8 record in Missouri Valley Conference play. -- Myron Medcalf
Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire
Just missed: Kevin Kruger (UNLV assistant); Chris Ogden (UT-Arlington); Chris Caputo (Miami assistant); Matt Lottich (Valparaiso); Greg Paulus, (Niagara); Adam Cohen (Stanford assistant); Bashir Mason (Wagner); Jamal Brunt (VCU assistant); Chester Frazier (Virginia Tech assistant), Bruce Shingler (South Carolina assistant), Jai Lucas (Texas assistant), Brandin Knight (Rutgers assistant), Grant Billmeier (Seton Hall assistant), Brian "Penny" Collins (Tennessee State); Drew Valentine (Loyola Chicago assistant)

Six Valley Assistant Coaches Honored--Valley Hoops Insider

Bradley plan honors health-care workers with free tickets to basketball game--Peoria Journal Star

Brian Wardle basketball camps are canceled--Peoria Journal Star

Kaboom! Awards: Orsborn Award Finalist Nate Kennell--bradleybraves.com

Bradley Introduces Ticket Initiative for Health-Care Workers--bradleybraves.com

Bradley Earns Four NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards--bradleybraves.com

Friday Feature - Hometown Product Wright Brings Championship Pedigree To Drake--godrakebulldogs.com

All-Decade Team: A look at Illinois State basketball's top players from 2010-2020--The Pantagraph

Illinois State basketball, football public address announcer Steve Adams, 73, dies--The Pantagraph

Women’s Basketball Named Play4Kay Divisional Winner for Fifth-Straight Season--goredbirds.com

Vigo Legends: Turn-of-the-century Sycamores provided plenty of memories--Terre Haute Tribune Star

Daily Top 5: These ISU female athletes shined brightest after 2004--Terre Haute Tribune Star

2. Melanie Boeglin, basketball, 2002-06 – If you arrived on the scene in the mid-2000s, as I did, the biggest thing going on the local sports scene was the ISU women's basketball team. Boeglin was the catalyst for those excellent Sycamores teams.
The numbers tell part of the story. ISU was 88-36 in Boeglin's career, including a MVC regular season championship, and she has school records in steals (436), assists (685), games played (124), free throws made (576), points scored in a season (600 in 2005-06), free throws made in a season (166 in 2005-2006), assists in a season (237 in 2005-2006), steals in a season (123 in 2004-2005), points scored in a game (46 against Drake on Jan. 26, 2006) and field goals made in a game (19 against Drake on Jan. 26, 2006).
But they don't tell the whole story. ISU women's basketball was a phenomenon in the mid-2000s, occasionally selling out Hulman Center, and largely out-drawing the men's team at the time. Boeglin, a Terre Haute native, was a major part of the reason both city and university galvanized behind the team.
In the highest profile women's sport, Boeglin brought more positive attention and enthusiasm for a women's athletics program at ISU than any athlete likely ever has — even if the Sycamores had heartbreaking conference tournament defeats that kept them from achieving NCAA postseason glory.