Primarily a collection of news links about all 12 Missouri Valley League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
One of the best pull-up artists in all of college basketball has hit
the portal. It’s tough to be a bigger scoring threat than Mosley is, a
lethal scorer from all three levels that just put up one of the most
efficient high-volume scoring seasons of the last decade in college
basketball. He scored 20 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the
field, 42.7 percent from 3 on about five attempts per game, and 90
percent from the line. The last person to put up a 50/40/90 season while
averaging 20 points per game? How about we try this on for a Matt
Norlander and Gary Parrish-style Trivia Time: Luke Babbitt at Nevada
back in 2009-10 (shout out Larnell). He’s a professional scorer, one of
those guys who would be able to get buckets no matter the talent level
against him. He had two 40-point games this season, including in an
absolutely sensational duel with a guy right below him on this list in
A.J. Green. Mosley has some work to do on defense and could stand to be a
slightly better distributor. But there is not a better scorer in the
portal. He should be chased by every single team in the country. He has a
case as the best transfer available in the country right now given how
much you know you can trust him to just step on the floor and get
buckets from Day One.
Green is one of the most skilled guards in the country and built to
score. He can get his jumper off in a phone booth. He needs little time
or space and can shoot it off the bounce or catch with accuracy. He
knows how to use a ball screen and change speeds, allowing him to get to
his spots to score. He also can make all the passes and reads out of
ball screens. He’s got an assortment of finishes with either hand and is
tricky with fakes, allowing him to get to the line frequently, where
he’s a career 90 percent foul shooter. The expectation is that he’ll
join his father Kyle Green at Iowa State. The elder Green joined T.J.
Otzelberger’s staff a year ago. He’d slide right into the Izaiah Brockington
role as the primary scorer. He also has the passing and ball handling
skills to play point guard, so he could help eat up some of the minutes
of the gaping hole left by Tyrese Hunter’s departure. Green has a year
of eligibility remaining. Northern Iowa went 28-8 in the Missouri Valley
in 2020 and 2022 and just 7-11 without him in 2021. Assuming he doesn’t
stay in the NBA Draft — he’s also testing the waters — he’ll be a huge
addition wherever he lands, but it’d be surprising if he leaves the
state.
21. K.J. Williams | 6-10 big | graduate | Murray State
The Ohio Valley Player of the Year this past season, Williams joined wing Tevin Brown and guard Justice Hill
to form the nucleus of a 31-3 Murray State team that went to the Round
of 32. Given the accolades, though, Williams was the centerpiece. He is
an inside-out big who can punish smaller players on the block just as
easily as he can pick-and-pop from distance. He hit just 30.4 percent
from 3 this year, but over his career he’s made 35 percent of his 219
attempts. Because of that inside-out skill, he’s a fit almost anywhere
at the collegiate level. He’s definitely more offense-first than
defense, but he averaged 18 points and eight rebounds and is good enough
on offense and versatile enough to play at the high-major level as a
difference-maker. His coach at Murray State, Matt McMahon, is now the
LSU head coach, so that could be a real fit.
Caroline Waite shoots a 3-pointer against McKendree. Photo courtesy of Josh Schwam/Bradley Athletics
Caroline Waite – Women’s Basketball
Coming in strong despite the loss of fifth-year senior Gabi Haack
midway through the season, Waite won MVC Freshman of the Year and was
the top scoring underclassmen in the MVC, scoring just over 13 points
per game. She led the team with 72 threes, the fourth-most in a single
season in Bradley history, and shot 34.3% from beyond the arc this
season, even appearing on SportsCenter’s Top 10.
Finalists: Terry Roberts, Pepe Mellado, Nicola Jansen
Bradley’s Caroline Waite shoots against Wright St. earlier in the season. Photo courtesy of Bradley Athletics.
Caroline Waite – Women’s Basketball
Winning a second BESPY, Waite was one of only five freshmen in
program history to lead Bradley in scoring and her 2.88 3-pointers per
game was fourth among all Division I basketball players in the country.
She dropped 23 points in the season opener for the second-best freshman
debut performance in program history, and now has two shiny BESPYs to
add to her trophy wall.
Finalists: Jacob Kisting, Connor Hickman, Nicola Jansen
Honorable Mentions: Maria Perakis, Cal McGinnis, Michael Rogalski, Kirstin Hailey, Silan Demirkol, Addie Welsh, Abbott Badgley
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