What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 3/15/2023

Wells, Kirkpatrick Named Trane Student-Athletes of the Month for March--belmontbruins.com

Bradley basketball team's NIT run ends with loss to No. 2 seed Wisconsin--Peoria Journal Star
Bradley's Historic Season Comes to a Close--bradleybraves.com

March Madness Picks and Best Bets: Five Underdogs That Will Cover the Spread--Sports Illustrated

March Madness Upset Alert: No. 5 Miami (-3.5) vs. No. 12 Drake.
Every NCAA Tournament needs a good 5-12 upset. This tourney might have multiple, and this one jumps out as a strong possibility.
The status of Miami powerful post player Norchad Omier will be immensely important in evaluating this game. He injured an ankle early against Duke in the ACC tournament semifinals last week, and his availability is in doubt against Drake. With him, Miami has a well-rounded offense with Omier inside and the perimeter firepower in ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller and Nijel Pack. He’s also vital for a mediocre defensive team. At a listed 248 pounds, Omier is more than 50 pounds heavier than any other Miami starter and more than 30 pounds heavier than any sub.
For Drake, coach’s son Tucker DeVries (19 points, 5.6 rebounds) and point guard Roman Penn (12.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists) form a nice lead tandem but there is more to the Bulldogs than that. They have a major paint presence in 6'10", 275-pound Darnell Brodie, one of the reasons they don’t give up a lot of second-chance points. Drake was dominant in the Missouri Valley tournament, and if it didn’t lose that edge while not playing since March 5, it will bring a lot of confidence to Albany. Drake has lost just once in the last 14 games.
The pick: Drake +3.5.

Mid-Majors That Can Make Some Noise in the NCAA Tournament--Watch Stadium
Upsets to Watch for in the Midwest Region--Watch Stadium
NCAA Basketball: 10 most compelling 1st round 2023 NCAA Tournament matchups--Busting Brackets
March Madness 2023 bracket predictions: Picks for Final Four, National Champion--Fansided

Midwest Region First Round bracket predictions
5 Miami vs. 12 Drake

Drake is undoubtedly one of the best mid-majors in March Madness. The problem is that the selection committee effectively screwed them with a matchup against an under-seeded Miami team. The Bulldogs have proven they can beat Power 5 competition with an early win over Mississippi State this season behind Roman Penn and Tucker DeVries. But Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller are too good and too efficient. This will be close, but I’m taking the Canes.

Pick: Miami advances

March Madness 2023 rankings: Ranking every team 1-68--Fansided

March Madness rankings: No. 50-41
44. Drake (27-7): The Bulldogs boast the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in Tucker DeVries and own a victory over NCAA Tournament participant Mississippi State. Miami should be a little nervous going up against Drake in Round 1.

Key first round games for mid-majors--Mid-Major Madness

No. 12 Drake vs. No. 5 Miami

The Bulldogs won the Missouri Valley League title in convincing fashion with a 77-51 win over top-seed Bradley in the championship game. They have won 27 games, which is the second most in school history. A win over the Hurricanes would tie the mark set by the 2008 team. Tucker DeVries is the leading scorer for his father at 19.0 points per game.

One sentence for every team in NCAA Tournament field--Mid-Major Madness

Drake is a well-rounded basketball team coming off 13 wins in 14 games thanks to stout defense and stellar shotmaking from Tucker DeVries and company.

Introducing March Madness’ Cinderellas: The mid-major stars you need to know--The Athletic

Tucker DeVries
6-7 sophomore wing | No. 12 Drake (playing No. 5 Miami in Midwest Region)
Who is Tucker DeVries? DeVries is a legitimate high-major talent playing at the mid-major level because he chose to play for his father, Drake head coach Darian DeVries. A borderline top-100 recruit nationally, DeVries bet that scouts would be able to find him no matter where he played. He made the right choice, as the 6-foot-7 wing won the Missouri Valley Player of the Year award as a sophomore.
A big part of the reason he made that right choice, though, is the system his father/coach employs. A long-time assistant under elite offensive minds Dana Altman and Greg McDermott, DeVries has taken much of the off-ball magic and floor-spacing principles he learned while under their tutelage and employed it in his own ways. One of the first players that Darian DeVries coached at Creighton was Kyle Korver, and it’s easy to see the similarities in how Korver was utilized and how DeVries is used. Throughout Drake’s matchup with Miami, you can expect to see a lot of pindowns and flare actions where the express goal is to try to free DeVries. Many of them work.
It’s hard to find shooters who can stop, set their feet when their momentum is going entirely away from the basket, catch the ball off the hop, and fire all in one motion. It’s even harder to find guys who are 6-foot-7 and can do it at volume. DeVries is more than this. He averaged 19 points per game, and did so by also being able to use the threat of his shot to put the ball on the deck when necessary. But the constant threat of the 3 is a big part of why he’s successful.
The Bulldogs’ offense is not just merely a Hey Arnold-ian “Pass the Ball to Tucker” enterprise, though. They have the oldest backcourt in the country, with a pair of 25-year-olds in D.J. Wilkins and Roman Penn. Wilkins is a lights-out shooter and defender, while Penn is a terrific playmaker and table-setter. Fifth-year starter Garrett Sturtz is a tough former walk-on who is the school’s all-time rebounding leader at only 6-foot-3. They bring another fifth-year player off the bench in Sardaar Calhoun, and their starting center is also a fifth-year in Darnell Brodie. All of these guys are reliable performers who won’t be awed by the moment. Sturtz, Wilkins and Brodie were all starters on the 2021 team that won a First Four matchup with Wichita State before running into an Evan Mobley-led USC team that went to the Elite Eight.
What does the matchup look like? Miami is going to have its hands full against Drake, especially if the Hurricanes are without Norchad Omier, who was injured in the team’s ACC tournament run. The Canes’ offense is superb, led by Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller and Nijel Pack. But the defense has had questions all season. The odds are that Wong and Pack will be able to push tempo and try to run the Bulldogs out of the gym. Then, Miami will throw Miller on DeVries and ask him to swallow him up with length and athleticism. But Drake has enough firepower from beyond the 3-point line to where they can cause a defense prone to breakdowns in communication problems.

NCAA tournament upset picks: Kent State, Drake look to bust brackets in our model in Midwest region--The Athletic
Daily Dirt – 3/14/23--Hoop Dirt

Two names gaining steam at Notre Dame are Colgate’s Matt Langel and Drake’s Darian DeVries. Langel has Colgate in the tourney for the 3rd straight year, and is the program’s all-time leader in wins. His career record is 202-173 (.539). DeVries has gone 122-47 (.722) in his 5 seasons at Drake, and also has his squad headed to the tourney this year after winning the MVC. Also, I’m not buying any Chris Holtmann to Notre Dame reports right now.

March Madness 2023 Midwest region preview: Win probabilities, Cinderellas, storylines, more--Heat Check CBB

Best first-round game

Miami FL (5-seed) vs. Drake (12-seed): Though 5-12 matchups are always fertile ground for upsets, this one takes on some extra juiciness if Miami is without stud big man Norchad Omier. The Canes’ leading rebounder (9.7 rpg) and third-leading scorer (13.6 ppg) will certainly be missed if his ankle injury against Duke in the ACC Tournament causes him to miss any more time. If Omier can’t go, this game swings in favor of Drake, according to Evan Miyakawa’s projections. Regardless, there will be excellent play from the guards and wings on both sides, with the Hurricanes’ trio of Isaiah Wong, Nijel Pack and Jordan Miller squaring up with Drake’s Tucker DeVries, Roman Penn and Garrett Sturtz. Both teams averaged over 75 points per game over the course of the regular season. You might want to cue this one up on the big screen.

Drake’s DeVries among under-the-radar March Madness stars--Associated Press

An inside look at how Darian DeVries landed the job with Drake men's basketball--Des Moines Register

Drake women's basketball to face Louisville in first round of NCAA Tournament in Austin--Des Moines Register