What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 3/20/2024

DAILY DIRT – 3/20/24--HoopDirt

Worst kept secret in college basketball seems like a done deal. Everyone has been talking about Indiana State’s Josh Schertz to St. Louis for weeks now – sounds like St. Louis is just waiting for the Sycamores to get bounced from the NIT (or win the NIT) to make an official announcement. Stay tuned…
Southern Illinois has started interviews. A name that I keep hearing here is Missouri assistant Kyle Smithpeters The Illinois native and SIU alum has been at Mizzou for two seasons and had a ton of success as a JUCO head coach – he went 241-73 at John A Logan from 2012-22. Working on a few more names as we speak.

Which Missouri Valley basketball players are in the NCAA transfer portal? Here's the list--Peoria Journal Star

Tyson, Dia Named NABC All-District--belmontbruins.com

Bruins Set for WBIT First Round Matchup at Ball State--belmontbruins.com

Missouri Valley Basketball: Bradley and Loyola Rivalry Rekindled--Busting Brackets
Welcome home: Previewing the Braves’ NIT--The Bradley Scout
Game Recap: Bradley vs Loyola--bradleybraves.com

Tourney Quick Takes: Region-by-Region--Bracketville

EAST REGION – Boston

Best Chances for an early-round upset:

Drake over Washington State: The Bulldogs took down Nevada this year and beat a good Indiana State team twice. Expect a close one. Drake’s Tucker DeVries can be tough matchup.

The Case for Drake defeating Washington State--Mid-Major Madness
Washington State vs. Drake expert picks: Spread, odds, projections for NCAA Tournament matchup--The Athletic
March Madness 2024: 25 players who will shape the NCAA Tournament--Heat Check CBB

Tucker DeVries, Forward, Drake

This is Tucker DeVries’ second straight NCAA Tournament, and he will be looking to make up for the poor shooting performance he put together last year. In Drake’s loss to Miami, DeVries scored three points on 13 shots, and the Bulldogs lost despite his best efforts on the boards. This year, Drake is once again a popular “upset pick” as its 7-10 matchup is expected to be one of the best games of the first round. Washington State is a tough team that swept 2-seed Arizona this year, so DeVries will need to shoot at or above his season averages to lead his team to a win.

March Madness 2024 Stat Pack: Analyzing statistical trends for each first-round matchup--Heat Check CBB

East Regional
No. 7 Washington State vs. No. 10 Drake

Washington State is 15-2 this season when posting a free-throw rate of over 32.6 percent (9-7 otherwise). Drake’s key metric, meanwhile, is to avoid committing fouls. The Bulldogs are 16-1 when committing 16 or fewer fouls (10-5 otherwise). They especially need star Tucker DeVries to stay out of foul trouble. It seems rudimentary, but perhaps this game just comes down to whether Drake can avoid whistles.

Another area to watch will be whether Drake can play its style offensively. The Bulldogs are a great offensive team which ranks 119th in 3-point attempt rate and 40th in 3-point percentage. They are also 15-1 this season when attempting over two-fifths of their shots from beyond the arc (11-5 otherwise). Washington State, on the other hand, is terrific at running opponents off the stripe. The Cougars are 29th for 3-point attempt rate allowed and 60th in 3-point percentage allowed.

NCAA TOURNAMENT: EAST REGION--Staring at the Floorboards

Subscriber Content
7 Washington State vs 10 Drake

In what is almost certain to be one of the most consistent upset picks in the tournament, WSU travels to Nebraska to take on the Bulldogs (and it will likely feel like traveling to a road game with the proximity to Drake’s campus)...

A look at Darian DeVries' success during his tenure with Drake men's basketball--Des Moines Register
Men’s Basketball enter March Madness--The Times-Delphic
DeVries Named AP All-America Honorable Mention, Joins Brodie with NABC All-District Status--godrakebulldogs.com
Men's Basketball Preview: NCAA Tournament First & Second Rounds--godrakebulldogs.com

Sights and sounds: Drake’s buzzer-beater in MVC Tournament title game--The Next

Illinois State women get first-round bye in WNIT, play at home Sunday--The Pantagraph
ISU women's basketball to host winner of Charleston/USC Upstate in second round of WNIT--The Vidette
‘Birds Set To Host Second Round WNIT Game On Sunday--goredbirds.com

The Joker Effect: How playmaking centers have revolutionized college basketball--The Athletic

“Offense is spacing,” says Indiana State coach Josh Schertz, whose high-powered offense is centered around big man Robbie Avila. “Spacing is shooting. If you have great spacing, but you don’t have great shooting, you don’t have great spacing.”
And the optimal way to create that space is a playmaking center.

Robbie Avila has been an elite playmaker at center for Indiana State. (Jeff Curry / USA Today)
Schertz keeps a FaceTime from Avila saved in his call log.
Oct. 22, 2021.
That’s the day the goggled Goliath committed to the Sycamores, before Schertz ever coached a game at the Division I level.
“That’s when we changed the program’s trajectory,” Schertz says. “You build an entire program around that kind of kid. You can build your whole offense around that kind of player.”
This is not hyperbole. In Schertz’s third season in Terre Haute, Indiana State went 28-6 and had its best season since the Larry Bird-led Sycamores made the national title game in 1979. The Sycamores were the victim of last week’s bid thieves, one of the first four out of the NCAA field, but they won the Missouri Valley regular-season title and have the most efficient halfcourt offense in college basketball. It is built around the slightly pudgy 6-foot-10 center who looks better suited to be crushing in Mathletics than on a basketball court. Avila is the college version of Jokic. Avila can shoot (40.5 percent from 3), dribble, pass (a team-high 3.8 assists per game), slash and punish switches in the post.
Last spring when Schertz recruited two point guards out of the portal (Ryan Conwell and Isaiah Swope) to join another point guard already on his roster in Julian Larry, he was asked: How are you going to play all three together?
Easy. Play none of them in the actual point guard spot. That’s Avila’s job. Although Schertz doesn’t call him the point guard; he calls him “the hub.”
“When you utilize the big as the hub,” Schertz says, “I think it creates organically an egalitarian-type offense, where everybody is more of a part of it, because the other four spots become completely interchangeable.”
Avila, who lives below the rim and has just one dunk this season, still finds a way to get to the basket often, averaging more than four baskets per game at the rim. Both he and Jokic also make up for a lack of foot speed with elite hand-eye coordination and body control, which can get you where you need to go on the floor sometimes just as effectively as quickness.
Schertz, who has the most Jokic-like player in the country, says he’ll never coach another game without a center who can be his hub.
“It’s always good to be able to coach players that are smarter than you, see the game slower,” he says. “Robbie’s been proof positive that mental acuity, when you have it at a high level, can compensate for a lack of physical quickness.”