What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/28/2026

Murray State men's basketball adds Pavle Nikolic, a 6'8 forward from Serbia--WPSD Local 6

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/27/2026

Projecting where the revamped Pac-12 will rank in college basketball's mid-major conference hierarchy--CBS Sports 

6. Missouri Valley

Top teams

95. Illinois Chicago
100. Murray State
104. Illinois State

Sub-200 teams: Southern Illinois, Evansville

Belmont would have been part of the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation had the field been at 76 teams in 2026. The Bruins suffered a stunning quarterfinal loss to Drake in the conference tournament, which dropped them to 26-6 and opened the door for Northern Iowa to claim the league's only bid to the Big Dance. Now Belmont's Casey Alexander (Kansas State) and UNI's Ben Jacobson (Utah State) are on to new gigs, leaving Illinois Chicago in prime position to capitalize during the season ahead.

The league's chances of sending multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament feel tenuous at best, but Murray State is another program heading in the right direction under ex-Creighton assistant Ryan Miller.

Vanderbilt women's basketball to play Belmont at Bridgestone Arena--Nashville Tennessean
Women’s Basketball to Play Vanderbilt at Bridgestone Arena on Friday, Dec. 18--belmontbruins.com

Cooper returning to SIU Hoops, men add recruits--Southern Illinoisan

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/23/2026

Redbirds Add Deng Garang for 2026-27--goredbirds.com

Eight Years, Five Coaches, Sustained Success: Ben Jacobson Is Ready to Carry the Torch at Utah State--Hoops HQ
UNI men’s basketball welcomes six to 2026 spring recruiting class--unipanthers.com

Eastern Wyoming Transfer Diaz Set to Join Women's Basketball--siusalukis.com

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/21/2026

Looking at the new MVC Coaching hires--Busting Brackets

Bradley basketball may have found the blueprint for surviving the modern era--Busting Brackets
10 Mid-Major Transfers Who Could Be Stars at the High-Major Level--Hoops HQ

7. Jaquan Johnson, 5-foot-11 sophomore guard, Bradley → Iowa State

Nicknamed “Bully” for his hard-nosed, physical style, Johnson and Iowa State are a match made in heaven. The reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Year is heading to a program known for its consistent dominance on that end. With Tamin Lipsey out of eligibility, the Cyclones needed another lockdown perimeter defender to help maintain their identity. Johnson was among the best on the market.
The scrappy guard stepped into Bradley’s starting lineup last season and averaged 16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 38.3 percent from three. Offense will be harder to come by for Johnson in the Big 12, especially given his lack of size, but his defense should earn him significant playing time on a team ranked No. 11 in Hoops HQ’s Never-Too-Early Top 25.

Bradley hires former OSF fundraising ace as general manager of basketball--Peoria Journal Star

Redbirds Sign Louie Semona for 2026-27--goredbirds.com

Three former Sycamores announce new destinations--Terre Haute Tribune-Star

Non-conference schedule gets more clear for Murray State men's basketball, highlighted by Indiana exhibition--WPSD Local 6

New contracts reveal more about Murray State women’s basketball schedule--WPSD Local 6

Eastern Wyoming Transfer Diaz Set to Join Women's Basketball--siusalukis.com

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/19/2026

Bradley Athletics Names Tom Hammerton General Manager of Basketball--bradleybraves.com

First look at Ronald Nored's Butler basketball team comes against alum leading Indiana State--Indianapolis Star
Sycamores to play Butler, Kansas next season in men's hoops--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Sycamore Basketball opens 2026-27 with exhibition at Butler for second-straight season--gosycamores.com

Danyelle London Joins UIC Women’s Basketball Ahead of the 2026-27 Season--uicflames.com

Former Gonzaga assistant coach signs multi-year extension at Valpo--Sports Illustrated

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/18/2026

Why retention trumps the transfer portal and how mid-majors can still land tournament bids--The Athletic

If you were a mid-major coach or GM, what would you do (besides robbing a bank) to give your team a fair chance for an NCAA bid in this NIL, Portal and now unfair expanded tourney era? — Hchoops

The hardest thing coaches deal with at this level is building, because elite mid-major players are usually going to be poached. But because there’s such urgency at the high-major level to get older and stay older, there are a lot of really good high school players who will get overlooked. That’s always been the case, but it might be even more so in this era than ever before.

At that level, you have to win with your evaluations and development, and then have a system you can recruit to and win with. Yes, you might lose your best players, but programs with depth continue to win. One great example is Belmont. In the previous three cycles, Belmont lost Even Brauns (Iowa), Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland, then Tennessee), Cade Tyson (North Carolina, then Minnesota), and Isaiah Walker (Xavier).

Even with all those losses, Belmont won the Missouri Valley this past season and sent three more players to the high-major level in Drew Scharnowski (Duke), Tyler Lundblade (Tennessee) and Sam Orme (Nebraska). I recently watched several Belmont games, and I’m convinced Belmont will be good again because it retained freshmen Jabez Jenkins, Jack Smiley and Eoin Dillon. Those are three of the next stars, and I was almost surprised they didn’t enter the portal as well. They’re likely waiting for their turn to put up big numbers and eventually get big deals themselves.

There are also some mid-major portal players who slip through the cracks and remain at that level. One good example is Ty Pence, who transferred to Akron from Illinois State. Pence is a 6-6 wing who is really good in the mid-range but made only 27 3s and averaged 9.4 points this past season. You have to watch his tape to see that he’s pretty good. These decisions have to be made so quickly that there’s only so many guys you can watch, and players with bigger numbers (or who make lots of 3s) usually get chased first.

Another smart strategy: Have really good players with attributes that might keep the high-majors away. Sticking with Illinois State, the program retained two really good players: Chase Walker (an undersized big man) and Johnny Kinziger, a 5-11 combo guard. If you can find undersized players at point guard and center, they can be awesome college players, and they might be less likely to get poached. Again, it’s all about making smart evaluations and taking calculated risks. — Moore

The Basket Under Review Newsletter - May 18, 2026--Basket Under Review

More scheduling news!

UAB and Belmont will begin a home-and-home series on December 8 in Birmingham next season. Both teams have won 20+ games each of the last six seasons.

Georgia Tech and Murray State are meeting for a neutral site game in Nashville. Murray State is coming off their first 20-win season since 2022 and Georgia Tech will be led by former Troy coach Scott Cross who has won 20 games five seasons in a row.

Women’s Basketball Adds Paige Schumann as Assistant Coach--belmontbruins.com

ISU men's basketball finishes recruitment with Weber State transfer--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Men's basketball concludes recruiting with signee Duce Paschal--gosycamores.com

UIC Women’s Basketball Promotes John McCray to Associate Head Coach--uicflames.com

Roger Powell Jr., Valparaiso basketball ink multi-year extension--The Times
Roger Powell Jr. Inks Multi-Year Contract Extension to Continue to Lead Valpo Men’s Basketball Program--valpoathletics.com

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 5/15/2026

Men's Basketball Welcomes Eli Brown--belmontbruins.com

Reports say Georgia Tech and Murray State are finalizing an agreement on a neutral-site game--WPSD Local 6