Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 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.
College basketball transfer portal best pickups from mid-major schools
Tyler Lundblade, Tennessee (Belmont)
The
reigning Missouri Valley Conference player of the year was one of the
top shooters available in the portal and fills a clear need for the
Vols, who need to replace their top six scorers from this past season.
The former walk-on made 40.6% of his 3-pointers despite having a high
shooting volume, with 8.8 attempts per game from beyond the arc.
Tennessee's top returning 3-point shooters (Ethan Burg and Troy
Henderson) had 15 makes all season.
Drew Scharnowski, Duke (Belmont)
Duke
had a clear need in the post with Cameron Boozer headed for the NBA
Draft lottery and Maliq Brown out of eligibility. The 6-9 Scharnowski
could slot alongside returning Blue Devils center Patrick Ngongba II or
provide valuable frontcourt depth. A first-team All-MVC pick,
Scharnowski was the No. 50 player in USA TODAY’s portal rankings after
averaging 10.7 points, six rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a
sophomore for a Belmont team that went 26-6. He was a strong presence
down low, too, with 1.3 blocks per game. At the start of the portal
process, the prevailing thought was Scharnowski would follow former
Belmont coach Casey Alexander to Kansas State. The big man set his
sights higher and will test himself in the Blue Devils crucible.
Jaquan Johnson, Iowa State (Bradley)
How
would Iowa State replace Tamin Lipsey? The Cyclones point guard started
all 137 games he played for ISU and left as the school's all-time
steals leader and fourth in career assists.
Enter,
Johnson. About as seamless of a fit as you could hope for if you're the
Cyclones. He took an enormous leap from his freshman to his sophomore
season, improving his scoring average from 6.6 to 16.9 points per game
to help him earn first-team All-MVC honors, MVC most improved player and
all-defensive team honors (thanks to his 2.6 steals per game).
Former Indiana guard Aleksa Ristic will play for Belmont next season.
Ristic
played limited minutes in 13 games for the Hoosiers as a freshman last
season. Prior to that, he averaged 13.9 points and 4.3 assists while
shooting nearly 40% from 3-point range in a professional league in his
native Serbia. He played for the Serbian U20 team at FIBA EuroBasket
last year.
Ristic will now play for a team that has won 20 games
for 16 straight seasons and is welcoming a new coach in Evan Bradds, an
assistant at Duke last season.
The Fort Wayne native and former North Side star transferred to Division I
after playing two seasons for the Warriors.
The 6-6 Fugate was the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Player of the
Year this past season, averaging 20.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7
blocks and 1.0 steals while shooting 57.1% from the field and 31.6% from
3-point range. He helped the Warriors to a 22-8 record, a second-place
finish in the league and a berth in the NAIA National Championship
tournament.
For his effort, Fugate was named a second-team NAIA All-American.
Jaxson Fugate - 6’6 G/F Two years of eligibility
WHAC
Player of the Year All-WHAC Defensive Team 20.7PPG | 8.4RPG |
1.7BPG 11 Double-Doubles
With the Salukis, Fugate will join a Division I program that is entering its
third season under coach Scott Nagy, who previously led South Dakota State
and Wright State to the NCAA Tournament a combined five times in 16 seasons.
Southern Illinois went 16-16 this past season and is looking for its first
March Madness appearance since going six seasons in a row from 2002 to 2007.
Men’s basketball notches highest win-total in MVC play since joining conference, four athletes receive all-conference honors
Since
joining the MVC, men’s basketball had yet to see a winning season in
conference play. The script was flipped this year as Valpo went 11-9 in
conference and 18-15 overall, marking head coach Roger Powell Jr.’s
first winning season at the helm. The Beacons brought in several
postseason awards, including sophomore guard Justus McNair claiming a
spot on the MVC All-Bench Team and Most-Improved Team. Redshirt senior
forward Owen Dease earned third-team all-conference honors, while
freshman forward JT Pettigrew also notched third-team all-conference as
well as a place on the MVC All-Freshman team.
Transfer Additions to Kelly Graves' 2026-27 Roster
Luckily, Oregon coach Kelly Graves
was able to find size through the portal with the acquisition of
Belmont Bruins transfer Hilary Fuller. The 6-2 sophomore forward
averaged 14.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in the
Missouri Valley Conference.
2025-26 stats (at Bradley):
16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game, while
shooting 38.3 percent from 3 and 78.4 percent from the free-throw line. The Athletic transfer portal rank: 53
Johnson,
the Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year, is a better defensive
than offensive player — but not only does that play at Iowa State, it’s
almost exactly what the Cyclones need in their Tamin Lipsey
replacement. Johnson is a pest of a defender, especially potent at
creeping up to (and under) opposing ballhandlers to poke away the rock.
He can do so everywhere: in zone, transition and the standard
half-court. His steal rate was the 10th-best in DI last season, per
KenPom, and he had six games with at least five, including nine against
UT-Martin in Bradley’s third game of the season. In that respect, he’ll
fit in great in Ames.
Offensively, the fit is less certain.
Johnson is listed at 5-foot-11 but is probably closer to 5-foot-9, and
already struggled to finish inside against MVC competition. He’s at
least a fine shooter who can handle decent volume. He was very
free-throw reliant last season — drawing 6.2 fouls per 40 minutes, per
KenPom, a top-75 rate nationally — and it’s fair to wonder whether he’ll
be so proficient at drawing contact in the Big 12.
