What's Up In The Missouri Valley 4/10/2018

Northwestern lands transfer Ryan Taylor, a high-scoring swingman from Evansville--Chicago Tribune
Walter McCarty names half of his UE basketball coaching staff--Evansville Courier & Press
McCarty makes hires to coaching staff--gopurpleaces.com

Year-End Awards: The Best and Worst of the 2017–18 College Basketball Season--Sports Illustrated

Cinderella of the Year: Loyola-Chicago

The 11th-seeded Ramblers were a chic pick to win their first-round game over Miami, which they did thanks to a buzzer-beating three from senior wing Donte Ingram. Then they extended their run with more late heroics against No. 3 seed Tennessee in the second round and Nevada in the Sweet 16 before routing Kansas State in the Elite Eight.

The spate of upsets in the South Region opened the door for Loyola, but there’s no denying the simple fact that this was a really good team. The Ramblers won at Florida in early December and lost only three times all season when their leading scorer and assister, redshirt junior guard Clayton Custer, was available. Loyola and its team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, who attained pseudo-celebrity status and saw her must-have bobblehead go back on sale, earned a prime spot in the glass-slipper pantheon.

NCAA Basketball: Is the Selection Committee ruining college basketball?--Busting Brackets
Cubs honor Loyola, Porter Moser and Sister Jean at home opener--Chicago Tribune
Ingram Signs With Agency, Could Test NBA Draft--loyolaphoenix.com

UNI basketball lands Pepperdine transfer Trae Berhow--The Gazette