Primarily a collection of news links about all 12 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.
As
mentioned above with Golden, the primary challenge for all these SEC
hires is whether they can recruit against some of the sport’s best.
McMahon has two further challenges: Walking into a gutted roster
(all but two scholarship players departed) and the potential for
significant NCAA sanctions following the notice of allegations that got former coach Will Wade fired. Those two reasons are why LSU gave McMahon a seven-year contract: This is a rebuilding situation.
McMahon
built some tremendous teams at Murray State. He coached and recruited
Ja Morant and won an NCAA tournament game with him, then rebuilt and put
together a team this season that had the best record of any men’s D-I
team and advanced to the second round of the tourney. But it is worth
noting that, well, everyone has won at Murray State. Three of Murray’s
five worst KenPom finishes in the last 25 years came with McMahon at the
helm. Was he a product of a program that churns out high-major coaches
or a true standout?
Steve Prohm, Murray State:
The best kind of retread, Prohm went a ridiculous 104–29 in four years
as the Racers’ coach and returns after six years at Iowa State and a
year in the media. He had stayed close with the program and is the right
guy to help Murray transition to the Missouri Valley. Grade: A
Hunter more than likely will stay at the high major level, but if not
the Racers could be a dark horse candidate (no pun intended). Murray
State just hired Head Coach Steve Prohm, who was the coach at Iowa State
when Hunter first committed to the Cyclones. With a complete roster
overhaul happening in Murray, KY, Prohm could offer Hunter the keys to
the operation. He received a commitment from him while in Ames, maybe
it’s possible for it to happen a second time.
If Hunter transferred to Murray State, he would be able to fully
showcase his offensive ability and improve his three-point shooting for
the next level. He would have the opportunity to put up gaudy numbers
for the Racers similar to what Ja Morant did in 2018-19. There are pros
and cons of playing at a lower level in terms of draft stock, but it
didn’t stop Morant or Cameron Payne from both becoming top 15 picks out
of Murray State.
Green is one of the most skilled guards in the country and built to
score. He can get his jumper off in a phone booth. He needs little time
or space and can shoot it off the bounce or catch with accuracy. He
knows how to use a ball screen and change speeds, allowing him to get to
his spots to score. He also can make all the passes and reads out of
ball screens. He’s got an assortment of finishes with either hand and is
tricky with fakes, allowing him to get to the line frequently, where
he’s a career 90 percent foul shooter. The expectation is that he’ll
join his father Kyle Green at Iowa State. The elder Green joined T.J.
Otzelberger’s staff a year ago. He’d slide right into the Izaiah Brockington
role as the primary scorer. He also has the passing and ball handling
skills to play point guard, so he could help eat up some of the minutes
of the gaping hole left by Tyrese Hunter’s departure. Green still has
two years of eligibility remaining because of a hip injury that forced
him to sit after three games during the 2020-21 season. Northern Iowa
went 28-8 in the Missouri Valley in 2020 and 2022 and just 7-11 without
him in 2021. Assuming he doesn’t stay in the NBA Draft — he’s also
testing the waters — he’ll be a huge addition wherever he lands, but
it’d be surprising if he leaves the state.
16. K.J. Williams | 6-10 big | graduate | Murray State
The Ohio Valley Player of the Year this past season, Williams joined wing Tevin Brown and guard Justice Hill
to form the nucleus of a 31-3 Murray State team that went to the Round
of 32. Given the accolades, though, Williams was the centerpiece. He is
an inside-out big who can punish smaller players on the block just as
easily as he can pick-and-pop from distance. He hit just 30.4 percent
from 3 this year, but over his career he’s made 35 percent of his 219
attempts. Because of that inside-out skill, he’s a fit almost anywhere
at the collegiate level. He’s definitely more offense-first than
defense, but he averaged 18 points and eight rebounds and is good enough
on offense and versatile enough to play at the high-major level as a
difference-maker. His coach at Murray State, Matt McMahon, is now the
LSU head coach, so that could be a real fit.
If you’re looking for scoring, scoring, and more scoring, Reeves
might be the perfect player for you. He averaged 20.1 points per game in
the Missouri Valley this year on his way to winning second-team
all-conference honors as well as the league’s Most Improved Player
award. Above all, he’s a pull-up maestro, capable of getting his shot
from wherever on the floor at just about any time. He finished second in
the conference behind Isiaih Mosley
from Missouri State in scoring, hitting pull-up jumpers at a 51.4
effective field goal percentage, a very high number given his volume of
shots. Among the 227 players nationally to take at least 100 pull-up
jumpers, Reeves finished 19th in his efficiency in terms of making them,
per Synergy. And yet, there’s a reason he only made second-team
all-league despite those numbers. The rest of his game is a real work in
progress. He has a long way to go as a passer and playmaker for others,
and his defense leaves something to be desired. There is some question
how scalable his game is to high-major situations where he’s just a
piece of the puzzle. Still, my bet is a good high-major takes a shot on
him and sees if those parts of his game can improve. The scoring is
lethal enough to take such an informed bet.
Key missed this entire season at Indiana State following shoulder
surgery, but he is a multi-time first-team All-Missouri Valley
Conference player who is about as terrific a scorer as you’ll find at
that level. He’s very polished and poised, a ground-bound player for the
most part who gets by with terrific footwork and strength to bump guys
off their spot. Indiana State back under Greg Lansing would even use him
as a pseudo-post-up/mid-post option where he could use those drop steps
and spin moves to score. Plus, prior to the shoulder injury he could
really step away and knock down shots. That percentage took a bit of a
dive in his senior season in 2021, but the hope is that he can get back
to the level he was at previously, where there were few more efficient
high-volume scorers at the high mid-major level. There are some
questions here with him returning from injury, which is why he falls
below guys like Reeves and Carter from the Missouri Valley. But at his
best, he’s very much in their group and maybe even better.
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