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).
