The offseason in the Missouri Valley Conference was a rollercoaster.
Five teams have new coaches, and every team lost players to the transfer portal, graduation or the NBA. Because of all the roster turnover and new faces, teams with chemistry and stability will have the upper hand this season.
The transfer portal gutted teams but was also used to help improve teams that had down years and rebuild programs whose coaches took their players to different schools. Although the season will be uncertain, questions will be answered quickly.
Fans should be in for a wild ride. Like every season in the MVC, there will be upsets, heartbreaking losses and moments that fanbases will remember forever.
This year’s MVC is hard to predict, but coaches, administrators, communication directors and the media gathered to rank the teams. After discussion, Bradley was voted the favorite to win the MVC, and Duke Deen was named Preseason Player of the Year.
Sports editor Latif Love and assistant sports editor Owen Dimpfl have predicted how seeding will fall this regular season.
- Bradley
Bradley is one of the few teams in the MVC that has stability after an offseason filled with roster turnover. In fact, senior Duke Deen is the only all-conference selection to return for another season in the MVC. The Braves are led by Deen and seniors Darius Hannah and Zek Montgomery, who made the preseason all-conference honors. Bradley lost key contributors Malevy Leons to the NBA and Connor Hickman to Cincinnati, but has returners Christian Davis, Almar Atlason and Demarion Burch primed to make a more significant impact this season. Bradley has a balance of depth, experience, talent and coaching to make a push for a conference title and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
- Northern Iowa
After finishing 19-14 last season, UNI brings back three of its most important players: Tytan Anderson, Trey Campbell and Jacob Hutson, who all appeared on a preseason all-conference team. The Panthers were active in the transfer portal, adding depth and experience to their guard rotation with Max Weisbrod and Cael Schmit, a former ESPN Top 100 recruit in Leon Bond III. UNI will be one of the conference’s deepest, most experienced and well-coached teams.
- Murray State
The Racers will feature a much-improved team in 2024-25, led by returning seniors JaCobi Wood and Nick Ellington. Wood, a preseason first-team MVC selection, has started all 64 games over the past two seasons and averaged 12.5 points per game last year along with 130 assists, which was seventh-best in the Valley. Ellington, a preseason second-team MVC selection, compliments Wood’s scoring – 11.4 per game from last season – and adds a defensive presence for rebounds and blocked shots. Murray State also added key transfers in the backcourt with senior guards Kylen Milton and Terence Harcum.
- Drake
After winning back-to-back conference tournament titles, the Bulldogs endured an offseason of change where teams hand-picked the best talents from last year’s roster through the transfer portal. Head coach Darian DeVries is off to the Big 12 to coach West Virginia and the two-time Larry Bird Player of the Year, Tucker DeVries, followed his father. Ben McCollum takes the reins of the program after a prestigious tenure at DII Northwest Missouri State that won four national championships. While the changes were significant, McCollum will bring the best out of his team through his coaching and recruiting. Two of his transfers, forward Cam Manyawu and guard Bennett Stirtz, received preseason honors.
- Illinois State
The Redbirds finished 15-17 last season and were highly competitive in the MVC. They were led by senior forward Myles Foster, who transferred to Clemson in the offseason but retained preseason all-conference selections Johnny Kinziger and Malachi Poindexter. Illinois State was active in the transfer portal, bringing in much-needed wing help in North Dakota State with transfer Boden Skunberg, UNI transfer Landon Wolf and Valdosta State transfer Caden Boser. According to 247 Sports, the Redbirds had the fourth-ranked recruiting and transfer class in the MVC. The program’s added talent and experience will help head coach Ryan Pedon continue to turn the program around.
- Indiana State
The Sycamores are another team that faced tremendous roster turnover in just one offseason after winning the conference regular season title with 32 wins, the second-most in program history. Josh Schertz accepted the head coaching job at Saint Louis and took Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope with him. Jayson Kent and Julian Larry transferred to Texas, leaving a big production gap in the starting lineup. Indiana State will look to rebuild with Matthew Graves as head coach and transfers Tyran Cook, Jahni Summers, Samage Teel, Caden Huttenlocker and Markus Harding. Josiah LeGree is an incoming freshman to watch out for because of his ability to score, pass and rebound as a guard.
- Southern Illinois
The Salukis will also feature a new coach manning the bench with Scott Nagy after Bryan Mullins joined DePaul as an assistant coach. Their most significant loss was the conference’s most improved player last year, guard Xavier Johnson, the fourth-leading scorer in the nation after averaging 22.2 points per game. Johnson’s scoring ability earned him a first-team all-MVC selection and a finalist for the Larry Bird Player of the Year. Two impactful returnees are guard Kennard Davis Jr. – preseason third-team selection – and forward Jarrett Hensley. Southern Illinois also brought in transfers Elijah Elliott, Davion Sykes, Ali Dibba, Jorge Moreno and Antwuan Massey.
- Belmont
The Bruins have four returning players from last year who saw action in at least 23 games. The most notable is guard Isaiah Walker, who started as a sophomore and averaged 5.9 points per game and 4.8 rebounds. Brody Peebles transferred from Liberty to play his last season with the Bruins; he averaged 10.7 points per game while shooting 45.4 percent from the field. Belmont did lose a handful of impact players to the portal, including Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland), Cade Tyson (North Carolina) and Malik Dia (Ole Miss) who all averaged over 16 points per game. Belmont, the third-best scoring offense in the Valley last year, will look to their new faces to replicate that production.
- Evansville
The Purple Aces added new pieces and returned a few key players to overcome their other losses from last season. Their leading scorer, Ben Humrichous, transferred to Illinois after averaging 14.7 points per game with a 41.4 percent mark from behind the arch. The leading rebounder, Yacine Toumi, transferred to Seton Hall, and Chuck Bailey III took his talents to Nevada after being named to the conference’s all-freshman team. Tanner Cuff, Cam Haffner and Joshua Hughes are returning after playing in all 35 games last season. Ramondo Battle II from Walters State Community College and Trent Hundley from Rio Grande are joining them from the portal. Both players averaged over 14 points per game last season.
- Valparaiso
Valparaiso struggled in head coach Roger Powell’s first year at the helm. Still, the Beacons return their three top scorers, including sophomore Cooper Schwieger, who won freshman of the year and averaged 13.2 points while shooting 50 percent from the field and 36.3 percent from behind the arch. Powell was active in the transfer portal, bringing in five transfers, four of whom had significant roles on their previous teams. The Beacons are ranked 10th in the MVC’s preseason poll, but fans shouldn’t be surprised if the team is far more competitive than last season. Heading into his second season, Powell is building a solid culture and has an improved team.
- UIC
UIC decided to hit the reset button after finishing 12-21 last season. The Flames enter a rebuilding stage after firing head coach Luke Yaklich and losing their top three scorers: Isaiah Rivera, CJ Jones and Toby Okani. The program hired Rob Ehsan, who has decades of coaching experience but should not be expected to turn the ship around in one year. UIC’s revamped team will be led by preseason MVC third-team selection Filip Skobalj, who averaged 8.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and shot 47 percent from the field and 42 percent from three last season.
- Missouri State
Missouri State’s new head coach Cuonzo Martin returns for his second stint with the program, but he will have an uphill battle to return the Bears to prominence in the MVC. Since returning, he has worked to rebuild a roster that features only two returners from last season. Notable transfers include forward Michael Osei-Bonsu, who averaged 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds for Vincennes University, guard Chase Martin, who helped Purdue make it to the national championship game last season, and Jalen Hampton, who averaged 13.1 points and 9.1 rebounds for South Plains College. The Bears will give significant minutes to underclassmen this season and as a result will have growing pains.
