Illinois coach Brad Underwood has the only sure thing among the region’s Division I basketball teams.
Much of his Big Ten Tournament-winning squad returns, led by center Kofi Cockburn and point guard Andre Curbelo. Despite losing guard Ayo Dosunmu to the NBA, big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili to the G League and shooter Adam Miller to LSU, the Illini were picked third in the league’s preseason poll.
Expect to see them back in the NCAA Tournament. They will overcome Cockburn’s silly three-game suspension for premature name, image and likeness sales and settle in nicely.
But uncertainty abounds across the rest of our hoops landscape. Unanswered questions hang over teams as they complete their preseason preparations.
St. Louis University was picked third in the preseason Atlantic 10 polls before go-to scorer Javonte Perkins suffered a season-erasing knee injury. Once again Lady Luck struck coach Travis Ford with a tire iron.
Missouri faces another rebuilding season after Cuonzo Martin’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in four years. The Tigers will shift into an up-tempo offensive game while blending transfers with promising recruits.
In the Missouri Valley Conference, both Missouri State (picked fourth in the league’s preseason poll) and SIU Carbondale (picked fifth) look like upper-tier teams in the league. Both teams, though, will need big transfer production to put them on par with Valley powers Drake and Loyola.
In the Ohio Valley Conference, Southeast Missouri State and SIU Edwardsville look more competitive. But that league is in the midst of potentially crippling realignment upheaval.
Across the region, coaching staffs searched for answers through closed scrimmages and exhibitions.
“Tonight couldn’t make a coach any happier in a preseason game,” Underwood said with a smirk after the Illini scuffled defensively in their 94-79 victory over Division II Indiana (Pa.) Friday. “I cannot wait to watch the film and I cannot wait 'til tomorrow’s practice, and Monday’s practice and the next day’s practice … now we have some growth to do.”
The same goes for the Billikens after the loss of Perkins, who was expected to lead the team as it adjusts to life without Jordan Goodwin and Hasahn French. They will need a strong collective response.
Point guard Yuri Collins wants to assert himself as a scorer. Terrence Hargrove Jr. could also break out after finishing well last season. Transfer Francis Okoro will help replace French in the paint and transfer Jordan Nesbitt could develop into an offensive threat.
But who will score the big baskets at critical times in the game? And can these Billikens ever defend and rebound at Ford’s usual SLU levels?
Martin faces a similarly huge challenge at Missouri, which is why the Tigers were picked 10th in the preseason Southeastern Conference poll.
The Tigers are a mystery. Program mainstays Kobe Brown and Javon Pickett provide experience along with transfers DaJuan Gordon (Kansas State), Boogie Coleman (Ball State), Amari Davis (Green Bay) and Ronnie DeGray III (Massachusetts).
Sorting versatile players to assemble a playing rotation will take time. For instance, Martin says Brown could run some point (!) and also play some center.
“We have so many moving parts, and it’s tough to defend,” Martin noted after his team’s scrimmages against Oklahoma State and Creighton. “When you’re coming out in transition, you’re trying to figure out who does what. That’s not easy.”
He wants to push the pace, which is new for him, so his array of secondary ballhandlers must smooth that transition. On defense, he believes everybody but super-sized center Jordan Wilmore can switch aggressively on defense.
We'll have to see about that.
Transfers could also play a key role at Missouri State (Jaylen Minnett and Donovan Clay) and SIU Carbondale (Ben Coupet Jr.).
Minnett was an elite 3-point shooter at IUPUI, so he create could create space for guard Isiaih Mosley. Clay, an Alton native, averaged 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds for Valparaiso as a sophomore, so he could do the same for powerful postman Gaige Prim.
Coach Dana Ford’s first three teams looked better on paper than on the court. Will that change this season?
Coupet, a 6-foot-7 wing player, put up numbers at Little Rock before coming the Carbondale in his pandemic bonus year. His addition and the return of Marcus Domask from injury give third-year coach Bryan Mullins his deepest team.
But will it develop the needed chemistry?
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can do different things,” Mullins said after his team’s exhibition against Henderson State. “Our job is to really focus our strengths here the next couple weeks and play to those as much as possible on both sides of the ball. We’ll continue to find the rotations.”
Unlike last year, these teams have had a full summer of work before a fall camp. Now real games are less than a week away and the teams are eager to answer these questions.
“Everybody has work to do, even when you have guys returning, you always have work to do,” Martin said. “But I’m ready to play a game, and I think they are, too.”
