Missouri Valley Basketball: Predicting stars for each team in 2017-18

Missouri Valley basketball will be without Wichita State this season. Which players are going to step as stars to take their team to the Big Dance?

In the world of mid-major conferences, there are two groups; the clear one bid leagues and those capable of multiple bids any given year. Over the past decade, the Missouri Valley has arrived in the same class as the Atlantic Ten and the Mountain West when it comes to not only sending multiple teams to the Big Dance but those who have the ability to advance as well.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing, as realignment reared its ugly head in the conference, snagging Creighton for the Big East. But the conference remained strong thanks to Gregg Marshall and the Wichita State Shockers. The era of Cleanthony Early, Fred VanVleet, and Ron Baker ushered in the Shockers mainstay on the national stage.

Unfortunately, the Shockers felt a need to upgrade their conference affiliation as well, leaving the Missouri Valley for the American Athletic Conference. The Valley did make a game quick recovery, extending an invitation to the Valparaiso Crusaders. While it’s not an even switch, expect Valpo to become an instant contender in their new league.

This will be a new era for the conference, looking for a new standard-bearer. The conference as a whole doesn’t score much, and last year only four players scored more than 15 points a game.

As of right now, there doesn’t appear to be too many future NBA stars, and none of the current teams in the league has a current NBA player. So if the MVC wants to keep their status as one of the better mid-major conferences in the country, some of these guys will have to score in the same way of Doug McDermott and Kyle Korver, two Creighton greats.