Middle Tennessee State lost their head coach and their top six scorers from last year’s team. Can they overcome such a massive turnover and remain at the top of the Conference USA?
To say that this offseason was tough on the Blue Raider basketball team would be a major understatement. Coming off another great year, MTSU was snubbed by the selection committee and had to settle for the NIT instead. After losing to Louisville in the second round their head coach Kermit Davis bolted for the head job at Ole MIss.
Since then they have lost starting point guard Tyrik Dixon to transfer (Missouri State) and David Simmons transferred also. Antwain Johnson who averaged just over 10 points a game was also dismissed from the team and then transferred to Buffalo. Couple that with the losses of Seniors Nick King (21 ppg), Giddy Potts (13.3 ppg) and Brandon Walters (10.3 ppg) and the Blue Raiders have lost their top six scorers from last season.
New head coach Nick McDevitt, who came over from UNC Asheville, will have his work cut out for him in his first year at MTSU. The Blue Raiders have had a lot of success the last two years including an upset of Michigan State in the NCAA tournament in 2017, but this team is a shell of what it has been recently.
They will need to grow up fast if they expect to compete in Conference USA The good news for the Blue Raiders is the only have two seniors on the roster so they could use this as a building year going into the 2019-2020 season.
Here’s a full breakdown of the projected starters and non-conference schedule, along with where they stand nationally and in the conference as we preview their season.