Ohio Valley Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

DAYTON, OHIO - MARCH 19: Kevin McClain #11 of the Belmont Bruins celebrates with teammates during the second half against the Temple Owls in the First Four of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 19, 2019 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

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LUBBOCK, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 05: Forward Jordan Skipper-Brown #2 of the Eastern Illinois Panthers (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

4. Eastern Illinois Panthers

2019-20 record: 17-15 (9-9 in OVC)

The 17 games won by the Eastern Illinois Panthers last season was a mark the program had seen just two other times since 2009-10. In conference play head coach Jay Spoonhour’s squad finished 9-9 and would fall to Austin Peay in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

The bad news is that team had seven seniors, but the good news is they return 59.7 of the 73.4 points per game they scored last season, thanks to the team’s top seven scorers all returning for their senior season. They will be led by the sextet of senior guards, Josiah Wallace, Mack Smith, George Dixon, Kashawn Charles, Deang Deang, and Marvin Johnson.

The lone forward in the group, Jordan Skipper-Brown can also play some guard at 6’6. This is all good news for a team that shot 45.8% from the field last season. One might think that a team so guard-oriented could have a tendency to get pushed around.

On the contrary for Eastern Illinois, the Panthers ranked 41st in the country in blocks per game with 4.4 and are very good at creating turnovers, their 15.31 per game was 45th best. This means the Panthers get after you defensively, not allowing opponents to use size to their advantage if the can help it.

The newcomers for Eastern Illinois are dominated by, you guessed it, guards. Two of them from the junior college ranks, Junior Farquhar and Ryan Leonard played at South Plains and Santa Fe Colleges respectively. All four freshmen on the team are also guards, all of whom know how to put the ball in the basket.

Henry Abraham is a 6’0 sharpshooter who led the state of Minnesota in scoring with 33.6 points and in three-pointers made with 145 as a senior and Jadon Wallace is the younger brother of Josiah and he averaged over 16 points per game last season. Isaac Miller is another guy who can shoot the longball, knocking down 52 for Charleston High School in Illinois last season, and Micah Schnyders is a 6’4 point guard from Yorkville, Illinois, and all he did as a senior was average 25 points and dish out nearly nine assists per game.

The roster will have some true forwards on the roster, Barlow Alleruzzo IV is 6’9 235lb. a native of Chicago who played at Des Moines Area Community College last season putting up a stat line of nine points and six rebounds per game.

Sammy Friday IV is another 6’9 forward who comes to Eastern Illinois as a graduate transfer after playing four years at Siena, and while it is unclear if he will be eligible this season, 6-10 Madani Diarra joins the program as a sophomore after appearing in just four games for Saint Louis last season.

While the Panthers may not be considered one of the favorites in the conference, they have the right recipe to be a team that can be a complete headache for their opponents on a nightly basis.