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

By Tim Edmonds | Nov 15, 2020

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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Missouri Valley Basketball Kavion Pippen (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

4. Southern Illinois Salukis

Shocking the conference in his first season back in Carbondale, head coach Bryan Mullins is hoping to return the Salukis to contention and hopefully the NCAA tournament in 2020-21.

Headlined by returning sensation in 2019-20 Freshmen of the Year Marcus Domask (13.9 PPG, 39.7 % from deep) the Salukis have carved out an identity for tough defense and protecting home court after just a single year under Mullins’ system.

Outside of Domask, sophomore guard Lance Jones is also expected to be a key contributor this season especially in replacing recent graduate Aaron Cook in the rotation.

Up front is where the major question marks remain for the Salukis. After the departures of grad transfer Barrett Benson and Eric McGill, rebounding and interior defense may be hard to come by for Mullins as he sorts out his rotation of newcomers.

One thing is certain, however, while it may not be this year, contention is awaiting SIU very soon and the speed and efficiency Mullins has rebuilt this program has the entire league on notice going forward.

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