Missouri Valley Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

6. Valparaiso Beacons

2020-21 record: 10-18 overall, 7-11 in the MVC

At Valparaiso, the Crusaders are no more and the Beacons have arrived, and perhaps for head coach Matt Lottich, the future may be a beacon of light after finishing just 10-18 last season. Despite the unfavorable record, Valparaiso did gather up wins against Bradley, nationally-ranked Drake, and Northern Iowa. They also nearly knocked off Loyola-Chicago in mid-February, falling 54-52, so the Beacons have shown they have the ability to hang with the strongarms of the conference.

As a team, they allowed just under 68 points per game but scored just 65 which was near the bottom in all of college basketball. They shot just 42% from the field and under 30% from beyond the arc, converting just 6.75 threes per game. Leading scorer Ben Krikke returns but leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Donovan Clay decided to transfer to conference rival Missouri State.

Also hitting the transfer portal were Nick Robinson who averaged 9.1 points in eight games, as well as reserves Jacob Ognacevic and Daniel Sackey. Lottich does welcome a quartet of transfers from the Big Ten with Kobe King, Trevor Anderson, and Joe Hedstrom all coming from Wisconsin, and joining them is Michigan State forward Thomas Kithier.

The big-conference experience should help the Beacons and it is going to need to, especially on the offensive end where someone besides Krikke is going to have to score.