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

By Jason Burgess

Mar 7, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Loyola Ramblers pose for a photo after defeating the Drake Bulldogs in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Loyola Ramblers pose for a photo after defeating the Drake Bulldogs in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Drake senior forward ShanQuan Hemphill Missouri Valley Basketball 20210210 Drakeuni
Drake senior forward ShanQuan Hemphill Missouri Valley Basketball 20210210 Drakeuni /

3. Drake Bulldogs

2020-21 record: 26-5 overall, 15-3 in the MVC

Drake’s at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last season turned the MVC into a multi-bid league, but much like Northern Iowa, Drake was hit by key injuries, but their bug hit late in the year, making them not quite the same team that earned a top-25 spot earlier in the season.

Leading scorer Tank Hemphill started the first 20 games and then missed the rest of the regular season with an injury before returning in the NCAA Tournament in a limited capacity. Four games after Hemphill went out, point guard Roman Penn went down with an injury of his own leaving the Bulldogs without an experienced ball-handler, something that showed down the stretch.

Both Hemphill and Penn return for Darian DeVries as do seniors D.J. Wilkins, Garrett Sturtz, and Tremell Murphy who played big roles when Hemphill and Penn went out, averaging 28.4 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.7 assists as a group last season. Everyone else on the roster except for post-season star Joseph Yesufu who surprised some by transferring to Kansas.

But guard Ayo Akinwole joins the team from Omaha as a grad transfer where the 6-0 guard averaged 13 points and shot 45% from beyond the arc for the Mavericks last season. The Bulldogs also have the conference’s top recruiting class thanks to the addition of Tucker DeVries, a 6-6 three-star small forward who could see immediate minutes in the rotation.

A fully healthy Drake squad is one that will not only be a top contender in the MVC, but also one that should scare a lot of teams outside of the Valley.