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Missouri Valley Basketball: 5 key questions for opening night of 2021-22 season

By Harry Schroeder

Northern Iowa guard A.J. Green takes the ball up court during a NCAA Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.190105 Uni S Illinois 016 Jpg
Northern Iowa guard A.J. Green takes the ball up court during a NCAA Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.190105 Uni S Illinois 016 Jpg /
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Head coach Dan Muller of the Illinois State Redbirds (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Head coach Dan Muller of the Illinois State Redbirds (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Illinois State and Valparaiso have emerging stars and new point guards

Flashback to the spring of 2017. Illinois State tied for the Missouri Valley regular-season title and Valparaiso tied for the top spot in the Horizon League. Neither team has won as many as 20 games in any season since.

Head coaches Dan Muller (Illinois State) and Matt Lottich (Valpo) both played the game at a high level and have known coaching success, but the last four years have not been kind to these two coaches. The transfer epidemic has hit each of these programs like Coronavirus hit America.

This season the Redbirds and Beacons both have an emerging star player and a brand new point guard that could point to better days for these proud basketball programs.

After testing the NBA waters, Illinois State junior Antonio Reeves decided to remain a Redbird. While Reeves wasn’t named to any of the league’s all-conference teams last season he was part of the 2020 all-bench team. He averaged 12.4 points per game last season. The 6’4 guard scored 34 points in ISU’s recent exhibition game and Muller expects a great season from the Chicago Simeon graduate.

Muller also has a proven point guard for the first time since that 2017 season. Tennessee State transfer Mark Freeman was a second-team all Ohio Valley player last year while averaging 17.1 points and 4.4 assists per game. During the Redbird exhibition win, he scored 11 points and handed out ten assists.

While Valparaiso’s best player might be forward Ben Krikke, emerging star Sheldon Edwards bears some watching. As a part of last year’s all-freshman team, Edwards averaged 8.1 points per game. During the Beacons’ two exhibition games, he scored 51 points. He is a highlight reel waiting to happen and is a game-changing player.

During the offseason, Lottich brought in a proven point guard in Wisconsin transfer Trevor Anderson. The 6’3 grad student is a pass-first point who also made over 50% from deep for the Badgers.

As both teams open at home, burning question number three is can these emerging stars and true point guards lead these two programs back to their former glory?