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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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Missouri Valley Basketball Loyola Ramblers Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Missouri Valley Basketball Loyola Ramblers Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Potential answers to previous questions

Domask and Green will be just fine and the Salukis and the Panthers will get off to a good start. Every report out of Carbondale, Illinois, and Cedar Falls, Iowa has been positive. UNI coach Ben Jacobson has maintained that Green is bigger and stronger than ever and the 6’4 junior is determined to prove he is a better player than before he was injured.

SIU coach Brian Mullins says Domask has been fine for a long time and the Salukis are deeper than during Domask’s freshman season and his workload can be less than it was before.

Drake coach Darian DeVries may be the most underrated coach in America. The Bulldogs will be ready and they are hungry to see what an injury-free postseason could look like. At Loyola, rookie coach Drew Valentine is as enthusiastic as his predecessor and mentor Porter Moser. His players are enthused and ready to create the next page of Rambler history.

Those young studs at Illinois State and Valparaiso will flash lightning and thunder. Consistency will be the questions surrounding Reeves and Edwards. Those point guards (Freeman and Anderson) are the key for those teams to stay within themselves. Both teams will have some great upswings and some difficult downturns.

Missouri State and Evansville will both grow this season. The Purple Aces open at Cincinnati and play their third game at Belmont. They will have a difficult time getting out of the gate. With their increased depth, the Bears could be a beast in the Missouri Valley. They are going to be good on opening night and may be unbeatable by the end of the season.

The transfers at Bradley are proven, players with unique ball-skills. The Braves are an interesting dark-horse in the Valley race. Wardle’s teams are known for starting slowly and coming on strong at the end of the year. This season could go differently.

Indiana State’s transfers are less known and a nagging injury to Tyreke Key could make opening night a little difficult for the Sycamores.

Next. Ranking all 358 programs for 2021-22. dark

This will be a highly competitive league. Opening night answers will give us a good idea of how this Missouri Valley Conference season will progress.