No. 6 – Indiana State – high school stars and proven D1 players
Bradley’s Jayson Kent and DePaul’s Courvoisier McCauley are players that have experienced some success at the D1 level. Neither has blossomed into a star status, but each has been a solid contributor. Oak Forest, Illinois freshman Robbie Avila is the centerpiece of this class.
The 6’6 forward is one of Illinois’ top players, being rated between sixth and eleventh in the Land of Lincoln depending on which recruiting site you see. Robert Martin is the tenth highest-rated player in the State of Missouri. The 5’9 point guard played for Jayson Tatum’s father (Justin) at St. Louis’ Christian Brothers College. He’s following in the footsteps of former Sycamore star Jordan Barnes with his arrival in Terre Haute.
No. 5 – Illinois State – Ryan Pedon embraced the portal
First-year coach Ryan Pedon signed six players with Division 1 experience. Malachi Poindexter (Virginia) and Luke Kasubke (K-State) have power conference experience and Colton Sandage and Darius Burford were double-digit scorers for their previous teams.
Sandage from nearby Bloomington, Illinois averaged 13.4 ppg for Western Illinois and Burford from nearby Bolingbrook averaged 13.4 for Elon. Both are coming to ILS to play closer to home. 6’10 transfer Joe Petrakis averaged eight points per game for Western Carolina and Seneca Knight was a part of the 2020 all-Mountain West Conference team when he average 17 points for San Jose State.
No. 4 – Belmont – Will the Bruin model work in the Valley?
Belmont wins games, recruits high school players develops their talents, and run back door cuts. Like Rick Byrd before him, Casey Alexander has a blueprint for success and is true to his roots. This recruiting class is loaded with highly talented prep players and two proven Division 1 transfers. The Bruin program had never even employed a transfer up until the past several years.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Cade Tyson are the most celebrated of the incoming freshmen. Gillespie is the 13th-ranked player in Belmont’s home state of Tennessee and the 6’6 Tyson is the second-ranked player in North Carolina. Ketih Robbins, Kyler Vanderjagt, Adam Braccia, and Jake Dykstra are a quartet of guards from various states. Alexander’s recruiting map has expanded with the joining of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Keishawn Davidson is a 6’2 transfer guard from Belmont’s former OVC foe, Tennessee Tech. Davidson scored 904 points during these three TTU seasons and accumulated 385 assists. He is an elite shooter of free throws (career .891) and is a capable three-point shooter. Last season he averaged 10.4 points per game.
Drew Friberg is a 6’6 forward who averaged 9.3 points per game with Princeton. He started all 30 games while making nearly 40% of his shots from deep for the Tigers.