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MVC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

By Harry Schroeder

Mar 6, 2022; St. Louis, MO, USA; Drake Bulldogs head coach Darian DeVries reacts to a call against the Loyola Ramblers during the first half in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2022; St. Louis, MO, USA; Drake Bulldogs head coach Darian DeVries reacts to a call against the Loyola Ramblers during the first half in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Indiana State’s Cooper NeeseTmsu Bb Vs Isu00696
Indiana State’s Cooper NeeseTmsu Bb Vs Isu00696 /

8. Indiana State Sycamores – Head Coach Josh Schertz
 
2021-22 record: 11-20 overall; 4-14 in the MVC

The Sycamores are a mystery team. Josh Schertz returns his entire starting unit and most of the key reserves and has added some very interesting pieces to the puzzle. Leading scorers Cooper Neese (15 ppg) and Cameron Henry (14.3) lead the way, but Xavier Bledson (9.1) and Kailex Stephens (9.8) aren’t far behind.

Neese (third-team) and Henry (all-newcomer) received league-wide honors and have solid all-round games. Point guard Julian Larry is a top-notch defender and rebounds well from the point.

Intriguing newcomers Courvoisier McCauley (DePaul) and Jayson Kent (Bradley) add size and explosiveness to the Sycamore perimter game. McCauley played for Schertz at Lincoln Memorial and spent a year in Chicago where he was a 17-minute-per-game player averaging 5.7 points in the Big East. Schertz says McCauley is a talented scorer.

Kent averaged 20 minutes and seven points at league-foe Bradley. McCauley is 6’5 and Kent is 6’8. Kent’s high school teammate and three-star recruit Robbie Avila is a 6’10 center who is the all-time leading scorer at Oak Forest High School. Several prep scouting services had Avila ranked in Illinois’ top ten.

Indiana State also landed Missouri’s ‘Player of the Year’ Rob Martin. The 5’10 Martin comes to Terre Haute from the same high school as former Sycamore great Jordan Barnes.

Division two transfer Cade McKnight is a 6’9 post from Truman State where he was an all-American and conference player of the year. Another D2 transfer Trenton Gibson, is a 6’2 guard who is a former conference player of the year and scored 1,600 D2 points.

Shertz is accumulating weapons and the Sycamores could be the Valley’s surprise team.