Missouri Valley Basketball: Grades for each team 1st week of 2022-23 season

One week into the college basketball season the new-look Missouri Valley Basketball Conference is a mixed bag of success and failure. There have been several significant wins and some maddening defeats.

Which teams are like rising stocks and which were overpriced? The answers might surprise Valley watchers, but this 116-year-old league is in a season of transition. As Loyola-Chicago departed and Belmont, Illinois Chicago, and Murray State moved in, there was great hope that the league had actually improved and enhanced its postseason opportunities.

Instead, the early season results have been a mixed bag of promise, frustration, and individual exploits. While some of the league’s injured players are slowly returning to teams, others are still a long way away from game action.

The early grades are as varied as there are teams.

New coaches Steve Prohm (Murray State), David Ragland (Evansville), and Ryan Pedon (Illinois State) have recorded their first wins with their new teams. Key transfers Courvoisier McCauley, Chance Moore, and Sardaar Calhoun rank in the top ten in scoring while holdovers Ben Krikke, Kobe King hold the top two scoring spots.

Preseason player of the year, Drake’s Tucker DeVries has thrown off preseason foot tendonitis and is tied for fifth in scoring and ranks third in rebounding. Belmont’s Cade Tyson is the only freshman making any kind of statistical impression. The 6’7 rookie averages 18 points and buried the game-winning three-pointer in Belmont’s win over Ohio.

Prior to the schedules heating up and the competition gettting more difficult we discuss the Missouri Valley Conference’s report cards. While some teams are acing every test, some have struggled to make the grade.

It is too early in the semester to give failing grades, but one week into the season, all of the other grades are on the table.