MVC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season

Mar 5, 2023; St. Louis, MO, USA; Drake Bulldogs guard Tucker DeVries (12) celebrates with head coach Darian DeVries during the second half against the Bradley Braves in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

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Evansville’s Head Coach David Ragland MVC Basketball Mb Uevsuic 21 /

11. Evansville Purple Aces – Head Coach David Ragland

2022-23 record: 5-27 overall, 1-19 in the MVC

Coach David Ragland can tell Roger Powell Jr everything there is to know about first season difficulties, but heading in to his second season, the former Butler Bulldog assistant is building for the long haul, but has definitely improved the depth of talent on this year’s team.

Returners Kenny Strawbridge Jr, Yacine Toumi and Gage Bobe have been through the Valley wars and have proven they belong. Strawbridge was a third-team, all-Valley player last season and does a lot of things well. At 6’6 he is a guard matchup nightmare, and he can score (14.4 ppg), rebound (3.8) and distribute (2.1).

Toumi is an athletic, but thin 6’10 player. Bobe is a former walk on that has earned a scholarship and is one of the team captains. While not high volume shooter, Bobe buried 39% of his long distance shots and is a fan favorite.

The Purple Aces must shore up the defense. They were last in the league in scoring defense and in defensive field goal percentage. Part of their defensive problems stemmed from their weakness on the boards. Ragland’s squad was last in rebounding margin.

Signing NAIA star Ben Humrichus, Australian U17 competitor Joshua Hughes, Brazilian U19 player Gui Tesch and highly rated freshman Michael Day should help to clean the glass. Each of those players are 6’9 or taller. Humrichus was ranked as the fifteenth best player in the entire NAIA.

Ragland expected a lot out of Akron transfer Sekou Kalle last season, but the 6’10 Kalle was limited by injury to just 15 games. If healthy Kalle will contribute in the Aces’ frontcourt.

UE’s backcourt is filled with talent. Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Cam Haffner, explosive freshman Chuck Bailey III and former Bradley guard Antonio Thomas will see a lot of minutes. Bailey was ranked as the State of Michigan’s sixth best player.

While Bailey is one of the highest rated players ever to sign with Evansville, Haffner is a second-generation Evansville player. His father Scott is a legend to Purple Aces fans and the younger Haffner can shoot. He was a 43% long distance shooter for Eastern Illinois.

Evansville will be more talented, but learning to defend will be the key to their rise in the standings.

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