1. Illinois State Redbirds
The College Basketball Insider tournament champions have the potential to be scary good. After winning 22 games, earning the CBI trophy, coach Ryan Pedon’s star players all shunned the portal and stayed put.
All conference forward Chase Walker was the first to commit. Then second teamer, Johnny Kinziger and all-freshman team member Jack Daugherty followed suit. CBI all-tournament team member Ty Pence, veteran Landon Wolf also chose to stay.
All five could have left Normal, Illinois for more money and stayed to accomplish something special together.
While the 6’9 Walker emerged as a powerful post presence averaging 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, Kinziger was becoming the most loved and hated of all Valley players. The 5’11 guard was very good his freshman season, being named to the league’s all-freshman and bench teams, but last year’s sophomore season was something special.
The emotional Kinziger gets crowds excited at home and on the road. He scores (14.6 ppg) buries the three (78) and scrambles all over the floor. His scrappy play infuriates opposing fans and charges up his teammates.
Daugherty is a dead-eye sniper (48 percent from deep) and is always locked and loaded. The 6’6 Pence does a little bit of everything (7.4 points & four rebounds per game) and is dangerous from deep. Wolf is a great defender, outstanding shooter and a calming influence.
While those players alone, could make ISU the Valley favorite, they return two starting quality players from last year’s team that missed the entire season. 7’1 Brandon Lieb and former all-Summit League performer Boden Skunberg are healthy and appear ready to bolster this dynamic lineup. Skunberg amassed 1,142 points at North Dakota State and Lieb is former University of Illinois performer.
All of that talent and experience is what makes Illinois State the Valley favorite, but Pedon signed a high school recruiting class that many power conference schools would want. And of course there are big men involved.
6’11 Nick Allen and 6’9 Isaac Ericksen are joined by outstanding guards Tyreek Coleman and Mason Klabo. Coleman is the highest rated of the quartet of three-star players. He and Allen were both top ten players in the Redbirds’ home state. Klabo is a four-time, all-state performer and the top-rated player coming out of North Dakota.
Last year’s team ended a seven-year drought of postseason play and its fifth-place finish was its best since 2019. This team has the look, the talent and the belief of a team that could take the Redbird faithful back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.