10. Evansville Purple Aces
Fourth year coach David Ragland has proven he can recruit, get players to play together and play hard. The Evansville program has struggled keeping players from leaving for ‘greener pastures’. Four of last year’s top five scorers, including the top three left via the portal.
Last season’s 11-19 squad lost leading scorer Tayshawn Comer to Nevada, all-freshman team member Gabriel Pozzato to Xavier and following them out the door were their third (Cam Haffner) and fifth (Tanner Cuff) leading scorers.
Who is coming back is very important. The Valley’s Defensive Player of the Year, Connor Turnbull and fellow 6’10 forward Joshua Hughes provide Ragland with outstanding rim protection and solid interior offensive firepower.
Turnbull (10.8 ppg) led the league in blocks and Hughes was in the top five. Ragland is building an interesting mix of transfers and foreign players around his ‘twin-towers’.
Graduate transfer guards Keishon Porter (10.8 ppg) and Alex Hemenway bring instant size and experience. Hemenway sat out last season but appeared in 95 combined games at Vanderbilt and Clemson. Pittsburgh transfer Marlon Barnes is a 6’6 wing who appeared in eight Panther games. Ragland needs steady perimeter play from these three.
6’9 Saint Louis transfer A.J. Casey was part of an NCAA Tournament run with Miami, but couldn’t find game time with last year’s Billikens. He is a sturdy and physical rebounder and will add muscle to the UE front line.
The Purple Aces recruited internationally. Hughes is from Australia and last year’s star, Pozzato (Italy) paved the way for three-star German recruit Leif Moeller. The 6’7 freshman guard has serious international experience, appears ready for the Valley wars and is a threat to be a very productive first-year player. 6’11 Australian freshman James Dyson-Merwe brings more size to the towering Aces’ squad.
Bryce Quinett is a three-star, 6’3 freshman guard and one of the top players in Arizona.
Ragland’s eye for talent is unquestioned. This team has skill, size and experience and once their roles are defined, they could be a dangerous MVC team.