Wright State Tabbed #HLMBB Favorite, McDonald Voted Preseason Player of the Year
INDIANAPOLIS - After winning the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship last season, Wright State has been voted the preseason favorite to capture the 2018-19 Horizon League men’s basketball championship. Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year in voting by the League’s coaches, media and sports information directors.
McDonald is the Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and is coming off a 2017-18 campaign where he averaged 17.0 points and 9.6 rebounds with an HL-best 18 double-doubles to help the Norse to a regular-season title. The two-time all-first team selection ranked inside the top-15 in the League last season in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage, 3-pointers made per game and free-throw percentage. McDonald is looking to become the first player since Valparaiso’s Alec Peters (2015-16-17) to be named to three-straight all-league first teams.
Wright State captured 25 of the 40 first-place votes cast to finish with 377 total points and claim first place in the poll. It is the first time WSU has been voted the preseason favorite since the Horizon League rebranded from the MCC in 2001. The Raiders return four of their five starters from last season that helped set a school record with 25 wins and reached just their third NCAA Tournament. WSU is led by last season’s Freshman of the Year and Second-Team All-League selection Loudon Love who averaged a League-best 9.7 rebounds and just under 13 points and will start his sophomore season as a preseason first-time selection.
Joining McDonald and Love on the preseason first team are Cleveland State’s Tyree Appleby, Sandy Cohen III of Green Bay, and UIC’s Marcus Ottey.
Appleby was an All-Freshman Team selection after putting up 11.8 points and 4.0 assists per game last season. He truly burst on to the scene when he averaged 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists during Motor City Madness including scoring 24 points in a win over NKU to be named to the All-Tournament Team. Cohen made an immediate impact after becoming eligible on Dec. 21, 2017 after transferring and ended the League season ranking sixth in points at 17.1 per game and leading the HL in steals with just under two a game. He scored in double-digits in 16 of his 22 games played. Ottey finished last season averaging 13.8 points per game and led the Flames last year with 14.6 points per game in League play. He was the only HL player to finish inside the top 10 in field goal, free throw and 3-point percentage in conference play as he ranked second in 3-point percentage (.463), sixth in free-throw percentage (.841) and eighth in field-goal percentage (.531).
The second team features one senior, two juniors and two sophomores and is represented by five different institutions. Two all-freshmen selections from last year are on this season’s preseason second team in Northern Kentucky’s Jalen Tate and Youngstown State Naz Bohannon. Joining the duo are Wright State’s Mark Hughes, Kameron Hankerson of Green Bay and UIC’s Tarkus Ferguson.
Tate, also a member of last year’s All-Defensive Team, averaged 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while also leading the Norse in steals (42) and blocks (19). Bohannon played in all 32 games for the Penguins last year and started all but one and finished third during League play with 9.0 rebounds and added 7.9 points. Hughes was also a member of the All-Defensive Team with Tate as he led the Raiders with 41 steals while scoring just under 10 points a contest and averaging three assists. Hankerson scored 10.7 points per game for the Phoenix last year and shot over 41 percent from behind the arc in League play as he hit a career-best seven 3-pointers in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. Ferguson led the HL with 5.0 assists per game including 5.9 dimes during League play. He also scored 10.6 points per game and grabbed 5.5 rebounds.
Coming in second in the preseason poll with 356 total points and 10 first-place votes is last year’s regular season champions Northern Kentucky, followed in third place by UIC with 310 total votes and four first-place votes.
Oakland is fourth in the preseason poll with 239 points, just one point ahead of fifth-place Green Bay with 238 total points. The Golden Grizzlies will look to rebuild after losing last season’s Player of the Year Kendrick Nunn, all-league first-team selection Jalen Hayes and All-Defensive Team honoree Martez Walker. Oakland returns center Brad Brechting and point guard Brailen Neely who both missed significant time last year due to injury and also forward Xavier Hill-Mais who redshirted. The Golden Grizzlies also added George Mason transfer Karmari Newman who will look to make an immediate impact for Greg Kampe’s squad.
In sixth place in the poll is IUPUI who earned the No. 5 seed at the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship in its first season in the HL with an 8-10 mark. The Jags return Evan Hall who averaged 7.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in his junior campaign. IUPUI will also have a couple of transfers who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules and will look to make a quick impact in Camron Justice (Vanderbilt) and Ahmed Ismail (Manhattan).
Cleveland State came in seventh in the preseason poll with 175 points after reaching the championship game a season ago. Along with Appleby, the Vikings return sophomore Stefan Kenic who played in all 34 games last season, making 30 starts, and chipped in just under 10 points and three boards per game.
Milwaukee earned the final first-place vote and came in eighth in the preseason poll behind second year coach Pat Baldwin. The Panthers have 10 newcomers from last season’s team and will be led by George Mason transfer DeAndre Abram. MKE’s highest returning scorer is Bryce Barnes who averaged 6.5 points per game last season making 26 starts.
Youngstown State is ninth in the preseason poll as the Penguins lost second-team all-league selection Cameron Morse. Along with Bohannon, YSU will look to Delaware State transfer Devin Morgan to lead the way after being named All-MEAC Third-Team in 2016-17 after averaging 14.4 points and 3.3 assists per game.
Rounding out the poll is Detroit Mercy with first-year coach Mike Davis taking over for the Titans. Detroit Mercy returns senior Josh McFolley who was one of only two Titans to play in all 32 games a season ago, making 19 starts, and finished third on the team in scoring at just over 11 points a game.
The regular season will start on Tuesday, Nov. 6, with seven teams in action. Horizon League play begins on Fri., Dec. 28, with four games. Motor City Madness will start with quarterfinal action on March 5-6 with highest seeds hosting and will culminate with the semifinal and championship games on March 11-12 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
2018-19 #HLMBB Preseason Poll Results
Pl. School (1st-place) – Votes
1. Wright State (25) – 377
2. Northern Kentucky (10) – 356
3. UIC (4) – 310
4. Oakland – 239
5. Green Bay – 238
6. IUPUI – 188
7. Cleveland State – 175
8. Milwaukee (1) – 140
9. Youngstown State – 104
10. Detroit Mercy – 73
Preseason Player of the Year
Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky
First Team (alphabetical order by school)
Tyree Appleby, Cleveland State
Sandy Cohen III, Green Bay
Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky
Marcus Ottey, UIC
Loudon Love, Wright State
Second Team (alphabetical order by school)
Kameron Hankerson, Green Bay
Jalen Tate, Northern Kentucky
Tarkus Ferguson, UIC
Mark Hughes, Wright State
Naz Bohannon, Youngstown State