2019-20 #HLMBB League Preview
Joey Yashinsky
By Joey Yashinsky, Horizon League Contributor. Follow on Twitter @OneSeatOver
Who doesn’t love a good game of 21? When you’re at an open gym and only three players show up, sometimes the only thing you can do is play 21, despite the fact that some of the rules are, at best, questionable. (Goal of the game -- get to 21 points. But if you reach 20 and make a shot to go over that total, you’re sent back to 15. Let’s punish the player that overperforms!)
Anyway, let’s make some use of that old pickup hoops standby and run through 21 reasons to be pumped for this season of Horizon League men’s hoops.
1) The metronome-like consistency of Scott Nagy and the Wright State Raiders. The Raiders have gone 13-5 (in League play) or better in three of the last four seasons and have finished below .500 in League play just twice in the last 16 years. They are Horizon League preseason favorites in 2019-20, just ahead of...
2) The Northern Kentucky Norse -- without Drew McDonald. Don’t adjust your TV set this winter; he really is gone. The program legend has moved on after a terrific career in Highland Heights, capped off by a Motor City Madness championship as a senior and a buzzer-beater against Oakland that will earn him free lunch in Kentucky for the next 50 years.
The spotlight now shines on the multitalented Jalen Tate, a tenacious defender with an offensive game that continues to blossom each year. Think a lankier version of Kawhi Leonard. And don’t forget who made that brilliant dish to McDonald for the game-winner in the semifinals.
3) Try to name a better senior guard trio in America than what Steve McClain has this season at UIC. There is a lot of excitement in Flames Country, in large part because Tarkus Ferguson, Marcus Ottey and Godwin Boahen are all back to cap their careers with a crown. Any of the three are capable of lighting up the scoreboard and all can play unselfishly too, making UIC that much more difficult to defend.
4) In a sports landscape painfully overloaded with generic answers and clichés, Greg Kampe at Oakland is a breath of fresh air. His postgame pressers are often raw, honest and informative. The agony on Kampe’s face after a tough defeat lets you know that few coaches in the country care about their team as much as he does.
5) Replacing Sandy Cohen III in Green Bay will be no easy task. After all, he led the club in just about every possible statistical category last season. Thankfully for the Phoenix Dunkers Fan Club, they have JayQuan McCloud ready to shoulder much of the load. The fifth-year senior can explode for 25+ on any night and has an experienced group around him.
6) Jerrod Calhoun is entering year three at Youngstown State, often considered prime time for a new coach to begin turning the corner with a program. Calhoun got the jump a year early, stealing Horizon League headlines with a six-game League winning streak. His Penguins could be a Horizon League dark horse this winter.
7) And speaking of quality backcourt groups, Pat Baldwin has an intriguing trio at his disposal in Milwaukee. DeAndre Abram is 6-foot-8 but handles and shoots like a guard. Darius Roy can catch fire at any time. And now he’ll be able to play more off the ball and hunt his shot with Illinois transfer point guard Te’Jon Lucas joining the fray.
8) What can you say about Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy that hasn’t been said or written about already? He shattered countless freshman scoring records and was compared throughout the year with a former long-range bomber from Davidson named Steph. There were nights when opposing defenses could do nothing but smile and just enjoy the show. With a year under his belt and a better familiarity with the various defenses that will be thrown at him each night, the sky is truly the limit for Davis in 2019-20.
9) For the last two years, IUPUI has turned to Jaylen Minnett for some instant offense, a quick scoring burst. Now a junior, he’ll be asked to lead the offense, along with Campbell transfer Marcus Burk. That combo will be right in the mix as one of the top long-range tandems in the Horizon League.
10) There will be a lot of new faces donning the Cleveland State green and white this season, but rest assured, new head coach Dennis Gates will have the Vikings pounding the glass and getting after you on the defensive end. Having a senior ball-hawking point guard like Kasheem Thomas definitely helps in that department, too.
11) Social media today is all about Throwback Thursdays and Flashback Fridays, so let’s show some respect for a true old-school big man, Loudon Love of Wright State. You won’t find him launching 3’s or leading the fast break, but you will see NBA-level footwork, the ability to finish with either hand and a near-guarantee for an All-Horizon League spot at the end of the year.
12) Wright State’s Bill Wampler might have the sweetest stroke in the League. In Wright State’s two Horizon League tournament victories last year, he buried eight triples. People wondered how Scott Nagy would replace the marksmanship from Grant Benzinger; Wampler provided the solution to that problem in his first ever game at Wright State (five 3’s, 26 points).
13) Tyler Sharpe of NKU might have something to say about that “Best Shooter in the Horizon League” title. The southpaw couldn’t miss in the month of March. Sharpe canned six 3’s against the Detroit Mercy squad in the quarterfinals, then after helping the Norse win it all at Motor City Madness, dropped 23 points on national runner-up Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament.
14) While the uber-talented backcourt will command a lot of attention in Chicago, don’t forget about the Flames doing the dirty work: Michael Diggins, Jacob Wiley and junior college transfer Braelen Bridges will present matchup problems for opposing teams with their collective athleticism. That group will undoubtedly miss the services of one of the best bruisers in the Midwest in Jordan Blount and blossoming forward Rob Howard, both lost to injury. The guards will create many highlights throughout the year, but McClain will also get key contributions from his crew on the interior.
15) Somehow, someway, the Golden Grizzlies always seem to finish Horizon League play with a double-digit victory total. All-Horizon League First Team selection Xavier Hill-Mais will have a lot to do with anything Oakland accomplishes this season. The senior often requires two or three defenders to try and slow him down, and that in turn will offer plenty of good looks from deep for Tray Maddox Jr., Jackie Harris and the rest. Hill-Mais has a pretty darn good partner-in-crime, too: Brad Brechting, one of the best players down the stretch in last year’s Horizon League season.
16) Linc Darner has a whole bunch of depth and experience up in Green Bay, a scary thought for the opposition. The last time Darner had five seniors in the starting lineup (something he could choose to do this season), he cut the nets down with Florida Southern for the Div. 2 National Championship. Tank Hemphill is one of the top athletes in the conference and P.J. Pipes is a steadying force at point guard. Cam Hankerson is always a threat to score or dish and Trevian Bell started coming into his own late in the year.
17) Darius Quisenberry had a fabulous freshman campaign for Youngstown State, earning a spot on the All-Horizon League Second Team. He’s been given that same status on the preseason poll, but it’d be no surprise to see him leap to the first five by year’s end. With Naz Bohannon banging on the inside and utilizing his diverse offensive game, Calhoun has one of the top duos in the League. However, if you pay too much attention to that pair, you might get burned by the likes of Garrett Covington, Devin Morgan, Jelani Simmons and Donel Cathcart, all deadly outside shooters.
18) The Milwaukee Panthers started strong in Horizon League play last season with a 4-3 mark. Things got difficult from there and Baldwin’s group couldn’t find another W, though several losses were by the slimmest of margins. This year they’ll lean on the rugged tandem of Amir Allen and Harrison Henderson to support Roy and Abram’s fireworks from the perimeter. Henderson, a 6-foot-10 transfer from USC, looks to be a major piece in the Milwaukee puzzle, which means a number of those tough defeats could turn into victories in 2019-20.
19) For the Detroit Mercy Titans to have success, they’ll need steady contributions from Davis’ supporting cast. B.J. Maxwell is a graduate transfer from Abilene Christian and a top-flight outside shooter. Marquis Moore has a smooth all-court game and only scratched the surface of his potential as a freshman. Junior Dwayne Rose Jr. (nephew of 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose) will also give the Titans a lift. Mike Davis had to scramble in putting a roster together for his first season in Detroit, but heading into year two, the Titans look to be rounding into form.
20) A pair of juniors that play with all-out effort will be major players for the IUPUI Jaguars this winter. Elyjah Goss is one of the most ferocious rebounders in the country and Grant Weatherford is a gritty 6-foot-2 guard that will battle you for every inch of the floor. Together, they started 58 games a season ago, giving new head coach Byron Rimm II a solid veteran base in his first season at the helm.
21) Algevon Eichelberger arrived at Cleveland State as a transfer from DePaul and made a quality impact last season. His role should increase as a junior and the 6-foot-8, 250-pounder could be one of the surprise standouts in the Horizon League. Tre Gomillion won a Georgia state championship in high school, then was an all-freshman performer in his one season of junior college ball and now projects to be an impact performer for Coach Gates and the Vikings. He and Thomas make up a formidable backcourt, along with junior swingman Torrey Patton.
What will Antoine Davis do to follow up such a brilliant opening to his college career? Can Tarkus Ferguson and his buddies in the backcourt propel UIC all the way to the top? Do Loudon Love, Bill Wampler and Cole Gentry represent the top trio in the conference? The Motor City Madness champs welcome in new coach in Darrin Horn -- can the Norse go back-to-back?
These questions and many more will be answered in the coming months.
Who will be among the Final Four to make it to Indianapolis for the Horizon League Championships on March 9th?
We’ll just have to wait and see.