When coach Steve Merfeld was at Hampton University, his first team went 14-12, his second team went 8-18, went 17-12 in year three, and in year four, as a #15 seed, they knocked off #2 seed Iowa State in the NCAA tournament. At Evansville, he has gone 12-16, then 7-22 last year. A pattern is developing. The Aces may not make the jump all the way to 17 “W’s” in the tough Valley, but the foundation is there, and the Aces are headed in the right direction. Up front, the Aces are as thin as most teams in the league, and suffered a big disappointment right before the start of the school year. 6’9″ Sophomore Tyler Best sat out last year after transferring from Charlotte, and was many experts pick to be the newcomer of the year in the Valley, but he opted not to enroll in school. However, the Aces do have a couple of good Sophomores to build around. Valley All-Freshman member Bradley Strickland is as athletic a 6’9″ player that you’ll find at this level. He didn’t start until half way through the year, but still led the conference in blocks at 1.3 bpg. He really developed as an offensive threat as the year went on and finished at 6.3 ppg, but needs to improve on his average of 3.3 rpg. He has put on about 20 pounds since last year, but still only goes in the 220 lb. range. His Sophomore partner up front is 6’8″ Matt Webster. Webster, somehow omitted from the All-Freshman team, averaged 7.7 ppg and 3 rpg. Webster shot 50% from the floor, and has a knack for drawing fouls on his opponent. He is also versatile enough to step out behind the arc, making 13 last season. 6’7″ Sophomore Justin Petty looks to improve on averages of 3.5 ppg and 2 rpg. He is better suited for the wing, and adjusted well as the season went on. 6’7″ Junior Eric Ottens is listed as a forward, but of his 34 FGA last year, 29 were three pointers. 6’7″ Sophomore Craig Phifer is coming off a red-shirt year, and can add needed depth up front.
What’s left are several players who are interchangeable as far as positions, which gives Merfeld several options as the year begins. Of the Seniors, Lucious Wagner has become the vocal leader, and can play many roles. At 6’4″, he played the point often last year, and ended up second in the league in assists with 4.4 apg. He would slide into the off-guard slot at times, and was productive enough to average 8.8 ppg, and would occasionally drop to frontcourt, which helped him average 3.1 rpg. This year, look for Wagner to play more of the 2 and 3. Andre Burton, a 6’5″ Senior was just as versatile last year. He is the leading returning scorer after averaging 9.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg. 6’3″ Senior Drew Gore chipped in 2.1 ppg, and will see minutes this year as well. There are three additional Sophomores to the backcourt rotation. 6’4″ Kyle Anslinger (6 ppg, 3 rpg, and 40 3’s) was third on the team in minutes played, and is the best perimeter defender. Robert Nelson (3 ppg) wore down as the season went on, but through an off-season conditioning program, has gone from 175 lbs. to 205 lbs., and was just voted the team’s most improved player since the end of last season. The third Sophomore returnee is 6’0″ Devan Welch. Three talented newcomers will see action as well. 6’0″ Freshman Dupree Fletcher was the large school POY in Wisconsin last year and led his team to consecutive state championships. 6’4″ Freshman Marcus Butler was the small school POY in Ohio averaging 24 ppg, 10 rpg, and 8 apg. Finally, 6’2″ Sophomore Fabien Calvez comes from France where he averaged 20 ppg and 8 apg. He was voted one of the top 20 players in France in his age group.
Merfeld has said he feels the exact same way at this point as he did during his reclamation job at Hampton. Again, it’s a bit tougher in the Valley, but there is no question that the athletes and players being brought in have higher skill levels than the ones that where here before Merfeld. This is still a very young team with six Sophomores and two Freshmen who will see a lot of minutes, to go along with the three seniors. Merfeld likes to push the tempo a bit as well, and finally has the numbers in the backcourt to implement that. Thanks to so many young players seeing action last year, this team was at the bottom of the standings in several defensive categories, and must improve on that. A year under their belts should help all the sophomores, and if the rebounding, that improve from the previous year, continues on that path, look for this team in the upper echelon in the next year or two. Until then, anything above .500 is a bonus.
Projected League Finish: 7th (8-10)