Missouri Valley Team Preview (Illinois State Redbirds)

This is the first of ten team previews for the upcoming Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball season.  The teams are presented in reverse order of their predicted conference finish.

     Last years edition of the Redbirds did something only 5 of the last 33 Illinois State teams have done:  end the season with a losing record. To make it even worse, it was the second of back to back losing records, and the salt in that wound is that going into this year, the outlook is even bleaker.   You might think a team with 3 returning starters and 3 good experienced backcourt players in a guard’s league would get a bit more respect. The problem is, that is pretty much everything that is in the plus column as the year begins. Even the plus of the 3 returning starters is tainted by the fact that a 4th starter, and best player from last year, Marcus Arnold, decided he was too big time for the Valley and bolted to the bright lights of the Big 10 and Illinois after 2 seasons in Normal.

Any success Illinois State experiences this year will more than likely depend upon 3-point shooter extraordinaire, Trey Guidry. He led the Valley in 3 balls made (86), and percentage, hitting a tremendous 46% of the 187 bombs he let fly. The 6’2″ Senior only started 11 games, but led the team with 15.2 ppg, and despite coming off the bench, was second on the team in minutes. Back for his 3rd season as the starting PG is Senior Vince Greene. He averaged 8.3ppg, 3.4apg, and 1.4spg Greene is quick, but at a generous 5’9″ is sometimes a liability when matching up against the league’s taller guards. 6’3″ Junior Dana Ford played in 20 games last year, but is apparently unfamiliar with the concept of shooting since he averaged less than 1ppg. Two newcomers will have to see minutes right away. 6’3″ Junior Nedu Onyeulu joins the Redbirds from Iowa Western CC and brings athleticism and his 16 ppg JC scoring average with him. 6’2″ Freshman Khalif Ford averaged 10ppg and 5apg at Bridgton Academy in Conn., and he was on some experts’ list of the top 100 prep players last year.

As if the departure of Arnold in the spring wasn’t bad enough, the frontline took another hit on August 17 when 6’7″ Senior Najeeb Echols decided his 6.5ppg/4rpg averages were good enough to play professionally overseas. 6’4″ Senior Gregg Alexander has the most experience of the frontline that is left, but he is better geared for the outside. He hit 47 3’s last year and averaged 6.5 ppg. Needless to say, he probably needs to put up almost double that if State is to avoid the cellar. 6’5″ Junior Neil Plank gets set for his second season with the Redbirds. The transfer from Wisconsin played out of position at power forward often times last year, and ended up with averages of 5 ppg. and 4 rpg. 6’8″ Sophomore Greg Dillegard, at times, showed glimpses of becoming a good player in the league. He hit 68% of his shots, not hard to do when the farthest out you shoot is 3 feet, but foul trouble cut his minutes last year. He averaged 5ppg, 4 rpg, and blocked 24 shots. The 3 frontcourt newcomers will need to hit the ground running. The best of that bunch should be 6’7″ Junior Lorenzo Gordon. He put up 20.5 ppg and nearly 11 rpg at Mineral Area CC last year. 6’10” Freshman Levi Dyer was a first team all-state selection in Colorado. He and 6’10” redshirt freshman Ronnie Caldwell will get a trail by fire once the season starts. In the off season, Coach Porter Moser, when asked about his frontcourt said, “The inside game is an issue for us. We need rebounding, defense, and low post scoring from someone.” Oh, is that all. Yikes!

Moser rebuilt Arkansas Little-Rock before coming to Illinois State, so he has some experience in that area, but in the Missouri Valley, the task will be more difficult. Guidry and Greene are a nice Valley backcourt, and there are a couple of good role players, but with the current talent in this league, that doesn’t get you far. As if the pre-season weren’t enough to depress the team’s following, their annual scrimmage set for October 27 had to be cancelled due to a lack of healthy bodies. Newcomer Khalif Ford has a stress fracture in his right tibia and is out 4-5 more weeks, and the other backcourt newcomer Onyeuku has an Achilles’ tendon strain in his left foot. Not the way to start what should be a year with little good news. Some Illinois State supporters say that the players that departed are addition by subtraction. That may be true, but however you calculate it, the answer in Normal this year adds up to 10th place.

Projected league finish:  10th place (4-14)