Horizon League 2007-08 Preview
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of the Horizon League.
First, the Horizon League welcomes the Valparaiso Crusaders into the conference this season.
The Crusaders come to the league from the Mid-Continent Conference where they won a number of MCC regular season and tournament titles. In all, the Crusaders have appeared in seven NCAA tournaments. And the rich history doesn’t end there.
Valparaiso will be guided yet again by Homer Drew. Drew sports a 571-362 overall record in 30 seasons in northwest Indiana. At Valparaiso, Drew is 302-240 in 18 seasons.
The Horizon League got richer with the addition of VU on July 1.
In addition, the Crusaders will celebrate all season long the 10-year anniversary of Valparaiso’s magical run into the Sweet 16. The highlight of that run was Bryce Drew – now the associate head coach of the Crusaders – sinking the buzzer-beater against Ole Miss.
Even as a new team in the league, the Crusaders are right in the thick of the league title race. Add in a talented Butler, which won a school-record 29 games last season, reached the Sweet 16, and cracked the top 10 in the AP poll, and Wright State teams and you’ve got one of the toughest conference races in the country that probably nobody knows about.
Then throw in teams like UW-Green Bay and a more experienced UW-Milwaukee squad and it could be anyone’s guess who’s going to win the league.
But the biggest challenge facing the Bulldogs is a new coach. Todd Lickliter, who led the Bulldogs for six seasons, left Butler to take the head coaching vacancy at Iowa. During his tenure at Butler, the Bulldogs were 131-61. Replacing him is Brad Stevens, an assistant under Lickliter the past six seasons, and also worked under current Ohio State coach Thad Matta.
Butler finished No. 13 in the coaches poll after last season.
It will be an exciting season in the Horizon League
Below is the league’s predicted order of finish.
Butler Bulldogs (29-7 overall in 2006-07, 13-3 league)
Head coach: Brad Stevens (first season)
Assistants: Matthew Graves, Brandon Miller, Terry Johnson
Projected starters
A.J. Graves
Mike Green
Pete Campbell
Julian Petko
Drew Streicher
Key losses: Brandon Crone, Brian Ligon
Schedule highlights
Nov. 21-24 Great Alaska Shootout, Anchorage, Alaska
Dec. 1 vs. Ohio State
Dec. 15 vs. Florida State at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
Dec. 28 at Southern Illinois
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: The Bulldogs return their top two scorers from last year in Graves and Green. Butler had solid depth last season, and it will need the same thing again this year. Take away the total starts by Graves and Green last year, Betko started 36 games last season, but the rest of the returners have two total starts last year (Streicher). Green was the league’s Newcomer of the Year last season, and incoming Matt Howard turned down scholarship offers to Big Ten schools to come to Butler. If he plays, Howard will be a tremendous addition.
Wright State Raiders (23-10, 13-3)
Coach: Brad Brownell (second season, 23-10; sixth season, 106-50 overall)
Assistants: Mike Winciecki, Bill Donlon, Victor Ebong
Projected starters
Jordan Pleiman
Vaughn Duggins
Todd Brown
Scott Wilson
William Graham
Key losses: DaShaun Wood, Drew Burleson
Schedule highlights
Dec. 15 vs. Miami
Dec. 29-30 Dr. Pepper Classic, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: Wood won the league MVP honors last season after leading the league in scoring (19.6 per game) and steals (1.94 per game). Wood scored 27 points with eight rebounds and five assists in the Raiders’ upset of Butler in the league tournament championship game, which gave WSU its first NCAA appearance since 1993. Replacing Wood will be tough, but the Raiders under second-year coach Brownell return three starters, led by Duggins (9.0 points per game). The Raiders also get two talented transfers in John David Gardner (UNC-Wilmington) and Ronnie Thomas (Duquesne). Pleiman brings veteran leadership, but will need to improve his seven points per game clip he averaged last season after averaging more than 10 a game two seasons ago.
Valparaiso Crusaders (16-15, 9-5 Mid-Continent Conference finish)
Coach: Homer Drew (19th season, 302-240; 31st season, 571-362 overall)
Assistants: Bryce Drew, Luke Gore, Chris Sparks
Projected starters
Shawn Huff
Urule Igbavboa
Samuel Haanpaa
Brandon McPherson
Jake Diebler
Key losses: Moussa Mbaye, Arden Skoglund
Schedule highlights
Nov. 20 at Vanderbilt
Nov. 23-24 at South Padre Island (Texas) Invitational
Dec. 22 at Wisconsin
Dec. 30 at North Carolina
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: The Crusaders join the Horizon League from the Mid-Continent Conference (now the Summit League), and right away Valparaiso will have a tough schedule. Dec. 22 will be interesting as two of college basketball’s best and most-respected coaches square off (Drew and Bo Ryan). North Carolina is a perennial national champion contender, if not favorite, and Vanderbilt made it to the Sweet 16 last year. Valparaiso will return four double-digit scorers from last season, led by Haanpaa at 12.0. Igbavboa, Huff and McPherson all averaged at least 10 points per game.
UW-Green Bay Phoenix (18-15, 7-9)
Coach: Tod Kowalczyk (sixth season, 77-73)
Assistants: Dale Race, Jon Harris, Brian Wardle
Projected starters
Mike Schachtner
Ryan Tillema
Terry Evans
Troy Cotton
Randy Berry
Key losses: Ryan Evanochko, Josh Lawrence
Schedule highlights
Nov. 12-17 Preseason NIT Tip-Off
Dec. 15 at Wisconsin
Dec. 29 at Michigan State
Feb. 23 ESPN Bracket Buster
Outlook: This team is young by year in school, but they are experienced. Last season, the underclassmen averaged 130.5 minutes of playing time per game, 65 percent of the team’s total. And nothing changes much as the Phoenix have just one senior (Tevah Morris). Otherwise, there are five juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen. One of the freshmen will not be available this season, as D’Angalo Jackson will sit out this season after transferring from Creighton due to NCAA transfer rules. But it will be easy to confuse UWGB as a Big Ten team. Three teams from the conference will play the Phoenix this season, including Ohio State in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
UW-Milwaukee Panthers (9-22, 7-9)
Coach: Rob Jeter (third season, 31-31)
Assistants: Brian Bidlingmyer, Chad Boudreau, Duffy Conroy
Projected starters
Paige Paulsen
Avery Smith
Ricky Franklin
Allan Hanson
Marcus Skinner
Key losses: Kevin Massiah, Ryan Thornton
Schedule highlights
Nov. 18 vs. Northern Iowa
Nov. 30 at Marquette
Dec. 29 at Wyoming
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: The city of Milwaukee is getting the college basketball matchup they’ve longed for since 1998. The Panthers and Marquette will play for the first time since the ’98 season. After a rough 2006-07 campaign, the Panthers are older and more experienced, unlike last year where there were a combined nine collegiate starts on the roster. Paulsen and Smith are two of the best in the league, and will have big seasons. In addition, the Panthers assembled one of the best mid-major recruiting classes in the country. But UWM will need to improve on having the league’s worst offensive field goal percentage and worst defensive field goal percentage (38.7 percent to 47.5 percent, respectively).
Detroit Titans (11-19, 6-10)
Coach: Perry Watson (15th season, 254-175)
Assistants: Kevin Mondro, Carlos Briggs, Garland Mance
Projected starters
Brandon Cotton
Jon Goode
Chris Hayes
Zach Everingham
Eulis Stephens
Key losses: Ryvon Coville, Brandon Bell
Schedule highlights
Dec. 17 at Texas A&M
Dec. 29 DePaul
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: The Titans returned a talented group of players back from last season. Leading the list is former Michigan State transfer Cotton. Cotton led the Titans in scoring last season with 18.1 points per game. However, the Titans lost double-double man Ryvon Coville (13.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game last season). But Watson’s teams always play stingy defense, and look for that defense to carry this team. Cotton is the leading returning scorer in the entire league, and the Titans will look to rebound this season after collapsing late last season.
Loyola Ramblers (21-11, 10-6)
Coach: Jim Whitesell (fourth season, 53-39; 331-223, 20 seasons overall)
Assistants: Patrick Baldwin, Lance Randall, Shay Boyle
Projected starters
J. R. Blount
Andy Polka
Leon Young
Tracy Robinson
Tom Levin
Key losses: Blake Schilb, Majak Kou
Schedule highlights
Nov. 24 at Purdue
Dec. 15 vs. Northern Iowa
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: The early stages of this season will be tough and Whitesell may be the first to tell you so. The Ramblers lost four starters, and with them 48 percent of its offense from last season. The leading returning scorer (Blount) averaged 12.9 points per game. After that, the production dips tremendously. Blount is a rising star for the program after averaging double figures in points in each of his first two seasons on Chicago’s North Side (a first in school history since 1998-2000 with Chris Williams).
Illinois-Chicago Flames (14-18, 7-9)
Coach: Jimmy Collins (12th season, 176-156)
Assistants: Mark Coomes, Tracy Dildy, Bryant Lowe
Projected starters
Josh Mayo
Robert Bush
Scott VanderMeer
Karl White
Spencer Stewart
Key losses: Othyus Jeffers, T.J. Gray, Jovan Stefanov
Schedule highlights
Nov. 17-19 Paradise Jam, U.S. Virgin Islands
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: The Flamers lost two of their top three scorers from last season (Jeffers, Gray) to transfers, as Jeffers transferred to Robert Morris and Gray to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. But they do return Mayo, who averaged 12.2 points per game. Unfortunately after that, the next top returning scorer is Bush, who averaged 6.8 points per game. Bush will need a big season, as will VanderMeer. UIC will get the services of Texas Tech transfer Jeremy Buttell. Buttell, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, worked under legendary coach Bobby Knight and should provide a spark off the bench. He may work into the starting lineup by season’s end.
Youngstown State Penguins (14-17, 7-9)
Coach: Jerry Slocum (third season, 21-38; 33rd season, 601-363 overall)
Assistants: Michael Wernicki, Byron thorne, Brian DePaoli
Projected starters
Byron Davis
Jack Liles
John Barber
Dwight Holmes
George Cotal
Key losses: Quin Humphrey, Keston Roberts
Schedule highlights
Nov. 12-13 at CBE Classic, Los Angeles (will play UCLA on Nov. 12)
Nov. 24 at Notre Dame
Dec. 21 at Akron
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: Humphrey and Roberts were the heart-and-soul of the Penguins last season, literally. The two combined to average 35.1 points per game on a team that averaged 66 points a game. Davis provides a little punch at 8.6 points, but not too much is there after that. YSU will be tested early with a matchup against UCLA, who has reached the Final Four in each of the past two seasons. Barber does provide experience as a three-year letterwinner. Gemayl Johnson will be a spark off the bench and may start by the end of the season. Johnson, a junior college transfer from Montgomery (Md.), averaged 19 points and nine rebounds a game last season. He was an All-American last season at the JC ranks.
Cleveland State Vikings (10-21, 3-13)
Coach: Gary Waters (second season, 10-21 at CSU; 181-156 in 11 years overall)
Assistants: Jayson Gee, Larry DeSimpelare, Jermaine Kimbrough
Projected starters
J’Nathan Bullock
Joe Davis
Cedric Jackson
Kevin Francis
Chris Mooris
Key losses: Raheem Moss, Carlos English, Victor Morris, Bahaadar Russel, Patrick Tatham
Schedule highlights
Nov. 13 at George Mason
Nov. 17 vs. Florida State in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters
Outlook: The Vikings have been consistently at the bottom of the league for a number of seasons and nothing is going to change that anytime soon unfortunately. CSU lost a lot of experience last season and will need a lot of untested players to fill in those voids. A relatively easy schedule should help CSU with that problem. CSU did lose four conference games last year by five points or less.
