2011-12 Men's BasketBall Preview
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2011-12 Men’s Basketball Preview
A
fter a historic 2010-11 season saw the first three-way tie in the League’s now 33-year history and four teams earn postseason bids, it is a year of transition in the Horizon League. Not to say that expectations have changed; the League still owns a seven-year winning streak in the NCAA Tournament, the longest among the non-Power 6 conferences. With eight of the 10 players who appeared on the First and Second All-League teams at the end of last year departed, it will be new faces who will emerge throughout the 2011-12 season. SONG REMAINS THE SAME For the third straight year, and sixth time in 12 seasons, Butler was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Horizon League. However, the Bulldogs will be breaking in seven newcomers with a crew of eight returnees. Among the departed at Butler include Matt Howard, who was just the 12th player in Horizon League history to collect three First Team AllLeague selections in his four-year career. Joining Howard in the professional ranks was Shelvin Mack, who was the 2010 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year.
Mack was one of two Horizon League products taken in the 2011 NBA Draft, taken by Washington in the second round. With the duo representing 45 percent of Butler’s scoring last year, the Bulldogs will turn to its returning cast to fill the void, beginning with center Andrew Smith. A Preseason Second Team selection, Smith averaged 8.5 points per game last year. In the frontcourt, Smith will team with Khyle Marshall, who steadily grew during his freshman season, blossoming to lead the NCAA Tournament in offensive rebounding (23 boards). One of five players with League ties to participate in international competition this summer, Marshall earned a place on the USA Basketball U-19 World Championships team. Ronald Nored will conclude his career this season, and will once again be relied upon for his leadership and defensive prowess. Comi n g o f f t h e Trevon Harmon will be looked to for more scoring after the departure of Norris Cole to the NBA. bench during the final third go 7-1, McCallum was then selected to the John of last year, Nored still finished R. Wooden Award Preseason Watch List to cap a second on the team in assists summer in which he stepped into the national and earned All-Defensive Team spotlight. honors for the second time in Joining McCallum on the first team were his career. teammates Chase Simon and Eli Holman. The
Khyle Marshall will be counted on as a new crop of Butler players looks to defend its Horizon League Tournament Championship.
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The ChallengerS An uneven 17-16 last year, Detroit became the first team in at least 12 years of the League’s preseason poll to place three players on the First Team. Sophomore Ray McCallum led the way, earning Preseason Player of the Year honors. Averaging 13.5 ppg and 4.9 assists as a freshman point guard last year, McCallum steadily climbed the ladder this offseason, competing at the Deron Williams and LeBron James Skills Academy before becoming the youngest player on USA Basketball’s World University Games roster. Helping the United States
duo forms a formidable inside-outside combination, with Simon averaging 13.5 ppg and Holman nearly posting a double-double with 11.8 ppg and 9.6 rpg. With every letterwinner from last year’s team back, hopes are high in Detroit that the Titans have assembled the team that can knock Butler from its perch.
THE DEFENDING Co-CHAMPS Hopes are similarly high at both Cleveland State and Milwaukee. The duo, which tied with Butler for the 2011 regular-season co-championship, bring back squads that should be challenging for byes in the Horizon League Tournament and postseason berths. Cleveland State returns four or five starters, depending on the argument. After missing 201011 due to an injury, D’Aundray Brown is back in the Viking lineup, joining four starters from last year’s team. What can’t be argued, however, is that the Vi-
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2011-12 Men’s Basketball Preview
to be taken lightly. Meier, a 6-foot-8 forward, presented a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses with his ability to shoot from outside. The frequent beneficiary of high pick-and-rolls, Meier knocked down 44.3 percent of his attempted three-pointers last year, the second-best mark in the League. Both Milwaukee and Cleveland State earned NIT bids in 2011, helping the League match its finest postseason ever with four berths.
New Faces Valparaiso finished one game out of making the threeway tie for the Horizon League regular season title a four-way tussle last season, and now the Crusaders will be looking to get over the hump with a new voice. After a 22-year tenure at Valparaiso, Homer Drew retired, handing the reigns of the program over to his son, Bryce, After a summer spent with some of the elite talents in the NBA and internationally, Ray McCallum who frequently has appeared will look to lead Detroit to its first NCAA Tournament since 1999. as a March Madness highlight during the NCAA Tournament kings will have to replace the production of Norris courtesy of “The Shot,” which helped lift Valpo to Cole, the do-everything player who earned 2011 the 1998 Sweet Sixteen. Player of the Year accolades after averaging 21.7 The younger Drew takes over a program ppg, 5.8 rpg and 5.3 apg. Cole went on to become that brings back just two starters from last year’s the No. 28 pick in the NBA Draft, where he will play CollegeInsider.com Tournament participants. for the Miami Heat. However, one of those returnees also happens to Looking to fill that role will be Trevon Harbe the League’s top three-point shooter. mon, who collected Preseason First Team honors. Ryan Broekhoff, similar to Meier, presented Last year, Harmon averaged 13.2 ppg and was one problems for defenses last year because of his size. of the League’s gunners from long range, attempt6-foot-6, Broekhoff could mix it up inside and out, ing 181 three-pointers on the year. hitting 44.8 percent of his attempts from threeJoining Harmon and Brown will be Jeremy point range in averaging 10.3 ppg. Montgomery, who almost matched Harmon’s Broekhoff competed at the World University output with 11.6 ppg and 171 threes taken, Aaron Games for Australia, allong with McCallum and Pogue (8.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Tim Kamczyc. current teammate Richie Edwards, who starred for New Zealand. The Crusaders are optimistic that In Milwaukee, the Panthers have similarly Edwards can lend a similar scoring touch as he did large shoes to fill in the form of Anthony Hill. The this summer, when he led the Kiwis with 20.1 ppg forward controlled the low blocks, earning First at the tournament. Team All-League honors last year. Still, UWM brings back a combination that The second coaching change in the League bedeviled opponents in 2010-11 in Tony Meier comes at Loyola, where Porter Moser takes charge and Kaylon Williams. of the program. Rick Majerus’ top lieutenant at St. Williams, who joined the Milwaukee program Louis in the last four years, Moser inherits a Loyola as a junior last year, led the League in assists (5.4) team that was beat up at times last year. He also and turned in the League’s first triple-double in inherits a brand new gym, as Gentile Arena was over a decade (10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 asssists), gutted and renovated in the offseason. on Jan. 3, serving notice that the Panthers were not
On the new court, Moser will look to his front court trio of Ben Averkamp, Walt Gibler and Jordan Hicks to set the tone. Averkamp earned Preseason Second Team honors after a sophomore season in which he averaged 12.0 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Gibler, hobbled by injuries after a 2010 Sixth Man of the Year season, put up 9.4 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Hicks may be the missing cog; through his nine games last season, the 6-foot-6 swingman averaged 11.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg. His departure due to a foot injury before League season began in earnest set the Ramblers back, as they went 7-11 in League play.
2011-12 Preseason Poll
Rank School (1st) Points 1. Butler (28) 468 2. Detroit (19) 453 3. Cleveland State (2) 388 4. Milwaukee (1) 356 5. Valparaiso 255 6. Green Bay 247 7. Youngstown State 195 8. Wright State 157 9. Loyola 145 10. UIC 86 Player of the Year Ray McCallum, Detroit
All-League Team
First Team Ray McCallum, G............................... Detroit 2010-11: Newcomer of the Year, All League Second Team, 13.5 ppg, 4.9 apg Trevon Harmon, G............. Cleveland State 2010-11: 13.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg Eli Holman, F/C.................................. Detroit 2010-11: All-League Second Team, 11.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg Chase Simon, G................................. Detroit 2010-11: 13.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg Kaylon Williams, G.......................Milwaukee 2010-11: 8.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.4 apg Second Team Tony Meier, F.................................Milwaukee 2010-11: 12.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 44.3% 3FG Alec Brown, C...............................Green Bay 2010-11: All-Newcomer Team, 10.2 ppg, 2.1 bpg Andrew Smith, C..................................Butler 2010-11: 8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg Ben Averkamp, F..................................Loyola 2010-11: 12.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg Ryan Broekhoff, G........................ Valparaiso 2010-11: 10.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 44.8% 3FG
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®
2011-12 Men’s Basketball Preview 10-day trip to Italy for the Raiders this summer. Bringing the majority of the roster on the trip, Donlon had a chance to try and bond the freshmen and sophomores together earlier than most coaches are able. Whether it immediately pays off remains to be seen, but what cannot be ignored is that Wright State brought in a talented group of freshmen, including Reggie Arceneaux and Tavares Sledge. Playing against older competition, Arceneaux had no problem in leading the team in scoring, averaging 11.0 ppg on the four-game trip. For his part, Sledge led the way in reboundOne of the 12 teams younger than Green ing, collecting 7.5 per game. Bay resides at Wright State, where Billy Donlon will preside over the sixth-youngest team in the The Veterans country. Donlon is building his team from the Amidst all the youth in the ground up after the departure of the squad’s top League, it’s easy to forget that four scorers from last year’s 19-14 season. Youngstown State brings back Working in Donlon’s favor was the scheduled four of its five starters from last season. Five of the Alec Brown is poised to build off an All-Newcomer Team effort from his freshman year in which the Penguins’ seven 7-footer set a Green Bay freshman record with 67 blocks. top scorers are tion with a thrilling win over then No. 12 Illinois at back, which resulted in YSU matching its highest place the United Center. While growing pains were inevitable in in the preseason poll (seventh) since Moore’s first year, optimism is high at UIC despite joining the Horizon League. Down low, Damian Eargle the abundance of youth on the roster. With so proved himself to be one of the top many newcomers, Moore will turn to his two big men in the League, earning All- returning starters from last season’s team, seniors Newcomer honors in 2011 after an Darrin Williams and Paris Carter. 11.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.0 bpg campgain. While Eargle will control the A Decade of Success Whomever comes out of the Horizon League post, YSU will turn to the threeguard combination of Kendrick to reach the NCAA Tournament will be well-tested Perry, Ashen Ward and Blake Al- for the rigors of the 68-team field. In the last decade, Horizon League teams have collectively len to handle scoring duties. earned 19 NCAA Tournament wins and are currently on a seven-year tournament winning streak. New Kids on the Block During that streak, three different Horizon After taking over the UIC program last August, Howard Moore League programs - Milwaukee, Cleveland State spent much of his time just getting and Butler - have won tournament games, with to know his team. Now, Moore has the Bulldogs culminating the run with consecutive had all summer to catch up with the trips to the Final Four and national championship nine newcomers on the UIC roster, game. Whether a Horizon League team reaches building the foundation for the rethe last game of the season remains to be seen, emergence of the program. Moore quickly established but once again the year’s first four months will a foothold in his native Chicago, have the League’s representatives on course to After leading the Horizon League in blocks last year, Damian Eargle is poised to leadYoungstown bringing in four recruits from the add an eighth straight year of a tournament win State in 2011-12. city and capturing the city’s atten- to the ledger. Youth Is Served It will be in both Green Bay and Wright State, as two of the youngest teams in the country this season are guided by two of the youngest coaches in the nation. Tied as the 13th-youngest squad in Division I, Green Bay is looking to get out and run more in Brian Wardle’s second season. The reason is simple: Alec Brown. The Phoenix want to take adavantage of the center’s athletic prowess, hoping he can beat his man down court and wear him down throughout the game. After averaging 10.2 ppg and swatting a school-record 67 shots in 2010-11, the rail-thin Brown added 15 pounds to his frame and held his own at the Amar’e Stoudemire Skills Academy, at which he was the only invitee from a non-Power 6 school, this summer.
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2011-12 Men’s Basketball Preview
A
fter a historic 2010-11 season saw the first three-way tie in the League’s now 33-year history and four teams earn postseason bids, it is a year of transition in the Horizon League. Not to say that expectations have changed; the League still owns a seven-year winning streak in the NCAA Tournament, the longest among the non-Power 6 conferences. With eight of the 10 players who appeared on the First and Second All-League teams at the end of last year departed, it will be new faces who will emerge throughout the 2011-12 season. SONG REMAINS THE SAME For the third straight year, and sixth time in 12 seasons, Butler was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Horizon League. However, the Bulldogs will be breaking in seven newcomers with a crew of eight returnees. Among the departed at Butler include Matt Howard, who was just the 12th player in Horizon League history to collect three First Team AllLeague selections in his four-year career. Joining Howard in the professional ranks was Shelvin Mack, who was the 2010 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year.
Mack was one of two Horizon League products taken in the 2011 NBA Draft, taken by Washington in the second round. With the duo representing 45 percent of Butler’s scoring last year, the Bulldogs will turn to its returning cast to fill the void, beginning with center Andrew Smith. A Preseason Second Team selection, Smith averaged 8.5 points per game last year. In the frontcourt, Smith will team with Khyle Marshall, who steadily grew during his freshman season, blossoming to lead the NCAA Tournament in offensive rebounding (23 boards). One of five players with League ties to participate in international competition this summer, Marshall earned a place on the USA Basketball U-19 World Championships team. Ronald Nored will conclude his career this season, and will once again be relied upon for his leadership and defensive prowess. Comi n g o f f t h e Trevon Harmon will be looked to for more scoring after the departure of Norris Cole to the NBA. bench during the final third go 7-1, McCallum was then selected to the John of last year, Nored still finished R. Wooden Award Preseason Watch List to cap a second on the team in assists summer in which he stepped into the national and earned All-Defensive Team spotlight. honors for the second time in Joining McCallum on the first team were his career. teammates Chase Simon and Eli Holman. The
Khyle Marshall will be counted on as a new crop of Butler players looks to defend its Horizon League Tournament Championship.
4
The ChallengerS An uneven 17-16 last year, Detroit became the first team in at least 12 years of the League’s preseason poll to place three players on the First Team. Sophomore Ray McCallum led the way, earning Preseason Player of the Year honors. Averaging 13.5 ppg and 4.9 assists as a freshman point guard last year, McCallum steadily climbed the ladder this offseason, competing at the Deron Williams and LeBron James Skills Academy before becoming the youngest player on USA Basketball’s World University Games roster. Helping the United States
duo forms a formidable inside-outside combination, with Simon averaging 13.5 ppg and Holman nearly posting a double-double with 11.8 ppg and 9.6 rpg. With every letterwinner from last year’s team back, hopes are high in Detroit that the Titans have assembled the team that can knock Butler from its perch.
THE DEFENDING Co-CHAMPS Hopes are similarly high at both Cleveland State and Milwaukee. The duo, which tied with Butler for the 2011 regular-season co-championship, bring back squads that should be challenging for byes in the Horizon League Tournament and postseason berths. Cleveland State returns four or five starters, depending on the argument. After missing 201011 due to an injury, D’Aundray Brown is back in the Viking lineup, joining four starters from last year’s team. What can’t be argued, however, is that the Vi-
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2011-12 Men’s Basketball Preview
to be taken lightly. Meier, a 6-foot-8 forward, presented a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses with his ability to shoot from outside. The frequent beneficiary of high pick-and-rolls, Meier knocked down 44.3 percent of his attempted three-pointers last year, the second-best mark in the League. Both Milwaukee and Cleveland State earned NIT bids in 2011, helping the League match its finest postseason ever with four berths.
New Faces Valparaiso finished one game out of making the threeway tie for the Horizon League regular season title a four-way tussle last season, and now the Crusaders will be looking to get over the hump with a new voice. After a 22-year tenure at Valparaiso, Homer Drew retired, handing the reigns of the program over to his son, Bryce, After a summer spent with some of the elite talents in the NBA and internationally, Ray McCallum who frequently has appeared will look to lead Detroit to its first NCAA Tournament since 1999. as a March Madness highlight during the NCAA Tournament kings will have to replace the production of Norris courtesy of “The Shot,” which helped lift Valpo to Cole, the do-everything player who earned 2011 the 1998 Sweet Sixteen. Player of the Year accolades after averaging 21.7 The younger Drew takes over a program ppg, 5.8 rpg and 5.3 apg. Cole went on to become that brings back just two starters from last year’s the No. 28 pick in the NBA Draft, where he will play CollegeInsider.com Tournament participants. for the Miami Heat. However, one of those returnees also happens to Looking to fill that role will be Trevon Harbe the League’s top three-point shooter. mon, who collected Preseason First Team honors. Ryan Broekhoff, similar to Meier, presented Last year, Harmon averaged 13.2 ppg and was one problems for defenses last year because of his size. of the League’s gunners from long range, attempt6-foot-6, Broekhoff could mix it up inside and out, ing 181 three-pointers on the year. hitting 44.8 percent of his attempts from threeJoining Harmon and Brown will be Jeremy point range in averaging 10.3 ppg. Montgomery, who almost matched Harmon’s Broekhoff competed at the World University output with 11.6 ppg and 171 threes taken, Aaron Games for Australia, allong with McCallum and Pogue (8.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Tim Kamczyc. current teammate Richie Edwards, who starred for New Zealand. The Crusaders are optimistic that In Milwaukee, the Panthers have similarly Edwards can lend a similar scoring touch as he did large shoes to fill in the form of Anthony Hill. The this summer, when he led the Kiwis with 20.1 ppg forward controlled the low blocks, earning First at the tournament. Team All-League honors last year. Still, UWM brings back a combination that The second coaching change in the League bedeviled opponents in 2010-11 in Tony Meier comes at Loyola, where Porter Moser takes charge and Kaylon Williams. of the program. Rick Majerus’ top lieutenant at St. Williams, who joined the Milwaukee program Louis in the last four years, Moser inherits a Loyola as a junior last year, led the League in assists (5.4) team that was beat up at times last year. He also and turned in the League’s first triple-double in inherits a brand new gym, as Gentile Arena was over a decade (10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 asssists), gutted and renovated in the offseason. on Jan. 3, serving notice that the Panthers were not
On the new court, Moser will look to his front court trio of Ben Averkamp, Walt Gibler and Jordan Hicks to set the tone. Averkamp earned Preseason Second Team honors after a sophomore season in which he averaged 12.0 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Gibler, hobbled by injuries after a 2010 Sixth Man of the Year season, put up 9.4 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Hicks may be the missing cog; through his nine games last season, the 6-foot-6 swingman averaged 11.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg. His departure due to a foot injury before League season began in earnest set the Ramblers back, as they went 7-11 in League play.
2011-12 Preseason Poll
Rank School (1st) Points 1. Butler (28) 468 2. Detroit (19) 453 3. Cleveland State (2) 388 4. Milwaukee (1) 356 5. Valparaiso 255 6. Green Bay 247 7. Youngstown State 195 8. Wright State 157 9. Loyola 145 10. UIC 86 Player of the Year Ray McCallum, Detroit
All-League Team
First Team Ray McCallum, G............................... Detroit 2010-11: Newcomer of the Year, All League Second Team, 13.5 ppg, 4.9 apg Trevon Harmon, G............. Cleveland State 2010-11: 13.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg Eli Holman, F/C.................................. Detroit 2010-11: All-League Second Team, 11.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg Chase Simon, G................................. Detroit 2010-11: 13.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg Kaylon Williams, G.......................Milwaukee 2010-11: 8.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.4 apg Second Team Tony Meier, F.................................Milwaukee 2010-11: 12.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 44.3% 3FG Alec Brown, C...............................Green Bay 2010-11: All-Newcomer Team, 10.2 ppg, 2.1 bpg Andrew Smith, C..................................Butler 2010-11: 8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg Ben Averkamp, F..................................Loyola 2010-11: 12.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg Ryan Broekhoff, G........................ Valparaiso 2010-11: 10.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 44.8% 3FG
5
®
2011-12 Men’s Basketball Preview 10-day trip to Italy for the Raiders this summer. Bringing the majority of the roster on the trip, Donlon had a chance to try and bond the freshmen and sophomores together earlier than most coaches are able. Whether it immediately pays off remains to be seen, but what cannot be ignored is that Wright State brought in a talented group of freshmen, including Reggie Arceneaux and Tavares Sledge. Playing against older competition, Arceneaux had no problem in leading the team in scoring, averaging 11.0 ppg on the four-game trip. For his part, Sledge led the way in reboundOne of the 12 teams younger than Green ing, collecting 7.5 per game. Bay resides at Wright State, where Billy Donlon will preside over the sixth-youngest team in the The Veterans country. Donlon is building his team from the Amidst all the youth in the ground up after the departure of the squad’s top League, it’s easy to forget that four scorers from last year’s 19-14 season. Youngstown State brings back Working in Donlon’s favor was the scheduled four of its five starters from last season. Five of the Alec Brown is poised to build off an All-Newcomer Team effort from his freshman year in which the Penguins’ seven 7-footer set a Green Bay freshman record with 67 blocks. top scorers are tion with a thrilling win over then No. 12 Illinois at back, which resulted in YSU matching its highest place the United Center. While growing pains were inevitable in in the preseason poll (seventh) since Moore’s first year, optimism is high at UIC despite joining the Horizon League. Down low, Damian Eargle the abundance of youth on the roster. With so proved himself to be one of the top many newcomers, Moore will turn to his two big men in the League, earning All- returning starters from last season’s team, seniors Newcomer honors in 2011 after an Darrin Williams and Paris Carter. 11.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.0 bpg campgain. While Eargle will control the A Decade of Success Whomever comes out of the Horizon League post, YSU will turn to the threeguard combination of Kendrick to reach the NCAA Tournament will be well-tested Perry, Ashen Ward and Blake Al- for the rigors of the 68-team field. In the last decade, Horizon League teams have collectively len to handle scoring duties. earned 19 NCAA Tournament wins and are currently on a seven-year tournament winning streak. New Kids on the Block During that streak, three different Horizon After taking over the UIC program last August, Howard Moore League programs - Milwaukee, Cleveland State spent much of his time just getting and Butler - have won tournament games, with to know his team. Now, Moore has the Bulldogs culminating the run with consecutive had all summer to catch up with the trips to the Final Four and national championship nine newcomers on the UIC roster, game. Whether a Horizon League team reaches building the foundation for the rethe last game of the season remains to be seen, emergence of the program. Moore quickly established but once again the year’s first four months will a foothold in his native Chicago, have the League’s representatives on course to After leading the Horizon League in blocks last year, Damian Eargle is poised to leadYoungstown bringing in four recruits from the add an eighth straight year of a tournament win State in 2011-12. city and capturing the city’s atten- to the ledger. Youth Is Served It will be in both Green Bay and Wright State, as two of the youngest teams in the country this season are guided by two of the youngest coaches in the nation. Tied as the 13th-youngest squad in Division I, Green Bay is looking to get out and run more in Brian Wardle’s second season. The reason is simple: Alec Brown. The Phoenix want to take adavantage of the center’s athletic prowess, hoping he can beat his man down court and wear him down throughout the game. After averaging 10.2 ppg and swatting a school-record 67 shots in 2010-11, the rail-thin Brown added 15 pounds to his frame and held his own at the Amar’e Stoudemire Skills Academy, at which he was the only invitee from a non-Power 6 school, this summer.
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