(St. Louis, MO) – Three new Missouri Valley Conference coaches are rebuilding rosters. Drake, Evansville and Missouri State all changed coaches this season and those new leaders needed to restock the cupboards in a hurry.
All three programs were decimated by graduation, transfers and lingering injuries. Drake and Missouri State each graduated five seniors, Evansville had massive defections, so all three schools needed to reload.
Late recruiting pushes and finding solid transfers are some of the common themes with these Valley rookie coaches. While rebuilding rosters these three coaches followed very similar paths.
Drake’s Darian DeVries
DeVries landed the Drake job after a long stint as a Creighton assistant. His first order of business was to even out his classes. With only three experienced returners, DeVries looked for graduate transfers, junior college veterans as well as high school seniors.
DeVries says getting players into each of the classes was a priority.
Rebuilding rosters is a delicate operation, but DeVries says since his new players have hit campus, he likes what he sees. He says the newcomers are competitive and hard working.
For an in-depth view at the new look Bulldog roster go to ‘Drake Looking for Quick Transition‘.
Missouri State’s Dana Ford
Ford has a small but experienced group of returning lettermen. His newcomers come from every type of recruiting hot bed. MSU’s roster includes returners Obadiah Church, Jarred Dixon and Ryan Kreklow. Highly rated Jared Ridder transferred last season and becomes eligible this year.
Ford’s eight new players include three players rated among the top 100 available junior college players (Darnell Butler, Kabir Mohammed and Keandre Cook), a pair of Polish brothers (Jan and Szymon Wojcik).
Joining Ridder in the freshman class are St. Louisan Josh Webster and 6’11 Darian Scott.
Ford says landing quality veteran players was doubly important to his rebuilding project.
The former Tennessee State coach says while virtually all the newcomers will see playing time, it may be a while before they are true contributors.
For a insight on how Ford is building the culture of Bears’ basketball, go to ‘Brick-by-Brick For MSU’s Ford‘.
(Editor: Darnell Butler has since left the program.)
Evansville’s Walter McCarty
McCarty begun his first head coaching job, outside of the NBA’s Summer League by generating a lot of enthusiasm in Evansville. Rebuilding rosters is not something he is used to doing, but the former Kentucky Wildcat has impressed potential recruits.
From signing a 30 point-per-game Division 3 player to a three-star prep player out of Texas, McCarty has assembled a recruiting class that includes for freshmen.
The former Boston Celtic says he wanted players that could play fast. The prize of the class is DeAndre Williams, and McCarty says he is talented and can play multiple positions.
For more on the rebuilding being done by McCarty read ‘Assembly Required‘.
These three Valley newcomers now make up 30 percent of the MVC coaching fraternity. Their skill in rebuilding rosters and creating a winning environment, will play a significant role in the future of Valley hoops.
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So Illinois dropped its investigation due to no evidence... At least they won a bunch of games.
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Since 2000, Missouri State's football team is 101-164. They've accumulated 5 winning seasons, with ONE being better than 6-5. They've accumulated SEVEN seasons of at least 8 losses. Not knocking them for struggling, but to move up for THAT sport has to come with some very good $
