(Evansville, IN) – It has been a week of exhilaration, relief, new beginnings, losses and celebration in the Missouri Valley Conference. Championships have been won, money made, coaches secured, players lost and new records established.
Championships
A College Basketball Invitational championship by Loyola, and a College Insider.com Tournament championship by Evansville was enough to make this a March to remember. But three NCAA tournament victories and one National Invitational Tournament win were enough to break the all-time Valley record for postseason wins with 14.
The MVC had never won two post-season tournaments in the same season. Nor had it received two MVP awards in those tournaments, but Loyola’s Earl Peterson and Evansville’s D. J. Balentine led their teams to titles and earned those individual awards.
Securing the Future
Whenever teams experience true success they run the risk of losing their coaches to ‘greener pastures’ and brighter lights. Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall are on everyone’s short list for coaches to poach.
However, the Valley’s two most accomplished head coaches decided to stay rather than stray. Both inked deals for more money and longer contracts at their current schools. Marshall was the coach that most believed could leave.
In the end, Marshall chose the security of an environment he knows and controls to a place where football is king, the surroundings are foreign, and the demands unreasonable.
Jacobson signed an extension that averages $900,000 over 10 years. Marshall was given what is believed to be the richest contract in MVC history, averaging $3 million covering seven years.
New Start At Bradley
Speaking of coaches, Bradley has filled their position with the highly regarded Brian Wardle. The former Wisconsin-Green Bay coach is a Tom Crean disciple with Marquette and Indiana University tutelage, and had a successful run with the Phoenix. His energy and passion will be welcome in Peoria. He is an Illinois native and truly respects the history behind Bradley basketball.
Defections Continue
Speaking of Bradley, they’ve had six players leave the program since the season ended. The last two, Josh Cunningham and Tramique Sutherland are huge blows to Wardle’s rebuilding campaign. Cunningham is the highest rated player ever recruited to Bradley and was not only on the league’s all-freshman team, but was second in the OVC in rebounding.
The transfer disease has hit Southern Illinois hard too. Two highly touted freshmen, Jordan Caroline and Deion Lavender have both left Barry Hinson’s squad. They follow Chaz Glotta and Jalen Pendleton out of Carbondale.
Both Bradley and SIU will be hard pressed to re-stock the talent for the upcoming season.
Deeper Pockets
So what does all this mean on the business side of things? The Valley programs will receive five ‘units’ of NCAA cash outlays for the five games in which Wichita State and Northern Iowa participated.
Without digging into the weeds of the algebra of the NCAA algorithms, that means each program will receive a little over $1 million per year over the next six seasons. When a team plays in an NCAA tournament game, every team in the league receives roughly $260,000 per year over the next six.
We will do a follow up on this subject later, but suffice it to say, that when MVC teams are playing in the big dance, other league members are rooting for them to win and not just for the pride of the conference!
Upgrading the Schedule
Breaking news here. The Missouri Valley and Mountain West Conferences have finalized their Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge, where the two leagues will play ten games against one another each year for the next four. This will give all the teams a chance to improve their strength of schedule ratings and add increased visibility to both conferences.
It’s been a truly historic seven days in the MVC history books. Much will take place between now and next season. Will Wichita’s stars stick around for their senior seasons? How does Northern Iowa re-tool with so many seniors departing? Is Illinois State a new giant to be feared? Can Loyola and Evansville capitalize on their championship seasons and climb to the top of the MVC?
Let the off-season begin!
Do Good
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As we near the closing of the portal window, we've reached 1900. Some of them never to play college basketball again, earn a college degree and some to play at a much lower level than they did last season.
I guess we'll be seeing this in a @RacersHoops uniform this year. Glad AJ is staying in the @ValleyHoops.
