If you’re reading this post, chances are you already know about Alec Peters, Justin Robinson, E.C. Matthews, and a number of Other 26 players who have cemented themselves among the nation’s best. Look past those names, though, and you will find another tier of players on the fast-track to (relative) stardom. Whether because of increased minutes, increased visibility or both, here is a list of guys outside the power conferences poised to break out in 2016-17.Analyzing 24 Key Mid-Major Non-Conference Schedules For 2016-17--Blogging the Bracket
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Jalen Hayes, F – Jr., Oakland – 2015-16: 13.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG: Although Kay Felder (9.3 APG) is no longer around to distribute the basketball, he’s also no longer around to put up shots—something he (deservedly) did 17.4 times per game 2015-16. That is where Hayes comes in. The 6’7″ junior was second on the team in scoring, led the Horizon League in rebounding, and logged seven double-doubles in the team’s final 10 conference games last season. With former Oklahoma State point guard Stevie Clark taking over for Felder, opponents won’t be able to merely divert extra defensive attention to Hayes, even as his offensive workload increases. If it weren’t for Alec Peters, Hayes would be a legitimate contender for conference Player of the Year.
Oakland Golden GrizzliesWhere did CBS rank the five Chicago schools?--The Catch and Shoot
Average Opponent Score 1.144 (avg.); 1.268 (max.); 1.037 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking 118th (avg.); 102nd (max.); 128th (min.)
Mid-Major Ranking 23rd of 24 (avg.); 22nd of 24 (max.); 24th of 24 (min.)
Exempt Event* Great Alaska Shootout (one at home, three at Anchorage, Alaska)
True Home Games(8) True Neutral-Site Games(2-3) True Away Games(2-3) Georgia Nevada* Alaska-Anchorage(non-D1)* Northeastern Buffalo (if Alaska-Anchorage (if Buffalo loses) Western Michigan (non-D1)* loses) Michigan State Bowling Green Iona/Weber State/ Robert Morris Oral Roberts UC Davis/Drake* Southern Utah Chicago State Goshen (non-D1)*Greg Kampe's Golden Grizzlies should be Valparaiso's most serious challenger in the Horizon League, but with this slate they'll have to win Motor City Madness to make the NCAAs. That's unless they make their way through a Great Alaska Shootout field that features some quality mid-majors, beat Georgia at home, and win at Michigan State.
The bottom four games of Oakland's home slate really pull the Grizzlies' overall numbers down.
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Valparaiso Crusaders
Average Opponent Score 1.338 (avg.); 1.377 (max.); 1.300 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking 78th (avg.); 80th (max.); 79th (min.)
Mid-Major Ranking 18th of 24 (avg.); 20th of 24 (max.); 18th of 24 (min.)
Exempt Event* MGM Grand Main Event (two at home, two at Las Vegas)
True Home Games(8) True Neutral-Site Games(2) True Away Games(3) Rhode Island Alabama* Kentucky Indiana State BYU/Saint Louis* Oregon Santa Clara Missouri State Ball State Coppin State* Southern Utah* Chicago State Trinity Christian (non-D1)Last March, Valparaiso made it all the way to the NIT championship game after being one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA field. This season, which happens to be Matt Lotich's first in charge after Bryce Drew's departure for Vanderbilt, brings high hopes, especially with the return of forward Alec Peters for his senior season. And that's reflected in a schedule that features road trips to two likely Top 5 teams, Kentucky and Oregon, and a winnable exempt tournament in the MGM Grand Main Event. Plus, Rhode Island, an A 10 contender the Crusaders defeated in Kingston last November (albeit without the injured E.C. Matthews) visits the ARC.
While the rest of the home slate is unimpressive, there should be enough here to keep Valpo in the hunt, should another Horizon League Tournament failure occur in March.
The first Chicago team on the list is Northwestern at No. 86. (If you want to extend into nearby Indiana, Valparaiso is No. 51).
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Norlander has UIC all the way up at No. 152 from No. 285 last year, the biggest jump of any team. That puts the Flames fourth in the Horizon League, exactly where the conference’s preseason poll had them earlier this month.
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Horizon League
No. 51—Valparaiso
No. 84—Oakland
No. 104—Green Bay
No. 152—UIC
No. 167—Wright State
No. 182—Detroit
No. 223—Northern Kentucky
No. 242—Youngstown State
No. 261—Cleveland State
No. 313—Milwaukee
The 2016-17 Cleveland State Men’s Basketball Preview: Your Guess Is as Good as Mine--Campus Pressbox
There Is No Cleveland State Media. But That Can Change (Maybe)--Campus Pressbox
Cleveland State basketball: Gavin Peppers is emerging as the frontrunner to be the Vikings' starting point guard--Cleveland State Hoops
Men's Basketball Announces Two Updates to Schedule--csuvikings.com
Single Game Tickets For CSU Basketball on Sale Thursday; Hoopy Hour Also Returns in 2016-17--csuvikings.com
UDM's Jaleel Hogan is just like his coach, 'emerging as our leader'--Detroit Free Press
Pistons claim Beno Udrih, waive Ray McCallum--Detroit Free Press
New Year brings new goals for players--The Varsity News
Spencer Haywood Documentary To Premiere This Weekend--detroittitans.com
One On One With Josh McFolley--detroittitans.com
One On One With Kameron Chatman--detroittitans.com
One On One With Chris Jenkins--detroittitans.com
Second Titan Luncheon Of 2016-17 Set For Nov. 9--detroittitans.com
UDM men and women enter basketball season with high hopes--Detroit Free Press
Hoop Night in the D Excites Fans--Detroit Free Press
Oakland’s Isaiah Brock ruled eligible by the NCAA--College Basketball Talk
Army veteran wins appeal to play for Oakland this season--The Dagger
NCAA clears Army veteran Isaiah Brock to play immediately--Sporting News
NCAA reverses decision, grants Army war veteran waiver to play this season--CBS Sports
Rep. Bishop wants Oakland University player reinstated--Detroit Free Press
Oakland army veteran Isaiah Brock cleared after NCAA reconsiders--Detroit Free Press
Matt Dery joins Oakland as basketball analyst--Detroit News
Oakland wins appeal; Army vet OK’d to play basketball--Detroit News
NCAA relents, declares Army vet Brock immediately eligible to play for Golden Grizzlies--Oakland Press
Matt Dery joins men’s basketball broadcast team--Oakland Post
NCAA to let Army vet Isaiah Brock compete--Oakland Post
MEN'S BASKETBALL PRACTICE - WEEK 2--goldengrizzlies.com
NCAA APPROVES RECONSIDERATION AND DECLARES BROCK ELIGIBLE--goldengrizzlies.com
MEN'S BASKETBALL PRACTICE - WEEK 3--goldengrizzlies.com
BASKETBALL SINGLE GAME TICKETS ON SALE NOW--goldengrizzlies.com
WILLIAMS AND LEWIS JOIN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STAFF--goldengrizzlies.com
UIC2017 PF Eboigbodin fills huge need in UIC frontcourt--The Catch and Shoot
Head coach Steve McClain is excited about his team’s non-conference schedule. Though not particularly challenging by national standards, the Flames play local rivals DePaul, Chicago State, Northern Illinois, and Eastern Illinois.
McClain says Illinois teams are doing a great job recruiting players. A lot of competition is developing in the state and it is great to play the teams in the non-conference.
Dixson named to Julius Erving Award watch list--The Catch and Shoot
Dixson named to Erving Award watch list--UIC News
Men’s basketball team hosts free student preview--UIC News
UIC Announces Hall of Fame Class of 2017--uicflames.com
Flames to Host Coaches Clinic & Open Practice on Oct. 22--uicflames.com
2016-17 Men's Basketball Hype Video--greenbayphoenix.com
#27 Green Bay Women's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview--College Sports Madness
UWGB women's coach Kevin Borseth gets extension--Green Bay Press Gazette
Titan women to face Phoenix in exhibition--Green Bay Press Gazette
Green Bay Announces Two-Year Extension for Kevin Borseth--greenbayphoenix.com
Hannah Quilling-Iverson Named Director of Player Development--greenbayphoenix.com
As season nears, Panthers teams excited for action to begin--UWM Post
Black And Gold Network Media Day Video Interviews--mkepanthers.com
Rechlicz To Speak At National Basketball Camp--mkepanthers.com
Get To Know Your Panthers: Freshmen Class--mkepanthers.com
Get To Know Your Panthers: Sophomore Class--mkepanthers.com
Karl Malone Award Watch List announced--College Basketball Talk
The preseason watch list for the Karl Malone award was released on Thursday.Top 10 Cinderella teams you may hear about when we get to March Madness--CBS Sports
The award is given to the nation’s best power forward. In 2016, the Karl Malone award was given to Iowa State’s Georges Niang.
Here are the 20 players on the watch list for this season:
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Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Valparaiso CrusadersRanking the top 100 (and one) college basketball players for 2016-17--CBS Sports
It's extremely rare that you'd have a team be on a Cinderella list after it lost its really good coach to a major-conference program. Valpo qualifies, though, because it's even more rare that you'd have a player on a mid-major team be one of the 100 best players in the country who
A) Has a shot to go pro, but instead decides to return to college
B) Decides to do that even after losing the coach that recruited him and elevated his game to such a level that he could weigh his options to go pro before expiring his eligibility and
C) Even still after losing his coach and with the option to play a graduate year at just about any school in the country -- because just about any school would take him -- still stays with the program.
That's what Alec Peters has done. It's admirable, really. And he's one of the 40 best players in college hoops this season, no question. He alone validates Valpo on this list, but also take into account how good this team was on defense a season ago. They lose some of that (Vashil Fernandez, a superb shot-blocker, is gone), but enough remains on the roster to warrant including the Crusaders.
16. Alec Peters | Valpo | Senior | PFValparaiso receives two votes in opening USA Today Top 25 poll--The Catch and Shoot
Peters might play for a small school, but after he bypassed a chance at chasing the NBA, he could've put his name on the transfer market. If that had happened, every single program in the country would've made room for him. Instead, amazingly, he decided to stay at Valpo for his final season -- even after Bryce Drew left the Crusaders to coach Vanderbilt. Peters will probably average 20 points and nine boards. -- MN
Former Valparaiso center Vashil Fernandez's persistence nets Heat deal--Post-Tribune
Former Valparaiso defensive star Fernandez signs with Miami Heat--NWI Times
Who runs the point for Valpo?--Inside VU Sports
Taking his talents to South Beach--Valpo Torch
Vashil Fernandez Signs NBA Contract With Miami Heat--valpoathletics.com
Peters Earns Spot on Karl Malone Award Watch List--valpoathletics.com
Tickets For Kentucky Game On Sale Now--valpoathletics.com
Shows Headed Back to TJ Chumps--wsuraiders.com
Penguins lose veteran guard to injury--Mahoning Valley Tribune-Chronicle
YSU Women’s Basketball Prepares Without Arbanas--The Jambar
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