Primarily a collection of news links about all 12 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
In the mid-major ranks, Longwood heads to Stephen F. Austin (11 a.m.), Winthrop goes to Manhattan (8:45 a.m.) while Hartford hosts Niagara (6:30 a.m.). The overnight games include Green Bay at Pacific (2 a.m.) and Florida Atlantic at Hawaii (4:15 a.m.)
Peters elected to return to Valparaiso for his final season of eligibility, and Crusader fans have to be grinning from ear to ear.
An all-around force, Peters averaged 18.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game last season while connecting on 44 percent of his triples. At 6-9, 230 pounds, Peters is a matchup nightmare for opponents. Slot a big man on him, and he’ll drag a valuable rim protector out to the perimeter. Get cute and try a smaller guy on him, and Peters will use his strength to dominate in the post.
Peters’ best shooting season came as a sophomore, when he sank 46.6 percent of his 3’s on 5.2 attempts per game. There’s no telling what he’s capable of doing in his senior season.
In March, Felder was trying to lead Oakland through the Horizon League conference tournament to clinch a trip to the NCAAs. Earlier this summer, he was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a reported $2.4 million purchase advocated by none other than LeBron James. Felder, who is just 5'9", will have to prove he can stick in the NBA, but by the time he left Rochester, Mich. this spring, he had already shown he was one of the best mid-major players in the country. Last season he led the nation by assisting on half of his teammates’ baskets, according to Kenpom.com. He also posted a nation-high mark in Offensive Win Shares, ranked fourth Offensive Box Plus/Minus and logged the third highest percentage of available minutes (90.6) in the Horizon during conference play, per Kenpom.com. It’s obvious the Golden Grizzlies will miss Felder, but his departure is a bummer for college hoops fans across the country. Felder was an electric scorer who didn’t shrink against tough competition; remember the 37 points he dropped in a near upset of then-No. 1 Michigan State last December? It’s a shame we never got to watch him play in the tourney.
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Summer syllabus: Five other teams to watch
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Valparaiso: The Horizon League may have lost Felder to the NBA, but Alec Peters decided to return for another season in college after withdrawing from the draft and electing against jumping to a bigger program as a graduate transfer. His decision should ensure the Crusaders don’t suffer a major dip in their first season under new coach Matt Lottich, after losing Bryce Drew to Vanderbilt.
