Over the next several days, I'll be posting previews of each team in the Valley. Today I take a look at the Indiana State Sycamores.
Indiana State
2006-07: 13-18
(5-13 MVC)
01.02 at IN ST
01.19 at CREI
2006-07 REWIND: Indiana State capped another disappointing season under veteran coach Royce Waltman with a last-place finish in the Valley, a campaign which ultimately cost Waltman his job. In the first meeting between the Jays and Trees, Indiana State overcame a halftime deficit thanks to a 10-0 second half run and won 53-52; Nate Funk drove the lane at the buzzer and his attempted game-winning shot rimmed out. Creighton struggled in the second meeting as well, winning 71-55 in what was a tight game throughout. The teams had a rubber match in the MVC tourney, but there would be no struggles this time; the Jays set an MVC tourney record by holding the Trees to 23% shooting from the field in a 59-38 win.
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Former Bluejay player and assistant Kevin McKenna takes over the Sycamore program, and he has quite a task ahead of him. Long considered to be a potential successor to Dana Altman should he ever leave the Hilltop, McKenna finally tired of waiting and landed the Indiana State job after impressing the administration with his plan to rebuild the alma mater of Larry Bird.
The Trees have one of the best guards in the conference in senior Gabriel Moore, who led the team in scoring and assists, and is closing in on Larry Bird for the school record in steals. In three games last year, he struggled to stay out of foul trouble and was held below his season averages in every major statistical category. Despite that, he remains one of the top guards in a guard-heavy league and is probably the Trees best player.
Joining Moore in the backcourt is streaky shooter Marico Stinson, a junior who showed flashes of his shooting touch against the Jays in his sophomore season. In a late December contest in Des Moines, however, Stinson lit up the Bulldogs for nine threes -- a school record. Cole Holmstrom hit 51 threes last year, and is another Sycamore guard that can shoot from long range.
What's scary for the rest of the Valley is that under the tutelage of the guy CU fans called "The Shot Doctor", these three could become even more deadly from behind the arc. And it isn't just the backcourt that shows promise. Junior Jay Tunnell had 12 blocks a year ago in starting 28 games, and was second on the team in scoring at just under 10 a game. Fellow junior Adam Arnold averaged 6 points and 6 boards in a bench role, and was named to the MVC All-Bench team. He should start this year and give the Trees some much needed experience in the frontcourt.
In the middle, Indiana State has not one but two 6'-10" centers. Sophomore Brant Leitnaker was injured most of his freshman campaign, but seems to have the edge over senior Mick Yelovich. Both should play substantial minutes, and their development will be key after the Trees lost their top recruit, 6'-9" Iowa Mr. Basketball Clayton Vetter.
The Trees open up with a pair of exhibitions against DePauw (not to be confused with DePaul) and Nebraska-Kearney. Their non-conference slate includes Butler, Purdue and Northern Illinois, and if the Sycamores can knock one or more of them off, they have a chance to help the league's RPI out.
This season, McKenna will be helped enormously by the presence of Gabriel Moore and the presence of both Arnold and Tunnell down low. With the sheer number of newcomers on the team, it would seem his biggest task may lie in acclimating them to the rigors of the Valley. Instilling a winning attitude at a program that hasn't made the NCAA tournament since the current players were in middle school will take time. It won't happen this year.
PREDICTION: 12-17, Last in the Valley.
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