Next Year Starters

[DRAKELAWPANTHER]

Even though we lose two very important starters, I have to think that the talent in our young guys and the senior leadership returning will make us one of the Valley favorites next season...

Any thoughts on the conference strength next year??? (Okay, so it may be a little early to start talking about this...but what the heck...)

[Panthercrazy22]

I think that Egleseder will see a lot more of the floor and that Kerwin will work his way into the system well and get good minutes at the 2 or 3

[BCPanther]

I think that the conference will be a little bit down next year. There were a ton of seniors in the league this year- Funk, Tolliver, Tatum, Young, Franklin, Ruffin, Ahearn, Bilyeu (finally!), Wilson, Stout, McKowen, 5 at Drake, 4 at Evansville.

The only teams not significantly affected by graduation are InSU and IlSU (which makes it even more amazing that they fired Porter)...

At the same time the increased recognition the past three years has really increased the talent that this league is recruiting. I also think that you are going to see Chris Lowery take the Michigan job, hurting SIU in terms of on the bench experience as you expect them to go young and from within their system.

That said, I think we have a fantastic shot to win the Regular Season title next year. Right now I see it being between us, WSU and CU. We have a lot of experience coming back. WSU has a lot of talent back. Creighton has Dana Altman...

[9YRPLAN]

our lack of ballhandling still scares the crap out of me.

[OhNewby]

C- Coleman
PF-Koch
WG-Reed/Brown
SG-Josten
PG-Ahelgbe

Eglseder gets 20 min+/game...O'Rear about 5-10 at the posts
There will be a new recruit in the guard group, but only one will be signed. Viet, Dunham, Jones, Haak, and the new guard will be in a group to get the rest of the minutes.

This is what I was thinking, too. Things can change a lot over the summer, but, this would be who Jake would start right now. I know a lot of people think Koch is a Stout clone, but I think he's a lot faster and if there is a way he could play WG, I would love to see Jordan getting closer to 30 minutes.

[Hime_Peterson]

I think that the conference will be a little bit down next year. There were a ton of seniors in the league this year- Funk, Tolliver, Tatum, Young, Franklin, Ruffin, Ahearn, Bilyeu (finally!), Wilson, Stout, McKowen, 5 at Drake, 4 at Evansville.

The only teams not significantly affected by graduation are InSU and IlSU (which makes it even more amazing that they fired Porter)...

At the same time the increased recognition the past three years has really increased the talent that this league is recruiting. I also think that you are going to see Chris Lowery take the Michigan job, hurting SIU in terms of on the bench experience as you expect them to go young and from within their system.

That said, I think we have a fantastic shot to win the Regular Season title next year. Right now I see it being between us, WSU and CU. We have a lot of experience coming back. WSU has a lot of talent back. Creighton has Dana Altman...

What about Bradley?

They will be very good next year I think. By far and away the best perimeter in the Valley. They'll definitely be in the mix.

[OhNewby]

I think that the conference will be a little bit down next year. There were a ton of seniors in the league this year- Funk, Tolliver, Tatum, Young, Franklin, Ruffin, Ahearn, Bilyeu (finally!), Wilson, Stout, McKowen, 5 at Drake, 4 at Evansville.

The only teams not significantly affected by graduation are InSU and IlSU (which makes it even more amazing that they fired Porter)...

I think Ruffin is a junior, but he along with Crouch are the only 2 starters returning (but they're the best). Bradley lost a lot last year, too, they just re-loaded. This might be the case for a lot of the league.

I still think we should win it all next year!!!

[Panthers to the Bone]

Bradley has DeAaron Williams, Jeremy Fears, Dwight Buycks, and Sam Maniscalo (sp?)....those are 4 pretty sweet guards. They will be solid.

But I think a top 3 finish for the Panthers is in reach.

[OhNewby]

I think that the conference will be a little bit down next year. There were a ton of seniors in the league this year- Funk, Tolliver

Don't forget Porter for Creigton is gone, too....he killed us!

[OhNewby]

But I think a top 3 finish for the Panthers is in reach.

I know we still might get an NIT bid, but talking about next year makes me feel so much better!! So many "what ifs", esp. with our great 2006-2007 freshman class, but, the one that sticks in my mind is...

What if Coleman improves as much this summer as he did last??? That's got to be a scary thought for the rest of the Valley...

[Matt Trump]

What if Coleman improves as much this summer as he did last??? That's got to be a scary thought for the rest of the Valley...

Remember that Coleman was hurt part of the summer. Imagine how much more he would have improved if he would have been healthy!

[OhNewby]

Remember that Coleman was hurt part of the summer. Imagine how much more he would have improved if he would have been healthy!

I couldn't remember if that was this last summer or the summer between his fresh-soph year, but that's a great point...

[joecooll6]

I dont know about you guys but I am really excited about next year. I think that next season could be one of the best in UNI history between football and basketball (and volleyball too!).

I just really feel good about the lineup we sending out next year. Obviously Brooks and Stout will sorely missed, but I think that a lot of the teams in the Valley are really getting hit hard by graduation (what is Creighton gonna do next year) and relative to them were doing pretty well. I think we really have a shot to win the regular season title next year.

The two keys, to me, will be staying healthy during the summer so our young guys can continue to improve and how quickly Kwadzo can get the offense down. If Kwadzo can learn the ropes quickly, him, along with JJ (who I think gives more effort than anyone on the floor) and Reed will be a great athletic guard lineup. Down low Koch has been coming along nicely, he will continue to improve, and Coleman will continue to be a monster at center. Travis Brown will be a great sixth man, a role that suits him well, and Jordan will continue improve over the summer and be one of the best big men off the bench in the Valley. Dunham and Viet will provide offensive spark off the bench (possibly a JUCO as well?) when needed and O'Rear will be a solid 4th big that will get minutes and contribute as a freshman.

This is probably best cased scenario, but I really love what is developing for next year.

[BCPanther]

The more I think about, the more I think JJ might be a better served to come off the bench. He brings energy, and as many wise men have said "Its not who starts, its who finishes" We all know that he is fairly limited offensively and maybe if he were to come off the bench, his defensive intensity could be used to frustrate opponents who thought they knew what they were going to get that night. With that said, I would like to see...

PG- Ahelegbe
SG- Reed
SF- Brown
PF- Koch
C- Coleman

Bench-

Josten
Eglseder
O'Rear
Dunham
Jones
Viet

[UnderParPanther]

Josten will prolly start because of his defensive play. I dont think he's that limited offensively, but didnt look for his shot because of others around him. I think he could easily average 10-15 a game next year. He scored in double figures quite a bit this year without taking awhole lot of shots to do it.

Really we have about 7 players that could start and I'd guess we see more mixes of starting lineups next year than this year. Let's just hope for a great, injury free off-season!