I'm torn between Foster Wonders, Ben Harvey, Ben Coupet, and Kyler Filewich. For now, I'm choosing Filewich. I think he gets more minutes than some are predicting.
Ebube has a ton of raw talent, heavy emphasis on "raw". The assumption is that JD will be good to go, health-wise, I certainly hope that is the case. If not, the calculus changes rather dramatically.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
I'm torn between Foster Wonders, Ben Harvey, Ben Coupet, and Kyler Filewich. For now, I'm choosing Filewich. I think he gets more minutes than some are predicting.
Ebube has a ton of raw talent, heavy emphasis on "raw". The assumption is that JD will be good to go, health-wise, I certainly hope that is the case. If not, the calculus changes rather dramatically.
There's a lot of debate on rotation pieces and the center position is at the center of that debate. Personally, I'm skeptical of Muila's return (hopefully I'm wrong, I just know that sometimes big guys struggle to get back to where they were before with injuries like this). Even with Edube being unproven with a high upside, I'm just putting my bet on Filewich. There is a reasonable chance I'm wrong, and in some points, I hope I'm wrong, but this is where I'm at right now.
I know very little about Muila, other than he was a good juco player/rebounder and has been perpetually injured. I think the two-headed beast of Filewich/Ebube is our future at the 5 spot.
But to answer the original question, I'm going with Foster Wonders. Somebody mentioned Kent Williams and I think that's a good comp. Williams averaged just over 13 PPG his Freshman year.
Agreed that we have to see it to believe it re: Muila being the explosive player he was recruited to be pre-injury, but I sure hope that's the case because an athletic, mobile big has a lot of value on the defensive side of the ball in terms of disrupting screen actions, switching/rotating and obviously altering shots. Think Falker back in the good ole days. That's a big area of improvement that is needed from last year ... Filewich and D'Avanzo have their pluses, but neither fit that bill. Ebube looks like an imposing athlete, but I don't know as much about his quickness and versatility on defense.
@siudawgs Here is some information on SIU players from the Bloomington newspaper. Yes, I mean to be sardonic here. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/watch-now-missouri-valley-conference-coaches-taking-it-slow-with-some-of-the-leagues-injured/article_dfa5fb19-55ec-58af-8617-bee04e90a912.amp.html
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Thanks for posing an excellent and intriguing question for discussion during this slow stretch. I've been pondering it for a few days and have to say the responses are likewise, excellent. Also, I simply don't know the answer and agree it's a good problem to have.
My gut reaction was one of Foster Wonders, Ben Coupet or Kyler Fillewich. But for the sake of discussion, I'm going to say Trent Brown. Here's my logic: because of his D, he will see a lot of floor time, plus, with (hopefully) more bigs down low, more rebounds/fast breaks/open 3 looks, should create more scoring opportunities for TB.
It will be fun to watch and more than likely, someone different every night. Can't wait for autumn.
March on triumphantly!
I did notice in the introduction to the new strength coach video that Trent looked like he put on some muscle this offseason. Hopefully that helps his development. He is such a likeable guy, but I feel like he needs to step up his offensive game quite a bit this year. I sincerely hope YOU are right on this one, because I said Wonders would be in the top 3 and didn't pin him to #3 scorer. LOL
My guess is going to be Coupet. I agree that he isn't coming here to sit on the bench and with his experience, size, length, and past results I can see him making a big contribution on both offense and defense. I think he wants to make a statement for himself in his last year. Great discussion and the best part is to have this many options to be looking at and talking about. Really, really looking forward to both football and basketball this coming year.
Definitely an educated guess and very possible "winner". I'm not sure if he will, but I am extremely confident that his length is going to wreak havoc on the defensive side of the ball which will help both tangibly and intangibly (overall team scheme).
I hope we have Harvey this year after seeing him in a hospital bed on his Instagram 😬
Anyone know what sort of surgery he had?
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
@dawgbytes on the Dawgs Basketball Podcast they said the surgery Harvey had was non basketball related, successful, and he was expected to be back relatively soon. That was from their source and nothing official has been released.
@resaluki-88 thanks, that’s good news!
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
