Football season is probably over, it's time for basketball season to begin. SIU takes on a Little Rock team in the opener that got their season off to a rocky start last year on the road.
Meet the Trojans:
The Trojans begin their first year in the Ohio Valley Conference after moving over from the Sun Belt. They are coached by 5th year head coach Darrell Walker. Walker had Little Rock at 21-10 and 15-5 in the Sun Belt in his 2nd season but things have been shaky otherwise.
Last season, the Trojans struggled all season with injuries and finished dead last in the Sun Belt. Only one player played in all 28 of their games last year, only 3 of their players played in more than 23 games, and Walker used 17 different starting lineups. Little Rock struggled a bunch on the defensive end finishing 336th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
This year's Trojans are picked to finish 6th in the Ohio Valley Conference behind Morehead State, Tennessee State, UT Martin, SEMO, and SIUe. KenPom currently has Little Rock #310 in their preseason rankings and has them finishing 7th in the OVC.
Trojans to Watch:
The Trojans' best player this year is likely going to be 6'8 Senior forward DeAntoni Gordon. Gordon was a 3 star recruit out of Mobile, AL and started his collegiate career at Wichita State where he played 20 games before transferring to Northwest Mississippi College after his Freshman year. He then transferred to Little Rock where he started 8 games before suffering a season ending injury at Colorado State. Gordon scored 12 points and had 6 rebounds in the opener against SIU last season.
6'6 Senior guard Myron Gordon was a 3 star recruit out of Geneva, OH and started his collegiate career at Georgetown where he played 8 games. He spent the 2020-21 season at South Plains College before transferring to Little Rock last year. He was injured in preseason last year and missed the start of the season but played the last 16 games of the year and started 15 of them. He finished the year averaging 10.1 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game and recorded the first triple-double in Trojans history on February 23rd, 2022.
One of the Trojans' newer additions this season is 6'8 Sophomore forward Nigel John. John comes in as a transfer from JUCO Eastern Oklahoma State where he averaged 9.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG. Juco Recruiting had him as the #9 ranked JUCO transfer from 2022. He was a 3 star recruit out of Weatherford, Texas and was home schooled. He had interest from Utah State, Washington State and Kansas State.
Seems to me like this is going to be an interesting test for the first game of the season. They're not projected to be a good team but there's a lot of athleticism here and players with good pedigree. Hopefully the Salukis are out for revenge after last year's season-opening loss.
Links:
Bryan Mullins with In the Dawghouse 10/31
Bryan Mullins with the media 11/4
Marcus Domask with the media 11/4
Marcus Domask interview with Rodney Watson
Trent Brown with the media 11/4
Dalton Banks with the media 11/4
Jawaun Newton with the media 11/4
Lance Jones with the media 11/4
Bryan Mullins interview on KMOX 11/4
Xavier Johnson radio interview with Mike Reis
Are we sure this game is on ESPN+? I am not finding it.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
The SIU schedule says TV is "The Valley on ESPN" so I am assuming it will be on ESPN+. I've seen it in the past that all the games don't show up on the schedule on WatchESPN until a day or two before the game.
Are we sure this game is on ESPN+? I am not finding it.
What's weird is it was showing up on my YouTubeTv listing as available just last week but now shows as unavailable. Wondering why. I'm confident, however, the game will ultimately be viewable, whether it's on ESPN+, 3, etc.
Thanks guys. I have the ESPN app on Firestick, doesn’t show there so I googled ESPN schedule didn’t show there either. Patience!
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Yeah it'll either be ESPN3 or ESPN+. The Southern Indiana game is listed as "The Valley on ESPN" on the SIU site but ESPN+ on the Southern Indiana site.
Yeah it'll either be ESPN3 or ESPN+. The Southern Indiana game is listed as "The Valley on ESPN" on the SIU site but ESPN+ on the Southern Indiana site.
Very similar for the Oklahoma State game. Shows only radio on SIU official schedule site but shows Big XII Now ESPN+ on OK State's schedule site
I am so fired up for the opener 1 week from today! LOVE my new season ticket seats! No doubt in my mind that BM and staff will have our Dawgs ready to play. Positive that boxing out drills will be main focus this week at practice. GET PYHSICAL AND REBOUND DAWGS!
SIU GO!
Mullins on In The Dawghouse:
https://www.1035espn.com/episode/in-the-dawghouse-10-31-22-bryan-mullins/
-Lance had a concussion and missed the K State scrimmage and had a thigh contusion. That's why he didn't start.
-Really high praise for AJ Ferguson
SIU comes in at #14 in the Mid-Major Top 25.
Unrelated, but it's still funny to see Gonzaga on these mid-major rankings.
SIU comes in at #14 in the Mid-Major Top 25.
Unrelated, but it's still funny to see Gonzaga on these mid-major rankings.
Gonzaga hasn't been a "mid-major" for more than a decade. 😀
Did anyone else notice Brian say the next two years are going to be really exciting? Some people (not me of course 🙂) might think that may imply he expects certain players to stay another year?
Does anyone know JD status for Monday night ? He would have helped with the rebounding at BAMA.
