Redbirds Ready for Season Opener

NORMAL, Ill. - The wait is over for the Illinois State Redbirds, as the squad that returns four starters and nearly 90 percent of its scoring from last season, tips-off the 2018-19 season at home on Tuesday evening on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (0-0) vs. Florida Gulf Coast (0-0)
When: Tuesday, Nov. 6
Tip-Off: 6 p.m.
Location: Normal, Illinois
Arena: Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (10,200)
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
   Kurt Pegler, play-by-play
   Bob Morris, analyst
Radio: Illinois State Radio Network / TuneIn Radio
    Dick Luedke, play-by-play
    Mike Matthews, analyst
Live Stats: Illinois State StatBroadcast

SETTING THE TABLE

•    Milik Yarbrough and Phil Fayne were each named to the MVC preseason first team, while Keyshawn Evans was named to the second team.
•    Last season, Yarbrough became the 16th student-athlete in program history to be named to the All-Missouri Valley First Team.
•    Last season Illinois State had five players that have scored at least 20 points in a game this season. There were just nine other programs in the country with more individual 20+ point scorers last season.
•    Yarbrough was one of just three student-athletes in NCAA Division I basketball to rank inside of his conference's top five in points, rebounds, and assists, and one of two that return for 2018-19.
•    Yarbrough was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week five times last season, which is tied for the fifth-most Newcomer of the Week Awards in a single season in Conference history.
•    Illinois State played in five overtime games last season (with a 4-1 record in those games). That is the third-largest total of overtime games in a season in program history.
•    The Illinois State trio of Milik Yarbrough, Keyshawn Evans, and Phil Fayne were one of just four schools in NCAA Division I basketball with three student-athletes that average at least 15 points per game.
•    Illinois State is one of three schools in the country to have two assistant coaches who had won National Titles as student-athletes, joining Duke and Washington.
•    ISU's 122-80 record over the last six years is the best record in the state of Illinois during that span.
•    Illinois State returns 88.6 percent of its scoring for the 2018-19 season, the 16th-most points returning in NCAA Division I.
•    Last season Milik Yarbrough averaged16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game, a set of averages that only 12 other student-athletes since 1992-93 have reached.
•    Each of the last five seasons, Illinois State has out-performed its preseason MVC preseason predictions, including last season when the team was picked to finish fourth and ended third.
•    Dan Muller is a victory away from tying Kevin Stallings, his previous head coach from his time as a student-athlete, and when he was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

Florida Gulf Coast comes into the 2018-19 season after falling in the first round of the NIT last season, closing the year with a 23-12 overall record.

The Eagles advanced to the championship game of the Atlantic Sun tournament, falling to second-seeded Lipscomb.

The team loses its top three scorers from last season, but brings back Dinero Mercurius, who averaged 7.9 points, while RaySean Scott also returns after averaging 6.6 points with eight starts a season earlier. 

Also eligible this season after not seeing action in 2017-18 is Haanif Cheatham, who was named to the preseason Atlantic Sun Conference Team, Troy Baxter, a transfer from UNLV, and Schadrac Casimir, a transfer from Iona who averaged 10.5 points over his career.

The team is led by first-year head coach Michael Fly, who had spent the previous seven years as an assistant coach on the Eagles' staff.

PAIR OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Illinois State is one of three schools in the country (along with Duke and Washington) to have multiple coaches on its staff to have won national titles as student-athletes. Both Brian Reese (North Carolina, 1993) and Chris Duhon (Duke, 2001) played in their respective seasons' National Championship games.

FRIENDLY FACE

The season-opening game will be a reunion of sorts, as Illinois State's Keyshawn Evans and FGCU's Haanif Cheatham - a transfer from Marquette - grew up and were friends growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Cheatham, a preseason All-Atlantic Sun Conference team member, starting 63 games for the Golden Eagles, and averaged just over 10 points per game in 70 total games with Marquette.

FINAL FOUR SCHEDULING

Since Dan Muller has taken of the reigns of the program, he has made a concerted effort in putting together a difficult non-conference schedule. As part of the scheduling this season is Loyola Chicago, who advanced to the NCAA Final Four last season. Starting during the 2012-13 season, Illinois State has had seven games against teams that played in the Final Four the year before: Louisville (2012 Final Four), Wichita State (twice, 2013 Final Four), Kentucky (2015 Final Four), South Carolina (2017 Final Four), and Loyola Chicago (twice, 2018 Final Four).