ST. LOUIS – The Illinois State Redbirds have been picked to finish in 10th place in the MVC in voting done by the conference's coaches, SID's, and media.
Drake was picked as the preseason favorite, and was followed by Loyola Chicago, UNI, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Bradley, Valparaiso, Evansville, Indiana State, and then the Redbirds.
The Illinois State Redbirds return two of its three double-digit scorers from a season ago and have eight players returning who started at least one game last season, in addition to bringing in a handful of key newcomers for the 2021-22 season.
Leading the returners for Illinois State is Antonio Reeves and Josiah Strong. Last season Reeves averaged 12.4 points per game and added 82 rebounds and 36 assists while starting 24 of 25 games during the year. Strong averaged 11.5 points per game, while making 37 percent of his long-range shots and dished out 59 assists, second-most among returners.
Also back are Emon Washington (5.3 points per game), Harouna Sissoko (4.2 points per game), Abdou Ndiaye (MVC-returner-leading 1.4 blocked shots per game), Howard Fleming Jr. (team-leading 66 assists last season), Alston Andrews (2.4 points per game), and Alex Kotov (1.5 points per game) – all of whom started at least one game last season. Also back is UMass transfer Sy Chatman, who opted out of last season after five games, and averaged 11.7 minutes in those contests.
New to the squad is a group of four incoming transfers: Mark Freeman, Kendall Lewis, Liam McChesney, and Ryan Schmitt. Freeman most recently was named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference Second Team after averaging 17.1 points and 4.6 assists per game at Tennessee State. Lewis averaged 9.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in nine games last season with Appalachian State before opting out of the season. McChesney was one of the top prospects coming out of Canada during his senior season and saw his redshirt freshman campaign at Utah State cut short because of injury last season. Last season Schmitt helped Des Moines Area Community College to a NJCAA Division II National Title, averaging 11.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.7 blocked shots per game – the latter of which was fourth-highest in the country.
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