NORMAL, Ill. - New Illinois State head men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon unofficially begins his head coaching career on Sunday, as the Redbirds host the College of Wooster Fighting Scots in an exhibition at Redbird Arena.
TEAM PREVIEW
The Redbirds return six scholarship players from a season ago – led by senior forward Kendall Lewis who averaged 9.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while grabbing 38 steals, dishing out 33 assists, and blocking 32 shots. Also back is Liam McChesney who averaged 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game with 30 blocked shots, Ryan Schmitt who averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, Harouna Sissoko, and Alston Andrews.
Newcomers to the squad include five guards and a forward. Among the new players include fifth-year guard Seneca Knight, a former All-Mountain West Third Team honoree who averaged 17.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 2019-20 and played last season at BYU. Bolingbrook, Illinois, native Darius Burford comes to ISU after averaging 13.4 points per game with 97 assists and 47 steals for Elon en route to earning third team All-Colonial Athletic Association plaudits. Bloomington native Colton Sandage also comes to ISU as a fifth-year student-athlete, as he averaged 13.4 points per game for Western Illinois last season with a team-high 82 assists.
Also new to the team are junior guards Luke Kasubke and Malachi Poindexter, who played for Kansas State and Virginia, respectively last season. Kasubke, from basketball powerhouse Chaminade High School in St. Louis, scored 57 points a season ago in 30 games, while also grabbing 32 rebounds. Poindexter, a Virginia native, played in 19 games for the Cavaliers, scoring 19 points off the bench while adding seven assists and ten rebounds. Forward Joe Petrakis comes to the Redbirds as a graduate transfer with two seasons of eligibility remaining after averaging eight points per game for Western Carolina, starting 30 times and finishing in the top-15 in the Southern Conference in blocked shots per game and three-pointers made.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING SCOTS
Wooster enters the season returning five of the six scorers on the team that averaged at least seven points per game last season. Gone is leading scorer and first team All-North Coast Athletic Conference performer Brandon Styers, but the team returns its next five top scorers, including 6-8 forward Turner Kurt who averaged 14.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while also returning 6-5 forward Elijah Meredith who finished third on the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game with 4.5 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Jamir Billings, a 5-11 guard, averaged 11.5 points and a NCAC-leading 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals per game, en route to earning conference Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Najee Hardaway averaged 11.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, with Nick Everett averaging 7.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season.
A year ago the Fighting Scots finished with a 19-9 overall record, falling in the conference championship game to the Wabash Little Giants - a team that advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals last season.
FAMILIAR FOE
The College of Wooster is very familiar to Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon, as he is a 2000 alumnus of the school. Pedon was a two-year letterwinner with the Fighting Scots. Wooster head coach Doug Cline is also a Wooster alumnus - in 1995 - and was an assistant coach on the squads the Pedon played on. Another teammate of the Redbird head coach is Lamont Paris, who is currently the head coach at the University of South Carolina. The North Coast Athletic Conference - a NCAA Division III conference comprised of schools in Ohio and Indiana - features Denison University, DePauw University, Hiram College, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Wabash College, Wittenberg University, and the College of Wooster. Two other NCAA Division I head coaches - Brad Brownell of Clemson and Shaka Smart of Marquette are alumni of schools in the conference, Brownell from DePauw and Smart from Kenyon.
