ST. LOUIS —
The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals are always scintillating. No more so than Saturday when Illinois State upset 15th-ranked Wichita State 65-64 and when No. 25 Creighton took care of business with a 99-71 victory over Evansville.
Arch Madness indeed.
(And how cool is it that Arch Madness has a curse? Wichita State has never won Arch Madness, and this year’s Shockers were the best chance WSU has had since the tournament came to St. Louis in 1991. All great sporting events need a curse.)
From a certain viewpoint, the talent on display was also unsettling to watch. That would be from the Indiana State perspective.
Many of the players that lit up the Scottrade Center stage on Saturday will be back in the league next year. That’s fantastic for the MVC and its future, but daunting for the Sycamores.
Creighton has starters Doug McDermott, Gregory Echenique, Jahenns Manigat and Grant Gibbs back from a 27-5 team. Nice.
Illinois State took a major step forward by advancing to the MVC championship game and has everyone back. Jackie Carmichael, Tyler Brown, John Wilkins, Jon Ekey and Nic Moore have evolved from questionable to formidable.
Evansville has scorer extraordinaire Colt Ryan back. And no coach does a better job of piecing together glue guys like Marty Simmons. Emerging Ryan Sawvell is the last example.
Even Wichita State, which loses 57.4 points from its current roster, has some nice pieces with Demetric Williams and Carl Hall returning.
And those are just the MVC semifinalists. Drake has everyone of significance back from an improved team. Northern Iowa loses just one senior. Even Southern Illinois has some promising young players — like Dantiel Daniels — and a new coach will guide them.
Meanwhile, ISU loses four seniors — Carl Richard, Jordan Printy, Dwayne Lathan and Myles Walker –all of whom were major contributors. The 2012 season was supposed to be when the window was wide-open for a MVC championship run, but it didn’t happen.
Has ISU’s window closed? The Sycamore coaching staff doesn’t think so. But what do we know about the 2012-13 Sycamores at this point?
We know Jake Odum is an elite-level MVC point guard who had an outstanding season given the multitude of injuries he had.
Not only is there the hope that Odum can have a healthy season, but also, that he becomes the unquestioned leader of the team. He shouldn’t have any upperclassman competition for that role and he will have the ears of his teammates in a way he couldn’t have as an underclassman.
We know Steve McWhorter can defend. We know R.J. Mahurin can take charges, draw fouls on 3-point shots and scrap in the paint. We know Lucas Eitel is a smart player who runs the offense and gives solid minutes off the bench.
We also know all three of them need to be more consistent — offensively for McWhorter and defensively for the latter two.
That’s about it. That’s about all we know for sure about next year’s Sycamores. Everything else is pinned on hope. It’s disconcerting to stand on unproven ground.
Of the returning players who played, the hope is that big men Jake Kitchell and Justin Gant can expand their games and improve. Their freshman seasons were typical: flashes of their potential mixed in with growing pains.
They need to put in the effort to get better, but they might also be Exhibit A in how the ISU coaching staff needs to prove it can develop talent as they enter their second full offseason.
They’re also Exhibit A in how their ISU’s teammates need to demand accountability and improvement from one another.
There might not be hope for Koang Doluony. His future is uncertain as he played just five games in the MVC season and not at all after Jan. 21.
No one else expected to contribute for ISU has played a game in a Sycamore uniform. The Sycamores hope Gonzaga-transfer Manny Arop can score as seamlessly as he did in practice, but he needs to vastly improve his defense.
The Sycamores hope swingman Khristian Smith fulfills his potential and becomes a go-to player. ISU also hopes that Smith is academically eligible, as it appears he will be at present.
The Sycamores hope guard Devonte Brown and swingman Brandon Burnett got comfortable in their redshirt seasons and can contribute next year.
The Sycamores hope power forward Rhett Smith brings the versatility and toughness he has displayed at Sullivan. Smith has worked hard to diversify his game through the course of his senior season with the Golden Arrows.
The Sycamores hope true freshman T.J. Bell and big man JUCO transfer Michael Samuels bring something to the table.
That’s an awful lot of hope to hitch your wagon to. Meanwhile, several teams in the MVC know what they have.
It’s going to be daunting for the Sycamores to finish in the upper half of the MVC in 2013. Hope springs eternal, but there will be little quarter given by ISU’s conference rivals.
Todd Golden is sports editor of the Tribune-Star. He can be reached at (812) 231-4272 or todd.golden@tribstar.com. Please follow him on Twitter @TribStarTodd.
From the Press Box
Related Photos
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Trying to rise above: Indiana State's Jake Odum drives into the Wichita defense for a shot attempt during the Sycamores' 72-48 loss Friday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis.
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Exclamation point: Indiana State's Justin Gant slams down a dunk in the final minutes of the Sycamores' win over Southern Illinois Thursday in St. Louis.
Discussion
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU will face uphill climb in MVC in 2013
- From the Press Box
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TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
If you had to pick one word that would describe the 2013 Indiana State baseball season, it would have to be frustration.
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FROM THE PRESSBOX: Content McKenna has enjoyed seeing ISU's progress
It all happened so fast in June 2010.
One minute, Kevin McKenna was head coach of the Indiana State men’s basketball program. Then — poof! — he was gone.
McKenna resigned from his head coaching position at ISU on June 13, 2010 to take an assistant coach position on Dana Altman’s then-burgeoning University of Oregon staff. -
MVC can't wait on Crieghton to move forward
Will they go or not? That’s been the question that the Missouri Valley Conference and Creighton have been faced with since rumors of the Bluejays’ potential exit went public in December.
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FROM THE PRESSBOX: Can Sycamores reverse fortunes heading into MVC Tournament?
Mastery of a basketball season comes in many forms. Mostly, it comes in forms that involve avoidance of turnovers, anemic scoring and poor defense.
The mechanics of X-and-O success in basketball are obvious, but what’s often overlooked in building a successful campaign is managing the rhythm of the season, which is the hardest thing of all. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Accountability isn't Lansing's alone in ISU's recent struggles
Taking ownership has always been one of Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing’s strengths.
When ISU has lost games in his three seasons at the helm that it was expected to win, Lansing has always been willing to fall on the sword and take blame for it. -
TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State has far more occasions to rise to
Rejoice, Indiana State basketball fans. The Sycamores’ 68-55 victory at No. 15 Wichita State on Tuesday is worthy of celebration.
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TODD GOLDEN: Big plays in last 10 minutes story of the season for Indiana State
You’d think I’d have learned by now.
It’s 20 games into Indiana State’s men’s basketball season and I still expect the Sycamores’ offense operate like a well-oiled machine from the opening tip. -
Sycamores blossom on Hawaii trip
Quick quiz … what’s the state flower of Hawaii?
Don’t worry. I can’t just rattle state flowers off the top of my head. I had to look it up too, even though I’ve seen them all over the place in Honolulu.
I didn’t even know that Indiana’s state flower is the peony, which replaced the apparently unloved zinnia in the 1950s.
Hawaii’s flower, and they’re ubiquitous in Waikiki tourist shops and in actual flora on Oahu, is the yellow hibiscus.
The yellow hibiscus is big, bold and bright. I’ve never seen one blossom, but I imagine it has to be a beautiful sight.
What I have seen blossom — and it’s the only reason flowers would be brought up in my column — is the Indiana State basketball team at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. -
TODD GOLDEN: ISU needs to have its realignment head on a swivel
Have you ever driven past a cow pasture during a severe thunderstorm? If it’s really bad, the cows will congregate in a herd to protect themselves from the tumult.
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TODD GOLDEN: ISU AD Prettyman keeps it close to the vest
Do you want to know who’s on the short list to become Indiana State's next football coach?
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TODD GOLDEN: Trent Miles leaves Sycamores with giant legacy
To glean perspective on Trent Miles’ time as Indiana State’s football coach, I went back into the Tribune-Star’s archives to remind myself of what the football program was like when Miles arrived to rebuild it.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Scoreboard watching and the threat matrix for ISU
Indiana State football coach Trent Miles reaffirmed his belief Tuesday that a victory over Youngstown State on Saturday will propel the Sycamores into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since 1984.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Twists and turns, but Luck passes eye test
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck made his much anticipated Lucas Oil Stadium debut Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Looking back and forward at ISU athletics
It started in State College, Pa., and ended in Eugene, Ore. Few Indiana State athletic seasons have spanned the nation in as many sports as 2011-12 did for the Sycamores’ athletic teams. And from coast-to-coast there was glory and heartbreak alike.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU progresses under Prettyman
He didn’t say a word, but it was as clear as Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman sat in the PK Park dugout and watched the Sycamores take batting practice prior to their NCAA Regional at Oregon last Thursday, he beamed with pride.
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TODD GOLDEN: MVC pitching helped prepare Sycamores for regional
Nick Petree, Pierce Johnson, Ty Blach.
These aren’t just elite-level starting pitchers Indiana State’s baseball team faced this season. They comprise three of the last five pitchers the Sycamores faced period. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
When Indiana State was crowned as the regular season baseball champion of the Missouri Valley Conference last Thursday, it marked the fifth different regular season champion the league has had since 2005.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU has done enough to be in NCAAs
When you get older, you’re supposed to get wiser. I don’t know if I qualify, but I’m trying.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: TH’s Murans back in the Derby … this time with favorite
When Terre Haute native Paul Murans experienced his first Triple Crown horse racing run as part-owner of Mucho Macho Man in 2011, the experience was — to borrow a phrase from one-time Marquette coach Al McGuire — seashells and balloons.
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TODD GOLDEN: IHSAA debate interrupts more pressing issues
State Senator Mike Delph has sowed a 15-year-old wind and put the emotional class basketball debate back on the public’s mind.
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TODD GOLDEN: ISU eyes prize one game at a time
Most baseball fans know that the baseball season — even a college baseball season — is a marathon, not a sprint.
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TODD GOLDEN: Grass is green enough for Indiana State in Missouri Valley
Take a look around the Missouri Valley Conference landscape and it would be easy to assume that a significant portion of the league membership is searching for perceived greener pastures.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamores are Odum’s team now
Soooo … who wants to talk about the 2012 Indiana State men’s basketball season?
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU will face uphill climb in MVC in 2013
The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals are always scintillating. No more so than Saturday when Illinois State upset 15th-ranked Wichita State 65-64 and when No. 25 Creighton took care of business with a 99-71 victory over Evansville.
Arch Madness indeed. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Effort, heart, concentration are fleeting for ISU
Every time Indiana State’s men’s basketball wins a game, you think to yourself, OK, now is when these Sycamores live up to their potential.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Peyton’s place belongs to Eli
The good people of Indianapolis justifiably puffed out their chests throughout Super Bowl week as the city received deserved rave reviews for the job it did as hosts of Super Bowl XLVI.
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TODD GOLDEN: Teammates, colleagues express their loyalty to Weatherford
Sometimes you worry whether someone is stopping to smell the roses when they smell rosiest.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Does melted ice reveal Belichick's heart of gold?
If you’re into Youtube — and who isn’t these days? — there’s a vintage television profile of then-Cleveland Browns coach Bill Belichick posted on the popular site.
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TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State men caught between expectation, reality
The Missouri Valley Conference is hush-hush on how it puts together its matchups for the annual conference schedule.
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TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
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