By Eric Stock
NORMAL – Illinois State men’s basketball coach Dan Muller brought in so many new players next season he ran out or scholarships.
That is until Matt Hein came to the rescue. The junior guard from Windermere, Fla. offered up his scholarship for the coming year.
“An unbelievably selfless act by Matt and obviously it doesn’t change anything about where he’s at in the program but it allowed us to bring Keith (Fisher) in,” Muller said.
Fisher III, a power forward from San Jose State, is transferring with three years of eligibility remaining.
Hein said he discussed the topic volunteering his scholarship with his parents and Muller. After coming to an agreement, he explained he did what he felt was best for the team.
“The campus, the university has given me so much and I wanted to give back to them,” said Hein. “I love my brothers, I love my teammates, and I thought this was the right move for me to help this team win.”
Muller wouldn’t comment on how the other scholarships are being distributed, but noted it was the first time he had ever seen a player make such an offer.
“Obviously it’s unique because Matt has two years left and as he looked at our chances we have think we have a chance to be pretty special next year,” Muller said.
How special?
“As as long as we stay injury free and even if we have (a few injuries), this will be the most really good players I’ve had here,” Muller said as he heads into his seventh season. “Guys have to get better but we have a lot of guys that will be able to play a lot of good minutes.”
After playing with a thin roster most of last season, Muller hopes to be more up tempo next season, especially on defense.
“I wanted to press more last year, really the last two years, but personnel-wise it kind of limited us on how much I wanted to wear a couple guys down,” Muller said. “I hope to press more.”
Transfers Fisher, Dedric Boyd (Eastern Kentucky) Ilijah Donnelly (Illinois-Springfield) and Jaycee Hillsman (San Jose State) will each have to sit out next season. Donnelly comes to ISU as a preferred walkon from Bloomington.
They join newcomers Abduo Ndiaye of Senegal, Rey Idowu from Clearwater (Fla.) Academy and Josh Jefferson from Lake Land College.
Muller said he will vote the Redbirds as the favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference when the preseason poll comes out in October.
“I can tell you that right now,” Muller declared.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
