By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL – It will be a mix of old and new for the Illinois State men’s basketball team this year with the return of six lettermen, including three starters, from last year’s 22-13 team that advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
The influx of eight newcomers, including five freshmen and two transfers, will give the Redbirds a different look, though, from a year ago.
So what can ISU fans expect from fourth-year coach Dan Muller’s team?
“They can expect a team to play really hard,” said Muller during the team’s annual media day Monday at Redbird Arena. “I’ve said it many times that we’re going to play extremely fast and in order to do that you have to get stops and rebounds.
“We’ve have a lot of athletic guys, who can make plays around the rim and I think you’re going to see a team that is fun to watch because of our style of play.”
And what does Muller expect from his team?
“Toughness, competiveness, great teammates, high energy,” he said. “I expect us to play with unbelievably high energy. We’ll have more talking on the court than we’ve seen here in a long time.”
Junior point guard Paris Lee, who has been a starter since his freshman year, believes the Redbirds will be fun to watch.
“We’re going to be able to get up and down the floor more,” he said. “We have a lot of stretch forwards – a lot of forwards, who can play the guard actually. It’s going to be mis-match crazy because we have a lot of players who can play the guard – the shooting guard – so it’s going to be fun to watch.”
Junior forward Nick Banyard, who sat out last season after transferring from New Mexico, said fans can expect many things.
“They can expect a lot of energy, lot of dunks,” he added. “We’ll make one small play and build from that and it’s going to be a bunch of that through our program.”
The returning starters include 6-foot-5 senior swingman DeVaugh Akoon-Purcell, 6-8 sophomore forward Deontae Hawkins and Lee. Purcell averaged 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, while Hawkins scored 7.4 points and grabbed 5.2 rebounds and Lee handed out 3.6 assists and averaged 6.8 points per game.
Other returning lettermen are 6-7 sophomore forward MiKyle McIntosh, 6-4 swingman Tony Wills and 6-4 shooting guard Justin McCloud. All played in 30 or more games last season.
The newcomers include 6-8 senior forward Quintin Brewer, who transferred after finishing his career at Bethune-Cookman and 6-4 junior transfer guard Javaka Thompson, who played at Knox College a year ago.
The true freshmen are 7-foot center David Ndiaye, 6-8 forward Elvis Harvey, forward Roland Griffin, 6-3 guard Matt Hein and 6-foot guard Keyshawn Evans.
A year ago, Muller picked the Redbirds to win the league in the preseason poll. What about this year?
“I didn’t pick us first and I told my team that the other day because at this point we have not done enough to show me that we are going to finish first,” said Muller.
“I’m not going to say where I picked us at this point, but until my team and our players consistently show me they’re ready to compete at a high level on a daily basis and do what I know it takes for us to win this league this year that’s where we’re at.”
Muller did say he picked No. 9 nationally ranked Wichita State as the preseason favorite.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
