Redbirds picked 2nd in MVC hoops, 2 named to All-Valley team

Posted on October 25, 2016
Paris Lee
Point guard Paris Lee averaged 11.1 points and 3.7 assists per game last season. (Photo by Nick McClintock/WJBC)

By ISU Sports Information

NORMAL – Illinois State senior guard Paris Lee and junior forward MiKyle McIntosh are both 2016-17 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason First Team selections, and the Redbirds are picked to finish second in the league, according to the MVC Preseason Poll as compiled from votes by MVC sports information directors, media and coaches.

The Redbirds landed two on the five-player preseason roster for the first time since Rico Hill and current head coach Dan Muller represented ISU as preseason first team selections in 1997-98. Hill and Muller led Illinois State to the NCAA Tournament that year after winning the MVC regular-season and tournament titles. The 2016-17 Redbirds were the only team to earn two first-team honors.

Illinois State’s predicted second-place finish marks ISU’s highest pick since also being tabbed second in the 2012-13 preseason poll. The Redbirds have now been selected to finish second or higher six times in program history (1993-94: first; 1996-97: first; 1997-98: first; 2001-02: first; 2012-13: second; 2016-17: second).

ISU received 356 total points and four first-place votes. Meanwhile, for the fourth-straight year, Wichita State is the favorite to win the MVC men’s basketball title. The Shockers received 37 first-place votes and 413 points to outdistance Illinois State in preseason voting.

Rounding out the top five teams are Northern Iowa in third place (348 points and one first-place vote), Missouri State in fourth place (278 points) and Southern Illinois in fifth place (228 points). Those teams are followed by Indiana State (219), Loyola (179), Bradley (110), Evansville (106) and Drake (73).

In Muller’s first four seasons at ISU, the Redbirds have gone from sixth, to fourth, to third, to second in 2015-16, and this year’s team is aiming to continue that upward standings trend. Illinois State returns four starters from a team that won 18 games last year against one of the nation’s most challenging non-conference schedules, which featured No. 2 Maryland and No. 1 Kentucky within the span of week.

The Redbirds’ top returning scorers is one of the league’s top guards in Lee. He averaged 11.1 points per game in 2015-16 and enters the year as the league’s active career leader in both steals and assists. Fellow MVC Preseason First-Team selection McIntosh averaged 10.9 points per game last season for the Redbirds.

The Illinois State men’s basketball team will host its sole exhibition game Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. versus Quincy, before opening the 2016-17 season Nov. 11 at Murray State. The Redbird men will then begin their home schedule Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. versus Fort Wayne on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.

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