The Missouri State Bears have not made the NCAA tournament since 1999, when they were coached by current UCLA coach Steve Alford. In recent years, this has been partly due to to the dominance of Creighton and Wichita State in the Valley, not allowing the Bears to win very much. Their best shot at a tournament appearance came in the 2010-11 season under Cuonzo Martin, who left for Tennessee following this year. The Bears compiled a 23-7 record to win the regular season title in the MVC, but fell in a four point loss to Indiana State in the conference tournament championship game. Following the loss of Cuonzo, former Purdue assistant Paul Lusk has led this team to be respectable, but still not quite at the level they’re capable of. In his 7th season at Missouri State, possibly fighting for his job, this is the year the Lusk needs to make the tournament.
After finishing 17-16 a year ago and making a run to the MVC championship game, the Bears will return almost all of their key players, as well as adding a few more. Obviously the key returner is forward Alize Johnson. The 6’9, 212 lb. senior garnered a lot of NBA Draft buzz before he decided to withdraw from the draft. An All-MVC first-team selection last year, Johnson ranked 11th in the country in rebounds per game (10.6) and led the team with 14.8 points per game. Johnson is an unstoppable force on the boards.
Other returning starters include Jarred Dixon, Jarrid Rhodes, and Obediah Church, who combine to account for 22.2 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game. The only loss from the starting lineup will be senior guard Dequon Miller, who averaged 12.7 points per game, however, to take his spot will be Ronnie Rousseau III. Rousseau III battled injuries for much of the early part of the season before leaving the team at the start of January. In games that Rousseau III played, the Bears compiled a 10-4 record while Rousseau III put up an impressive stat line of 11.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 2.9 APG, while shooting .389 from the 3-point line. Losing Miller hurts, but being about to bring Rousseau III back gives the backcourt a reliable veteran to run the show.
Ryan Kreklow (6.3 PPG, .416 3P%) returns off the bench to give the Bears’ second unit a boost on both sides of the ball. Newcomers to the team include J.T. Miller, Tanveer Bhullar, and Reggie Scurry, who all figure to get considerable playing time. Miller is a graduate transfer from Howard University, who was second on the team last year in scoring at 14.7 points per game. You might’ve heard of Tanveer Bhullar, who is the 7’2 center joining the team as a grad transfer from New Mexico State. Reggie Scurry was a NJCAA Division I All-America third-team selection last year for Northern Oklahoma Tonkawa College. He led the team with 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Scurry was likely persuaded to come to Springfield from the help of former teammate and returning starter, Jarrid Rhodes.
The wildcard on this team could be redshirt freshman Greg Williams. Williams is a former ESPN top 100 recruit, who was the highest ranked recruit to commit to Missouri State in over 20 years. Health has been an issue for Williams as he missed his senior year of high school basketball with a ruptured appendix and a resulting infection that threatened his life. After recovering from that, Williams has dealt with hernia issues that kept him redshirted last year and out of action so far this season. If this promising 6’6 point guard can return to full strength, he may be enough to put this team over the edge.
This Missouri State team has been picked to win the MVC by numerous outlets and they should have a fantastic year. With the program trending in the right direction, this will be a big year to establish the Bears’ dominance in the Wichita-less Missouri Valley Conference.