Horizon League Notebook

Wildcard of the Horizon League
After Saturday night’s upset over UIC on the road, Cleveland State has now defeated the Flames and Wright State this month. The Vikings are currently in 9th place in the Horizon League with a 4-10 record, and are 7-20 overall. Despite the bad record, first-year head coach Dennis Felton has opposing Horizon League teams dreading matching up with Cleveland State.

Felton’s development of senior wing Kenny Carpenter has been impressive. Carpenter only averaged 5.4 points per game last season while shooting 35% from the field and 19% from three. This year, he’s the teams leading-scorer at 12.7 points while shooting 47% from the field and 35% from three. Carpenter only attempted 46 three’s last season, he’s already made 43 through 26 games. Tyree Appleby has been a standout freshman performer, putting up 11.7 points, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals. He should make the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.

Dark Horse Pick to Make a Run at Motor City Madness
Another first-year head coach has impressed and has his team looking like a tough matchup in the Horizon League Tournament. Pat Baldwin and Milwaukee currently sit at 14-14 and are 7-8 in conference play. Milwaukee had big non-conference victories over Iowa State and Loyola, and have completed a regular-season sweep over Wright State.

Redshirt junior Brock Stull has continued his stat-sheet stuffing ways, but junior guard Jeremiah Bell and sophomore big man Bryce Nze have been revelations. Bell has nearly doubled his scoring output from last year (7.1 ppg in 2016-2017, 13.7 ppg this year) thanks to his effectiveness beyond the arc (61 3-pointers at 39%). He’s playing even better in conference play: 15.6 ppg, 2.5 3pg at 42%. Nze is load inside and a nightly double-double threat at 10.1 ppg and 7.8 rpg. He had a three-game stretch in conference play where he averaged 18.3 ppg and 11.0 rpg. The trio of Bell, Nze and Stull make Milwaukee an intriguing team to monitor at Motor City Madness.

Trio of Wright State Freshman Make for a Solid Foundation
Loudon Love is the runaway favorite to win the Horizon League Freshman of the Year thanks to his 12.4 ppg and 9.9 rpg. What makes this even more impressive is before playing this year as a redshirt freshman, Love last played actual games as a junior in high school during the 2014-2015. Love was injured his senior year (2015-2016) and redshirted last season (2016-2017).

Head Coach Scott Nagy has also received solid contributions from redshirt freshman Everett Winchester. He is averaging 7.4 ppg off the bench as an effective face-up four man off the bench.

But Jaylon Hall has really stood out as a true freshman. When Justin Mitchell left the team last month, Hall seized the opportunity on the wing and has flourished. He is averaging 10.0 ppg and 3.1 rpg in conference play, making him a viable candidate for Sixth Man of the Year in the Horizon League. His shooting percentages are low, but Hall is clearly confident and aggressive which leads to double-digit scoring outputs.

UIC Reserve Guard Shooting Lights Out
Godwin Boahen is shooting the long ball at an incredibly efficient rate during conference play. He’s averaging 10.1 ppg off the bench, while shooting 61% from three. He’s making 2.1 three’s out of 3.4 attempts. This makes Boahen the front-runner for Sixth Man of the Year if he can finish off the season strong.

Recruiting Notes

Recent Commitments

Silas Adheke committed to Northern Kentucky on on February 4th. He’s a redshirt freshman at Eastern Florida State, averaging 7.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg and shooting 52% from three. Adheke, a Chattanooga native listed at 6-foot-9 and 237 pounds, redshirted at Evansville during the 2016-2017 season. He then transferred to Eastern Florida State.

Dibaji Walker committed to Cleveland State on February 6th. Walker is taking a post-grad year at Woodstock Academy in Connecticut after graduating from Independence High School in Columbus, OH in 2016-2017. He is listed as a 6-foot-6 lefty wing who didn’t have any DI offers coming out of Independence, but drew several DI offers at Woodstock according to Verbal Commits.

New Offers Out

Oakland offered 2018 guard Kenny Pittman from Simeon in Chicago, IL. Pittman is a standout 3-point shooter playing for the best high school team in Illinois. He also holds offers from Chicago State and UT Martin. Oakland also offered 2019 guard Emmanuel Newsome from Cooper City, FL. The offer is Newsome’s first DI offer according to Verbal Commits.