Men’s Basketball

Tekele Cotton

While Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker garnered much of the attention from opposing teams, Tekele Cotton broke out of his shell the second half of last season, earning himself the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. Soon after the MVC Tournament, Sports Illustrated featured Cotton on the cover of its March Madness edition.

The Marietta, Ga., native has improved in his three seasons as a Shocker. He averaged 2.9 points as a freshman, 7.8 points as a sophomore and 10.3 points as a junior. Cotton is mostly known for his defense, usually earning himself the assignment of defending the opposing team’s best player. And do not forget his dunk “heard around the world” when he absolutely posterized a player at Illinois State last year.

Darius Carter

Last season, much of Darius Carter’s playing time was split between himself, Chadrack Lufile and Kadeem Coleby. Carter was still able to be the team’s fifth leading scorer, averaging 7.9 points a game. With Lufile and Coleby gone, and Cleanthony Early’s departure to the NBA, Carter should be able to step in and grab a great deal of the minutes.

Most junior college transfers like Carter take a little while to settle in to playing Division I basketball. Carter was able to settle in just fine. He will be playing in the front court with some young and inexperienced players, but he should be able to build on what he did the second half of last season and become a mentor to the new guys. Look for Carter to eat up the majority of the minutes left behind by Early.

New Guys

Tevin Glass, Zach Brown, Rashard Kelly, Tom “Bush” Wamukota

Chadrack Lufile, Kadeem Coleby and last year’s star, Cleanthony Early, are gone, which means someone will need to fill the fifth starting spot on the court. No one knows for sure who will play the most, but head coach Gregg Marshall is known for using a lot of different big men to give opposing teams different looks.

The one returning player with a chance at filling that void is redshirt freshman Shaquille Morris. Morris is 6-foot-6 and 268 pounds. He spent last season learning from veterans and might be the guy to step in alongside Carter.

Incoming Northwest Florida State junior transfer Tevin Glass is a 6-foot-8, 206 pound power forward. Over the summer, CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish listed Glass as the Shockers’ fifth starter.

Zach Brown out of Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., could challenge for playing time at the four-spot. He’s only 6-foot-6 and is probably more suited for play in the backcourt, but Brown’s athleticism could make for an interesting dynamic in the frontcourt.

Rashard Kelly, a 6-foot-7, 234 pound freshman, has a chance at eating minutes in the frontcourt. He averaged 19.6 points and 10.4 rebounds as a senior at Hargrave Military Academy last year and was mentioned as a possible replacement to Cleanthony Early by ESPN’s Dana O’Neil, as was Morris.

Tom “Bush” Wamukota might be the most intriguing prospect to replace Early. He’s definitely the tallest. Wamukota is a 7-foot center from Kenya. The past two seasons, he spent his time playing at Kilgore Junior College in Texas. The seven footer was ranked the nineteenth best JUCO recruit by 247sports.com.

Women’s Basketball

Alex Harden

Alex Harden should be poised for another great year in her senior season with the Shockers. Harden returns as the team’s leader in points (17 ppg), assists (4.9 apg) and steals (2.3 spg). Harden is a repeat member on both the MVC First Team and MVC All-Defensive Team. Look for Harden to continue this pace and lead the Shockers to the MVC Title and the NCAA Tournament.

Jamillah Bonner

Jamillah Bonner returns for her senior season as the team’s second leading scorer behind Harden and third in steals. The Wichita native out of Butler Community College joined Harden on the MVC First team and MVC All-Defensive Team. Bonner finished tenth in the Valley averaging 1.7 steals per game.

Kelsey Jacobs

Kelsey Jacobs did not earn any post-season accolades with Harden or Bonner, but she did bring a different aspect to the team. The 6-foot-2 senior blocks shots. She finished first on the team and fourth in the Valley with 43 total blocked shots last season. She should be able to step up and improve on 6.3 points per game.