Missouri Valley report | NCAA Tournament report

SportsLine.com report
March 16, 2000

A Glance At 2001

How good will Indiana State be next year? It all depends on how the Sycamores react to losing conference player of the year Nate Green.

The backcourt remains intact with Michael Menser and Kelyn Block. Forward Matt Renn should become a force as a senior, but Djibril Kante will need to do more. Matt Broermann looks like he has a solid future.

Expect the Sycamores, Creighton and Evansville to be among the MVC preseason favorites next season.

Who's Back

Menser and Renn headline a solid senior class for 2001. Giesen will be important again, while Jimmie Metcalfe will get a longer look as a backup guard. Kante and Giesen give ISU two post players. Among the youngsters, watch Broermann, a dangerous outside shooter.

Who's Gone

Biggest lost is Green, who most everything rotated around both offensively and defensively. Abasi Thompson was a hard-working rebounder for a team that didn't rebound the ball very well. Ben Anderson didn't play much off the bench.

The Coach

This NCAA Tournament stuff is new to Royce Waltman, but postseason play isn't. He took teams to NCAA Division II and III tournaments five times, with his 1989-90 squad at DePauw going to a national championship game.

Key Newcomers

The Sycamores have a 6-11 center stashed away after Michael Kernan redshirted this season. Junior Chad Hunter and sophomore Andy Williamson also coming off redshirts, but Hunter has been plagued by knee injuries.

ISU already has signed three guards, so one or two might get a chance to play.