2018-19 #HLMBB Preview: Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky
Last season: 22-10 overall, 15-3 Horizon League
* Horizon League regular season champions
Head coach: John Brannen (4th year)
By Joey Yashinsky, Horizon League Contributor. Follow on Twitter @OneSeatOver
Talk about a rapid rise in a new environment.
When John Brannen took over the Northern Kentucky program in 2015-16, the team won just five of 18 conference games. In year two, the Norse flipped the script, winning 12 Horizon League games and capturing the tournament championship. Last season, Brannen’s third on the sidelines, Northern Kentucky posted a sparkling 15-3 conference mark, bringing home a regular season title to go with the Motor City Madness hardware from the year prior.
So much for an adjustment period. Brannen has the Norse program operating at full throttle now, and despite a few key losses from the champions of the last two years, there is still plenty of firepower getting set to kick off the 2018-19 campaign.
That group is guided by program legend Drew McDonald, this year’s Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year. He’s been recognized as a first-team all-conference performer each of the last two years and there’s no reason to believe he won’t make it three to cap off his career. At 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, McDonald can carve out space inside for easy buckets and is just as comfortable floating out beyond the arc for a dagger 3 in the closing minutes. He also averaged almost 10 rebounds a game last year, trailing only Loudon Love of Wright State in that department.
“He is one of the premier players in our league,” Brannen said. “He’s a guy that impacts the game in so many ways: scoring, rebounding, we can play through him offensively even though he is basically our center. He just impacts the whole community, being from Northern Kentucky, and he really carries the mantle for everything. I’m very excited about the opportunity to coach him in his fourth year. He is a special young man, and I know our fans have really enjoyed watching him.”
Jalen Tate’s Norse career got off to a tough start when his first year was cut short very early on with a hand injury. But Tate returned to the floor last season without missing a beat. He earned selections to both the All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams at year’s end. Coming into the 2018-19 season, Tate was voted to the Preseason All-Horizon League second team.
“Jalen is really a dynamic defender,” Brannen said. “We’ll also need him to take on more of a scoring load this year, so he will get that opportunity. He’s a really good player.”
Tate scored just 5.7 PPG last year, but did so while shooting 47 percent from the floor, a good sign for a player now expected to become a larger part of the offensive attack.
A huge part of the recent Norse success had come from the rocksteady play of Lavone Holland II at point guard. With that primary ball handler and clutch scorer now gone, the responsibility could fall to graduate transfer Zaynah Robinson, coming over from Norfolk State. The 6-foot Robinson averaged 13.5 points per game as a junior while earning all-league second-team honors in the MEAC.
“Lavone was arguably the best guard in our league,” Brannen said. “He really brought a lot to the table for us. So we’ll have multiple guys that will fill that position. We will count on Zaynah and utilize him for his experience. At the same time, he has to learn a whole new system, but we’re working diligently to make sure he’s ready for the season.”
Junior guard Tyler Sharpe will also assume a larger role this season. The southpaw with NBA range seemed to get stronger as the season progressed and is also praised by Brannen for his ability to defend at a high level. Sharpe had four games during conference play in which he knocked down at least four 3-pointers; unsurprisingly, the Norse were 4-0 in those contests. Sharpe’s importance was highlighted further when he struggled both at Motor City Madness and in the NIT, missing all 12 of his attempts from deep on the way to a pair of Northern Kentucky defeats.
McDonald will get support on the inside from junior Dantez Walton and sophomore Chris Vogt. Walton had worked his way into the starting lineup by the end of last season and looks to pick up where he left off. Vogt oozes with potential at 7-foot-1, once swatting away an unfathomable 17 shots in a high school game.
“There aren’t many 7-footers in the league,” Brannen said. “I think Chris is going to be really good. He’s had a really good summer and fall. Obviously McDonald and Walton will start at the 4 and 5, like they did at the end of the year. But Chris should be a guy that is very much a part of our rotation.”
The Norse should also receive a boost from true freshman Trevon Faulkner, a super-athletic 6-foot-4 guard that was also all-state in football. With the loss of ace defender Jordan Garnett, Faulkner could bring a lot of those same qualities to the squad.
“If you have seen our team play, you know that we like to have long, athletic wings that can play full-court defense,” Brannen said. “Trevon fits with our team and he’ll be really good defensively for us. His offensive game will come as time goes on. He’s a guy that plays extremely hard, he’s extremely humble, and is a joy to coach. Those are three really good qualities.”
In a very short period of time, Northern Kentucky has set a standard for excellence in the Horizon League, establishing a reputation for consistency, high effort, and perhaps most important of all, the ability to bring home championships.
With all-time Northern Kentucky great Drew McDonald entering his final year wearing the black, white and gold, you better believe the entire Norse community will come together to try and send him off the right way: with confetti falling, the NKU fight song playing, and the nets from Little Caesars Arena cut down and dangling around the neck of No. 34.