A new team and three new coaches will make their debut in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference basketball season, but it should be old faithful Xavier on top at the end of the campaign.
Xavier finished third during the 1988-89 regular season before winning the MCC tournament -- and automatic NCAA tournament berth -- for the fourth straight year.
This year, Xavier, with nine returning lettermen, expects to win both the regular season and the conference tournament.
There's good reason for the optimism in Cincinnati. Xavier returns four of five starters, including 6-foot-10 senior forward Tyrone Hill, who was second in the country last year with 12.2 rebounds per game while averaging a team-high 18.9 points per game.
Colorful coach Pete Gillen is entering his fifth season at Xavier, and he has 6-10 senior center Derek Strong, 15.5 ppg and 8 rpg, to complement Hill inside. To be successful, the Musketeers will need consistent outside shooting from guard Michael Davenport and small forward Colin Parker.
'Potentially, we can be a very deep team, especially as some of these younger players get more experience,' Gillen said. 'That doesn't necessarily mean we'll be better, but this is potentially our deepest team since I've been at Xavier.'
Xavier's strongest challenges for supremacy in the MCC should come from Evansville and St. Louis.
Although St. Louis returns 10 lettermen, the Billikens must cope with the loss of the top two scorers in school history, Roland Gray and Monroe Douglass. The top returning player is 6-8 senior forward Anthony Bonner, who averaged 15.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
Coach Rich Grawer is counting on swingman Jeff Luechtefeld and sophomore guard Vincent Smith to be the long-range shooters, while 6-9 senior Mike Ivester returns at center.
Regular-season champ Evansville also earned an NCAA berth last year, and defeated Oregon State in overtime before losing to eventual runner-up Seton Hall. Under coach Jim Crews, Evansville returns four players who started 18 or more games, but the Aces must replace sharp-shooting Scott Haffner, who led the league in scoring with a 24.5 ppg average.
The club is long on experience, with four seniors, including center Dan Godfread, who was a first team all-MCC selection last year after averaging 15.8 points and 8 rebounds per game. One important new face is 6-9 junior forward Mark Jewell, the 1986 Indiana Mr. Basketball who transferred from Iowa.
One down note for the Aces came when senior guard Reed Crafton, who led the club in assists last year, was dismissed from the team. Sophomore Chris Mack is the leading candidate to replace him.
New Dayton coach Jim O'Brien replaces Don Donoher with the Flyers, but he has 11 returning lettermen to help ease the transition. Dayton lost only one starter from last year's club and has six seniors back.
Forward Anthony Corbitt led the team in scoring (15.6 ppg), rebounding (7 per game) and field goal percentage (.549). Guard Negele Knight averaged 13.9 ppg and led the club in steals, assists and minutes.
Other key seniors are guards Noland Robinson and Ray Springer.
Marquette will play its initial MCC season under new head coach Kevin O'Neill, marking the first time in their 72-year basketball history the Warriors have been in a conference.
O'Neill has some depth, with only one starter gone from last year's 13-15 team. Senior point guard Tony Smith and junior center Trevor Powell, who led the team in scoring with 15.1 ppg, are the key returnees for Marquette.
Detroit coach Ricky Byrdsong faces a tough rebuilding task with only one starter, point guard Bill Wood, returning. The Titans signed seven freshmen and two junior college transfers last year, which bodes well for the future but could leaves 1989-90 as a rebuilding campaign.
Will Rey is in his first year as coach at Loyola (Ill.), and has a young team, including swingman Keith Gailes, the MCC's newcomer of the year. The Ramblers don't have any seniors on their roster and just three juniors.
Another new coach in the MCC is Butler's Barry Collier, who has 14 lettermen and four starters back from last year's 11-17 club. But the Bulldogs don't have a returning starter over 6-5, and the tallest player on the team is 6-8 center Rick Berry.
