CLASS OF 2008
Kevin Dillard, Homewood-Flossmoor (Southern Illinois)
The Sun-Times Player of the Year in 2008 was the MVC Freshman of the Year in 2009. He averaged 12.3 points and 4.6 assists per game in two seasons in Carbondale before transferring to Dayton, where he continued to shine.
CLASS OF 2010
Rayvonte Rice, Champaign Centennial
(Drake)
As a freshman, he put up 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Then he averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds as a sophomore. He transferred to Illinois for his final two years and had outstanding numbers in the Big Ten as well.
CLASS OF 2012
Fred VanVleet, Rockford Auburn
(Wichita State)
At the time, Wichita State was still in the MVC. VanVleet, an NBA champion point guard with the Raptors who just signed a four-year, $85 million contract, was a two-time MVC Player of the Year and an All-American. He led the Shockers to a Final Four in 2013 and scored 1,439 college career points.
Milton Doyle, Marshall (Loyola)
The wiry Doyle finished his college career with 1,606 points — eighth in school history — and capped off a terrific four years with a big senior season. He averaged 15.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and nearly two steals per game in his final season.
Anthony Beane, Normal (Southern Illinois)
Beane finished with 1,917 college career points, third-most in SIU history. He also made the all-MVC freshman team in 2013 and was a second-team all-MVC choice twice before making the first team as a senior.
CLASS OF 2014
Josh Cunningham, Morgan Park
(Bradley)
He averaged 7.9 points and 7.5 rebounds and was named to the all-freshman team after his first season. Fromthere, he transferred to Dayton, where he was a two-year starter, averaging 15.6 and 13.3 points as a junior and senior, respectively.
CLASS OF 2017 Cameron Krutwig, Jacobs
(Loyola)
Currently a senior, Krutwig was a key piece in the Ramblers’ Final Four run as a freshman in 2018. With a season left to play, he already has 1,384 points and 737 rebounds in his career. He’s a two-time All-MVP pick and a regular player of the year candidate.
CLASS OF 2018
Javon Freeman-Liberty, Young (Valparaiso)
As a freshman, he was the first MVC player since 2011 to be named to the all-freshman and all-defensive teams in the same season. He added All-MVC first team honors as a sophomore. He scored 992 points in just two seasons at Valpo before transferring to DePaul last May.
CLASS OF 2019
Marquise Kennedy, Brother Rice
(Loyola)
Kennedy has made a big impression already in one season, averaging 9.2 points as a freshman. He was named the MVC’s Sixth Man of the Year and included on the league’s all-freshman team.
Donovan Clay, Alton (Valparaiso)
Clay is a sleeper who shined as a freshman with 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while leading Valpo with 36 blocks — credentials that landed him on the allfreshman team.
TomWelch, Naperville North (Loyola)
He played some minutes off the bench as a freshman and now waits for his role to expand for a loaded Ramblers team.