“One year, we had a team picked sixth that won it. They’re never right,” he said. “Most people are just throwing balls in the air, and where they land, that’s where they pick them.”
Nagy is being facetious, but there likely are too many variables to get an accurate reading on each team at this stage.
The Raiders, who return two starters from last year’s 22-13 squad, were picked fifth in the Horizon League in a vote of coaches, media and sports information directors. Valparaiso is the preseason favorite, getting 35 of 39 first-place votes, followed by Oakland, Green Bay and UIC.
Junior guard Mark Alstork, who averaged 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds last season for the Raiders, was named preseason second-team all-league.
Valpo, which has won the last three regular-season crowns, is a safe bet to prevail again. But Nagy said: “I’ll be shocked if it shakes out the way everybody picked — particularly this year with so many new coaches.”
Seven of the 10 conference coaches are either in their first or second years. And rosters are hard to assess with so much turnover from year to year.
The Raiders have a pair of under-the-radar additions with seniors Steven Davis and Mike LaTulip. The 6-foot-8 Davis missed most of the last two years with injuries, while the 6-1 LaTulip is a graduate transfer from Illinois.
“We’re expecting a lot from both of them,” Nagy said.
The 6-5 Alstork, who is transitioning to point guard, joins shooting guard Grant Benzinger as the only primary starters back for the Raiders. And though being picked all-league second team would be considered an honor by some, Nagy believes Alstork will focus more on being left off the first team and turn it into fuel.
“He’ll be thoroughly displeased with it,” the coach said. “He’s a very confident young man. He had a chip on his shoulder even before you add something like that.”
The Raiders, who have to replace three of their top four scorers in J.T. Yoho (12.6 per game), Michael Karena (9.9) and Joe Thomasson (9.6), developed a winning culture under previous coach Billy Donlon, though they haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2007.
Nagy was brought in to take them to the next step.
“Billy and the previous staff have recruited tough kids. They’re competitive — almost overly competitive. Sometimes you have to calm them down. But I’d rather have that than the other,” Nagy said.
The Raiders haven’t won a conference crown since sharing it with Butler in 2007. But while they may be projected as a middle-of-the-pack team, Nagy doesn’t see them that way:
“The way I think and want our players to think is, there’s only one way for us to go into this season, and that’s to try to win the league. I know they believe we can, and I believe we can.”
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