2025-2026 roster

[WBR Tom]

Fred is officially heading to Murray State with the Millers. Good for him -- I think he'll be a really good player in the MVC.

[cujaysfan]

Fred and a return to form Mason should both avg 15 ppg or so in the Valley. Fred probably gets about 10 rebs too if he can stay out of foul trouble.

Fred will be a size, strength, athleticism matchup nightmare for most MVC teams - go get some, Fred!!

[AttyAlum]

If Fred could stop fouling, he could be a decent contributor. That’s a big “if” though as he has yet to see a pump fake that he doesn’t fall for.

[JacobPadilla]

Fred and a return to form Mason should both avg 15 ppg or so in the Valley. Fred probably gets about 10 rebs too if he can stay out of foul trouble.

Fred will be a size, strength, athleticism matchup nightmare for most MVC teams - go get some, Fred!!

The MVC was the 10th-best conference by KenPom rating last season. It's not like it's a low-major league. Only 9 players averaged better than 15 PPG and none even got to 8 RPG last year.

Wishing the best for those guys, but probably need to rein in the expectations a bit.

[cujaysfan]

considering he played an avg of 6 minutes a game here - and he should get about 30 at Murray against guys he should physically overmatch - i think 15/10 isn't unrealistic

he avg about 3/1.5 in 6 minutes a game - extrapolating 5x minutes gets you pretty damn close to my numbers. with the caveat that i originally said about controlling his fouling.

[NateFunkyTown]

considering he played an avg of 6 minutes a game here - and he should get about 30 at Murray against guys he should physically overmatch - i think 15/10 isn't unrealistic

he avg about 3/1.5 in 6 minutes a game - extrapolating 5x minutes gets you pretty damn close to my numbers. with the caveat that i originally said about controlling his fouling.

Ehhh it's not that simple at all. The more minutes you play, the more difficult it becomes to maintain your scoring/rebounding/etc. rate. Controlling your fouling also isn't something you can just expect for bigs. I believe Kalk has spoiled us in this respect, same with conditioning.

I also think you're really greatly underestimating the talent in the MVC. Many consider Bennett Stirtz to be one of the best transfers in the country and he's coming off a 19/6/4 season in the league. 15 and 10 is just really hard. I'd go as far as to say it's more likely King would lose the starting job than put up 15+ and 10+ in his first year playing major minutes in D1.

[JacobPadilla]

considering he played an avg of 6 minutes a game here - and he should get about 30 at Murray against guys he should physically overmatch - i think 15/10 isn't unrealistic

he avg about 3/1.5 in 6 minutes a game - extrapolating 5x minutes gets you pretty damn close to my numbers. with the caveat that i originally said about controlling his fouling.

Extrapolation doesn't really work that way. The more minutes you play, the more teams game plan for you on both ends, the more fatigue impacts your play, etc. I'll wait to see what the Murray State roster looks like before locking him in for 30 minutes. Fouling isn't the only thing he has to improve to get close to 30 minutes per game for any team.

Fred's also listed at 6'9", 250. It's not likely he's Kalkbrenner physically. There will be comparable posts in the Valley. He's not dropping to Division II.

[Bluejoe]

I love Fred. Great kid. I want to see him succeed. But, rewatch the games he played in this March. Hopefully he starts for Murray, but I would not expect him to average double figures.

Would love if he proved me wrong, though.

[Realhoops]

considering he played an avg of 6 minutes a game here - and he should get about 30 at Murray against guys he should physically overmatch - i think 15/10 isn't unrealistic

he avg about 3/1.5 in 6 minutes a game - extrapolating 5x minutes gets you pretty damn close to my numbers. with the caveat that i originally said about controlling his fouling.

Extrapolation doesn't really work that way. The more minutes you play, the more teams game plan for you on both ends, the more fatigue impacts your play, etc. I'll wait to see what the Murray State roster looks like before locking him in for 30 minutes. Fouling isn't the only thing he has to improve to get close to 30 minutes per game for any team.

Fred's also listed at 6'9", 250. It's not likely he's Kalkbrenner physically. There will be comparable posts in the Valley. He's not dropping to Division II.

Also bears factoring in that his very limited minutes this year often also coincided with our opponents taking their top bigs out to rest at the same time Kalk did.

Love Fred. Hope he has a great year and they do well in the MVC. Don't think he's instantly going to be an all conference shoe-in just because he's coming from Creighton to there. There are a lot of really, really talented players all over that conference. And the Valley is an attractive option for other solid bigs who want to transfer down, so he is likely going to run into some others who are coming from major conferences.

[Chicagojayfan]

considering he played an avg of 6 minutes a game here - and he should get about 30 at Murray against guys he should physically overmatch - i think 15/10 isn't unrealistic

he avg about 3/1.5 in 6 minutes a game - extrapolating 5x minutes gets you pretty damn close to my numbers. with the caveat that i originally said about controlling his fouling.

Ehhh it's not that simple at all. The more minutes you play, the more difficult it becomes to maintain your scoring/rebounding/etc. rate. Controlling your fouling also isn't something you can just expect for bigs. I believe Kalk has spoiled us in this respect, same with conditioning.

I also think you're really greatly underestimating the talent in the MVC. Many consider Bennett Stirtz to be one of the best transfers in the country and he's coming off a 19/6/4 season in the league. 15 and 10 is just really hard. I'd go as far as to say it's more likely King would lose the starting job than put up 15+ and 10+ in his first year playing major minutes in D1.

I like to look at per 40 numbers (and get ribbed for it at times), but it's a useful way to look at a player's per minute efficiency (some good examples include Groselle, for instance). But, like you say there are limitations:

- We've been spoiled by Kalkbrenner playing so many minutes. I just can't imagine King playing that many even if he's in great shape
- Fouls - Against non garbage competition, King was a fouling machine. He fouled a lower rate this year, but his minutes were lower than before this year, and I think when he was in against better players the foul rate looked about the same. I doubt he's a guy who can play 30 minutes even if his conditioning let him due to the fouls
- His rebounding rate was great before, but dropped a lot this year. He should overwhelm a lot of the MVC talent, though. He could lead the league (Schwiegert led with 7.8 this year as a comp, so probably not a lot more than that)
- He can score when he gets the ball in the paint, and I suspect he'll do well there scoring wise. As a coach, Miller understands spacing so I imagine he'll have the shooters to give King space inside

If I had to guess, maybe 12ppg, 6.5-7 or maybe even 8 boards, 1.5-2 blocks. Based on fouls and probably having to run the floor more, I think 20 mpg and maybe up to 25, but that would likely be pushing it.

When looking at the MVC, I realized Modestas Kancleris finished his career at Illinois Chicago - 4th in rebounding in the MVC last year at only a bit over 20mpg, 3rd n blocks, 2nd in 2 pt FG%. happy he was able to find a place to play