Large crop of newcomers helps shape Raiders roster

11/20/2020 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball position breakdown

By: Josh Vardaman

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — There are plenty of new faces ready to take the Murphy Center hardwood this season for the first time as Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee's roster includes only six returning letterwinners and nine newcomers, eight of them Division I transfers with two coming from Power 5 programs. Five of those newcomers were at MT last season either taking a redshirt or injured.

The team will look a little different this season, but head coach Nick McDevitt is excited about what he's seen in practice so far as he prepares for his third season at the helm.

"We're excited about our team," McDevitt said. "Meshing that group with our returning nucleus of veterans is the challenge at this point, particularly considering COVID-19. You're trying to form a team and get them together and have team chemistry on and off the court, and we're told to stay away from each other off the court. That is our challenge these days."

Guards
Three Blue Raider guards who competed last season are back this year, including senior Murfreesboro native Donovan Sims, junior guard/forward combo Jayce Johnson and sophomore Eli Lawrence. They'll have competition for playing time with five transfers.

Jordan Davis, Jalen Jordan and Brian Coffey II all took redshirt seasons at MT last year, while Elias King and Dontrell Shuler transferred in this offseason and were granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. They're hoping to jump in and contribute from the season's opening tip.

The Blue Raiders are hoping to cut down their average of 14.1 turnovers per game from last season and improve on a 3-point defense that was last in Conference USA. Good guard play could go a long way towards accomplishing both.

Donovan Sims, Sr., Murfreesboro (Blackman High School)
• 64 career starts, including all 31 games in 2019-20
• Scored 667 career points, averaging 8.8 per game in 2019-20
• Led team in assists last two seasons, including 3.2 per game in 2019-20
• Career 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio

Jayce Johnson, Jr., Buffalo, NY (Canisius High School)
• Started 47 of 62 career games played, including 23 starts in 2019-20
• Averaged 8.3 points, 5.2 rebounds (team high) and 2.2 assists per game in 2019-20
• Shot 45.3% from the field in 2019-20
• Will also play forward for the Blue Raiders

Eli Lawrence, So., Atlanta, GA (Tri-Cities High School)
• Played in all 31 games as a freshman in 2019-20
• 5.9 points per game led MT's freshmen in 2019-20
• Scored 27 points on 7-9 from 3-point range with 6 rebounds, 3 steals at UTSA on Feb. 1

Jordan Davis, R-Jr., Irmo, SC (Dutch Fork High School)
• Took a redshirt last season after transferring from Dayton
• Started 54 games in two years at Dayton
• Averaged 9.8 points per game as a sophomore in 2018-19
• Career 41.2% shooter, 35.9% from 3-point range

Jalen Jordan, R-Jr., Conyers, GA (Rockdale County High School)
• Took a redshirt last season after transferring from St. Francis of Brooklyn
• Started 63 games in two years at St. Francis
• Averaged 14.8 points (team high) and 3.6 rebounds as a sophomore in 2018-19
• Career 42.3% shooter, 41.5% from 3-point range

Elias King, So., Atlanta, GA (Lincoln Academy)
• Transferred this season from Mississippi State
• Granted immediate eligibility to play this season
• Played in six games as a freshman at Mississippi State in 2019-20
• Former 4-star recruit and top 125 player nationally according to Lindy's Magazine

Dontrell Shuler, Jr., Irmo, SC (Legacy Charter School)
• Transferred this season from Charleston Southern
• Granted immediate eligibility to play this season
• Started 34 games in two years at Charleston Southern
• Averaged 17.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 15 games as a sophomore in 2019-20
• Career 44.4% shooter

Brian Coffey II, R-Jr., Snellville, GA (Shiloh High School)
• Took a redshirt last season after transferring from North Florida
• Played in 55 games in two years at North Florida
• Averaged 7.8 minutes per game as a sophomore in 2018-19

Forwards
Middle Tennessee sorely lacked depth in the forward position last season due in large part to injuries. That meant Johnson often had to play as a forward, which he's comfortable doing but at 6-foot-5 gives up some size down low.

The Blue Raiders should have plenty of bodies to throw on the block this season thanks to four newcomers, including Northwestern transfer Jared Coleman-Jones, Mississippi Valley State transfer Marcus Mitchell, the team's lone true freshman Christian Fussell and DeAndre Dishman, who's missed the last two seasons due to a redshirt then preseason injury last year.

Those newcomers will add to talented returners Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss, Tyler Millin and Tyson Jackson, a C-USA All-Freshman Team member last season.

There should be a good combination of size down low and forwards who can step away from the basket and handle the ball, which will give the Raiders mismatches in multiple spots.

Tyson Jackson, So., Fairburn, GA (Creekside High School)
• Played in all 31 games with 22 starts as a freshman in 2019-20
• Named to C-USA All-Freshman Team
• Averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds and led team with 21 blocks in 2019-20
• Shot 49.3% from the floor in 2019-20

Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss, R-Sr., Burlington, NC (Hugh M. Cummings High School)
• Played in 19 games with 9 starts as a redshirt junior in 2019-20
• Averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds with 2 double-doubles in 2019-20
• Suffered two injuries that cost him multiple games in 2019-20
• Shot 44.4% from the floor, 33.3% from 3-point range in 2019-20

Tyler Millin, So., Calera, AL (Calera High School)
• Played in 26 games as a freshman in 2019-20
• Averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 2019-20
• Scored in double figures at Lipscomb (11) and against Mars Hill (12)

DeAndre Dishman, R-Jr., Lexington, KY (Bryan Station High School)
• Missed all of 2019-20 due to knee injury suffered in preseason
• Took a redshirt season in 2018-19 after transferring from Eastern Kentucky
• Started 30 games in two years at Eastern Kentucky
• Averaged 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, .9 steals, .7 blocks as a sophomore in 2017-18

Jared Coleman-Jones, So., Hiram, GA (McEachern High School)
• Transferred this season from Northwestern
• Granted immediate eligibility to play this season
• Played in all 31 games as a freshman for Northwestern in 2019-20
• Averaged 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 2019-20

Marcus Mitchell, R-Sr., Memphis, TN (Germantown High School)
• Took a redshirt in 2019-20 after transferring from Mississippi Valley State
• Started 6 games, playing in 18 games in lone year at Mississippi Valley State in 2017-18
• Averaged 3.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 2017-18

Christian Fussell, Fr., Decatur, GA (Greenforest Christian Academy)
• Averaged 16 points, 14 rebounds in 2019-20
• 3-star recruit according to Rivals and 247Sports
• Ranked 18^th best recruit in GA, 35^th best center in 2020 class nationally by 247Sports