Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: A Latecomer’s Guide to 2022 MT Basketball
1/2/2022 5:15:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, BRAA
Three Blue Raiders and Three Lady Raiders to watch as fall turns to winter
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It's been about six months since I moved to Murfreesboro, and in that time, I'd say I've gotten my first true glance at Southern Football culture. Sure, North Carolina, where I was born, raised, and lived the vast majority of my life, has bits and pieces of that in its culture as well, but nowhere is as college football obsessed as the markets around here, in my not so humble opinion.
I preface this first column of 2022 to say that now that college football is very nearly over after New Year's Day, and the NFL is playing the final couple of games of its regular season (shoutout to all those sweating their friendly fantasy football championships this weekend, or the loser's bracket games to determine who takes the last place punishment), it's finally time to turn the page fully to where my Tobacco Road roots are engrained.
College basketball.
Of course, college basketball has been going on for months at this point. Both the Blue Raiders and the Lady Raiders have completely finished their non-conference slates while college football continued to lead the way in local sports pages, after all. It was like that even when I was in college at North Carolina to some extent, even when I covered a reigning national champion Tar Heel team following the 2016-17 season.
All this to say, if you're just now tuning into where MT Men's and Women's Basketball is headed in 2022, you're not alone. And as C-USA play tips off this weekend, here are three players for each team (one true freshman, one transfer and one veteran) that you should know before diving into the 9-4 Blue Raiders or the 9-3 Lady Raiders this winter.
Freshmen
Jalynn Gregory, Guard — Rick Insell was very high on every member of his freshman recruiting class this season, and his confidence has been rewarded early in the 2021-22 campaign, with Courtney Blakely, Anastasiia Boldryeva and Gregory all playing key roles for the Lady Raiders thus far this season. Gregory is the one with the most accolades in her young career, already earning C-USA Freshman of the Week honors twice through the non-conference season.
And it's not hard to see why Coach Insell trusts the 5-8 guard from Lafayette, Tenn. to play over 33 minutes a game on average. She does literally everything he wants his wings to do well: shoot (11.8 PPG, 36.0 percent from beyond the arc), rebound (4.1 RPG) and especially defend.
Gregory's on and off ball defense has often made my jaw drop when looking back at stat sheets post-game and I see the player she was marking finished well below her season average in points. It passes the eye test as well, you don't see her mark generally have many, if any, good chances to score, and that's only when they're able to get the ball. Offensively, she's also capable of driving past her defender, or keeping them honest with some absurd range.
Teafale Lenard Jr., Forward — Lenard came to Murfreesboro with a lot of hype, a 3-star true freshman prospect that was a late flip for Nick McDevitt from Tulsa in the 2021 class. Consistently ranked in the Top 150 nationally across all major recruiting services, the Synder, Texas native is the second highest ranked recruit to sign with a C-USA Men's basketball program in the class of 2021, behind Zion Harmon of Western Kentucky.
The Hurricanes' loss has been the Blue Raiders' gain, as the 6-7 forward has been an essential bench weapon for MT in the early stretch of the season. He quickly earned C-USA Freshman of Week honors for November 22, and is typically one of the first players off the bench for McDevitt this season, averaging 6.8 PPG with 3.5 RPG and 0.9 SPG. He's led the Blue Raiders in rebounding three times this season, all off the bench.
Lenard is a little raw in some areas of his game, like most freshmen across college basketball are. But he's a relentless effort guy that can defend nearly every position on the court, with athleticism you don't see around C-USA all that often. His dunks (a category in which he's almost always leading the team ahead of each game) certainly get the fans on their feet, but I think his blocking on defense will be something to watch develop as he gets more comfortable in the Blue Raiders' defensive sets, like this one he got at Chattanooga before the holidays.
Transfer Newcomers
Dor Saar, Guard — Like a lot of categories for the Lady Raiders, it's hard to pick just one transfer to look out for here. Kseniya Malashaka, a VCU transfer, has been MT's most dependable post player down the stretch so far this season. But Saar, one the best players in the history of the University of Maine, her former school, is the engine that helps this year's Lady Raider squad run.
The all-time leading three-point leader for the Black Bears, Saar is the only player in Maine history to finish her career with at least 1,000 points and 500 assists and was a three-time All-American East selection during her time as a Black Bear. As a Lady Raider, the Israeli has picked up right where she left off going into her final year of eligibility, starting at point guard for Rick Insell and averaging 12.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.1 APG and 1.7 SPG through the first 12 games of the season.
Saar took some time adjusting to the rhythm of how the Lady Raiders play early in the season, but her veteran leadership is critical on a team that has several key contributors in their first or second year of playing college ball. Even when she's taking a break on the bench, it seems like she's an extra coach on staff as often as she's encouraging and helping her teammates. On the court, Saar is a crafty player, with a good eye for jarring the ball loose for a steal, or for finding a quick outlet pass for an easy score, like she did down at Daytona Beach over Thanksgiving break.
Josh Jefferson, Guard — Jefferson, like a lot of players on Middle's roster and throughout college basketball, is a well traveled student athlete, having cut his teeth in college ball at the JuCo ranks before playing at both Illinois State and Wisconsin-Green Bay before coming to Murfreesboro as a graduate transfer this season. He's started all 13 games since his arrival, averaging 12.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.5 assists and steals per game.
The New Albany, Ind. native isn't the flashiest guard around, but he's remarkably consistent, as seen from his 30-for-32 clip from the free throw line so far this season. Most importantly, however, is that he knows his role within the offense, which is to score the basketball. Use whatever video game analogy you want: the microwave icon from NBA2K or going "on fire" in NBA Jam. Jefferson has the ability to knock down shots in chunks each and every game, which makes him exciting to watch.
His best game so far this season was the 29 points he dropped on the road at Murray State, but his 23 points at Stephen F. Austin also deserves special attention, as he went a perfect 14-for-14 from the charity stripe down in Texas. For the MT men to reach their potential in C-USA play, they'll need Jefferson to continue his hot shooting: he's led the team in scoring six times already this season.
Veterans
Courtney Whitson, Forward — Those familiar with Lady Raider basketball, or even just basketball around the midstate, will already know Courtney Whitson's name. The junior forward has started every single game possible since she's stepped on campus at Middle Tennessee, and it's not hard to see why. She can guard players both in the post and out on the perimeter. She can score both inside the paint and from beyond the arc. And even when her shot isn't falling, she's a good rebounder, averaging 6.5 boards a game to go along with 12.8 PPG this season.
She's also a bit of a litmus test for the Lady Raiders' success. When she scores at least 10 points, the Lady Raiders are 7-1 as a team. When Whitson fails to score at least 10 points, MT falls to just 2-2. That was, in part, the story of the team this weekend to open C-USA play, when MT dominated UTSA on Thursday night behind 31 points from Whitson, before falling on Saturday to UTEP after the Miners held the Kingsport, Tenn. native to just three points.
Whitson's valuable to this team in particular because she's a veteran leader who's been in the program a long time, alongside seniors Alexis and Amanda Whittington. With so many new faces across Rick Insell's roster, Whitson has clearly had an impact on setting the team's "blue collar, hard hat" culture with her own play, and helps keep the team even keeled throughout tough games this season. She's nearly always on the court as well — of the team's 12 games so far this season, Whitson has played every single minute of six of them — making her leadership all the more impactful.
DeAndre Dishman, Forward — No one would mistake Dishman for a particularly flashy post player in the modern college game. He's a bit undersized at 6-6, he doesn't have the explosion he used to possess after knee injuries caused him to miss all of the 2019-20 season and limited him substantially in 2020-21. But in a 2021-22 season that's seen both Jalen Jordan and Jared Coleman-Jones miss substantial time for the Blue Raiders so far, Dishman, alongside the "Mayor of Murfreesboro" Donovan Sims, has given Nick McDevitt the veteran presence a new team needs.
The former Eastern Kentucky transfer has some of the team's best touch around the rim, but what immediately stood out to me about his game was his passing ability. MT likes to run a lot of their offensive sets with Dishman making decisions from the top of the key, setting up handoffs or passes out to the wing from his capable hands. There's not a ton of bigs in the country that can say they've had a seven assist game this year, as Dishman did against Murray State in December.
Dishman is also key to the more "positionless" lineups McDevitt is rolling out this season. A lot of his teammates are more comfortable guarding on the wings, so Dishman is often on the opposing team's best post player when on defense. And despite often facing a size mismatch, Dishman has the ability to deny his man the ball pretty effectively, while also being able to take him out of the play on offense by running things from the top of the key, opening driving lanes or cuts to the hoop. He will be key to MT getting back to winning ways in Conference USA.
I preface this first column of 2022 to say that now that college football is very nearly over after New Year's Day, and the NFL is playing the final couple of games of its regular season (shoutout to all those sweating their friendly fantasy football championships this weekend, or the loser's bracket games to determine who takes the last place punishment), it's finally time to turn the page fully to where my Tobacco Road roots are engrained.
College basketball.
Of course, college basketball has been going on for months at this point. Both the Blue Raiders and the Lady Raiders have completely finished their non-conference slates while college football continued to lead the way in local sports pages, after all. It was like that even when I was in college at North Carolina to some extent, even when I covered a reigning national champion Tar Heel team following the 2016-17 season.
All this to say, if you're just now tuning into where MT Men's and Women's Basketball is headed in 2022, you're not alone. And as C-USA play tips off this weekend, here are three players for each team (one true freshman, one transfer and one veteran) that you should know before diving into the 9-4 Blue Raiders or the 9-3 Lady Raiders this winter.
Freshmen
Jalynn Gregory, Guard — Rick Insell was very high on every member of his freshman recruiting class this season, and his confidence has been rewarded early in the 2021-22 campaign, with Courtney Blakely, Anastasiia Boldryeva and Gregory all playing key roles for the Lady Raiders thus far this season. Gregory is the one with the most accolades in her young career, already earning C-USA Freshman of the Week honors twice through the non-conference season.
And it's not hard to see why Coach Insell trusts the 5-8 guard from Lafayette, Tenn. to play over 33 minutes a game on average. She does literally everything he wants his wings to do well: shoot (11.8 PPG, 36.0 percent from beyond the arc), rebound (4.1 RPG) and especially defend.
Gregory's on and off ball defense has often made my jaw drop when looking back at stat sheets post-game and I see the player she was marking finished well below her season average in points. It passes the eye test as well, you don't see her mark generally have many, if any, good chances to score, and that's only when they're able to get the ball. Offensively, she's also capable of driving past her defender, or keeping them honest with some absurd range.
Q3 (5:51) | @GregoryJalynn from Broadway! 🎯🏙 pic.twitter.com/BDA5jMLFLe
— MT Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) December 5, 2021
Teafale Lenard Jr., Forward — Lenard came to Murfreesboro with a lot of hype, a 3-star true freshman prospect that was a late flip for Nick McDevitt from Tulsa in the 2021 class. Consistently ranked in the Top 150 nationally across all major recruiting services, the Synder, Texas native is the second highest ranked recruit to sign with a C-USA Men's basketball program in the class of 2021, behind Zion Harmon of Western Kentucky.
The Hurricanes' loss has been the Blue Raiders' gain, as the 6-7 forward has been an essential bench weapon for MT in the early stretch of the season. He quickly earned C-USA Freshman of Week honors for November 22, and is typically one of the first players off the bench for McDevitt this season, averaging 6.8 PPG with 3.5 RPG and 0.9 SPG. He's led the Blue Raiders in rebounding three times this season, all off the bench.
Lenard is a little raw in some areas of his game, like most freshmen across college basketball are. But he's a relentless effort guy that can defend nearly every position on the court, with athleticism you don't see around C-USA all that often. His dunks (a category in which he's almost always leading the team ahead of each game) certainly get the fans on their feet, but I think his blocking on defense will be something to watch develop as he gets more comfortable in the Blue Raiders' defensive sets, like this one he got at Chattanooga before the holidays.
GIMME THAT 🚫
— MT Basketball (@MT_MBB) December 23, 2021
1H | 7:32
MT 24, UTC 17#BlueRaiders ✘ @TeafaleJ pic.twitter.com/ln9gm80C29
Transfer Newcomers
Dor Saar, Guard — Like a lot of categories for the Lady Raiders, it's hard to pick just one transfer to look out for here. Kseniya Malashaka, a VCU transfer, has been MT's most dependable post player down the stretch so far this season. But Saar, one the best players in the history of the University of Maine, her former school, is the engine that helps this year's Lady Raider squad run.
The all-time leading three-point leader for the Black Bears, Saar is the only player in Maine history to finish her career with at least 1,000 points and 500 assists and was a three-time All-American East selection during her time as a Black Bear. As a Lady Raider, the Israeli has picked up right where she left off going into her final year of eligibility, starting at point guard for Rick Insell and averaging 12.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.1 APG and 1.7 SPG through the first 12 games of the season.
Saar took some time adjusting to the rhythm of how the Lady Raiders play early in the season, but her veteran leadership is critical on a team that has several key contributors in their first or second year of playing college ball. Even when she's taking a break on the bench, it seems like she's an extra coach on staff as often as she's encouraging and helping her teammates. On the court, Saar is a crafty player, with a good eye for jarring the ball loose for a steal, or for finding a quick outlet pass for an easy score, like she did down at Daytona Beach over Thanksgiving break.
Q4 (3:13) | Dor Saar ➡️ @Alexisw_23 for the fastbreak layup! Lady Raiders maintaining their double-digit advantage!
— MT Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) November 27, 2021
MT 58, Illinois 47#BlueRaiders | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/GTBbJyiC5D
Josh Jefferson, Guard — Jefferson, like a lot of players on Middle's roster and throughout college basketball, is a well traveled student athlete, having cut his teeth in college ball at the JuCo ranks before playing at both Illinois State and Wisconsin-Green Bay before coming to Murfreesboro as a graduate transfer this season. He's started all 13 games since his arrival, averaging 12.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.5 assists and steals per game.
The New Albany, Ind. native isn't the flashiest guard around, but he's remarkably consistent, as seen from his 30-for-32 clip from the free throw line so far this season. Most importantly, however, is that he knows his role within the offense, which is to score the basketball. Use whatever video game analogy you want: the microwave icon from NBA2K or going "on fire" in NBA Jam. Jefferson has the ability to knock down shots in chunks each and every game, which makes him exciting to watch.
His best game so far this season was the 29 points he dropped on the road at Murray State, but his 23 points at Stephen F. Austin also deserves special attention, as he went a perfect 14-for-14 from the charity stripe down in Texas. For the MT men to reach their potential in C-USA play, they'll need Jefferson to continue his hot shooting: he's led the team in scoring six times already this season.
.@Josh_Jefferson1 all the way from New Albany ☄️
— MT Basketball (@MT_MBB) December 12, 2021
2H | 7:40
MT 71. UTM 59#MT pic.twitter.com/omON9vfiSc
Veterans
Courtney Whitson, Forward — Those familiar with Lady Raider basketball, or even just basketball around the midstate, will already know Courtney Whitson's name. The junior forward has started every single game possible since she's stepped on campus at Middle Tennessee, and it's not hard to see why. She can guard players both in the post and out on the perimeter. She can score both inside the paint and from beyond the arc. And even when her shot isn't falling, she's a good rebounder, averaging 6.5 boards a game to go along with 12.8 PPG this season.
She's also a bit of a litmus test for the Lady Raiders' success. When she scores at least 10 points, the Lady Raiders are 7-1 as a team. When Whitson fails to score at least 10 points, MT falls to just 2-2. That was, in part, the story of the team this weekend to open C-USA play, when MT dominated UTSA on Thursday night behind 31 points from Whitson, before falling on Saturday to UTEP after the Miners held the Kingsport, Tenn. native to just three points.
Whitson's valuable to this team in particular because she's a veteran leader who's been in the program a long time, alongside seniors Alexis and Amanda Whittington. With so many new faces across Rick Insell's roster, Whitson has clearly had an impact on setting the team's "blue collar, hard hat" culture with her own play, and helps keep the team even keeled throughout tough games this season. She's nearly always on the court as well — of the team's 12 games so far this season, Whitson has played every single minute of six of them — making her leadership all the more impactful.
Get you a teammate and hype woman like @WhitsonCourtney pic.twitter.com/yX16zOB5gu
— MT Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) November 5, 2021
DeAndre Dishman, Forward — No one would mistake Dishman for a particularly flashy post player in the modern college game. He's a bit undersized at 6-6, he doesn't have the explosion he used to possess after knee injuries caused him to miss all of the 2019-20 season and limited him substantially in 2020-21. But in a 2021-22 season that's seen both Jalen Jordan and Jared Coleman-Jones miss substantial time for the Blue Raiders so far, Dishman, alongside the "Mayor of Murfreesboro" Donovan Sims, has given Nick McDevitt the veteran presence a new team needs.
The former Eastern Kentucky transfer has some of the team's best touch around the rim, but what immediately stood out to me about his game was his passing ability. MT likes to run a lot of their offensive sets with Dishman making decisions from the top of the key, setting up handoffs or passes out to the wing from his capable hands. There's not a ton of bigs in the country that can say they've had a seven assist game this year, as Dishman did against Murray State in December.
Dishman is also key to the more "positionless" lineups McDevitt is rolling out this season. A lot of his teammates are more comfortable guarding on the wings, so Dishman is often on the opposing team's best post player when on defense. And despite often facing a size mismatch, Dishman has the ability to deny his man the ball pretty effectively, while also being able to take him out of the play on offense by running things from the top of the key, opening driving lanes or cuts to the hoop. He will be key to MT getting back to winning ways in Conference USA.
.@D_RDishman big offensive board and putback gets us started in the second half 👊
— MT Basketball (@MT_MBB) December 19, 2021
2H | 19:36
MT 37, CCU 37 pic.twitter.com/sGHV0qrHIa
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