[u][color=#FFFF00][b]Last season, Turk at 43.3% was the 2nd best freshman 3 pt shooter in the Division l, behind Michigan’s Nik Stauskas who shot 44.0% from 3 point range[/color][/u].[/b]

When it comes to 3 point shooting, Devon Turk was better than any player in the Horizon Conference last year, even though he was just a freshman who signed in the spring signing period.

Turk had the highest 3 pt. shooting percentage:
43.3% v. WSU’s JT Yoho 42.2% & Valpo’s Ryan Broekhoff 41.7%
Turk was the best.

Also in Horizon play, Turk led in 3 point shots made per 40 minutes played:
3.7 v. YSU’s Blake Allen’s 3.2 & & Valpo’s Ryan Broekhoff 3.1
Turk was the best.

Turk was also one of Loyola’s only 4 iron men who played in all 31 games.

When compared to the opposition in the Missouri Valley Conference, Turk is the best returning 3 point shooter, as the MVC has no returning player even qualifies by averaging the minimum 2.0 per game (all 5 who did average 2.0 per game, are gone for next year).
Turk was the best.

I do not have the 3 point shots made per 40 minutes stats for the Missouri Valley Conference, but in comparing 3 point shots made per game,
Turk averaged 2.1, while the next highest returning MVC player averaged 1.47.
Again, Turk is the best.

Compared to the whole nation, Turk ranks 16th among returning Division l players in 3pt. shooting percentage (minimum of 2.0 made per game).

Compared in conference play to all returning players in the MVC, Turk ranks 11th in total scoring (Christian Thomas ranks 3rd) .

Last year, Turk was a quick 6'4" 170 lb. freshman guard who had to learn a new system & to learn to assert himself, as he came from a high school program where he was only the 3rd leading scorer at 12.0 ppg, and played the 3rd guard or small forward position in HS.

Look for Turk to put on some more muscle this summer and to make vast improvements as did last year’s 2 returning freshmen, Joe Crisman & Christian Thomas (who last year was among the Horizon leaders in scoring, rebounding, FG shooting, and drawing FTs).

Like Jeff White at point guard, Devon Turk at shooting guard was a great signing by Coach Moser last year. It is hard to believe he signed both in the same year.

PS: [u][b][color=#FFFF00]With Michigan’s Trey Burke going pro & UCLA’s Larry Drew II graduating, there is no player in Division I who is better than Jeff White in both assists per game and assist/turnover ratio for the last 6 games of the season when White became the starting point guard.[/color][/b][/u]

When you look at the White (& Burke) & Turk (& Stauskas) similarities, in the future might there be a Loyola (& Michigan) similarity?

Stats from http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats & the Horizon Conference’s site: http://s3.amazonaws.com/hln/sports/stat ... 1369158934

FW great post good info You have to wonder if Jeff Whites stats didnt influence Cully Payne.
THe other side of this though is that Coach is a defense first coach and Turk and White will both have to get better....hopefully the increase in strength will help them on D

With the obscene number of games lost last year in the final two or three possessions (not to mention barely surviving in overtime at Chicago State), a dramatic improvement on defense is the most certain way to improve over last year. Loyola gave away multiple games they once led by double digits well into the second half. Having a healthy 8 or 9 man rotation and working on defense has to be a top priority.

Great points all !! Fleet and 63 hit it correctly as far as it goes--BUT one item was not considered--Turk, White and the rest will now be matched up against the MVC--NOT the Horizon League . The MVC is a BETTER Conference--probably by playing BETTER Defense--part of the game 63 touched upon-- our guys are all one year older and should be able to handle the MVC fairly well.
As for Turk and WShite, they have skills that will succeed in any league--Those Stats that Wolf lists willbe balanced by the better MVC. Both guys will be better --They need to be.
Both players will be just fine--as their work habits and talent are there ---They need to be --as the M VC is a better Conf--especially defensively. BTW Thomas will be our stalwart against the people we will be playing.

The MVC will have to work to match White's speed and floor skills --Turk will open others down low. Just guarding him will open things up.

Problem will be --Is our FIVE plus bench able to win --YUP !! I feel 4th or 5th --Possibly 6th--This season we shall have a bench--and hopefully less injuries.

I have never seen Turk play, but his stats indicate that he is a heck of a player.

But, I want remind you that there are a lot of good guards in the Valley.

WSU will probably have the best guard duo.

Some of the better guards in the Valley according to last year. (This is how I would rank them)

1. Jake Odum
2. Walt Lemon Jr.
3. Ron Baker

I probably saw as many MVC games last year as I saw HL games, and there were probably only two or three HL teams that would have had a reasonable chance of finishing .500 or better in the Valley-- Valpo, Detroit and (maybe) Wright State. UW-Green Bay reminded me a lot of Illinois State, a whole lot of talent on paper, but streaky, and couldn't decide from game to game what pace or style of play the would try to impose. Wright State was a lot like Indiana State-- young, heavy on defense, and similar in athleticism.

For all of the talk about how supposedly close the HL is to the MVC, the HL was 2-7 in head-to-head matchups with the MVC last season. The only two victories were Detroit beating Drake by 6 at Calihan and Valpo beating Missouri State by 8 in Springfield. Wright State lost at home to Evansville, and UIC lost a close game at home to Bradley. The rest of the games weren't even really close.

Granted, the MVC is likely to have a down year next season, with Creighton out of the league, ISU in heavy rebuilding mode, Drake with a new coach, and Evansville losing a lot of players to graduation (their two top scorers and top rebounder). Indiana State is really the only team besides Wichita State somewhat assured to finish in the top four, since they lost nobody from a young team that split against Creighton and WSU. I think Bradley will be much better, and UNI plays a style that almost assures being in just about every game.