Crystal Ball: Five predictions for University of Evansville athletics for 2024

EVANSVILLE — Well, this certainly has been a year, hasn’t it?

I’ve now been on the University of Evansville beat for almost two years and on the University of Southern Indiana beat for a little over a year. Crazy how time flies. A lot can happen in a year. For instance: Two years ago almost to the day I’m typing this, I was a college senior doom scrolling LinkedIn after being a finalist for a big internship in a major market looking for jobs.

This one was there. I knew UE was Division I. Hell, the Purple Aces had just beaten Kentucky a couple years ago. Could I point out Evansville on a map? Absolutely not. But it was D-I college hoops, so I threw my name in there. And now here I am.

A lot can happen in a year. It can be hard to predict. Sometimes maybe even silly to try. But here I am to do just that.

Let’s put our thinking caps on and look into the crystal ball. Here are five predictions about Aces sports for 2024:

Chuck Bailey III will be MVC Freshman of the Year

This isn’t a hot take, but it’s one that’s already being debated.

The MVC men’s basketball freshman class is as strong as it’s been in years. Last season’s foregone conclusion of Belmont’s Cade Tyson being freshman of the year is not this case this time around. Bailey is among the favorites for the title, along with Drake’s Kevin Overton.

Bailey has been one of UE’s most important players, playing a huge role off the bench and growing in confidence each game. His defensive work rate, scoring and versatility have him catching eyes in this early part of the season.

It’s not a hot take to think he’ll win the award by any stretch. Joshua Hughes may join him on the all-freshman team. That bodes well for future recruiting, too.

Baseball makes the NCAA Tournament

Now, I know I made this same call last year. But hey, it was one game away from happening. I’d say that wasn’t too bad.

It’s easy to see why there’s optimism around coach Wes Carroll’s team. UE returns its entire infield and key members of its pitching staff. Ty Rumsey looks set for a jump and the Aces hace depth in pretty much every position.

UE scheduled in a way to put itself in position for a potential at-large bid if things go the Aces’ way. That might be asking a lot when looking at just how loaded the slate is — at Oral Robers, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Michigan State to name a few — but UE is another year older and has the experience of being so close last season.

This could be a fun year at Braun Stadium, particularly with the Aces hosting the MVC Tournament.

Maggie Hartwig and/or Nevaeh Thomas make all-freshman team

To this point, it hasn’t been a standout year for the Aces women’s basketball team. It’s a young roster that’s dealt with some injury issues and has struggled to find consistency through the early season.

There’s still some reasons for optimism, particularly looking at the freshmen.

Thomas showed a lot of promise before going down with an ankle injury. Should she come back and play to the same level, she could find herself on the MVC All-Freshman Team. As could Hartwig, who recently got her third conference freshman of the week honor.

They’ve both shown they can compete and have scored and rebounded at a good level. While this season hasn’t gone to plan so far, Thomas and Hartwig are players UE can build around with the likes of Kynidi Mason Striverson and Julia Palomo.

Soccer teams improvement

The UE men’s and women’s soccer teams both have reasons for optimism. The men didn’t make the MVC Tournament after making the championship match in back-to-back seasons, while the women’s team made the first round after missing it last season.

UE men's soccer: How Francesco Brunetti returned to the pitch after two ACL tears

Both have reasons for optimism.

Nacho Diaz will likely be back from a season-ending injury and provide an attacking threat the Aces missed last season. The women’s team now has the tournament experience after making it with a younger squad last season. Both could have more success this fall.

UE men to win MVC tournament game

The Aces men haven’t won an Arch Madness game since beating Indiana State in 2017. Seems like a good time to break that steak.

UE has shown it can have success in tournament-like settings. The two-game sweep in Chattanooga and three wins in five days simulates that kind of environment. The Aces beat one of the MVC favorites in Northern Iowa and have improved in just about every metric from last season.

That combination of things makes a tournament win the next step.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Five predictions for University of Evansville athletics for 2024