The COVID-19 pandemic may have put all sports on hold for the indefinite future for this season, but for the scheduled 2020-21 season of college athletics, the show must go on.
And no coach has made more use of the offseason in his two, going on three, years at MTSU more than Nick McDevitt. And earlier this week, MTSU added two big transfer additions to the Blue Raider roster for next season following one of the worst seasons in school history.
Elias King, a 6’8″ forward from Mississippi State, and Dontrell Shuler, a 6’2″ point guard from Charleston Southern, both signed on the dotted line to spend the next year as a part of Middle Tennessee State.
“In high school, (King) went toe-to-toe with Ashton Hagans who went to Kentucky, and Anthony Edwards who went to Georgia and might be the #1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft,” Oliver Baltz of the BlueRaiderReport said.
Shuler led Charleston Southern in points per game as a sophomore and will have two years of eligibility to use as a Blue Raider. His scoring output will look to replace the departing Antonio Green as well as C.J. Jones, who decided to turn professional last week in a shocking blow to MTSU.
King played sparingly in his one and only year as a member of Mississippi State. His size will be joined by MTSU’s lone signing out of high school in 6’10” Christian Fussell.
Together alongside Eastern Kentucky transfer DeAndre Dishman, who missed all of last season with a brutal injury, MTSU will look to stock up its frontcourt which featured a lot of new and fresh faces in 2019-20.
Coach McDevitt has made transfers a key part of his lineup so far, with C.J. Jones and Reggie Scurry playing key roles last season.
With players such as Jo’Vantae Milner and Jalen Jordan set to take bigger roles in 2020-21, it looks like a possible light at the end of the tunnel may be available for the Blue Raiders after two down years.
