McLean County Times

Illinois State University women's basketball players Addison Martin and Nevaeh Thomas have been named among the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) "Players to Watch" for the 2025-26 season.

Martin, who joined Illinois State last season, was recognized on the All-MVC Newcomer Team. She was named MVC Newcomer of the Week three times and started all 37 games for the Redbirds. Martin, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, scored in double figures in 18 games, including two games with over 20 points. Her season-high was 23 points against Southern Illinois. She reached a career milestone by surpassing 1,000 points in March against the Salukis and finished the season shooting 58.3 percent from the field, ranking third in program history for single-season field goal percentage. Martin also shot at least 50 percent in 17 conference games and averaged 11.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

Thomas played in all 37 games last season, starting in 36. In her sophomore year, she averaged 12.1 points and led the team with seven rebounds per game. Thomas ranked fifth in the MVC with a field goal percentage of 54.5 percent and scored in double figures in 29 games, including the first 15 of the season. She recorded ten double-doubles—becoming only the sixth player in Illinois State history to achieve at least ten double-doubles in a season—and had two games with at least 20 points and ten rebounds. Her career-high was 25 points and ten rebounds against Indiana State. Thomas collected a total of 252 rebounds last season, tying her for fourteenth on Illinois State's single-season rebounding list and making her one of just thirteen players to surpass 250 rebounds in a season for the program. Off the court, Thomas earned First Team MVC Scholar-Athlete honors and was named to the CSC Academic All-District team.

Illinois State returns seven players from last year's squad that reached the WNIT Fab 4 round, including Doneelah Washington, who made the MVC All-Freshman team, and Martin from the All-MVC Newcomer team. The Redbirds finished last season with an overall record of 24-13, went 14-6 in conference play, and posted a home record of 14-4 at CEFCU Arena. The upcoming season will begin with an exhibition game against Illinois Wesleyan on October 26 at CEFCU Arena, followed by their regular season opener against Dayton on November 3.

"GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more."