I have 3 Valpo players mentioned in the latest content out today:
Can you really build a preseason All-MVC team in the transfer portal era?
With roster turnover, breakout candidates, and transfers arriving from every level of college basketball, projecting the Missouri Valley Conference has never been harder. In my latest article, I take on the nearly impossible task of selecting preseason First, Second, and Third Team All-Valley honors. From MVC Player of the Year contenders to sophomore breakout picks and overlooked dark horses, there are plenty of selections that will spark debate.
Well Murray gets the win last night, Belmont gets destroyed tonight. These are just exhibition games but the season feels on. We get our chance in a few weeks. I will watch every Valley team I can.
If you're looking for a road trip this season, Valpo's schedule gives you plenty of opportunities. I took a closer look at the Beacons' road slate over at The Beacon Brief. I'm looking forward to making it to several road games this year.
We've spent the entire offseason talking about this roster. Tuesday night, we finally get to watch it play in the ARC against competition.
Valpo hosts Olivet Nazarene at the ARC in the Beacons' final tune-up before the regular season. ONU brings plenty of experience, but this game is really about finding out more about Valpo.
I'm particularly interested in the rotation. It looks like there could be 10-11 guys legitimately competing for minutes, and Tuesday gives Roger Powell another opportunity to experiment with combinations and tune the pecking order before the games count.
I put together a preview of ONU, the matchup, and the questions I'll be watching Tuesday night.
Give it a read over at The Beacon Brief, and let me know what you'll be watching for. Please hit the "heart" button if you enjoy the content. This link will go live at midnight.
I just watched a press conference for PFW after they played Purdue. Their coach said they beat Valpo in a closed scrimmage.
I just watched a press conference for PFW after they played Purdue. Their coach said they beat Valpo in a closed scrimmage.
@vu72 I wouldn't put much stock into a closed scrimmage. They are designed to basically be glorified practices
I am always looking for Valpo-basketball-specific merch and the bookstore only has a few sad things. I saw this link posted, and I don't feel that Valpo advertises it well, so I'm sharing it here! BSN Team Sports- Valpo Basketball Store
Closed scrimmages mean nothing...often play 5 or 6 qtrs...play often stops for time outs/coaches discussions. Most coaches never talk about these scrimmages but at PFW it's different as they have no use for Valpo and have always wanted us to schedule them on a regular basis. Their Coach likes to talk so his comments should often be taken with a grain of salt Although their recent exibition game vs. Purdue drew over 10,000 fans it was controlled by Purdue as courtside seats cost $75, I believe the lowest price seats were $36. The game was played at Memorial Coliseum where some of PFW's home games are played. It normally seats over 10,000 for b-ball but the available seating for their games is way less than that. The funny part is that when they play there they usually get attendance of around 900-1100. They use this venue when a "big" conference game is scheduled.
Rumors of two secret scrimmages floating around: a loss to IPFW and a 1 point win against central Michigan.
Would be interested to know the rotations of these games. Hoping that these results are a reflection of Powell primarily getting the new guys reps together and letting the returners rest.
It is my understanding that these scrimmages are basically glorified practices (much like the grit and grill format of 2-5 10 minute quarters). It is a "get your axles greased" event to see folks other than your own team colors
It is my understanding that these scrimmages are basically glorified practices (much like the grit and grill format of 2-5 10 minute quarters). It is a "get your axles greased" event to see folks other than your own team colors
I would hope my top half of the MVC team that has a bunch of returning players could practice better than a Central Michigan team that won 10 games last year.
Powell’s teams have routinely struggled against inferior competition early in the noncon and then come around mid season. Imagine that is mostly due to the typical roster turnover and hoping that will change this year with some familiar faces. There are a lot of good mid majors on our noncon schedule that will punish us for that.
The issue of exhibition games has turned into another major difference between the haves and have nots. Valpo plays an exhibition game against a non-D1 team and might generate a few dollars for attendance. For major conference teams, this is completely different. Yesterday, for example, Kansas hosted Duke, Northwestern hosted Iowa State, and Marquette hosted Michigan State. In each case, the game had tickets sold at regular game prices and TV deals cut by the opponents (Kansas vs. Duke was on ESPN, Marquette vs. Michigan State was on YouTube, etc.). The kicker here is that the teams don't have to share any revenue from these games with their conference - they keep everything including TV revenue. No doubt with the huge NIL costs at these schools that there will be more games like this in the future.
I was at the Michigan State vs. Marquette game yesterday and have one thing to add. The game was not played as a glorified scrimmage. More players in both teams' rotations, but play wa as physical as a regular season game. Michigan State's pre-season All-American guard played 28-30 minutes and Izzo got T'd up.