@usc4valpo I get the women's team has issues(mostly stemming from a late hire in the recruitment cycle) but the MVC and it's fan bases only care about ments basketball for the most part. Occasionally they will care about baseball when a team makes a run in Omaha, but other than that it's arch madness and March madness.
Most of my statement comes from my interactions with other MVC fans online. And usually the first thing they say as to why they hate valpo is "your gym sucks and you promise to fix it"
The two losses to Wilmington and especially Southern Indiana ugh. We play them now, those are wins. I mean our net might be slightly above 150 if won those. Brown is a bust right now, but I feel like Barnes could be more of an asset to the team. He might be the best athlete on the team and Tucker, DNP at Drake. Sad we can't get the ARC upgraded and Imo we have the best home court advantage when full, Those games versus Wright State were spectacular. If Powell stays awhile and continues the upward trajectory, maybe this leads to more ARC improvements, outside donors etc.. I got no other solutions/thoughts on that at the time. Our team is focused and ready for the Red Birds. Walker versus our bigs will be another fun battle down low.
@rezynezy - ok, I get it - but Valpo in all MVC sports since they have joined have overall been dead last. I understand Valpo is broke, but objectively I can see why MVC fans have been questioning Valpo's commitment to the conference and their inadequate facilities. Men's hoops is improving thanks to Powell, but other sports are lacking, particularly a 0-24 women's team.
I think this is a very fair and accurate sentiment and it is also why I am just trying to enjoy every minute of this surprising men’s basketball season. The reality is that next to nothing has improved at Valpo since joining the Valley. I think enrollment has actually decreased, no facilities improvement, worse budget constraints. This is why what Powell, his staff, and team have done over 3 years is incredible. Remember the AD who hired him quit out of the blue because he wasn’t seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that he was promised. Powell had no AD as a rookie coach. Almost All of the current NIL donations are ones he cultivated. We still lag the entire league in the NIL department but the improvement there is almost exclusively because of him getting out in public with and without his players.
The concern is really “how can this success be sustainable?” Truth is, it probably is not long term so we should all just enjoy this while it lasts. As we win more games, ascending further the following year with limited budget, facilities, while having to bring in a whole new roster (for the most part) will be really difficult to sustain.
Until the university finds a way to lend the proper support, every win should be celebrated. What these guys are doing is amazing when one really thinks about what they are up against.
Let’s keep supporting these guys. They deserve it.
Last spring I chose not to continue being a fan of this new semi-pro style of college basketball and my resolve didn't weaken until MVC play resumed and we were competing. So in spite of my better judgement, I'm supporting this low budget group that Roger has miraculously assembled from hither, thither and yon. Maybe next year my attempts to shelve mid-major college basketball interest will be more successful but meanwhile I will continue to enjoy this 2026 thrill ride.@rezynezy - ok, I get it - but Valpo in all MVC sports since they have joined have overall been dead last. I understand Valpo is broke, but objectively I can see why MVC fans have been questioning Valpo's commitment to the conference and their inadequate facilities. Men's hoops is improving thanks to Powell, but other sports are lacking, particularly a 0-24 women's team.
I think this is a very fair and accurate sentiment and it is also why I am just trying to enjoy every minute of this surprising men’s basketball season. The reality is that next to nothing has improved at Valpo since joining the Valley. I think enrollment has actually decreased, no facilities improvement, worse budget constraints. This is why what Powell, his staff, and team have done over 3 years is incredible. Remember the AD who hired him quit out of the blue because he wasn’t seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that he was promised. Powell had no AD as a rookie coach. Almost All of the current NIL donations are ones he cultivated. We still lag the entire league in the NIL department but the improvement there is almost exclusively because of him getting out in public with and without his players.
The concern is really “how can this success be sustainable?” Truth is, it probably is not long term so we should all just enjoy this while it lasts. As we win more games, ascending further the following year with limited budget, facilities, while having to bring in a whole new roster (for the most part) will be really difficult to sustain.
Until the university finds a way to lend the proper support, every win should be celebrated. What these guys are doing is amazing when one really thinks about what they are up against.
Let’s keep supporting these guys. They deserve it.
The donation from Schrage family is going to end up allowing Valpo to keep a few members of this team IMOP. What members of the team to invest in long term is another question however....
The donation from Schrage family is going to end up allowing Valpo to keep a few members of this team IMOP. What members of the team to invest in long term is another question however....
There are players that the staff wants to return obviously. Keep in mind though with that large gift…… this is Valpo. That gift will be spread over many years. Don’t think for a second that Valpo has $1M to spend freely on a roster. The reality is annually, more NIL will have been raised directly by the staff than from this amazing Schrage gift.
@rezynezy - ok, I get it - but Valpo in all MVC sports since they have joined have overall been dead last. I understand Valpo is broke, but objectively I can see why MVC fans have been questioning Valpo's commitment to the conference and their inadequate facilities. Men's hoops is improving thanks to Powell, but other sports are lacking, particularly a 0-24 women's team.
Now who sounds like the rest of the league! I think you are referring to Evansville who has been in the Valley for a LONG time. Valpo has been in the Valley for nine seasons. Of the nine, including the present standings, Evansville has finished dead last 4 times while Valpo had that distinction twice.
As for the women, over the nine seasons Evansville has finished dead last 5 times while Valpo finished last 2 times including this season where the Purple Aces stand as second last.
In other sports, Valpo sucks in two, baseball and women's golf. We've won one conference title in soccer and one tournament title there as well. In Volleyball we have never been out of the top half and finished second this past year. Softball has been a struggle but have started this year winning four in a row. Blah, Blah blah, You get picture. Do we have A LOT of work to do? You bet.
Last spring I chose not to continue being a fan of this new semi-pro style of college basketball and my resolve didn't weaken until MVC play resumed and we were competing. So in spite of my better judgement, I'm supporting this low budget group that Roger has miraculously assembled from hither, thither and yon. Maybe next year my attempts to shelve mid-major college basketball interest will be more successful but meanwhile I will continue to enjoy this 2026 thrill ride.[quote data-userid="1058" data-
The honesty is inspiring 😂😂! Well said my friend!
The donation from Schrage family is going to end up allowing Valpo to keep a few members of this team IMOP. What members of the team to invest in long term is another question however....
There are players that the staff wants to return obviously. Keep in mind though with that large gift…… this is Valpo. That gift will be spread over many years. Don’t think for a second that Valpo has $1M to spend freely on a roster. The reality is annually, more NIL will have been raised directly by the staff than from this amazing Schrage gift.
If anyone wants to make a contribution to support our players just google Valparaiso men’s basketball excellence fund. It should be the first one. Every little bit helps. If you want to be even more involved talk to Ted McCoart, great guy.
The donation from Schrage family is going to end up allowing Valpo to keep a few members of this team IMOP. What members of the team to invest in long term is another question however....
There are players that the staff wants to return obviously. Keep in mind though with that large gift…… this is Valpo. That gift will be spread over many years. Don’t think for a second that Valpo has $1M to spend freely on a roster. The reality is annually, more NIL will have been raised directly by the staff than from this amazing Schrage gift.
I only mention keeping players because power directly mentioned in the thank you letter that this was going to be For Player retention
Agree with Rez theres a few frequent posters on mvc fan forums that really have an arena fetish... even if its empty. We played at belmont they had 1600 fans per espn- but wow those empty seats are shiny. Its two different baskets but Id rather be able to keep guys sometimes than have an upgrade. Id rather have 3500 plus a few times blow some eardrums out make the ARC a tough W for an opponent...
@valpodad - agreed. Valpo and Belmont are in 2 different situations. Valpo is focusing on rebuilding and strengthening as a university and needs cash to stay afloat. There are also limited entertainment opportunities in Valparaiso and the NW region along with Chicago is sluggish economically. Belmont on the other hand is strong economically in Nashville, which is booming with entertainment options and loading up with California transplants.
I would rather focus on players and strengthening the department as well. Eventually I think Porter County(and by extension Valpo) loses out on the opportunity to build a civic hall to Lake county as one of their planned expansions to the new Lake County Convention Center (RIP Genesis) looks very similar to a civic hall.
Any advancement on improvements on that front is going to end up being a university led enterprise, which is most likely the bottom of their to do list at the moment
