Then thats another IF I have a quarrel with. The president has little involvement with athletics and the money generated from his seat and concessions aren't going to anything other than athletics.
Nothing against your father, but, like most of these IFs, is a BS excuse to not come support
It’s actually an indictment of university leadership the past 5-7 years. They stuck their finger in the eye of alumni and completely alienated them. All during a time when the university needed alumni support more than ever.
Roger talks about how Valpo is a special place. And maybe it still is. But the current leadership has done their damnedest to turn this place into something mediocre.
@vok22 Then thats another IF I have a quarrel with. The president has little involvement with athletics and the money generated from his seat and concessions aren't going to anything other than athletics.
Nothing against your father, but, like most of these IFs, is a BS excuse to not come support
My dad is a frustratingly morally consistent person. He has very publically criticized Padilla for years now. As a citizen of Valpo that has no connection to the university other than attending basketball games and being a friend of many at the art museum, there is only one way to boycott Padilla and that is stop attending basketball games. He’s not going to stop at the 1 yard line.
One of the referees was officiating his first D1 game today. His buddies sat next to me and they told me about his debut. He had a couple bad calls I noticed on both sides. I’ll add my 2 cents as it pertains to attendance and the IFs @rezynezy spoke of. I don’t see many families at the games. There are some but it really is an older fan base. The students are not super present other than some of the supporting athletic teams. Alumni seem to be the biggest portion. But I reflect on my desire to attend games as I’m not an alumni and a transplant to northern Indiana from the southern half of the state. My motivation is a few things. 1. Costs, I don’t remember the exact amount I paid for 3 chair back season tickets but it was cheap enough I didn’t notice it. I know single game tickets can be as cheap as a Mc Ds combo. We have gotten 3 free shirts this season already and probably 10 last year, we give them away at this point. Concessions are reasonable as well. 2. Competitive basketball, the MVC has some great competition, even if you’re just a fan of college basketball and not Valpo in particular the ARC is providing a place to watch entertaining competitive basketball from a top 10 conference. Our conference has some studs. 3. Family friendly, my daughter is 3 and she loves the games. She’s locked in on the cheerleaders, having fun with the mascot. I’m convinced we are on the big screen every game. We are often on the game highlight reels they post after the game and through the week. All the other fans, cheerleaders, and players shower her in love as well. At 3 years old she loves the games. She got to talk to Shon today, her favorite player. She also really got the love from the ladies team tonight. It’s just a good atmosphere for families. 4. The guys, these are young men. Guys that are maturing through life, playing and competing everyday the best they know how. These young men are learning through their experience here at this university and we owe them the support regardless of what “IF” you may have. They don’t control most or any of those “IFs”. The coaching staff is engaged, they are listening, they are asking for the community to support this team. Finally energy is contagious, talking to Shon tonight he said “man, I see you over there every game, I hear you yelling and helping, we appreciate that” he wanted to know my name, my daughters name he is engaged and a great young man. If we create an atmosphere of positivity and success these guys will remember that, they will consider that in their decisions now and throughout life. I encourage everyone to come out to the game. Don’t hesitate to tell others at work, your neighbor, other family and friends, and anyone else how much you enjoy the games… maybe they will too.
The thread seems to be broken I'll just say this. Bryan is saying what my thoughts are exactly. But I will just add 1 thing
I guess I just don't see the real reason to boycott something that has a connection in name only to something else. Basketball and athletics have no connection to Padilla other than the people he hired. Athletics in my mind is a separate entity to the university that shares allegiance in name only. They don't share revenue or leadership. In my eyes, it is trying to boycott Nesquik so you swear off all chocolate milk
As my handle suggests my daughter is in year 3 of five at VU. Ive been to the ARC over a dozen times. An observation is that the fan base is pretty ancient. I wonder if some past fans have aged out. Even with well documented enrollment decrease I still dont get why you dont have 750-1000 students at most games. Ive asked my daughter (who attends most games) why this isnt happening. Vague answers ensue but it seems this gen mostly doesnt have rabid sports love like much of my age group. Im always like" what else do you got to do?" Whats better than D 1 basketball live? Kinda funny: much like IYELLATGAMES I feel some side eye sometimes when Im getting loud. LOL seems some of the older fans think its a golf tournament. Anyway refs were indeed sketchy but the way VU played in second half was hugely encouraging. I hope the guys scan hear some of the love from the crowd. Have you that attend noticed that even when just 150 students are in attendance it bumps the atmosphere? Im hoping this team is so fun that like gravity a larger portion of students are pulled in. Eye test: Bryant was very long and had some skill- I think its a good win. Lineups are somewhat coming into focus. I like Browns defense- but needs his offense to uptick or Brody is coming for minutes with his heady play. Im assuming Justus is not 100%. And similarly Barnes will lose minutes to Tornatta unless he improves. Hopoi is raw but his athleticism is visibly plus. Shon is a beast. Honestly the roster is visibly improved everywhere with exception of wherever Cooper would have been slotted. Defense is mostly solid and rebounding has improved. Shot selection and finishing layups and free throws seem to me to be biggest bugaboo. today got to see Deace maybe getting comfortable, stroke looks good today. Ive watched every valley opponent at least once this year and at this point leagues seems slightly down excepting UNI and Murray. 500 in valley is possible in my opinion.
Boycotts are frequently symbolic. There doesn’t need to be a financial punishment felt directly by Padilla. It can be as simple as sending a message to the Board of the university that says: “I do not agree with the direction of the university or its current values. As a result, I will not support the university, in any facet, until I believe they reflect my values.”
As we close out the Bryant game and look ahead to Cleveland State, here are my thoughts. Like many have said, the first half was frustrating—missed shots, poor rebounding, and missed free throws defined the early story. Valpo’s offense relies on rebounding quickly, pushing the break, but if nothing develops in the first 10 seconds, they settle into a half-court set that has often looked stagnant while struggled to finish at the rim. This has been the story of the season so far. Bryant’s length played a big role early. Their size disrupted shot selection and gave them an edge on the boards. The pace got sloppy at times, and I felt we left 8 points and 8 free throws off the scoreboard going into the half.
The second half was a different story—the kind of response I’ve been waiting to see. Valpo shot much better and adjusted to Bryant’s length by attacking the post and converting. Shon’s conversions inside opened up the offense, and rebounding improved significantly. The team chemistry looked better too. JT had some good looks and converted or got fouled which got Bryants players in foul trouble. The second half is what this forum has been waiting for, I was excited to see that break out a bit. The defense looked good, and has been encouraging to see the intensity there.
After the game, I spoke with Roger for a few minutes. He echoed many of the observations we’ve shared here. I asked about player retention, and he admitted it’s tough but said he’s pitching a two-year development plan: Year one can elevate a freshman player to (my numbers not his) $500k–$1M level if they have a break out year; year two could push that to $2M (Rogers number) for a more lucrative long-term future or provide an extra year to break out if year one developed slower for the player. It’s a smart approach given the exposure Valpo offers to the younger players. It also brings a compromise to Valpos and the MVCs struggles to monetarily compete with the larger more financially capable conferences.
Overall, I’m proud of the team’s effort. The gap between Valpo and much of the Valley isn’t as big as some may think in my current opinion. I have watched a lot of Valley basketball and if we keep up the meaningful improvements like Rez mentions, we can be competitive in conference play. With a winnable stretch ahead, now’s the time to build momentum.
It's early so it's hard to draw any conclusion regarding a rotation but I wonder if the NIL development mentioned could have something to do with the quick, to me, substitution patters in the first half of games. Give everyone a shot and then whoever's playing better plays in the 2nd half.
https://twitter.com/EvanMiya/status/1990486038696112146/photo/1
Rakim in the national spotlight with his performances of late
The attendance numbers undoubtedly reflect a time of great uncertainty around the university as a whole. As is commonly discussed on the “General University Discussion” forum, Valpo does not seem to have much momentum as an institution. The lack of attendance at basketball games further reflects that. I do know some older alumni who used to attend games regularly that essentially disassociated from the school following the mascot change, but I can’t imagine there are too many folks like that.
Let’s face it, though, there has not been a ton of reason for fans to get into Valpo basketball since the move to the Missouri Valley was made. Aside from a couple of nice runs in the conference tournament, this has been a struggling program. When you tip off a game against a largely anonymous program to the casual fan in Bryant at the same time as the Bears and Packers kick off, you’re not likely to get great attendance.
This is wild take and confusing to me. I'm not trying to be confrontational, I'm just generally curious… Can you please explain, maybe I'm missing something – what has the Padilla done to make you/your family completely abandon the University and basketball team?
It just seems weird to me. The University may be lacking momentum, but what exactly has he done that you guys consider so disgraceful?
Let’s face it, though, there has not been a ton of reason for fans to get into Valpo basketball since the move to the Missouri Valley was made. Aside from a couple of nice runs in the conference tournament, this has been a struggling program. When you tip off a game against a largely anonymous program to the casual fan in Bryant at the same time as the Bears and Packers kick off, you’re not likely to get great attendance.
True, the MVC era has left much to be desired, and the Bears and Packers would certainly dissuade people from coming out for the Bryant game, but that is an isolated event. As for the mascot thing. It is the biggest BS reason in all of the BS reasons for not showing up. We get it. The movement away from Crusader was dumb and done as a panic button when people were closing in on sports mascots, but its been over 5 years. My response to those folks is to put on your big kid pants and grow TF up.
I feel as if now is a better reason than before to get back into coming to games. Promising team, lots of good freshman talent. Ability to make a difference with NIL and P4P by just showing up. But that's not even the best reason. That would be what Bryan F described. The players feed off of environment and support. A player has more of a reason to remember where they came from if they feel supported. Just look at Lamar Wilkenson from IU who made a 6 figure donation to Sam Houston after transferring. If he had the environment Valpo fans are content with giving at Sam Houston, he doesn't make that donation, or remembers where he came from. If you give support, you get support in return.
This is wild take and confusing to me. I'm not trying to be confrontational, I'm just generally curious… Can you please explain, maybe I'm missing something – what has the Padilla done to make you/your family completely abandon the University and basketball team?
It just seems weird to me. The University may be lacking momentum, but what exactly has he done that you guys consider so disgraceful?
We still follow the team closely and watch every game on ESPN plus.
The underlying reason for not the broader boycott of the university (not just the basketball team) from our family relates to the art sale, specifically one conversation involving a close relative of Padilla himself.
My father was/is a vocal critic of the art sale and had spoken about the issue with people involved at the university. We ran into a very close relative of Padilla at the coffee shop when the topic came up. They asked his opinion on it and my dad said, in a respectful way, he disagrees with the sale and thinks it goes against the spirit of the original contract with the donor. To this, the relative replied “so what, the donor is dead. When you’re president of the university you can make a different decision”.
I was there for this and can confirm the interaction. This hostile and disrespectful response to somebody just trying to have a dialogue about the sale showed just the kind of conversations that were being had about the sale by Padilla and his family behind closed doors. Even as somebody who wasn’t as opinionated about the art sale, this left a really sour taste in my mouth.
Regarding the Mascot, I cannot believe that is still a topic. We could have no mascot for all I care, what does it matter?
Not that I am trying to give an olive branch to @rezynezy after he told me to bag my Mad Max analogy to the Valpo situation, but he totally correct regarding the mascot change and lack of attendance. Who cares, although the dogs are really dumb as I have expressed vehemently in the past. Powell is doing a decent job as coach, the issue could also be in college basketball environment for a middle of the road team. Totally new team every year, and the MVC is a farm system to the next level. The product just might be lacking; I doubt it had a big effect on the mascot name change.
