With this addition, that gives us 15 players. Are we done or is Nick Lombardi still exempt from the 15 players maximum? Last year, we had 17 on the roster. So, that should have meant Joe Vick and Nick were exempt.
From what I've read, the designated student athlete waiver works for the entirety of a player's college career. Therefore, Nick Lombardi is still under waiver.
However, as others have said. This is likely the final piece of the puzzle
Maybe we are done and maybe we aren't done. Paul Oren posted this "Valparaiso is close to rounding out roster as Terron Garrett committed"
Anyone know how big of a role terron will play next season?
Only guesswork but the opportunity for him to play big minutes from day #1 is clearly there. There are large minutes and points from Dease graduating that have to be replaced for Valpo to remain MVC competitive. Bruno Alocen could begin the season as a starter but I hope he was recruited as a reliable bench player whose playing time shrinks vs what he was given at ISUb. Nothing now hints that Hudson Scroggins will have immediate impact and the ceilings for Servilus are his rebounding size and 3 point shooting %. SO---BY MVC conference play time maybe we need Terron Garrett starting and delivering consistent, respectable numbers?Anyone know how big of a role terron will play next season?
Only guesswork but the opportunity for him to play big minutes from day #1 is clearly there. There are large minutes and points from Dease graduating that have to be replaced for Valpo to remain MVC competitive. Bruno Alocen could begin the season as a starter but I hope he was recruited as a reliable bench player whose playing time shrinks vs what he was given at ISUb. Nothing now hints that Hudson Scroggins will have immediate impact and the ceilings for Servilus are his rebounding size and 3 point shooting %. SO---BY MVC conference play time maybe we need Terron Garrett starting and delivering consistent, respectable numbers?Anyone know how big of a role terron will play next season?
I think this logic makes sense. Alocen will be given every chance to start and that is the expectation. Terron needs to get stronger and he will this summer. He will play and should be a big piece to our puzzle. He was a very under the radar recruit but he proved when he was on his visit that he can really play!
Roger Powell has had mixed success with JUCO players so far. We all remember the hits—Stafford being the obvious success story—but we also remember last year’s situation with Brown. What Garrett ultimately becomes feels a bit like an open question right now. There’s no denying the talent, but with JUCOs the biggest adjustment is almost always pace—the size, speed, and physicality of the position players you’re facing night after night in the Valley. I think that’s largely what happened with Brown: a very good JUCO player whose game just didn’t translate cleanly to the MVC.
As for Garrett’s fit, I see him primarily as a 3. I’m not convinced he has the physical strength yet to handle more than short 2–3 minute stretches at the 4 this season in league play. Coming out of high school he looked more like a combo 2/3, and I’ve seen his height listed anywhere from 6’5” to 6’7” depending on the site.
From a roster standpoint, I think J.T. locks down ~30 minutes a night at the 4, which means any remaining minutes there will be spread among Carter, Walker, Garrett, and Servilus, likely in small doses and situationally—maybe more if foul trouble hits. J.T. really solidifies that spot, but he’s also critical because there isn’t a true, natural backup 4 behind him. We can cover the minutes, but it’s more patchwork than depth until we see how things shake out this summer. There is some hype around Walker but can he adapt to back up the 4 as well? Situational for sure.
Because I see Garrett mainly as a 3, his path to minutes feels similar to what a Jayden Watson role might have looked like—Garrett has comparable tools without the injury setbacks. With Alocén and Sader already holding down the wing and having real D‑I experience, I’d be surprised to see Garrett leapfrog them right away in year one coming straight from JUCO. Hudson Scroggins also profiles pretty similarly, so those two could end up competing for the last slice of wing minutes. To me, Garrett feels like a depth piece early, with the opportunity to carve out a rotation niche later in the season, similar to how Sader’s role evolved last year.
So what’s the niche that gets Garrett on the floor?
I think it’s scoring, and that’s where some reasonable optimism comes in. If his scoring translates, he’ll find minutes. Valpo struggled to generate offense at times last season, and if that shows up again, someone who can put the ball in the basket will earn a look. Based on what I’ve seen statistically, Garrett was a primary offensive weapon at the JUCO level, often taking 13–20 shots per game, regularly hovering near or above 20 points, and even posting a 30‑point game.
That said, the numbers also show some volatility. He could be streaky, and when defenses keyed on him his efficiency dropped. Valpo played a lot of games in the 55–65 possession range last season, and he’s obviously not going to take a third of our shots here. His role will be naturally scaled back.
What gets him on the floor sooner rather than later?
- Lower shot volume
- Improved shooting efficiency
- Generating offense within flow instead of pure creation
- More consistent three‑point shooting
- Using positional length defensively and not being a liability
If those things happen, the minutes will come—and likely in longer stretches. If not, I think he’s best viewed as a depth piece to start the season, with upside depending on how quickly the JUCO‑to‑MVC adjustment clicks.
A very good analysis. Having written that, we need to remember that each of the last two seasons, two folks who started the first game ended up riding the pines on the last. Unlike those seasons, Roger has a solid core with three starters in place so the rotations will no doubt develop as the season move along and injuries happen.
We will definitely need some Over-Under playing time minute distribution questions about our 5 position (Walker, Yu, Hopoi) and our 3 position (Scroggins, Alocen, Garrett, Servilus). Until I am shown otherwise I will remain skeptical that a Beacon team that might play Bruno Alocen 21+ minutes and Kai Yu 12+ minutes per game can put together a breakout to the upside Valley season.
So, this rounds out the 2026-27 roster. I look forward to Paul’s article or articles on our new additions.
Taking a look at George Richardson, he’s a somewhat surprising addition to the roster. I’ll admit, I thought the roster was basically complete. I was pretty satisfied with where we landed and assumed that if one more piece were added, it would be a depth PF from the portal, maybe a one‑year guy. Instead, it looks like George will round out the roster.
My first instinct is redshirt, given the current roster makeup—but obviously none of us are in the room when those decisions are being made. A lot will depend on his development, potential contribution this season, and how the staff ultimately wants to handle the backup PF role.
What we do know is that he fits the familiar Valpo pipeline. He comes from Link Academy and appears to call the Evanston, Illinois area home, so he’s staying fairly close to home for college. At Link, he was listed on the Premier Team, which I believe is more of the regional squad rather than the nationally ranked Elite Team. From everything I’ve seen, he played as an undersized PF with a mid‑range game.
Listed at 6’6”, 225 lbs, Richardson actually has some similarities to J.T. from midrange in—also, for reference, J.T. is listed at 220 lbs on the roster, but is 2 inches taller than George. George was the biggest/tallest player on his Premier team, so it makes sense that he spent much of last season playing in the post. The tape supports that as well.
Stylistically, he looks like a player who:
- Has the body to play on the block
- Relies defensively on positioning, hustle, grit, and doing the dirty work
- Scores offensively through face‑up moves, mid‑range pull‑ups, and low‑block seal/cut action
He plays with good pace, handles the ball well for his size and position, and isn’t uncomfortable facing defenders. A stylistic comp that comes to mind for me is Ian Scott—not saying he is Ian Scott right now, but that gives an idea of his body type and positional profile.
Comments online suggest he’s a physical player who:
- Attacks the glass
- Isn’t afraid of contact on the block
- Leans into physical play
There’s also some encouraging production—he had a six‑game stretch averaging over 18 PPG while shooting 86% from the line, which definitely jumps out. Otherwise his prep stats are not widely available.
Before committing to Link for a prep year, he had some college interest out of high school, including offers from North Park, Trine, and Elmhurst. This past year, he reportedly drew some low‑D1 interest from Gardner‑Webb and Central Arkansas. That all points to an under‑the‑radar type.
This one feels a little Rakim Chaney‑esque: under‑recruited out of high school, plays regional prep ball, then lands at Valpo with the chance to develop and potentially break out. Obviously, that’s the optimistic outcome—but even if that doesn’t materialize, there’s real value in developing a physical depth piece who can potentially at some point this season back up what is likely the Valley’s best power forward in J.T.
At minimum, Richardson looks like a longer‑term investment at a position where true depth is hard to find. And if he hits? That’s how rosters quietly get better.
He graduated from Evanston high school before his Link year. So yes, no doubt being close to home was a draw for George.
We will definitely need some Over-Under playing time minute distribution questions about our 5 position (Walker, Yu, Hopoi) and our 3 position (Scroggins, Alocen, Garrett, Servilus). Until I am shown otherwise I will remain skeptical that a Beacon team that might play Bruno Alocen 21+ minutes and Kai Yu 12+ minutes per game can put together a breakout to the upside Valley season.
I think you and I are identifying the same areas of risk, especially at the 5, but maybe landing slightly differently on what that means for the overall ceiling. If the rotation at center ends up being split primarily between Carter and Yu, I think that still gives us a competitive Valley frontcourt. In my view, both were quality backups last year—Carter in particular showed starter‑level flashes down the stretch, and Yu did in limited minutes behind Jonivic. Like you, I have questions about sustaining starter‑caliber production over 25+ minutes, but I don’t think that’s a requirement for this roster to succeed.
Yu will be in his second Valley season and fourth year of college basketball, so improvement is fair to expect, but I agree there’s nothing in his previous three years that suggests top‑five Valley center upside. Where I differ slightly is that I expect Carter to make the bigger offseason jump and likely start game one. Taken together, I see the 5 spot settling into average Valley production by committee—and with the rest of the roster, I think that’s sufficient to compete for a top‑five seed.
I have a similar read on the wing spots. Alocen has logged real Valley minutes the last two seasons and profiles as solid but not breakout‑level role player in my opinion, looking at the talent of the Valley with honesty in his first 2 seasons he is a fringe Valley starter. At a minimum, year three should bring a comparable baseline. With Sader, we know the floor—defense and effort—and some year‑two growth is reasonable to expect. That combination makes me comfortable that the wing rotation won’t be a liability.
Where upside comes into play is Terron. If he meets even part of the potential being discussed, that spot stabilizes quickly, and if he exceeds general expectations, the wing rotation could end up better than average. Losing Deese obviously leaves a production gap, and I agree that replacing that isn’t guaranteed yet. Still, I don’t see either the 5 or the wing spots as areas where we’ll be glaringly exposed, even if the minutes shake out close to what you’re projecting. I think we are serviceable in those spots although that's where most of the questions are.
Too many partial and complete unknowns for me to get over optimistic. I thought that maybe the right acquisitions could have sent us to the top of the Valley preseason polls. The best case now leaves Valpo slightly short of the top and even mild disappointments at our 3 and 5 positions might conceivably leave us middle of the pack.
Still excited but cautiously so!
We have a lot of unknowns but a lot less then in previous years. Coach has proven that the year at Link can work our pretty well, witness Cooper and All. Same for Hudson. At least in George's history, he has a year of experience against a lot of D1 talent. These guys are essentially sophomores. Hope we can get some scouting news as the summer rolls around.
Unknows are the new normal for college ball unfortunately. And that goes for every team out there. You don't have a few years to "see how a player pans out". You have one maybe 2 years of a player before they go to greener pastures.
FOrtunately, every other MVC team has to go through the same exact thing