Messages

Drake (MVC) and VCU (A10) get the same seed and both leagues only one team. A10 has fallen. Wonder if Loyola has buyer's remorse.

Horizon League = 16 seed. Woof.

Nice for the Drews to both be in Denver.

This site tracks everyone:

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/rankings.html

Lunardi and Palm are both bad.

Hes gonna be a hot name again in a week or two. Will he stay at GCU or will he make another run with a P5?

Financial situation will make it tough to move on, but there could be a creative solve in there. Maybe give Tonagel the shot at head coach. Structure the deal so first year or two are low to not only account for the risk we are taking in an NAIA coach but also to offset the buyout for Lottich. Have an option to extend after year two at a set much higher amount should he perform well. We take a risk on Tonagel, he takes a gamble on himself. I would be excited to see what he could do in D1 and he may be one of the only coaches we would consider that would be willing to take a gamble like that.

Tonagel may do that but its setting everyone up for failure. Noone knows who he is in D1 and no players worth a damn are coming to play for a coach they dont know, is new to D1, and only has a contract for a year or two. You have to at least express belief in him by giving him a longer term contract to get going and well, we all know what can happen during long term contracts.


If we wanna get it done, eat the money now and load up on some buy games for the first part of the season while helping the new coach recruit with the experience of playing these venues/teams.

Agreed. Why take on a rebuilding challenge for that. Stay where you are, be successful again for a season or two, and punch your ticket to a much bigger paying job/stage.

https://ericzorn.substack.com/p/sell-those-paintings-valpo#%C2%A7to-serve-its-core-mission-sure-valparaiso-university-should-sell-its-art

A differing opinion

I always thought ACs were year-to-year contracts?

Alternatively,  we roll out the same ol' same ol', we likely eat $500k in lack of attendance/concessions/gear sales and we continue as a doormat to the MVC.

Can someone do better with our limitations? 500k question.

Watched the 2nd half after i saw we were up 10 at half. Best we've looked so far - - always looks good when the ball goes in the hoop. Win a few more games, be 500ish, and we'll get ML for another season.

Nice! We are progressing nicely.

What do we pay our assistants? Are they year to year contracts? A head coach wont come here if we wont invest in assistant coaches to make them successful. Better to build relationships now than when its free agent season after the season and highest bidders typically win. Sometimes i think this means itd be easier to hire from successful lower levels and "bump them up" rather than try to entice P5 assistant coaches with who knows what connections to fill the staff down a level.

I think Michael Lewis is a pretty good comparison. From Indiana, played at IU, spent time as an asst at 5 different schools (last 3 were Butler, Nebraska, UCLA), before becoming the Ball State coach this year.

Per The Star Press newspaper, "Lewis, of course, leads the way with a $335,000 base salary, which comes with an annual supplemental compensation of $100,000 in Year 1 and is increased by $10,000 every year after. Lewis' contract also comes with incentive pay each season, which could push his annual salary well above $500,000."

I feel Valpo will have to get creative with a heavily incentivized contract if they want to grab a high major assintant coach.

Will it be a pic of Lottich

We have ND season tickets. Very similar. In our ticket account, there is a link to click on to sell your tickets for the game you cant use. It takes you into Stubhub and that game, and you set the price you want to sell them. Once they sell, theyre automatically transferred to the purchaser with no work done by me.

2 clicks is it. Very convenient.

Do players play together as a team if they believe their coach will be gone in two months? Or do they play for the best chance of personal success? Would they rally around an interim coach if its someone they like/respect to get them hired permanently? Luckily our conference tournament is early so we could still beat some bushes during other conference tourneys, but people in need of a coach will start way before March. Does any of it matter? Are we discussing rearranging seats on the Titanic?

That model is dead. If you have a mid major star, you will lose him. Need to create a positive and winning atmosphere to win the transfer portal and to built the next man up mentality. While the portal has plenty of negatives, it also allows a program to turn itself around quickly. Which one do we want to be.

Not enough sun in Valpo to support Crean's tan. Next.

Not only does ML not have it, our staff doesnt change either. Most coaches know to bring in new/fresh ideas and guys when things arent going well. A look at our coaches bios, we've been ho-humming along for 4/5 years at this point. We're not even trying to do anything different at this point.

I mean, how good of terms do you really think ML negotiated? 3rd AC with no HC experience? I would have signed something that said I could be fired for free after 6 seasons, as that meant my first gig was 6 seaons which should mean its successful. Small is still new and will witness it in person this year. Lottich is gone after the season and to be honest, we may as well let ML finish the season anyhow and use those savings to get a better coach next go around.

I had the game on but couldnt watch it. Spent all my time salivating and then researching their arena. Great sightlines. Suites. Active student body. What a place to play.

We're told to hold on tight, season is still young and the team is still learning how to play with each other. Wait to see how good we are by the end of the season!


Anyhow, there's more to life than basketball. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, hope you spend the day how you want and with those that bring you joy.

They accept donations when things are good. Fans bring friends, spend money in concessions and apparel, etc. They should accept questions and criticisms when worthy as well. Sticking your head in the sand or not addressing the concerns of your supporters isnt going to change anything. I applaud Dr. Small for having this and so everyone can hear directly from the top. Sounds like its going to be more general in nature and I wonder if you submit questions in the chat and then a select few get answered, but regardless, this can be a good thing.

I dont believe the statement is beneficial obviously but not sure  about the backlash? What is "screwed?" Are we screwed if we keep Lottich? Are we screwed if we fire him? Are we already screwed for this season or is it still salvagable? Its a loaded and ambiguous statement that can fit any narrative.  Guess its weird some people take offense to seeing/hearing this? I feel this stuff was commonplace on message boards back in the 90s-00s when this was "social media." Now there's facebook, IG, tik tok, twitter, snapchat and other forums statements or comments are being made. I dont know whether a player returning is indicative that they support the coach. Theres many reasons they could stay and Im sure they got recruited for a totality/well rounded/life after basketball philosophy where they may want that degree from Valpo. At the end of the day, everyone liked Valpo and supported the coach who recruited them when they came here, and playing D1 (for free) at such a solid level is something few people get to experience. You develop other areas of your life that may have just as much impact in your decision making as well. Maybe that relationship with the coach soured and maybe not. Losing is no fun and losing for multiple years takes a toll on one's demeanor. Its hard when you sacrifice and dont meet the goals youre dreaming of or believing are capable. Being upset is a good thing because apathy is the only alternative option at this point. Good thing about bball season is you only have to wait a few days until the next game and find something new to discuss.

For the people saying its early in the season and only one game, as we sit here today, what needs to happen the remainder of this season to retain Lottich? Is that attainable? If not, why keep paying the highest paid employee of the university just to can him at the end of the season? Granted there very well may be deadlines/dates/performances in the contract related to buyouts, but other than that...? Attendance is down. Fandom is down. Expectations are low.  I used to attend 5-10 games a season. I dont even think about making the 5 min drive to campus for a single game now. 

This wasnt a blip on the radar. This is becoming the new norm..every year we seem to go lower and lower on what is acceptable as a fan base. Recruiting and positive momentum was hard enough already. If we want to be the best we need to get some of the best talent in the league, and what exactly are we selling them? What have we done as a program since 2004 if we are recruiting 18 year olds that makes us relevant? Probably more so since they've been a teenager, so the last 6 years?

Not directed at anyone here because we are all here and talking about the games. But having fans be upset is a good thing. It means people still care. Much better than being indifferent, which seems a large portion of the fan base has fallen into.

This is Chicago State's entire home slate:

IUPUI
Valpo
University of Southern Indiana (1st year D1)
East West University
Aurora University
St. Xavier University
Calumet College of St. Joseph
Hartford (Final year of D1 and with an interim coach)

Exactly 4 D1 home games, with two of those being in a transition year.

You are who you surround yourself with.

Im still astounded that we agreed to play them, agreed to play them there, and got destroyed by them. As Jon Rothstein says, the epitome of brutality.