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Wishing all the forum posters and VU faithful a blessed and merry Christmas. This has been a rough time for me and it makes me realize how much all the connections I've made mean to me. Thank you.

Tonight we play IUPUI, old foe (who can forget the Ron Hunter games) now fallen on fairly hard times. What other Indiana and "local" D1 programs will VU try to schedule in the future. I ask this mainly for my friend Jon Coffman, Head Coach of Purdue Fort Wayne, who would love to get back on the schedule much like they were under Homer and Bryce. That may not happen after they went to Depaul this week and beat them on their home court. Will we ever play Notre Dame again, or will Digger's statement ring true forever? Matt was pretty consistent in playing Ball State. Will they return to the schedule? What schools would you like to see? Butler... probably not happening.

The apathy on this board is bordering on the ridiculous. I guess I will start my first Game Thread.


It will be interesting to see what the turnout is for Belmont's inaugural MVC men's basketball game. I expect the environment to be tough and hope that the Beacons can be competitive. I think the last game proved that we have talent on this team.
Keys to victory:
Shoot fewer than 18 3's
Get to the line. Shoot at least 20 free throws
Score more than Belmont in the paint. We should have a major advantage against their bigs.
Take care of the ball, 10 or fewer TO's
Limit fouls while still playing hard nosed defense. Less than 17 fouls

It appears that the MVC will be moving to a schedule similar to some other conferences. Schools will face one another in a two-game series on back-to-back days at the same site. Each institution will play four road series and four home series and will also face their designated travel partner in a single-game, home-and-home series.

Missouri Valley Conference opts for basketball scheduling change

I hope this trend doesn't catch on. What a crazy way to start your first season in the Horizon League. Would hate for the Missouri Valley to follow this example. PFW Virtual Ticket Sales

The VU Student Senate President made a statement about mandatory consequences for any student whom is deemed racist. I think this is over the top and actually quite disgusting. It appears that a female pre-med student retweeted a tweet that many would consider racist about BLM and some other kid on twitter has reported her to the Student Senate. This comment by the Student Senate President is the result along with a letter to the Campus Judicial Board. While I agree that racism is unacceptable, who made Brenden Perez and Kaitlyn Steinhiser the fascist heads of the race inquisition.
https://twitter.com/ksteinhiser1999/status/1282386277141286919?s=20

First saw this a couple of months ago, but this was the first time we were able to snap a picture.

This is about 2 miles South of Angola, IN on I 69 and is mainly visible if you are traveling South toward Fort Wayne.  This is a rather large billboard and I don't recall ever seeing this type of advertising from VU in the past, or have I been blind and inattentive and just now paying attention because of all the stuff that is going on?

Maybe not too early to start looking at Caleb Furst, a 6-foot-9 freshman, playing for 1A Blackhawk Christian.  He would certainly seem to fit into our niche of players most interested in the atmosphere that Valpo basketball has to offer. Here is an article from the Fort Wayne News Sentinel and before anyone complains... no it was not written by Tom Davis. I know that they are 1A, but they played 12 3A and 4A teams in the regular season and were probably the 2nd best team in the Fort Wayne area.

Blackhawk Christian freshman Caleb Furst

I have been waiting for someone to mention this, but I just can't hold it in any longer. Am I going to the wrong site... http://www.mvc-sports.com/? If this is the real official MVC website then something needs to be done.  This site really S^*KS! It is just a news feed and a bad news feed at that. What the hell is going on???

Very excited that President Heckler is coming to Fort Wayne for a Valpo Club luncheon on September 20th.  I have attached an image of the invitation that should be showing up in some local media.

Registration Link

I have been wondering since the invite was announced, how the BB athletes felt about this move from the known to the unknown.  For players like Tevonn that have been around the HL for three years, there had to be a comfort factor playing against teams, systems, coaches and players that you were familiar with versus the new and unknown of the teams in the MVC.  Do they look forward and greet the challenge with enthusiasm or trepidation. Are the younger players excited about the opportunity of a potentially tougher league and the exposure that might bring? And lastly, do the transfers and new recruits feel like the journey they are embarking on has just been given an upgrade!  I think that if I had committed to Valpo and this change in conference happened I would be super excited to show that I could compete at a higher level.  Any thoughts? 

How do the other team's athletes feel?  If I am a baseball player am I a little intimidated or happy to make the move to what would appear to be a significantly better baseball conference?

Was at the LBAA tournament this past weekend and saw class of 2020 potential recruit for Volleyball at the games watching her sister play.  If Cleasia Craig is not on Coach Avery's radar she needs to be. Cleasia is a 6'2" Freshman at Concordia Lutheran High School.  Concordia has one of the top Volleyball programs in the state and has produced a number of D1 athletes.  If we don't get on her now it will be too late. She is #10 in this photo.


Her 6'2" sister was on the Girls All Tournament Team so maybe Dorow should also take notice.

I know that we have been focused on Alec and all of his accomplishment, but watching the post game interviews with Matt, Alec and Tevonn I thought it would be interesting to project out and see where Tevonn would rank at the end of his career.  I admit that I love watching guards with the type of toughness and athletic ability that Walker shows every game, but I was surprised to calculate that he would end up (barring any unforeseen problem) in the top 20 all time players in both scoring and rebound, something only accomplished by 10 other players.  What really would make this an amazing feat is that I think Tevonn would probably be the shortest player on that very tall but short list.  This really puts Tevonn IMO in rare company and I hope that the fans appreciate his talent and abilities despite being in Alec's long shadow.

Dan Oppland 2002-06
Alec Peters 2013-pres.
Lubos Barton 1998-02
Raitis Grafs 1999-03
Ryan Broekhoff 2009-13
Harry Bell 1984-88
Jim Ford 1985-89
John Wolfenberg 1970-73
Jeff Simmons 1978-82
Darryl Ashby 1974-78

I realize that this is all speculation and that other player that maybe didn't play all four years would have made that list.  What other players do you guys think belong?  Are there other categories that produce a similar double accomplishment?

Great article about a new Track and Cross Country recruit coming in the fall semester!  Parrell finds "right balance at Valparaiso

Was on the Men's Basketball Coaches website page to see if the new assistant coaches had been added, and was not surprised to see that Rodger Powell had been removed but also Will Phipps and most surprisingly of all, Sherry Williams appears to no longer be the Administrative Assistant.  Sherry was there for 20 years and I would have thought that her departure would have been note worthy. Did I miss something, was this a planned departure or did she follow Bryce to Nashville?

In Florida helping my Mother take care of some things after my Father's sudden death in December and ran across some things that might interest the older Greek alums on the board like setshot. Here are two photos of my Father's Kappa Iota Pi pledge paddle from 1949.  Are there any names that anyone recognizes?

From the sound of this article Carter Flourishing After Injury Scare it seems that VU is petitioning for Keith to be granted an additional year by the NCAA.  As a player into the 24th game of his senior year, conservatively Keith should have been on the court somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 games.  He has only seen the court 72 times, a paltry number for such a talented player. Does the experience getting Vashil the extra year help Keith's chances?  Does he even have a snowballs chance in H#77 of being granted the extra season?

Tevonn's dunk makes the top Ten at #9!!!

Was hunting around this morning waiting on some answers from a development team in India that I work with and found this on the NCAA site. I guess someone is taking notice.  http://www.ncaa.com/power-rankings/basketball-men/d1/2015/04 We are at #14

From an article by Michael Osipoff dated April 16, 2014:

"Junior swingman E. Victor Nickerson, who sat out this past season after transferring from Charlotte, was off crutches on Wednesday following hip surgery, but is scheduled to undergo surgery on his other hip in three weeks. The Crusaders are hoping he gets cleared to return to the court in August."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I believed that Nickerson could have been the X factor going into this season.  If healthy, I think he could be a big contributor to the success of this years squad.  Have I missed any announcements or information regarding E. Victor's status?

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Having an interesting time watching the Butler game with Ronald Nored.  I did not know that Ron has hitched his star to Brad Stevens and is now working for the Boston Celtics.

Figure Eight Brewing LLC is introducing Crusader Ale this Friday.  From what they have said on their Facebook page it is currently only available on tap, but if the demand is great enough they will bottle in the future. Figure Eight Facebook page

Figure Eight Brewing
We love Valpo! We love the people that live here and make it a great place to live! This week we are introducing our new beer called Crusader Ale. Served for this week only in our brewpub and at these great Valparaiso institutions starting Friday!

Also at the Valpo Brewfest which we will be rocking on Saturday! Its going to be a great week folks!

Nice long interview with Ron talking about this season with the Mad Ants, the NCAA Tournament and the 6 week long summer sports camp he and his wife have started out at Fort Wayne's Concordia Theological Seminary. They talk about Ron starting at about the 2 minute mark. http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/sports/Sound-Off-April-4-2013-201544561.html?m=y&smobile=y&clmob=y&c=n 
Ron also did a nice local commercial centered around the NCAA Tournament where he picked VU to win it all!

I tune in to the Valpo Game Day feed only to see that Bobby is out for a month following abdominal surgery?  Anybody have the full story?

Surprised that this has not been mentioned on the forum.  It was announced last week that Kelsey Barlow has transferred to UIC.  He will have to sit next season, if he can stay out of trouble he will have 1 year of eligibility to make an impact on this team.  Barlow is an athlete that could be a game changer for them.

http://www.rocwithme.com/chicago/uic-flames-land-coveted-transfer
http://uicflames.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=2763

After watching the Girl's State tournament games this past weekend (and watching Fort Wayne Concordia win the 3A title), I have a recruiting suggestion for Coach Freeman.  Erica Moore from Mount Vernon class of 2014 is the real deal. She is 6' 1" and probably weighs 170.  She was unstoppable when they were able to get the ball to her.  She is strong, athletic and very fluid. Here are a couple pictures of her in action.

[Concordia's Lauren Marinko named Roy Mental Attitude Award Winner]

Instead of being in Valpo for the Butler game on Saturday, I was in Terre Haute watching the Girl's Basketball State Finals.  It was a great day for Concordia Lutheran Fort Wayne as they won their second championship in the last 3 years.  If you read the following article you will see a Valpo connection towards the end that makes me very proud.

2011-12 Class 3A State Finals Recap

March 3, 2012

Clutch Scoring Fuels Concordia past Mt. Vernon in Class 3A
The Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran Cadets won their second Class 3A girls basketball state championship in three years with a 42-39 victory over Mt. Vernon.

Lauren Marinko made sure of it.

Marinko scored the final eight points for the seventh-ranked Cadets in a tight game that featured 18 ties and lead changes. Six of her points came at the free throw line. Marinko collected the other two on a slashing drive down the lane that gave Concordia the lead for good at 38-36 with 33 seconds remaining.

At the two-minute mark, Mt. Vernon's Jessica Brown hit a 12-footer to knot the game at 34-all. It set up a frenetic ending, but the No. 2-ranked Marauders couldn't prevent Marinko's clutch scoring.

Coach Dave Miller's Cadets won their final nine games and finished 21-5. In 2010, their only other state finals appearance, the Cadets defeated Rushville.

Marinko led Concordia with 17 points. Courtney Smith added nine points and had a team-high seven rebounds.

Coach Julie Shelton's Mt. Vernon team was playing in its first state title game in 35 years. Also, the Marauders are the only Hancock County team to advance to the finals. They concluded with a 23-6 record after outscoring opponents by a margin of 20.5 points before the championship game.

Brown led the Marauders with 17 points. Erica Moore added nine. Anna Olson had a game-high eight rebounds.

Concordia's Lauren Marinko named Roy Mental Attitude Award Winner
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Lauren Marinko of Fort Wayne's Concordia Lutheran High School as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award in Class 3A Girls Basketball.

The award is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was nominated by her principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.

Marinko maintains a 4.06 GPA while challenging herself through a strong academic program. She is a two year member of the National Honor Society and has received several top scholar awards through her school.

She's a three-year member of the school's advanced chorus, has served as team captain of the basketball team the last two years and also has participated on the tennis team in her three previous years.

The daughter of Paul and Renee Marinko of Fort Wayne, Lauren will continue her education at Valparaiso University by pursuing a degree in International Business.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA's corporate partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to Concordia Lutheran High School in the name of Marinko.

The award is named in honor of the former IHSAA assistant commissioner Patricia L. Roy, who oversaw the girls basketball state tournament from its inception in 1976 until her retirement in 1999.

Comments

Fort Wayne Concordia Coach David Miller
"These kids compete. They have tremendous heart and I just love them for that. It starts with the seniors and just trickles down to everyone else. What a legacy they've left behind. They just battled so hard today. I thought our backside help and post defense was pretty good today holding them to where we did."

On Mt. Vernon
"They are so physical and strong and the guards are quick. It didn't appear that we could match up with them on paper. We talked to the kids about the team that's more aggressive is going to win this game, the team that has the most composure and plays with the most energy and intensity is going to win this game."

On winning second state title
"Concordia has great kids, great scholar-athletes and I think that's pretty evident when you watch them play. They are intelligent kids, they play well together. They are quality people and you can be pretty successful with that."

Concordia's Lauren Marinko
On picking up her fourth foul
"Honestly while I was playing, I'd forgot that I had four fouls and I was able to get in a rhythm."

Lauren is the daughter of Principle at St. Paul's Lutheran School, the school of which I am the school board chairman.

Tonight before the game at 5PM EST, the Sportswise program on ESPN 1380 radio in Fort Wayne will interview Mark LaBarbera and possibly some other VU notables.  For those of you not able to hear the broadcast over the air, it is streamed at the following link.  www.espnfortwayne.com

President Heckler is actually down here this Friday in Dallas to speak about the Master Plan.  I look forward to hearing from him personally, though I am not sure how many VU alumni are down here.  I will be just as interested to find that out as in hearing from him.

I have to say that I am really disappointed in whomever is in charge of President Heckler's speaking engagements.  The University has completely ignored the city and Lutheran community primarily responsible for the existence of the university as a Lutheran institution.  What a difference 10 or 11 years have made. The birth place of the Lutheran University Association was honored at the 75th anniversary in this mannner...

VALPARAISO-Because of the Fort Wayne community's significant role in the formation and history of Valparaiso University as a Lutheran school for the past 75 years, VU's president will preach at the 8:45 a.m. Oct. 8 service at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. A luncheon for area Valpo alumni and friends will take place that afternoon.
As part of Valparaiso University's two-year celebration of its 75th anniversary as a Lutheran institution, President Dr. Alan Harre will speak at the morning service at St. Paul's, 1126 Barr St., Fort Wayne. The special service also will recognize the Lutheran University Association, the body that finalized the purchase of VU in the fall of that same year.
Many of the early figures in the sale and organization of the new Lutheran school were from Fort Wayne including Dr. Jacob Miller, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and his son the Rev. Paul Miller, co-pastor of St. Paul's; Dr. Herman Duemling, W. Charles Dickmeyer, Charles Scheimann, the Rev. John Baur, Professor H.D. Mensing and Martin Luecke.

...only to be completely snubbed by president Heckler and the university since he took office.  I normally organize an alumni gathering to watch the IPFW game when it is here in Fort Wayne, President Harre almost always attended, It will be interesting to see if President Heckler will make the trip.

The World University Games get started this week.  Here is a link WUG Schedule.  It looks like Ryan's first game is Saturday vs Canada and Edwards, with New Zealand, will be playing Russia.  Sounds like a couple of tough first round games for both teams. Does anyone know if these games will be broadcast either on TV or streaming video?