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Sadly, his Johns Hopkins Bluejays bit the dust in the D3 playoffs, losing 23-12 to a school named St. John Fisher.      I can only imagine the buildup to that game on the Hopkins Fan Board!

Anyway, setshot has to be excited about their basketball program who beat a very solid Goucher team in their opener.  Coming right up is a tourney where we will see what they really have!  They face Cabrini and then, in a showdown, Centre/Berry.  Great Stuff!!

Note:  I didn't make up the names any of the schools mentioned above.  Oh the joys of playing D3,  the alumni must be so proud!!!   

Sounds silly doesn't it?  I think I can show that we played a very good football team earlier this year.

Here's the proof:  YSU just beat NDSU who was ranked #1 nonBCS.  NDSU beat Minnesota who beat Iowa who beat Michigan who beat Illinois who beat Arizona State who beat USC who beat Notre Dame who beat Michigan State who beat Wisconsin.

I rest my case.

Seriously, our win over Campbell should not be underestimated.  It wasn't on a rainy day on a freak play winning 13-10.  It was a full blown battle on both sides of the ball and a great win over a team who beat San Diego who beat both Drake and Dayton.  Here we come baby!!!!   

http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/horizon-league-announces-cost-of-attendance-policy.html

[but they came away with exactly what they wanted from the exhibition game against NCAA Div. I Valparaiso.]

One of the great challenges of coaching is putting a decent spin on a bad result.

Here is the article on last night's game from the Quad Cities paper.  Interesting spin from their coach!

Voiles shines in Augie loss to Div. I Valpo
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By Tom Johnston, tjohnston@qconline.com
The Augustana College men's basketball team may not have shocked the world here Thursday night with a huge upset, but they came away with exactly what they wanted from the exhibition game against NCAA Div. I Valparaiso.The NCAA Div. III Vikings stood toe-to-toe with the Crusaders, cutting a huge second-half deficit with the final 15 points of the game in a 74-65 setback in the Athletics and Recreation Center on the Indiana school's campus.There were a number of bright spots for the Vikings, who have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the preseason polls. One of the biggest was Bryant Voiles. The 6-foot-9 senior wingman popped for a game-high 25 points and also added six rebounds and six steals.

"He was the best player on the floor,'' said Augie coach Grey Giovanine. "He's certainly a go-to guy. Every good team has somebody who steps up and makes plays and he's certainly able to be that guy. Scoring 25 points against a Division I team, on the road, with the stats he had, is pretty significant.''

For Voiles, though, it was just another game – albeit one in a much different setting than what the Vikings will face much of the season.

"I just went out there and tried to be aggressive, tried to play within our system and try to make shots when I had the opportunity,'' said Voiles, who was 8-of-14 from the field. "There were definitely a little bit of nerves in the beginning, but I think we set that aside and kept playing and kept coming.

"It didn't turn out like we wanted, but we'll take what we can learn from it and move forward.''

Troy Rorer finished with 10 rebounds and eight points and Brandon Kunz chipped in 10 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Vikings who were without senior sharpshooter Chris Anderson. He was nursing a hamstring injury.

While the Vikings struggled in a few areas – 22 turnovers among them – it was exactly what the Vikings needed.

"It's a great experience and we hung in there until the buzzer, outscoring them (38-36) in the second half,'' said Giovanine. "They just shot the 3 so well. We played the percentages on some of those guys and a couple who don't typically shoot it well, did.''

Valpo was 5-of-22 in its first exhibition game (a 73-71 scare vs. Hillsdale), but was 11-of-25 vs. Augie from beyond the arc as it placed four players in double-digit scoring.

"You had to give something up and we were going to try to keep them from getting to the rim and did that OK,'' said Giovanine, "but they shot it very well.''

On the bright side, the Vikings had 16 offensive rebounds en route to a 37-30 edge on the glass and forced Valpo into 20 turnovers.

One big area of concern was exploited Thursday. When senior point guard Brian DeSimone had to sit with his fourth foul, the Crusaders were able to convert turnovers by a young backcourt into points to blow open a 48-32 lead. Valpo's biggest margin in the second half was 67-43 with 7:59 remaining before Augie scored the final 15 points in the last 5:39.

"It wasn't a game of great rhythm and it wasn't a game of great precision,'' said Giovanine. "It was a hard-fought game and a great experience for us.''

Well, we have another game against a team that doesn't even mention the event on their website.  That is if I have the right Augustana.
There at least 2 of them.  D2 Augustana is in South Dakota and D3 Augustana is in Rock Island, IL.  I think we play the D3 team.  They are ranked #2 in D3 going into the season. They show a game versus University of Minnesota on Nov 7 but nothing about playing us on the 3rd.

If it is the IL team, their roster shows one guy 6'8" and 3 6'7".

Any info on this??

Here it is, no Dino and no Carpenter:

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/roster/

These guys may be tougher than some of us thought.  They have plenty of size:

http://www.hillsdale.edu/athletics/mens_basketball/roster.asp

Here is a preview interview with their coach: (actually this looks like last year's preview but you can get some idea anyway!)

http://www.gliac.org/mediaDay/mbkb/index

[Harper did challenge a claim that the purported male victim, who is 18 now and was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, is mentally disabled and thus was more susceptible to the attack.]

VALPARAISO | Prosecutors said Friday they expect it will take longer than the usual week to try 17-year-old April Kuchta on charges of handcuffing, confining and sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
A trial date of Oct. 17 was confirmed during a short hearing before Porter Superior Judge Bill Alexa.
Kuchta, of Valparaiso, appeared in court wearing shackles and the green-and-white-striped garb of a maximum security jail inmate.
Her defense attorney, Bob Harper, said he would be preparing documents on several pretrial motions to which he reached a tentative agreement with prosecutors.
While neither side would elaborate on the motions in question, Harper did challenge a claim that the purported male victim, who is 18 now and was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, is mentally disabled and thus was more susceptible to the attack.
Harper argued on behalf of Kuchta that the purported victim has been accepted to Valparaiso University on a scholarship.
Harper has asked the court to prohibit prosecutors from raising the disabilities claim during the trial. If the claim is allowed, he asked that prosecutors reveal what expert they will use to testify to the mental disability, as is required by law.
Kuchta is accused of luring the teen to her house and placing him in handcuffs at knifepoint. She also is accused of forcing the boy to make humiliating statements and sexually assaulting him.
Kuchta, who was 16 at the time of the alleged incident, was charged as an adult and faces 20 to 50 years in prison on just one of her five charges.
A 15-year-old Valparaiso High School freshman was sentenced by the juvenile court in June to an undetermined amount of time at a girls school after admitting to her role in the case.
Harper also filed motions asking the court to allow the jury to see a recorded interview in which police allegedly led the purported victim in their questioning.


Maybe our admission standards have dropped!   

Here is the roster for this year from the Valpo site:

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/roster/

Am I missing something or do we only have 12 scholarship players?  Carpenter and Shelton are walk-ons so that leaves 12 other players.  do we still have one to give?? We are allowed 13.

Just announced that Michael Joseph will fill this new position which will lead the charge in growing enrollment from 4100 to 6000 by 2015.

It seems that Valpo has more drawing power than I thought as this guy was the interim President of University of Detroit while they searched for a new President, and held the title of Executive Vice President (number 2 person) after the new President was selected.  Perhaps the new guy made it known that he wanted to bring in his own team, who knows.

So Valpo gets a guy with great credentials but a non-Lutheran to grow enrollment at a Lutheran University.  Hope it works.

Here is the announcement:

http://www.valpo.edu/news/news.php?releaseId=4670

With all the discussion on our record and struggles I thought I'd look back in history to see whether or not we have have similar problems. The history of futility for Valpo football is not just near term, but goes back many years.

Do you remember the Bill Koch years?  Actually his record isn't all that bad.  during his first 11 years his overall record was 43-62-1 with 4 winning seasons.  It was 1981 (his last) that things kind of got out of control.  That season, when we finished 0-9-1, we had a stretch of 6 games where we were out scored 278-36 including a 56-0 loss to Butler! (Ugh!).

Koch was replaced by Tom Horne who proceeded to go 0-10 in 1989, 1-9 in 1990 and 1-8-1 in 1991.  so over the four year period 1988-1991 we were 2-36-1.  Oh yeah, during 1989 we had a stretch of four games where we scored a total of 7 points.  Talk about ugly.
So many would have called for Horne's head and probably did.  Still, by 1994 we were 7-4, by 1999 we were 9-2 and we won or tied for the conference title in both 2000 and 2003.  2003 was particularly impressive because we were 1-10 the previous year.

So what happened in 2003?  Well, we found a kid named David Macchi.  All Macchi did was to pass for over 7000 yards in two seasons, have total offense of over 4000 yards in 2003 and throw 5 TDs 3 times during that season.  Oh yeah, he also had a receiver named Rob Giancola. Together they hold a bunch of school records.

My point is simple.  A couple of stars can turn thing around VERY quickly and second, the history of futility is long and deep.  Not continuous but fairly regular.  Coach Carlson has a REAL challenge culture wise and we all know it.  We didn't get where we are over night and it will take some time to get turned around.  Think of Coach Horne. It took him 5 years to get a winning record and 11 to get a conference championship.  I don't expect it to take nearly as long with Coach Carlson.  

Tom Boyt stepped down last year for medical reasons and when he returns he will not be the Dean but rather a Professor of Marketing.

I've not seen a replacement announced.  Anybody know what's up??

In women's golf.   In fact, drubbed 'em by 21 shots!

Just released, Cam will not be part of the team but will stay on an academic scholarship to complete his degree in May.  My understanding is that Cam just lost interest in playing which I'm sure was in part due to the handwriting on the wall regarding playing time.  For those who view college basketball as dog eat dog, consider that Valpo agreed to pay for his final year when that was not part of the deal.  Very generous and probably best for all parties.  Good luck to Cam going forward!

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2011-12/10949/valpos-witt-to-focus-on-academics-will-not-compete/

Tragedy to start the school year.  Prayer service going on now...

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/duneland/town-of-porter/article_9d00dae7-ef3e-5c9c-bbef-6a62979ae4f2.html

Just visited over there and two guys who were predicting first and second team all conference teams had Ryan as a second teamer.  No mention of any other Valpo players and interestingly enough, both had only one Butler guy in the top 10, that being Marshall as a second teamer.  Actually the other guy had either Marshall or Smith as second teamers.

So, does anyone think any other Valpo guys can crack the top 10?  I can certainly see the potential for Edwards, Bogan or Boggs being named to the all newcomer team.  Sleeper all conference:  Matt Kenney.

http://hoopsillinois1.hoops247.com/

http://chicagohoops.hoops247.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=605:2013-star-jubril-adekoya-is-ready-to-close-out-july-with-a-pair-of-championships&catid=35:news

Both local papers had good stories today about the impact Bryce has had/will have on our basketball program.  Interesting that both articles are written by someone other than the local beat writer.

Here they are:

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/columnists/steve-hanlon/article_f44672e8-6e46-5783-a548-8b6afdc5f626.html

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/6375272-419/mike-hutton-bryce-has-instant-impact-at-valparaiso.html

Recently announced that Ryan will play for Australia in the University games.  Congrats to a really fine young man and team leader for this coming year!!   

I had to single out someone and chose these two as examples.  Here's the real question: Does it make sense to try and recruit big name freshman or, as Valpo has done, pick up players with obvious talent, after they have spent a season or two on major college campus'.
Butcher was a first team all stater in Indiana and an Indiana All Star.  His production at Butler has been minimal and it appears he is destined to be a role player his senior year as well.  On the other hand, we had Cory Johnson, also an All Stater (Minnesota) and a top 100 player, who chose Iowa State coming out of high school.  We had two very productive years from Cory including a second team all conference selection.
Insert Bobby Capobianco, Will Bogan, Ben Boggs or even Brandon Wood.  These guys aren't "castoffs" has had been asserted by some, they are very talented guys who didn't make the regular rotation going forward or chose to play in a system where they were more comfortable (Will Bogan) or would be used effectively.
Bobby Capobianco played 11 minutes a game as a freshman at Indiana. He was ranked number 100 by ESPN. Does anybody really think he will be a disappointment?These are the type of players we would have loved to pickup as freshman.  We get them with two years of experience and training at major conferences.  It is working well for Valpo.  Thoughts??

Here's another one:  Some on this board have stated that they think Brandon Wood has made a mistake in that he will only see limited time playing for MSU.  So here's my question:  My position is that any player who made the Horizon League first or second teams could start, or for the second teamers, be a considerable contributor to a Big Ten Team.  Do you agree are disagree, and specific examples of disagreement would be great!  We don't need to reflect on whether or not so and so would never see the time of day on an Ohio State team, but might at Minnesota or such analysis.  Remember, Paul Carter, who was neither a first or second team selection, played a regular contributor role at Minnesota the previous year.

To refresh your memories, here is an article that shows all the awards:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Horizon_League_men%27s_basketball_season#All-Conference_Honors

I have to make a post like this every once in a while so everyone knows I don't drink the cool aid every day, just most days! 

Now that the year is almost over I took a look at our performaces in various sports and found some good and some very bad.  In the more prominent sports Valpo is holding its own and in the lesser sports its performance is Youngstown State like and clearly needs a bunch of work.  Whether or not Valpo can attract the necessay athletes to minor sports is a fair question.  Clearly we have, on an individual basis--Laura Rolf, All American, or Jarrett Mickens in track, as examples.  Still, we, as fans, don't do the institution any great favor by ignoring results.

So here are some facts, whether or not we appreciate knowing them:

In "primary sports" we have done fairly well (top half), as follows:

Men's Basketball           Fourth
Women's Basketball       Last

Volleyball                    Fourth
Women's soccer           Seventh
Men's soccer               eighth

Baseball                     Second (currently)
Softball                      Second

On balance, these results are good, no doubt

Here is where we run into "trouble"

Women's Swimming      Second last (Butler last!!)
Men's swimming           Last (Butler doesn't have a team)
Women's track            Last
Men's Track                Last
Women's tennis           Last
men's tennis               Last
men's cross country    Second last
women's cross countrySecond last
men's golf                 Second last
women's golf             Second last

So there you have it.  Sometimes we basketball fans lose track of other sports and their success or lack there of.  More power to them all!  We have a long way to go to truly compete at the Horizon level.

Very good piece that speaks volumes to what Valpo represents today, in many respects.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Faces of Valpo

[Junior year. He broke his leg during the first couple of games his senior year and missed the whole season. To me, he seems like a Matt Kenney clone--6'4" 200 lbs plus and built! One of our coaches told me he was a "Jake Diebler type--only better here are some interesting articles: http://virginiapreps.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=914&CID=788803Ben Boggshttp://www.roanoke.com/sports/vtbasketball/wb/198867Next is Justin Edwards. Justin "Richie" Edwards, is 6'8" and was named a First Team All American Section 8 player after this last year. He averaged 18.6 ppg and 6.8 boards while shooting 71% from the FT line and 34% from the 3.http://www.njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=4&collegeid=1360&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=105624&athleteid=266622All-Suncoast Conference Men's Basketball Teams First-team: Justin Edwards, Hillsborough; Sidney Sanders, Polk State; Olivier Mbaigoto, St. Petersburg; John Miller, State College of Florida; Aaron Martin, St. Petersburg; Ernest Wiggins, St. Petersburg; Rayshon Mack, Polk State; Markee Teal, State College of Florida; John Florveus, Hillsborough; Robert Gilchrist, Polk State; Josh Mason, State College of Florida; Terran McClendon, Hillsborough. Second-team: Justin McCoy, St. Petersburg; Odi Oneyeka, State College of Florida; Josh McMillian, Hillsborough; David Baroum, St. Petersburg; Curshawn Banks, Polk State; Davon Usher, Polk State; Eric Williams, St. Petersburg; Emmanuel Tiluscar, St. Petersburg; Derrick Robbins, State College of Florida; Ante Gospic, Polk State; Jarrel Joye, Polk State; Derrick Austin, Hillsborough. Honorable Mention: Adewunmi Barek, St. Petersburg; Eric Halliwell, State College of Florida; Daverick Hunt, State College of Florida; Deon Murvin, Polk State; Reggie Baity, State College of Florida; Kenny Bellinger, St. Petersburg. Player of the Year: Justin Edwards, HillsboroughCoach of the Year: Matt Furjanic, Polk Statehttp://www.njcaa.org/sports_awards.cfm?sid=4&divid=1&slid=2Lastly is Dino Jakolis, who may be the real sleeper. Remember this kid played on the same team with Hanner Perea who is a freakish athlete and committed to Indiana, as well as a bunch of other D1 talent, yet still averaged in double figures.Here is a good article on their team. Not a whole lot of individual things about Dino, but still, a 6'7" kid who can hit the 3 isn't all bad!Becoming big time Boasting a roster full of Division-I talent, including IU verbal committment Hanner Perea, La Lumiere boys turning into stellar prep schoolBy Drew WhiteStaff WriterPublished: Friday, November 19, 2010 5:01 PM CSTLA PORTE — A few years ago, La Lumiere began a journey to build a program that would attract top-tier basketball talent, allowing the Lakers to play among the elite prep schools in the nation.With a schedule that features two meetings with perennial national power Findlay Prep (Nevada), La Lumiere has not only been able to bring their schedule up to par, but they have a roster to go along with the schedule, highlighted by recent Indiana University verbal commit Hanner Perea.A junior, Perea comes to La Lumiere after having played at last year at United Faith Christian Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina.First-year Laker head coach Alan Huss said it is great for the school to boast an Indiana recruit, but doesn't know just how big of a draw Perea will be."I think having an IU commitment would probably be a bigger deal in other parts of the state than it is here," Huss said. "Whether the seats are full or not, we're still going to play."Perea isn't the only Laker committed to play Division I basketball at the next level. Junior guard Antonio "Bo Bo" Drummond has committed to play at Southern Illinois.Huss says there are a few others with high-level college potential as well, including 6-3 guard Stan Wier, 6-7 forward Dino Jakolis, and 7-0 center Obij Ager.How he gets the newcomers to mesh with returning players is what Huss says is, "the million dollar question.""Chemistry is going to be critical, blending old with new," Huss said. "I feel the guys have pretty well bought into what we've told them thus far."Huss replaces former Indiana Mr. Basketball and Rogers High School graduate Delray Brooks as head coach and Director of Basketball Operations. He also serves as an assistant director of admissions at the school.Last year he coached at Culver Military Academy, another boarding school."It's really pretty similar to what I've done in the past," Huss said. "I'm doing the same day job and it is the same schedule. It is eerily similar."One challenge of compiling a team full of top talent is balancing playing time among kids that are used to being on the court. While Perea and Drummond should be regulars in the starting lineup, Huss expects to see a steady shuffle."We have guys that aren't going to get as many minutes as they are used to," Huss said. "We've got seven or eight that are capable of starting. It could change half a dozen times by Christmas, honestly."The Lakers open their season this weekend when they travel to a tournament in New Haven, Connecticut. Their first home game is Nov. 30 when they host New Creation at 7 p.m.]

Thought I'd post a few things about our new guys.  some I'm sure you've seen, but I think it's good to remind us that they come with very solid credentials and may make an immeadiate impact.

The first is Ben Boggs.  Ben was a First Team Big School All State Player in Virginia after his Junior year.  He broke his leg during the first couple of games his senior year and missed the whole season. To me, he seems like a Matt Kenney clone--6'4" 200 lbs plus and built!  One of our coaches told me he was a "Jake Diebler type--only better here are some interesting articles:


http://virginiapreps.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=914&CID=788803

Ben Boggs

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/vtbasketball/wb/198867

Next is Justin Edwards.  Justin "Richie" Edwards, is 6'8" and was named a First Team All American Section 8 player after this last year. He averaged 18.6 ppg and 6.8 boards while shooting 71% from the FT line and 34% from the 3.

http://www.njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=4&collegeid=1360&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=105624&athleteid=266622

All-Suncoast Conference Men's Basketball Teams


First-team: Justin Edwards, Hillsborough; Sidney Sanders, Polk State; Olivier Mbaigoto, St. Petersburg; John Miller, State College of Florida; Aaron Martin, St. Petersburg; Ernest Wiggins, St. Petersburg; Rayshon Mack, Polk State; Markee Teal, State College of Florida; John Florveus, Hillsborough; Robert Gilchrist, Polk State; Josh Mason, State College of Florida; Terran McClendon, Hillsborough.



Second-team: Justin McCoy, St. Petersburg; Odi Oneyeka, State College of Florida; Josh McMillian, Hillsborough; David Baroum, St. Petersburg; Curshawn Banks, Polk State; Davon Usher, Polk State; Eric Williams, St. Petersburg; Emmanuel Tiluscar, St. Petersburg; Derrick Robbins, State College of Florida; Ante Gospic, Polk State; Jarrel Joye, Polk State; Derrick Austin, Hillsborough.



Honorable Mention: Adewunmi Barek, St. Petersburg; Eric Halliwell, State College of Florida; Daverick Hunt, State College of Florida; Deon Murvin, Polk State; Reggie Baity, State College of Florida; Kenny Bellinger, St. Petersburg.

Player of the Year: Justin Edwards, Hillsborough
Coach of the Year: Matt Furjanic, Polk State



http://www.njcaa.org/sports_awards.cfm?sid=4&divid=1&slid=2

Lastly is Dino Jakolis, who may be the real sleeper. Remember this kid played on the same team with Hanner Perea who is a freakish athlete and committed to Indiana, as well as a bunch of other D1 talent, yet still averaged in double figures.

Here is a good article on their team.  Not a whole lot of individual things about Dino, but still, a 6'7" kid who can hit the 3 isn't all bad!

Becoming big time



Boasting a roster full of Division-I talent, including IU verbal committment Hanner Perea, La Lumiere boys turning into stellar prep school
By Drew White
Staff Writer
Published: Friday, November 19, 2010 5:01 PM CST
LA PORTE — A few years ago, La Lumiere began a journey to build a program that would attract top-tier basketball talent, allowing the Lakers to play among the elite prep schools in the nation.

With a schedule that features two meetings with perennial national power Findlay Prep (Nevada), La Lumiere has not only been able to bring their schedule up to par, but they have a roster to go along with the schedule, highlighted by recent Indiana University verbal commit Hanner Perea.

A junior, Perea comes to La Lumiere after having played at last year at United Faith Christian Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina.

First-year Laker head coach Alan Huss said it is great for the school to boast an Indiana recruit, but doesn't know just how big of a draw Perea will be.

"I think having an IU commitment would probably be a bigger deal in other parts of the state than it is here," Huss said. "Whether the seats are full or not, we're still going to play."

Perea isn't the only Laker committed to play Division I basketball at the next level. Junior guard Antonio "Bo Bo" Drummond has committed to play at Southern Illinois.

Huss says there are a few others with high-level college potential as well, including 6-3 guard Stan Wier, 6-7 forward Dino Jakolis, and 7-0 center Obij Ager.How he gets the newcomers to mesh with returning players is what Huss says is, "the million dollar question."

"Chemistry is going to be critical, blending old with new," Huss said. "I feel the guys have pretty well bought into what we've told them thus far."

Huss replaces former Indiana Mr. Basketball and Rogers High School graduate Delray Brooks as head coach and Director of Basketball Operations. He also serves as an assistant director of admissions at the school.

Last year he coached at Culver Military Academy, another boarding school.

"It's really pretty similar to what I've done in the past," Huss said. "I'm doing the same day job and it is the same schedule. It is eerily similar."

One challenge of compiling a team full of top talent is balancing playing time among kids that are used to being on the court. While Perea and Drummond should be regulars in the starting lineup, Huss expects to see a steady shuffle.

"We have guys that aren't going to get as many minutes as they are used to," Huss said. "We've got seven or eight that are capable of starting. It could change half a dozen times by Christmas, honestly."

The Lakers open their season this weekend when they travel to a tournament in New Haven, Connecticut. Their first home game is Nov. 30 when they host New Creation at 7 p.m.

I am well aware of the lack of success in our football program, and hopefully that will begin to change starting in the fall.

In the meantime, after building a brand new tennis facility, our tennis teams may be the worst of all the teams.  Our women's team finished the year with a match record of:  0-20 and more embarrassing was the fact that their individual game record within those matches was 11-137.

Our men at least had a respectable record of:  6-11 and had individual game record of 22-132.

So, the notion of "build it and they will came" certainly hasn't held up in the tennis world.  In the meantime our track athletes have set some new school records while practicing at a Junior high.  The football field looks silly without a track.  My point is simply that we made a mistake in not building the track first and then the tennis facility.  This is without the benefit of where the funds came from and perhaps funds were donated specifically for tennis, I don't know.

I'm certainly not picking on our tennis athletes and I understand that the women only had one senior so hopefully things will improve.
Right now however, we aren't even close to competing in the Horizon, not even close.

there is clearly a problem.

I don't know about all the players he has coming in but here are two:

Mallory Ladd, an Indiana All Star who finished second in the Miss Basketball voting

Jessica Carr, who is also an Indiana All Star, and has been named the Player of the Year for the second year in a row by the Noblesville County Times.

I know he has a couple of other All State honorees on the current squad.  Last year was a mess for a few reasons including injuries and youth.  I think it is time for our women's team to step it up!!

Some of you may know that I'm a personal friend with a GM from a NBA team.  This person was recently in town and I had the chance to sit down for dinner with him and another NBA guy from another team.  We had a very interesting conversation.

First, neither had an opinion on our guy, one way or another.  I think as a junior, somewhat off the radar, Brandon wll need to really impress at tryouts and those can't start until the cutoff date which, I believe, is May 2, although I'm not sure. No team can contact him until all can as this would be viewed as tampering.  So Brandon doesn't at this point have any workouts scheduled.

Now, on to other news.  The opinion shared was that Norris Cole will be a first rounder and that he is a better player than Shelvin Mack.
I was told that one concern with Mack is conditioning and I think some of that "muscle" may be body material in a slightly different form! The knock on Cole was that his game close to the basket in very weak.  Think Steve Nash if you want what they are looking for in the near the basket talent. The rumor is that Mack will return to school.

I stated my case that Matt Howard was an NBA player, after the mold of Brian Cardinal.  One didn't have an opinion and the other felt Matt would get to play in the NBA, as a second rounder.

We discussed  many things including the fact that both JuJaun Johnson and Etwaun Moore both raised their stock by staying in school.  Johnson will be a top 10 player and Moore a first rounder.

It was a fun night for a basketball nut and a good time was had by all!  

Although I actually have plenty to do, I found myself wondering how the league will look next year with all the big name departures.  I did some research and found a few things of interest, at least to me!

Here we go:

Percentage of points scored lost to graduation:

Wright State         80
UIC                     64
Loyola                 49
Green Bay            44
Milwaukee            44
Butler                  41
Valpo                  39
Cleveland State    36
YSU                    21
Detroit                 -0-

More important to this discussion is exactly who is graduating and how they influenced the league.

Starting with Wright State, they lose the most, in Troy Tabler, Ngai Evans, Cooper Land and Vaughn Duggins. Clearly they will be down a bunch and can't really see them in the top half of the conference.

Next you have UIC who loses Paul Carter and Robo Kreps plus three other role players.  What can you say--the worst just got a lot worse.

Loyola loses four, led by Geoff McCammon and Terrance Hill as well as Andy Polka and Ryan Sterling.  Can't see them in the top half either.

Our buddies Green Bay lose two of the quickest guards in the league in Rahman Fletcher and Bryquis Perine.  I won't miss them one bit.  If they can find some back court talent, they should be pretty solid next year even with the losses.

Milwaukee will take a step back with the loss of Tone Boyle and Ant Hill.  Those guys have been Valpo killers and I'm glad to see them go.

Butler loses Matt Howard, Shawn Vanzant and Zach Hahn.  Can't see how they will be the favorite next year but they do seem to find a way.

We all know about losing Cory, Howard and Mike.

CSU doesn't lose a large percentage of scoring but it is who they lose that is critical.  You don't replace Norris Cole with just anybody.  They also lose DeAndrey Brown at 8.6 ppg.

YSU in intriguing in that they do lose one of the leagues better players in Vytas Sulskis but that is it other than a small role player in Dan Boudler.  This team will be scary as they beat Butler, took us to overtime, almost beat Milwaukee and will have virtually everyone back.  Next year could be their breakout to respectability.

And then you have Detroit.  Everyone back.  They will be one of the favorites for sure.

The league loses some people who will be difficult to replace and I think that overall the league will be weaker.  You don't lose people like Matt Howard or Norris Cole and expect everything to be the same.

If Butler repeats then Brad Stevens should go directly to the Hall of Fame. Don't get me wrong, they will be good with three starters returning, but, a player like Howard only comes along once every 20 years or so--a guy who had a big impact from the time he first set foot on the court as a freshman.

I like our chances--presuming that one bwood decides to stay put.  I would think the coaches might have Detroit as the favorite, followed by Butler, us, CSU and then YSU followed by Green Bay, Milwaukee, Wright State, Loyola and then UIC.

Obviously, this is without regard to anyone coming in.  If their is another McDonald's All American coming then things will be different.  As we have seen with a guy like Jay Harris, regardless of how good they were in high school, it takes some time to get up to speed for the college game.  That is, unless you are Matt Howard or Gordon Hayward.

Valporun has suggested that we discuss recruiting issues and I thought I'd start a new thread discussing what we have and what we need going forward to get over the hump and begin winning the conference on a regular basis, or at least once in the near future!

Everyone thinks we need a big and that will certainly help.  But what if we don't get one now?  If Brandon returns, we start Brandon, Erik, Matt, Ryan and...It could be Kevin but I'm guessing Richie Edwards.  We will be VERY deep at guardand will need some playing time from Cam, Vuc or the new kid.

Can we compete for the title next year without a new big?  I say yes, and will post another lengthy thread on who is losing what and what the conference will look like next year.

The attached article discusses how the NCAA basketball pot is split up by the teams.  Basicly, it is about $220,000 per point (per win up to the finals when you get 5 points). So, Butler earned 9 points last year.  The payout each year is a rolling averag of the previous four years, if I recall correctly.  If the Horizon earned 2 points each of the previous 3 years, then our pool would be 9 plus 6 divided by 4 or 3 points, this year.  So, that would mean about $660,000 split amoung the 10 schools. Not an insignificant amount.

As painful as it may be....GO BUTLER!!   

http://www.projo.com/news/content/NCAA_COLLEGES_MONEY_03-15-10_28HNTUS_v33.3c1cb8a.html

Finally found out the Richie Edwards was named the Player of the Year in the Florida SunCoast Conference!  Congrats to him.  I presume he also made the all tatoo team--wait to you see the art work!!  

And a Division 1 District 8 First Team member!

He averaged 18.6 ppg, shot 40 % from 2, and 34% from the 3 plus 71% FTs plus 6.8 boards per game.

http://www.njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=4&slid=2&collegeid=1360&teamid=105624&athleteid=266622&category=Roster

I'm having trouble setting up the account to lg in to watch the game.  When I fill out the form and hit submit it just goes blank.

What am I doing wrong?

Even though we didn't get to the NCAAs or NIT, this has still been a special year and a resurection of sorts for the Valpo basketball program.  While were at it, why not set some additional records.

While the rpi apparently doesn't make that much difference for seeding purposes, it is still of interest.  Can we set an all time record for our best rpi?  Can we set the all time record for wins?  Can we get a third trophy for the program and our first post season trophy of any sort?

Right now we rank 85 in the Sagarin's which is the highest (I think) of any time since they started, (which as right after the 98 season).  With CSU and Ohio winning last night it helps.  Ohio beat the top rpi team in the CIT--Marshall, so if we can beat the Gaels tonight we will be the top remaining team in that category.

Fun stuff to keep our interest!  Go Valpo!!

As we approach the seeding show I thought I'd take a look and see where I think we would have been seeded if we had made the dance.

I also am going to guess on Butler's seeding.  My thinking is based solely on the Sagarin's as the committee often says they do not rely solely on rpi's and the Sagarin's have historically been fairly close.

With all the automatics in now, there are 14 teams ranked lower than us and 17 lower than Butler.  That would make us a 13 and Butler an 12 seed.  Based on their reputation I'm guessing Butler gets an 11.

Oh, the last four (the sixteens) will be Alabama State at 308, Texas San Antonio at 220, Arkansas Little Rock at 207 and Hampton at 179.

We are at 90 and Butler at 46.  Good luck to the Bulldogs (yikes, that hurts)