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I have accepted the fact that I probably won't see any significant upgrades to a Valpo athletic facility in my lifetime. We're just too small and the University views athletics as more of a nuisance than a marketing tool. It's sad, but I've come to grips with it.

Congratulations to Campbell. It's good to see institutions that take pride in football reach true Division I status.

Very concerning, if true, VU2624. I admit, I thought Cecchini was the guy to turn things around. This will be another interesting offseason.

[I serious think at least a 5-6 record needs to happen next year, or Valpo needs to assess their football program.]

I have agree that Coach C and others are buffing a turd on their performance yesterday and in their coaching behaviors.

If you look at the objectives of Valpo's football based on the charter released a few years ago, they should be competing in the PFL. They are still in the bottom third of the worst football conference in college football. It is better than it was 3 years ago, and Coach C is fixing a train wreck of a program. At least they compete in most games. Next year, they need to show significant improvement and quit talking about lessons learned.

I serious think at least a 5-6 record needs to happen next year, or Valpo needs to assess their football program.

I have to think the student enrollment - and more importantly the tens of thousands of dollars the football players have to pay for them to be able to say they're a "Division I" football player - will forever keep Valpo football up and running regardless of how inept the program may be. The tuition money brought in by football has to be of some help to the overall athletic budget, right?

Another sorry showing. Missing not one, but two extra points? no excuse. Allowing 275 rushing yards at home? no excuse. What has happened to Jarett Morgan? Two years ago he looked like a player who would be a first team all-PFL player during his upperclassman years. 12 yards on 10 carries??

It's obvious how next week will go at Dayton. Can only hope we don't lose by more than 21. Gotta recoup and show some sign of dignity against Jacksonville. It's time to see results. This team has won 5 D-I games since the new coaching staff has gotten here and three of those are against the only D-I team in the entire country worse than us.

On one hand, it's good to see that we aren't losing by 40 points on a consistent basis anymore. On the other, the losses still keep piling up. It's really really hard to be a fan of this losing program.

There's no such thing as a bad win especially with this program. However, I'm a little concerned that we squeaked by the worst ranked team in the nation at home on Homecoming wknd.

Valpo needs a good showing next week against a very good offense for me to believe any real corners are being turned. I don't expect a win at MSU, but they should be able to keep it within 14 points.

TIU and Davidson are awful football teams.

I can only guess that maybe the school is too embarrassed to put out there that their coaches are leaving in the middle of school and in the case of womens golf, the middle of the season?

I don't know but either way it's odd for a coach to leave during this time of the year.

Unless it was installed within the last 7-8 years, I do not believe the ARC (at least the gymnasium) has air conditioning.

I'm not any more in tune to the program than most on here (I would assume). Was around much more during the Macchi years- early to mid 2000s. I try and make it to one if not two games a year. Attended the Stetson game at home last season, was at Butler three years ago for the game we wish we could all forget. But I follow the team closely and listen to the radio broadcast as often as I can.

My comment about the transfers had to do with quality as much as quantity. Looking at the defectors from this past season, many were touted by the coaching staff to be big-time playmakers - McPherson, Choudrey and Underwood. Yes, that's going to happen at the non-scholarship D-1/D-3 football level, but it seems to hit Valpo more than any other PFL program.

I think Cecchini is right when he says "yes, we're a year older, but we're not three years older." Last year, the PFL seemed to be divided into three levels: 1) San Diego, Dayton, Jacksonville, Morehead State 2) Butler, Drake, Campbell, Marist 3) Stetson, Valpo, Davidson.

I don't believe we've gotten better enough to make the leap into the second category this year.
 

As long as the transfer rate stays the same and the team is heavily relying on freshmen to fill some important roles, it'll be difficult to turn things around.

I hope I'm wrong, but nothing about this team tells me it should be anything better than 2-9.

Thanks for the info VUSWIM. Even ignoring the fact that the team apparently puts itself behind the 8 ball by not competing in the diving portion of competitions (), I find it disgraceful that the school would allow its students to get sick because it can't properly construct a facility. First and foremost, it's poor ethics. Secondly, that's bad business! Why would the university subject itself to potential legal trouble, especially in a branch of its business that it obviously doesn't care about? No offense with that last sentence VUSWIM, I am just stating what appears to be obvious.

The money has never been there nor will it ever. How many different ways can it be said? Valpo doesn't have the money to support programs outside of men's basketball. If you want a hockey team, either rob a bank or figure out a way to have a rich hockey person develop a love for VU.

A load of crap, indeed. The NCAA should be ashamed.

I noticed the 2016-2017 roster is already up. No Trepanier and no Nadler??? They were two of our best underclassmen bats this past spring. Hopefully it's a clerical error and they didn't get scooped up by bigger programs. 

Either way, these two incoming transfers seem like they'll contribute right away. 

A week of embarrassing publicity continues. Looks like one of athletics biggest donors is a white collar criminal. Apparently Narayan had gold status in the Crusader Fund. Have to wonder how much of that money was really his.

http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Giants-Peavy-defrauded-of-millions-in-8316324.php

The VU Law school should not have been so naive to participate in a study with the NYT. I would bet several other law schools were asked by the NYT to participate in the study and declined. At this day and age, perhaps logical thought and reasoning can be applied in the sciences or systems design management, which are critical skill needs in this country.

The fact that President Heckler is paraphrased in this piece tells me he was well aware of the potential fallout of this article. Perhaps this provides justification to make (even more) sweeping changes.


But yes overall, it was highly embarrassing for both the law school and the university.

Doesn't look good at all with both Jazmyn and Kurt leaving. The couple times I watched workouts while walking on the track, Kurt was running the practice while Dorow was on the sidelines yukking it up with bench players. She appeared to be anything but the "leader" of that program. Two more years of 20-loss basketball here we come. 

If this were a case of one or two players, I'd tend to lean towards Swoopes' side. However, 10 out of 12? C'mon! I don't care how many gold medals she won as a player, she's obviously created a chasm the size of Texas in that program as a coach. I would be pointing my daughter elsewhere. 

You're exactly right about men's basketball being king. Has been, will always be the reason LeCrone and the member ADs show up to work every day.

My previous comment was more of a comparison of how ALL of Oakland's programs would fare in a larger conference as opposed to VU. I fear volleyball, men's basketball, men's tennis (maybe soccers??) would be the only teams that could realistically compete in a step up, conference wise. As it currently stands, long stretches of mediocrity in programs outside of MBK seem to be acceptable at VU.

Mick -


Oakland certainly appears to be a very aggressive athletic department. Top to bottom, they do the best job of fielding competitive programs. Oakland's swimming and diving programs have a rich history, their soccer teams are outstanding, their men's basketball team has vastly improved. Outside of perhaps baseball, they don't have a perennial cellar dweller. Out of all the current HL schools, my money would be on Oakland to be the next school to make a jump to a bigger conference (assuming YSU wouldn't go to the MAC because of football) for the reasons we've listed. It may only be perception, but overall, Oakland seems to have an urgency to keep improving.

While I've been outspoken in my criticism of the university and administration, Valpo hit a home run with this hire. Excellent job!!

So I take it you don't have a spare $16 million hanging around for a coach or $40 million for a new facility?

I did til some Bernie Madoff guy made it disappear. 
What I'm able to give per year may cover a couple team meals but that's it. Mrs. Vinny and I helped put two kids through college.

Again, what the Drews accomplished/were accomplishing didn't matter enough to the university admins. Guessing they'll figure it out once the $$$ stops flowing in. Frustrating and embarrassing. 

I'm seriously concerned for the future of both VU basketball and athletics. The commitment simply isn't there. I'm not so naive to think that we could've kept Bryce forever, but the university could've done more to keep him here longer and at least give him the chance to build VU into a Butler.

This is a sad day in VU athletics history and a frustrating one I might add. From The Shot on March 13th, 1998 until April 4th, 2016, the university had a chance to make VU a national player. But it didn't matter enough. So now the program faces the threat of its best days being behind it.

Best of luck to Bryce. It will be fun to consistently watch him in the NCAA Tourney. If he takes Alec with him, this team's best chance to get back to it may not come come until the 2020's. What could've been...