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[A closer look at the monumental men's basketball transfer class]

A closer look at the monumental men's basketball transfer class

SMWC may have more D-1 playing experience than Valpo does.

https://smwcathletics.com/news/2023/9/27/mens-basketball-a-closer-look-at-the-monumental-mens-basketball-transfer-class.aspx

[NCAA probe began after firm obtained evidence from Michigan computers]

The Michigan sign stealing scandal has broken wide open. Apparently, an investigative story was just published by the Washington Post that will bring Michigan football to its knees. Could be the biggest cheating scandal in the history of college fb. Multiple coaches and offensive and defensive coordinators involved and that Harbaugh had to know about. There is speculation that they might not finish out the season or at a minimum be declared ineligible for the college fb playoffs.

NCAA probe began after firm obtained evidence from Michigan computers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/10/25/michigan-computers-sign-stealing-evidence/

[Valparaiso: 'In the middle of everything']

Valparaiso: 'In the middle of everything'
By Philip Potempa / August 3, 2023

https://nwindianabusiness.com/article/valparaiso-in-the-middle-of-everything-august-september-2023/

Author

Philip Potempa

Philip Potempa is a 1992 graduate of Valparaiso University. He covered entertainment in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois for The South Bend Tribune in 1992 before joining The Times of Northwest Indiana and Illinois in 1995 where he worked in features for more than two decades. In 2016, he joined The Post-Tribune and Chicago Tribune Media Group. He is the author of three published books chronicling stories, interviews, recipes and memories from his personal and professional experiences. He also is an adjunct instructor in communication at both Valparaiso University and Purdue University Northwest.

[Paper exams, chatbot bans: Colleges seek to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments]

Paper exams, chatbot bans: Colleges seek to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments
By JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/nation-world/education/artificial-intelligence-college-chatgpt/article_fd24033c-8a70-50ac-97ba-6bb5ad77ddb0.html

My grandkids freely admit they have used ChatGPT, not cut-and-paste per se but for generating ideas and sequencing them. In other words, they are still doing the writing, but ChatGPT is doing the creating, the critical thinking.

A couple of thoughts about this:

• I'm concerned that this is just one more thing that will drive students to on-line learning, where undoubtedly the scrutiny will be far less.

• I'm afraid this is another step in the dumbing down of America. As an employer I'm not as interested in what a recent college grad knows as much as their potential to grow intellectually. Are they inquisitive? Can they generate ideas? Can they create and innovate? In other words, can they think critically? This is what drives competitive advantage.

[WFH's staunchest proponents just dropped a bomb: Fully remote workers are officially less productive]

WFH's staunchest proponents just dropped a bomb: Fully remote workers are officially less productive July 6, 2023

"But their latest working paper, published by Stanford's Institute for Economic Policy and Research, delivers a blow to work-from-home advocates: Fully remote work is associated with 10% to 20% lower productivity than fully in-person work."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wfh-staunchest-proponents-just-dropped-120000722.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMdCjj9PZIMe1wMGGbyFJcOyfh7Rylk8ezgJ26XHuo2rx7agyJPhTRtNpv5BlNQpS0X19Fw1atpDr5kawUflGqph_DaQThadtWdpVGFeHNq7uYfA7mG3QmYnYTte8uHMMsL5MS4Ke-uQ-p6CIMiFnFS4c_ZDq3ZJO-6ZCgAC0Ydz

Allowing for rare exception, anyone who claims to be as productive or more productive working from home is either not being truthful or is fooling themselves. More than the productivity difference, that individual isn't available to train or mentor fellow employees, contribute to impromptu team discussions, connect socially and bond with coworkers, cover for someone, cross train, run errands, adapt to and elevate company culture, etc. Organizations that stand the test of time are relational. Working from home is purely transactional.

Does anyone have a different opinion?

Former NU football player details hazing allegations after coach suspension

Fitzgerald needs to go.

https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/07/08/top-stories/former-nu-football-player-details-hazing-allegations-after-coach-suspension/

This question is specifically for "talksalot:"

I know you are an active board member and occasional poster, so presumably you are aware that those who regularly attend games at the ARC have complained repeatedly that the public address system is broken and that it has remained in its current broken state for several years. To my recollection, no one who works for the athletic department has ever commented on it, despite chiming in on myriad other topics. I have sent unanswered emails to MLB, using a simple analogy - our local movie theater having a sound system with constant voice and sound distortion and expecting paying customers to live with it. The fact that it's even an issue is remarkable. The fact that no one from the Athletic Department has ever responded to our complaints is also quite remarkable. Even after seeing that lights are being installed to bring the ARC lighting into the 21st century, a new round of "how about the sound system?" questions has gone ignored. So, let me ask you:
1. Not wanting to assume anything, are you as PA announcer, aware that the PA system is broken? Or, do you even agree that it's broken?
2. If you are aware/agree, is the asst. AD in charge of facility management aware of it?
3. Is our AD aware of it?
4. If so, is there a plan to remedy it? If so, what and when? If not, why not?
5. If a resolution is on the way, is it this year or "somewhere down the road?"
6. Anything else as a fellow board poster and rabid VU bb fan that you can share to help your fellow members understand what on the surface appears to be a need-to-know secret would be greatly appreciated, (even something cryptic, lol).

Thanks in advance for adding some insight for those of us who buy season tickets and help pay the bills.

https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/1668254343357767682?s=20
M

https://twitter.com/CoachQG/status/1666232578469183489?s=20

Why not dream big? Obviously, the coaches are.

[Here's the strategic shift that made Gonzaga upset-proof]

Get ready for basketball at Mach 7 speed.

Here's the strategic shift that made Gonzaga upset-proof

"In 2018-19, a 33-win Gonzaga team averaged 14.7 seconds per offensive possession, the sixth-fastest in the nation, per KenPom. The next year, with four new starters, the Zags were still men's basketball's seventh-fastest offense. In 2020-21, with four guards surrounding Drew Timme, Gonzaga revved up to 14.4 seconds per possession, the third-fastest. This year, with slender 7-foot freshman Chet Holmgren alongside Timme in the frontcourt, the Zags are second only to St. John's at 14.6."

https://sports.yahoo.com/gonzaga-basketball-transition-offense-tempo-march-madness-191427696.html

Back to reality. Getting back doored constantly, then compounding the situation by fouling them after we get beat. Shouldn't we have anticipated this, given that this is the second time we've played them. Poor preparation, bad coaching, and a lot of low bb IQ's out there, it seems.

[Valparaiso University offers buyouts to longtime faculty, staffAnnie Mattea Jan 25, 2022 Updated 18 hrs ago]

Valparaiso University offers buyouts to longtime faculty, staff
Annie Mattea Jan 25, 2022 Updated 18 hrs ago

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/education/valparaiso-university-offers-buyouts-to-longtime-faculty-staff/article_b836ca5d-0277-579c-84a0-288e8ac5976e.html#tracking-source=in-article-popular

[Esports catching on at Region universities]

Esports catching on at Region universities

"Valparaiso started its own esports program in 2019, and Overwatch player Franco Raimondi can hardly believe the opportunities at his fingertips now. The Genoa, Illinois, native has seen the perception of competitive video gaming gain far more acceptance than it had when he was falling in love with it."

"The culture about it is ever-growing and changing and becoming normalized and accepted," Raimondi said. "It's not seen as, 'Oh, you play video games?' It's more like, 'Oh, man, you're an esports player? That's awesome.'"

https://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/esports-catching-on-at-region-universities/article_c3c68b3a-b8b0-5c2e-b96e-e8c8636d9cdd.html

This is Latin and Greek to me, but if it's a revenue generator, I'm all for it.

I complained sometime back that we the die hard fans have been kept in the dark about when Kobe will be eligible to play for no other reason than no one in the know cared enough to tell us. I specifically called out Brandon and Todd, who used to provide inside baseball info like that. Brandon replied that he has to sit out the first 9 games. In a later interview Matt said 9 or 10 games, he couldn't recall which, so let's call it 10. Really? you're a Stanford graduate and you can't recall when your #1 transfer can begin playing?

So, here we are coming down to the wire, and we still don't know. Why does this program always seem to be shrouded in secrecy or uncertainty about things that should be crystal clear? Why doesn't anyone associated with the program (directly or indirectly) feel a sense of responsibility to keep the fan base feeling hopeful in light of the horrendous start to the season? Lots of us try to keep everyone hopeful with glass half full thoughts, but why bother when people associated with the program and have the most to benefit from an engaged fan base could seemingly care less?

[Saints look to build on last year's success]

Saints look to build on last year's success

https://flaglerathletics.com/news/2021/11/3/MBB_1103_Preview.aspx

Some sobering facts:

• Return four starters.
• Have four 5th year seniors and 1 6th year senior.
• 6-foot-2 senior guard Lottie finished 7th in the nation in scoring with 24.4 PPG. Selected Peach Belt Conference POY and NCAA D2 South Region Most Valuable Player.
• 6-foot-7 forward (sixth season) last year shot 71.6 percent from the field, second-best in the nation, averaged 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Had biggest game, 26 points on 13-of-15 shooting, in Flagler's rout (92-73) of NCAA Division I member Central Michigan University.
• Jalen Barr, a 6-foot-4 swing, was PBC Defender of the Year.
• Added several high profile transfers.

[Drake administration announces major budget cuts]

Drake administration announces major budget cuts
by GRACE ALTENHOFEN
October 8, 2021 

https://timesdelphic.com/2021/10/33057/

This will probably be of no interest to anyone, just passing on something kind of quasi-related. I'm sitting on the veranda of a Starbucks at Liberty University. We met my daughter and her family here for Homecoming. One of my grandsons is a HS senior and has decided on Liberty. This is an amazing place, easily the nicest campus I've ever seen with unbelievable amenities. They must have money to burn.

As long as we're just standing around waiting to hear about another addition, let me lightheartedly ask, "Do you consider yourself a Missouri Valley Conference fan?"

I don't. In fact, the whole concept of conference fandom is foreign to me. I'm a Valpo fan. I'm a conference supporter. I see the Missouri Valley Conference the same way I see my credit union. I want it to do well, because the better it does, the better I do. But the only "fan" I have over there is me. The MVC is a means to an end for Valpo. The credit union is a means to an end for me.

Does that make sense?

If you would, feel free to add some personal thoughts to help us better understand where everyone is coming from on this controversial topic.

I got vaccinated as soon as I was eligible in March. As a senior, I thought it was the prudent thing to do. If I were a generation younger with no health issues, it's hard to say. I really don't know.

Hopefully, no one minds that I stuck this topic here. I was afraid that it wouldn't get much play farther down the board. I also don't want to make it political.

Our USA men's team went 2-2 in exhibition play, and is off to an 0-1 start in official games after losing to France 83-76. France was something like 1-4 in exhibition games. I know that other countries have caught up to some degree, but our roster is loaded with excellent NBA players. We still have the best players in the world, IMO. I don't know what's going on, but we don't have much time to get it figured out.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767779487490051?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767780477255683?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767781509042192?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767782427660291?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767783442718723?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767784323522566?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767785355329541?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767786248605700?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767787154591746?s=20
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1407767788228333575?s=20

[2021 COMMENCEMENTSValparaiso University always 'home' for 2021 graduates]

2021 COMMENCEMENTS
Valparaiso University always 'home' for 2021 graduates

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/education/valparaiso-university-always-home-for-2021-graduates/article_244bd70c-4740-5207-b51e-ad7607ebae74.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest

If first time transfers no longer have to sit out a year (i.e., redshirt), doesn't that eliminate the potential risk of redshirting as a freshman and losing a year of eligibility down the line? And, if that's the case, might redshirting freshmen become the next big thing in college basketball, especially given that rosters are going to be bloated with veteran players?

Just throwing the idea out there, wondering what others are thinking about it.

The Ramblers are 20-point favorites for Valpo/Loyola 2.0. This is the biggest underdog spread I can recall against a conference opponent, going all the way back to our Mid Con days.

I hope I'm wrong, but I have almost no glass-half-full optimism about this one.

The spread for Saturday's game was UNI -7. Following  the Crusader's 13 point victory tonight's game is rated even.

The Crusaders have scored at least 70 points in 3 of our last 4 games. All 3 were victories.

The Crusaders are 7 point underdogs in this one. Seems too high to me. Look for the Crusaders to win this one straight up.

Go Crusaders! Keep building!

Curious what everyone thinks will happen next year? Who among Eron, Mileek, Zion and Nick do we think would want to come back? Has the NCAA even discussed details of how this all works logistically with scholarship numbers, roster size, etc?

This includes no size limitations on events, if approval is granted by the county health department. Hopefully, the new normal at the ARC will look a lot like the old normal.

Indiana will move to reopening plan Stage 5, mask mandate to continue

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fox59.com/news/coronavirus/gov-holcomb-state-leaders-to-give-update-on-reopening-plan-mask-mandate/amp/

[As Colleges Move Classes Online, Families Rebel Against the CostSchools face rising demands for tuition rebates, increased aid and leaves of absence as students ask if college is becoming "glorified Skype."]

As Colleges Move Classes Online, Families Rebel Against the Cost
Schools face rising demands for tuition rebates, increased aid and leaves of absence as students ask if college is becoming "glorified Skype."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/15/us/covid-college-tuition.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Published Aug. 15, 2020
Updated Aug. 18, 2020

After Southern California's soaring coronavirus caseload forced Chapman University this month to abruptly abandon plans to reopen its campus and shift to an autumn of all-remote instruction, the school promised that students would still get a "robust Chapman experience."

"What about a robust refund?" retorted Christopher Moore, a spring graduate, on Facebook.

A parent chimed in. "We are paying a lot of money for tuition, and our students are not getting what we paid for," wrote Shannon Carducci, whose youngest child, Ally, is a sophomore at Chapman, in Orange County, where the cost of attendance averages $65,000 a year. Back when they believed Ally would be attending classes in person, her parents leased her a $1,200-a-month apartment. Now, Ms. Carducci said, she plans to ask for a tuition discount.

A rebellion against the high cost of a bachelor's degree, already brewing around the nation before the coronavirus, has gathered fresh momentum as campuses have strained to operate in the pandemic. Incensed at paying face-to-face prices for education that is increasingly online, students and their parents are demanding tuition rebates, increased financial aid, reduced fees and leaves of absences to compensate for what they feel will be a diminished college experience.

At Rutgers University, more than 30,000 people have signed a petition started in July calling for an elimination of fees and a 20 percent tuition cut. More than 40,000 have signed a plea for the University of North Carolina system to refund housing charges to students in the event of another Covid-19-related campus shutdown. The California State University system's early decision to go online-only this fall has incited calls for price cuts at campuses from Fullerton to San Jose.

At Ithaca College — student population, 5,500 — the financial services team reports more than 2,000 queries in the past month about financial aid and tuition adjustments. Some 340 Harvard freshmen — roughly a fifth of the first-year class — deferred admission rather than possibly spending part of the year online, and a parents' lobbying group, formed on Facebook last month, has asked the administration to reduce tuition and relax rules for leaves of absence.

Universities have been divided in their response, with some offering discounts but most resisting, arguing that remote learning and other virus measures are making their operations more, not less, costly at a time when higher education is already struggling.

"These are unprecedented times, and more and more families are needing more and more financial assistance to enroll in college," said Terry W. Hartle, a senior vice president for the American Council on Education, a higher education trade group. "But colleges also need to survive."

The roster of colleges that have rescinded plans to reopen their classrooms has been growing by the day. In the past two weeks, the University of Maryland, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Virginia, Princeton and a host of other colleges announced plans to hold all or most of their classes online, citing concerns about the coronavirus. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, less than a quarter of the nation's 5,000 colleges are committed to providing instruction primarily or completely in person.

At Illinois State University, an 11th-hour shift infuriated Joseph Herff, a 22-year-old business major. He had locked into an off-campus lease and taken out $10,000 more in student loan debt by the time the school announced that its fall would be mostly online — the result of public health guidance and a shortage of coronavirus tests, according to the university's president, Larry Dietz.

CORONAVIRUS RUSHCovid-19 clusters are forming at fraternities and sororities across the country.
"I don't have an issue with moving classes to online. I do have an issue though that classes are charged the same price," Mr. Herff tweeted on an account that, until this month, he said in an interview, he had largely reserved for sports talk. "Why is this fair?"

Many colleges were facing financial dark clouds even before the coronavirus arrived. Population declines in some parts of the country have dampened enrollment, and soaring tuition has led many families to question the price of a college diploma. Moody's Investors Service, which in March downgraded the higher education sector to negative from stable, wrote that even before the pandemic, roughly 30 percent of universities "were already running operating deficits."Since then, emptied dorms, canceled sports, shuttered bookstores and paused study-abroad programs have dried up key revenue streams just as student needs have exploded for everything from financial aid and food stamps to home office equipment and loaner laptops. Public health requirements for masks, barriers, cleaning and other health protections also have added new costs, as have investments in training and technology to improve remote instruction and online courses. Roughly a fifth of the first-year class deferred admission rather than spend the fall online. Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Mass. Roughly a fifth of the first-year class deferred admission rather than spend the fall online.Credit...Tony Luong for The New York Times
"Starting up an online education program is incredibly expensive," said Dominique Baker, an assistant professor of education policy at Southern Methodist University. "You have to have training, people with expertise, licensing for a lot of different kinds of software. All those pieces cost money, and then if you want the best quality, you have to have smaller classes."

Chapman's president, Daniele Struppa, said the university spent $20 million on technology and public health retrofits for the fall semester, and he estimates that the switch to an online fall will cost the school $110 million in revenue. He has cut spending "brutally" from the $400 million annual budget, he said, freezing hires, slashing expenses, canceling construction of a new gym, ending the retirement match to employees and giving up 20 percent of his own $720,000 base salary.

Only students who can demonstrate financial need will get help, he is telling families. "Tuition really reflects our cost of operation, and that cost has not only not diminished but has greatly increased."

A survey by the American Council on Education estimated that reopening this fall would add 10 percent to a college's regular operating expenses, costing the country's 5,000 some colleges and universities a total of $70 billion.

"For institutions," said Mr. Hartle, who lobbies for the council, "this is a perfect storm."

Students are feeling tempest tossed, too.

Temple sociologist Sara Goldrick-Rab, founder of the university's Hope Center for College, Community and Justice, said the organization has been "bombarded" with pleas for help from students who can't cover their rent and don't know how to apply for food stamps. At least a third of students had lost jobs because of the pandemic by May, according to the center.

Such situations, Ms. Goldrick-Rab said, are particularly risky because they often prompt students to take on second or third jobs or to become distracted, which in turn imperils financial aid that can be revoked if their grades fall.

Laurie Koehler, vice president for enrollment strategy at Ithaca College, said about one in six students reported in a just-completed survey that the pandemic had significantly hurt their ability to continue their studies. At Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., the school's president, Alison Byerly, said she expects requests for additional financial aid to grow by up to 15 percent this year. But the shift online also has accelerated fundamental questions about the future of higher education, said the director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University, Marguerite Roza.

"This is a moment that is basically forcing students and parents to say, 'What is the value? If I can't set foot on campus, is that the same value?'"

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has likened reopening schools to a military operation, highlighting an undeniable truth: There will be virus casualties.
Notre Dame and Michigan State became the latest major universities to move courses online as student outbreaks continue to mar college reopening plans.
Alabama is betting that a robust student testing and technology program will be enough to hinder campus outbreaks.
Our Parenting team offers an in-depth look at homeschooling, a decision made by some families that feels more relevant than ever.
Will Andersen, an 18-year-old incoming freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, put it this way: "Who wants to pay $25,000 a year for glorified Skype?"

"Education isn't just information," agreed Yolanda Brown-Spidell, a Detroit-area teacher and divorced mother of five whose lament last month about remote learning in a private Facebook group for Harvard parents burgeoned into a lobbying push to ease school policies on tuition and fall housing.

"Being able to meet up with friends, have those highly intellectual conversations, walking over to CVS and getting ice cream at 1 in the morning," she said, ticking off the parts of education her daughter, a rising junior, has missed while working at home on her computer. "And let's not forget just not being home with your mama, with her eyes on you."

Some families have sued. Roy Willey, a class-action attorney in South Carolina, said his firm alone has filed at least 30 lawsuits — including against the University of California system, Columbia University and the University of Colorado — charging universities with breach of contract for switching in-person instruction to online classes, and is closely monitoring the fall semester.

Most suits are in their early stages, though several universities have moved for dismissal. "If you and I go down to the steakhouse and order a prime rib, and prepay for it and sit at our table, and a while later the server comes by and says, 'Here's two hamburgers, we're out of prime rib' — well, we may eat the hamburgers, but they're not entitled to the money we would have paid for prime rib," Mr. Willey said.

"This is a moment that is basically forcing students and parents to say, 'What is the value? If I can't set foot on campus, is that the same value'," said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.
"This is a moment that is basically forcing students and parents to say, 'What is the value? If I can't set foot on campus, is that the same value'," said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.Credit...Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
A handful of universities have announced substantial price cuts. Franciscan University of Steubenville, a private Catholic university in Ohio with about 3,000 students, announced in April that it will cover 100 percent of tuition costs, after financial aid and scholarships, for incoming undergraduates. Williams College in Massachusetts took 15 percent off in June when it announced it would combine online and in-person instruction this fall.

More typical is the 10 percent cut at Catholic University in Washington, which plans to start the semester online and dramatically scale back the number of students allowed back onto campus. Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Georgetown University, Spelman College and other institutions are offering similar reductions. Lafayette College is limiting its 10 percent to students who study from home for the semester. The University of Southern California has offered a $4,000-per-semester "Living at Home Scholarship."

Some schools are extending freebies. Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., has offered to tack on a tuition-free year of instruction for currently enrolled students, noting on its website that the current situation is not "the college experience they imagined." St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., is offering a free semester.

But most colleges have kept prices flat, and a few have even increased them. They can't afford to do otherwise without mass faculty layoffs, said Robert Kelchen, a Seton Hall University associate professor of higher education, even though the isolated, monitored experience campuses are selling this fall "is going to feel like some combination of a monastery and a minimum-security prison."

"This crisis is demonstrating that there is real value in face-to-face instruction," agreed David Feldman, an economist at William & Mary in Virginia and author, with Robert B. Archibald, of "The Road Ahead for America's Colleges and Universities." That recognition, he said, will generally protect better-endowed schools and those with state support.

Even so, he said, a culling is at hand for higher education. His prediction: a consolidation of public university branch campuses and a reckoning for some small, private liberal arts colleges that are already operating on thin margins.

"There will be a shakeout," he said.

'We Could Be Feeling This for the Next Decade': Virus Hits College TownsJune 28, 2020

Correction: Aug. 15, 2020
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to a petition to the University of North Carolina system that has attracted more than 40,000 signatures. It is a plea to the university to refund student housing charges in the event of another Covid-19 related shutdown, not to house students in that event. The article also misstated the University of Wisconsin-Madison's reopening plans; the university will begin the fall semester with some classes held in person but most held remotely; it will not be remote only.

Correction: Aug. 18, 2020
An earlier version of this article misstated the name of a college offering a reduction in tuition costs. It is Spelman College, not Spelman University.

[NCAA offers guidance for bringing athletes back to campus]

NCAA offers guidance for bringing athletes back to campus

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ncaa-athletes-back-to-campus

NCAA: Resocialization of Collegiate Sport: Action Plan Considerations

http://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/resocialization-collegiate-sport-action-plan-considerations

Funny story about Dwyane Wade betting (and losing) his Porsche to former Cleveland State great Norris Cole:

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/dwyane-wade-norris-cole-recall-porsche-bet

It got me to thinking about some of the funny stories I've heard over the years from friends and relatives who got in over their heads in bets or card games (usually in their younger days and usually with alcohol involved).

Does anyone have a good story to share?

[Valparaiso University furloughs 200 employees; president to take 30% pay cut in COVID-19 reductions]

Valparaiso University furloughs 200 employees; president to take 30% pay cut in COVID-19 reductions

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/valparaiso-university-furloughs-200-employees-president-to-take-30-pay-cut-in-covid-19-reductions/article_38544283-26d4-53b6-a7ef-3a4314fc5b21.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

[Cases/100K people]

The highest coronavirus rates in Indiana are in 4 contiguous counties: Marion, Hamilton, Hendricks and Johnson.  Moreover, they are many times higher than anywhere else in Indiana, including Lake, Porter and LaPorte.

Cases/100K people
51.3 Marion
27.6 Johnson
17.5 Hendricks
16.5 Hamilton
38.5 Weighted Avg.

9.7 Lake
3.6 Porter
1.8 LaPorte
7.2 Weighted Avg.

7.1 All Counties except Marion, Hamilton, Hendricks and Johnson

So, here we are sitting in lockdown in NWI, our economy completely destroyed, with no end in sight, thanks to a state-wide order, apparently because a bunch of people 150 miles away don't have enough sense (or self discipline) to come in out of the rain. And, please spare me the "population density" argument.  Lake County has the 2nd highest population in the state behind Marion, they're adjacent to the ciity of Chicago, a much larger metroplex than Indy, and thousands of Lake County residents commute to and from Chicago to work every day.  Yet, Lake County's coronavirus incident rate is many times less than any of the aforementioned Indy Counties. This is why President Trump is wisely calling for a phased return to normal around Easter time.  It was probably good that the entire country shut down when it did, but we can't continue on with a nationwide shutdown indefinitely.  At some point it's going to be up to these major metropolitan areas to fix themselves, and the rest of us get on with our lives the best we can.  If not, this economy is going to tank to the point where it will never come back.   

Valpo Seeks Season Sweep of Illinois State

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19701/valpo-seeks-season-sweep-of-illinois-state/

Television – MVC TV Network (FOX Sports Midwest, NBC Sports Chicago, FOX Sports Indiana) – Mitch Holthus (play-by-play) and Rich Zvosec (analyst)

[Valpo to Visit Loyola in Nationally-Televised Matchup]

Valpo to Visit Loyola in Nationally-Televised Matchup

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19677/valpo-to-visit-loyola-in-nationally-televised-matchup/

Valpo Hosts MVC-Leading UNI on Wednesday

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19671/valpo-hosts-mvc-leading-uni-on-wednesday/

[Men's Basketball to Start Home-Heavy Stretch on Saturday]

Men's Basketball to Start Home-Heavy Stretch on Saturday

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19661/mens-basketball-to-start-home-heavy-stretch-on-saturday/

Following is the Crusaders' February schedule. It also represents the 2nd half of our 18-game conference schedule.

FEB 01 SAT Illinois State
FEB 05 WED UNI
FEB 09 SUN at Loyola
FEB 12 WED Southern Illinois
FEB 15 SAT at Illinois State
FEB 19 WED at Drake
FEB 22 SAT Bradley
FEB 25 TUE Missouri State
FEB 29 SAT at Indiana State

[Men's Basketball to Visit Defending Champs on Wednesday]

Men's Basketball to Visit Defending Champs on Wednesday

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19654/mens-basketball-to-visit-defending-champs-on-wednesday/

[Valpo Looks to Continue Home Success on Sunday]

Valpo Looks to Continue Home Success on Sunday

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19643/valpo-looks-to-continue-home-success-on-sunday/

[Men's Basketball to Face Preseason Favorites in Nationally-Televised Matchup]

Men's Basketball to Face Preseason Favorites in Nationally-Televised Matchup

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19636/mens-basketball-to-face-preseason-favorites-in-nationally-televised-matchup/

I don't know how many have people picked up on this, but coaches of our last 2 opponents both commented favorably (almost admiringly) about Valpo's new motion offense.  INS coach Lansing noted that no one has run "motion" in the MVC since Evansville did it under a former coach.  He said it's not easy to play against and that they didn't spend enough time preparing to stop it, which he took responsibility for.  He noted that Valpo executed it very well. UNI coach Jacobson said that most teams don't use it because it's hard to teach and hard to learn. He also said it's hard to defend against because there are no set plays.

The 2 most successful "motion" programs in the country are Texas Tech and Virginia, who as I'm sure everyone recalls met in last year's national championship game.  Not surprisingly, TT's coach Chris Beard served as an assistant to Bob Knight and subsequently Pat Knight at TT.  He has patterned TT's motion offense after Knight's infamous Indiana motion offense, with some changes. He is now considered one of the new coaching geniuses in D-1 basketball. Motion is also the offense of choice for Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors, which Matt Lottich specifically referenced before the season began as an example of how teams have gotten away from using a true center.

Following is a 5-minute video from last spring, in which Jay Bilas demonstrates how TT's motion offense works.  Watch closely - you will recognize it almost immediately as similar to what we do.

https://www.twitter.com/jaybilas/status/1114206539915694080

IMO this is a stroke of genius on Matt's part.  He started by shedding the program of a group of "me first" players, and in the the case of Smits and Sorolla, players who would never work in a motion offense with no set plays, and assembled a new nucleus of players perfectly suited for it.  It has taken time, but its easy to see over the last 2 games, especially, that everyone has finally got it, and they're confidently jamming it down the opposition's throat - to the admiration of the opponent's coach. This says to me that Matt isn't just trying to play catch-up, he's looking to take Valpo to the top, and is finding innovative ways to do it.  BTW I've seen several high schools dabble with motion, but with mixed results.  It takes a really smart coach (like someone with a Stanford degree undoubtedly would be) and players with high basketball IQ's and total unselfishness.       

While driving to the office this morning around 8a, I observed a good-sized charter plane coming in for a landing at Porter County Airport. I can only assume that's the Sycamores arriving to get ready to kick some Crusader butt.  Game on!

Well, we're playing the top team in the conference at their place, and we're 11 point dogs, so winning this game is a tall order. Here's to hoping we bring our A-game; we're going to need it.

Pre-game interview with Evansville's acting head coach:

https://www.courierpress.com/videos/sports/college/evansville/2020/01/03/bennie-seltzer-news-conference-before-valparaiso-game/2804297001/

January's schedule is, as follows:

JAN 4 SAT at Evansville
JAN 7 TUE at Southern Illinois
JAN 11 SAT Drake
JAN 15 WED at UNI
JAN 18 SAT Indiana State
JAN 23 THU at Missouri State
JAN 26 SUN Evansville
JAN 29 WED at Bradley

After finishing the nonconference slate with a winning record for the 10th straight season, Valpo will open the league slate at home for the second straight year.

Loyola leads the all-time series 39-15, including a 5-0 mark over the last two seasons since Valpo joined the Missouri Valley Conference. The most recent regular season meeting was Feb. 10, 2019 at the ARC, when Valpo held a nine-point lead with just over seven minutes remaining before the Ramblers scored the next 13 points and Valpo eventually fell 56-51 in front of a capacity crowd. The two teams also faced off in the MVC Tournament a year ago, a 67-54 victory for Loyola on March 8.

Tidbits:

•Valpo will attempt to snap its five-game skid against the Ramblers, which dates back to the final Horizon League meeting between the two teams on Feb. 19, 2013. Valpo prevailed 85-76 at Loyola.

•Valpo finished the nonconference schedule with a scoring average of 76.3, the team's highest nonconference scoring average since entering the 2013-14 league slate at 77.1.

•This marks the second time in the last three years Valpo entered Valley play as the conference leader in steals per game (8.7) after also doing so in 2017-18 (7.8 spg).

•Javon Freeman-Liberty (21.8 ppg) becomes the first Valpo player to enter conference action as the league's leading scorer since 2016-17, when Alec Peters started Horizon League play at 25.5 points per game.

•Freeman-Liberty (33) is also the first Valpo player to enter conference play leading the way in steals since 2016-17, when Lexus Williams topped the Horizon League at 1.8 per game.

•This is the first time Valpo started conference action atop the statistical leaderboard in assists (16.7 apg) since 2011-12, when Valpo started Horizon League action averaging 14.7 assists per game.

•Freeman-Liberty is trying to become the first player to lead The Valley in both scoring and steals since Drake's Curt Smith in 1993.

•Valpo is trying to become the first Valley team to lead the league in both assists and steals since Bradley in 2008.

Source: Valpo Athletics Website

What bratty kids look like when mummy and daddy inform them that Super Nanny Jo Frost is on her way to restore order in the household:

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/14/exclusive-video-this-is-what-democracy-looks-like-mob-chants-during-violent-clashes-with-police-over-losing-election/

Make Britain great again!

December's schedule is, as follows:

DEC 3    TUE   at Eastern Michigan
DEC 8    SUN  Central Michigan
DEC 16  MON  at Charlotte
DEC 18  WED  at High Point
DEC 21  SAT   at Arkansas
DEC 30  MON  Loyola

[WSJ: Colleges Encourage Low SAT Scorers to Apply – Only to Reject Them]

Apparently, some universities (including elites) are buying lists of potential students they know won't qualify, encouraging them to apply, then rejecting them in order to show lower acceptance rates. A lower acceptance rate helps raise their national ranking, and correspondingly lowers Valpo's.

WSJ: Colleges Encourage Low SAT Scorers to Apply – Only to Reject Them

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/11/08/wsj-colleges-encourage-low-sat-scorers-to-apply-only-to-reject-them/