"Valparaiso men's basketball head coach Bryce Drew announced today that the Crusaders have hired former University of Illinois standout Roger Powell Jr. as an assistant coach. Powell has spent the last six years playing professional basketball, including a stint with the Utah Jazz of the NBA... "
http://www.valpoathletics.com/news/default/173/10870/ (http://www.valpoathletics.com/news/default/173/10870/)
A big guy from Joliet who played at Illinois. He could help the recruiting in the basketball rich Chicago-land area.
Good show,but another rookie hired by a rookie head coach. Let's hope for the best. Go Drewsaders!
Heard about this over the weekend, along with some other stuff regarding this hire. Head scratcher for sure.
Certainly this was a move made with recruiting in mind...I like it, but I am concerned about the lack of experience on the bench.
Something that has not really been mentioned---won't Homer continue to be a close advisor to Bryce? Maybe that is where the experience comes from
I like this hire for the recruiting benefits. Being able to tell kids that they will be coached by someone who spent much of the season playing at the #1 ranked program in the nation, and who played in an NCAA title game, can be a big sell. Someone that has been through the tough games can only help us...
Quote from: Crusader03 on June 27, 2011, 05:42:22 PM
Certainly this was a move made with recruiting in mind...I like it, but I am concerned about the lack of experience on the bench.Something that has not really been mentioned---won't Homer continue to be a close advisor to Bryce? Maybe that is where the experience comes from
First off, I think the hire is a very good one. We add a young black man with NBA experience and great ties to Illinois and the midwest.
As for "experience", I wonder what that means in this situation. Do we have guys with D1 head coaching experience on the bench? Nope. Will we have two guys with NCAA tourney and NBA experience on the bench? Yep. Luke Gore is entering his 10th year as an asst coach. Chris Sparks is entering his fifth year, all under one Homer Drew. Other than that, we lack experience. I guess... ???
Oh, and one more thing...Homer will stop being an advisor to Bryce and Scott when he takes his last breath. I sure don't expect that any time soon!
This is a FANTASTIC HIRE! As you know I am a glass half empty kind of guy, but i couldn't be more pleased. If he can communicate half of the things he did on the court at Illinois to some of the Valpo players, the Crusaders will be in good shape.
This team has two projects at the center position so it's good to see more coaching help for the bigs.
If nothing else our coaching staff should be able to take on any other coaching staff in the league in a 4 on 4 game.
Not sure this is a fantastic hire. It's okay. Good in name recognition for sure, but I'm not sold on what's going on there these days at all.
Quote from: sectionee on June 27, 2011, 02:20:02 PM
A big guy from Joliet who played at Illinois. He could help the recruiting in the basketball rich Chicago-land area.
good thoughts! i sure hope so.
Quote from: hoopfan22 on June 27, 2011, 09:27:38 PM
Not sure this is a fantastic hire. It's okay. Good in name recognition for sure, but I'm not sold on what's going on there these days at all.
Just to clarify, it's fantastic to me because I believe Roger Powell will teach the game the right way. Roger Powell was a winning player at Illinois and did more to help that team win that most will give him credit for. He knew how to move without the ball, set up his teammates even when they weren't involved in the play directly and getting ready to rebound before the shot was even attempted. I think he can really help this team.
I still have recordings of the Illini team and I am not even a fan of Illinois. They played the game the right way, and even though they didn't win the national title, they still were one of the best teams I've seen since UNLV of the early 90's.
Gotcha.
Quote from: VU75 on June 27, 2011, 06:59:05 PM
This team has two projects at the center position so it's good to see more coaching help for the bigs.
I don't know anything about Powell, but I see he's listed as 6-6 and played SF. SF is closer to PF and C than our mostly guard-oriented coaching staff, but I wonder how much first-hand knowledge he has about low post offense and defense. That said, he could be a big help in developing our mid-sized guys like Rowdy, Jakolis and Edwards.
A guy that played at the level he did probably has a pretty good feel for all the positions on the court, except maybe point guard.
I really don't think size matters in this context. How tall is Scott Drew? Seriously, a guy with inside experience will be helpful for Luke Gore, who handles our bigs now. We really don't need more coaches, we need more bigs!!
Recruiting Illinois players will no doubt be his assignment.
He was a warrier at Illinois.
None. I said before, this is a real head scratcher.
Quote from: hoopfan22 on June 27, 2011, 03:15:01 PM
Heard about this over the weekend, along with some other stuff regarding this hire. Head scratcher for sure.
Quote from: hoopfan22 on June 27, 2011, 09:27:38 PM
Not sure this is a fantastic hire. It's okay. Good in name recognition for sure, but I'm not sold on what's going on there these days at all.
Quote from: hoopfan22 on June 29, 2011, 06:26:32 AM
None. I said before, this is a real head scratcher.
How about instead of adding pointless comments to the discussion you actually make a point? Why don't you get/like the hire? Who were you expecting? Bob Knight? As a mid major, your chances of landing new assistant coaches with a significant amount of experience is slim to none.
inbox
Quote from: hoopfan22 on June 29, 2011, 08:10:33 AM
inbox
So you can allude to this move being a "head scratcher" three separate times in this thread, but your reasoning as to why can only be shared through PM?
Weak.
Quote from: valpo04 on June 29, 2011, 09:08:00 AM
Quote from: hoopfan22 on June 29, 2011, 08:10:33 AM
inbox
So you can allude to this move being a "head scratcher" three separate times in this thread, but your reasoning as to why can only be shared through PM?
Weak.
That's what I told him. I told him to post what he messaged me because I thought it could really add to the discussion, for better or worse.
Nice article about Powell by Lazerus. It sounds like Fernandez should be a Crusader shortly. The pieces are starting to fall together!
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/6246772-419/mark-lazerus-no-experience-necessary-at-valpo.html (http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/6246772-419/mark-lazerus-no-experience-necessary-at-valpo.html)
Quote from: valpofan56 on June 29, 2011, 09:47:08 AM
Quote from: valpo04 on June 29, 2011, 09:08:00 AM
Quote from: hoopfan22 on June 29, 2011, 08:10:33 AM
inbox
So you can allude to this move being a "head scratcher" three separate times in this thread, but your reasoning as to why can only be shared through PM?
Weak.
That's what I told him. I told him to post what he messaged me because I thought it could really add to the discussion, for better or worse.
Not sure I understand as well. By most accounts, it appears that Powell will fit in nicely with the VU coaching staff. This young staff has the knowledge, and should be able to work together to convey that knowledge to the players. Homer is not far if they should desire to seek his counsel.
Character and integrity, everything I hear about this guy says he has them. Those would probably be my top two "wants" when looking for staff additions. We know the guy must have pretty decent basketball acumen from just looking at his resume, those guys are a dime a dozen, but add to it character, integrity and ministry.... I couldn't agree with Bryce more, this is a very good fit.
I don't think Coach Powell's lack of coaching experience will matter at all.
To me, the two most important things about the HC and the assistants are:
1-Players have to naturally (as in unforced) respect the coaches as coaches and human beings. Players will not rally around coaches they don't respect. Never happens.
2-The coaches have to be natural leaders. Natural leaders are people whom others naturally follow... People who people want to follow because their subconscious intuition tells them it is in their best interest to follow. I think it's how we're all wired.
I think those two characteristics are required in order to have total team chemistry (coaches and players). And that factors into success more than individual talent or experience in a coach or a player.
So, if chemistry is created within our young (some have said inexperienced) coaches and collection of returning, freshmen, transfers, and foreign players, the team will be successful. From what I've been hearing, that chemistry has already started germinating with this team.
Ask yourself which of the following will be more successful:
• Most talented vocalist... or entertainer who has the best chemistry with fans
• Best looking couple... or couple with best chemistry
• Actor who graduated at the top of the class from Juilliard... or actor who creates best chemistry with audiences
• Miami Heat... or Dallas Mavericks (2011 editions)
• Ole Miss... or Valpo (1998 editions)
You get the point.
Tidbit: Word is Vashil will be at the school tomorrow.
Vashil is already there, although maybe not "officially".
Great examples, and I especially like the Mavs vs. overrated Heat example ;-). Nothing shows chemistry more than what we did in the Finals. You could just tell from the looks on everyone's faces that the Mavs were in it as a group, whereas the Heat looked down and were pointing fingers...
Quote from: wh on June 28, 2011, 12:39:48 PM
Quote from: VU75 on June 27, 2011, 06:59:05 PM
This team has two projects at the center position so it's good to see more coaching help for the bigs.
I don't know anything about Powell, but I see he's listed as 6-6 and played SF. SF is closer to PF and C than our mostly guard-oriented coaching staff, but I wonder how much first-hand knowledge he has about low post offense and defense. That said, he could be a big help in developing our mid-sized guys like Rowdy, Jakolis and Edwards.
They might have listed him as a SF, but he played alot at the PF position in college. The primary lineup for that Illinois team was J. Augustine, R. Powell Jr., Dee Brown, L. Head and D. Williams. Augustine wasn't really a 5, played a 3 guard lineup and left Powell to do the rebounding. I remember him shooting a 3, missing and following his own shot, grabbing the rebound and dunking it in the Final 4. Impressive.
All told, he'll bring some toughness to Valpo, that's for sure.