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In Alec's case, if we look at things logically and objectively, it's probably in his best interest to go elsewhere.  As a fan, I really hate to say that and I'd love for him to stay, but let's look at it from his point of view.  I don't know what his professional aspirations are, but I would imagine his dream/goal is to play professionally, preferably at the highest level (NBA).  Based on that conclusion, consider the following.  If ML stays in the VU family for Bryce's replacement, as we all assume he will, then Alec will be coming back to play for a coach with zero head coaching experience (Powell or Gore) or zero D1 head coaching experience (Tonagel).  All of those guys may indeed have the potential to become very effective and successful D1 head coaches, but they are all going to be learning on the job from day one and unfortunately Alec only has 1 year left.  If I'm Alec, I'm not sure playing for a brand new D1 Head Coach who is feeling his way through his first season in that role puts me in the best position for my professional aspirations.  Now, if he was a freshman or sophomore, then he could afford to be a little more patient.

The other major factor is the current sad state of the Horizon League.  We've all acknowledged that it is in serious decline and while there are some potential signs it may be on a slight road to recovery with all of the coaching turnover, it is definitely not going to be any better next season.  It actually may get a little worse before it gets better as all of these new head coaches settle into their new roles.

So given all that, the question is does Alec want to enure all of that in his final season or is it in his best interest to transfer to another school and play for an experienced coach in a better league that can potentially position him better for that next career step.  If Bryce had stayed, I would've advised him that staying at VU was his best move, but now, I don't really think that's the case.  As much as I hate to say this, the only thing that would keep Alec at VU is a sense of loyalty but the major piece that would fuel that loyalty is no longer going to be there. 

Should be very interesting to see what unfolds.

I would actually lose a little respect for Bryce if he actively tried to recruit Peters away to Vanderbilt.  It is one thing if Alec openly tells him that he wants to go with him, but if Alec doesn't bring it up, Bryce shouldn't either.  Bryce could really set a fire in a house he helped build, that could be hard for the next coach to recover from.

Unfortunately, regardless of whether Alec stays or goes, Bryce leaving is absolutely devastating to the program.  I completely understand his decision.  For selfish and personal reasons, I really hate that this inevitable day has become reality, but I don't blame anyone for advancing his/her career and I wish him all the best.

With all of that said, as I said, this is devastating for the program.  The general public, and I don't count those on this board in that group, don't realize the miracles that Bryce, and Homer before him, were able to pull off in spite of the enormous limitations of the program (budget, facilities, etc.)  The major factor of overcoming those limitations was the Drew family reputation, loyalty and the Drew's national name/brand recognition.  It was a huge asset that helped immensely in recruiting and now in it's absence, I'm afraid it's going to be long road. 

I'm trying not to be negative, but I'm afraid I'm also a realist.  I really hope that I'm wrong, but I've been around and invested in VU basketball for 25 years, so I remember the lean years of the 80's and early 90's and we can very easily find ourselves back there.  To quote Norm Dale, "In my experience, no one is irreplaceable..."  Let's hope he's right.

nd I-70 in eastern Ohio is quite honestly a pain.

and if you're in eastern Ohio you certainly don't need these directions... you need tickets to the Pittsburgh site...

[silently correcting in my head]...

Excellent catch!  I've corrected that. LOL. That's what I get for trying to type on my phone. The ol' fingers got ahead of my brain.

If you haven't taken that trip before... here are the easiest directions.

US 30 to Fort Wayne
North on I-69 to I-469 around the city to US-30 east again.  One traffic light right after you get on US-30... next light is 2.5 hours later in "Waldo" Ohio... all 65-70 MPH with nice clean rest areas.
Stay on US 30 all the way to Upper "Jake Diebler Home Town" Sandusky and then, stay on US-23 right into Columbus...when you get to I-270 go one-exit west (about 1/4 mile), then south on Ohio-315 (high-speed limited access hwy) to the Arena District...

There are other ways that may be a little shorter... but I make this trip 5 or 6 times per year to visit my daughter who works at OSU so I have found a few shortcuts.

That is a good route, Talksalot.  Just one quick note.  They are reconstructing the US-23/I-270/OH-315 interchange and depending on the time of day, traffic there can get a little crazy.  If you are coming into Columbus via US-23 South, you can by-pass that interchange by turning left (east) on OH-750, which is also known as Polaris Parkway.  You can take this east to I-71 South, which you can take all the way downtown, then just follow the signs to Nationwide Arena.

The other good route is taking the IN Tollroad across Northern Indiana and through Ohio to I-75.  Then take I-75 South to OH-15 south which will turn into US-23 south and then the directions are the same as above.  This route is all interstate (70 mph) or restricted access highway (65 mph) all the way until you get about 30-40 miles outside of Columbus.  Downside is that a portion of it is toll.  I have EZPASS so I don't remember exactly how much it is, but I want to say about $6-$7 total, one way.

I personally would not recommend the I-65 S to I-70 E route.  In my experience it takes much longer since you have to navigate Indianapolis and I-70 in western Ohio is quite honestly a pain.

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

Good place to celebrate around arena after a first round upset?

The Arena District has a lot of restaurants and bars. Here's a website that lists some options.

http://arenadistrict.com/food-and-drink/

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

Does anyone remember what schools were after Homer, and if anyone made official offers?

If I recall correctly, I believe St. Louis showed significant interest and may have also made an offer. I remember that many of us felt if Homer was going to leave VU that might be the one program he would leave for given he is a native of St. Louis.

Like everyone else, I'm disappointed with the seed and having to play MSU in essentially a home game. I really thought we were going to get a 13, but we basically put ourselves in the position for the committee to do that.  You can't lose games to the likes of Oakland, who is down this year, Loyola, and YSU.  The loss to Nebraska didn't do us any favors either.  If you're going to drop games like that, you have to have one or two good wins, in the eyes of the committee, and we came up short there too with NM and SLU.  Those aren't bad losses, but coupled with the others mentioned above, you open yourself up to the committee dropping you down.

I still think we are a 13, especially when compared to the other 13 seeds, but we just have to play the hand we've been dealt.  It would've been nice if we didn't leave any doubt, but would've, should've, could've.

I know one thing, if the officials let Nix play like he did in the Big Ten Tourney, we are going to get killed, figuratively and quite possibly, literally. He was clobbering guys down low, especially during the Ohio State game, and the officials let them play, both ways and on both ends of the court  We really need to hope for a closely officiated game, which doesn't seem to exist any more.

Go VU!

I was around at that time and if I recall correctly there was some speculation that Belmont was being looked at to join the Mid-Con. They made the jump to Division 1 in 1996 or 1997 and were looking for a conference affiliation and the speculation was that the home and homes were a prelude to them joining the Mid-Con. I could be mistaken but I seem to remember them having a home and home with, or at least playing some other Mid-Con members during that timeframe but don't quote me on that.  They obviously didn't end up in the Mid-Con and instead went to the Atlantic Sun, so I'm not sure how strong the interest was on either's part.

Maybe Milan or somebody else with a LaPorte County background can help with the names but I seem to remember that 2 LaPorte HS players went to and played for Bellmont in that stretch of time. My impression at that time was that Homer wanted to help them get into the Mid-Con.

Steve Drabyn played for Belmont in the early 2000's.  i also believe Nick Otis, son of current VHS and former LaPorte HS coach Joe Otis, played at Belmont during that same timeframe.

I was snooping around the all-time results section on the VU MBB website and something struck me that I wasn't aware of:  From 1997-2003 VU and Belmont played regularly:

97-98  - Played twice (H/A) - Valpo winning both
98-99  - Played twice (H/A) - Valpo winning both
99-00  - Played twice (H/A) - Valpo winning both
00-01  - Played once (H) - Valpo win
01-02  - Played once (A) - Valpo loss
02-03  - Played once (H) - Valpo win

This question is for you guys who were around and following the team back then:  Why were we doing H & A games from 97-00?  At first I thought that maybe Belmont had joined the Mid-Con, but the Mid-Con history in Wiki makes no mention of Belmont.  Although most of you probably knew all this in our prior discussions of who the HL would be inviting, this adds new light to the discussion for me at least.  There is a history there.  Just one additional variable to play with I guess.

I was around at that time and if I recall correctly there was some speculation that Belmont was being looked at to join the Mid-Con. They made the jump to Division 1 in 1996 or 1997 and were looking for a conference affiliation and the speculation was that the home and homes were a prelude to them joining the Mid-Con. I could be mistaken but I seem to remember them having a home and home with, or at least playing some other Mid-Con members during that timeframe but don't quote me on that.  They obviously didn't end up in the Mid-Con and instead went to the Atlantic Sun, so I'm not sure how strong the interest was on either's part.

This is a fun and interesting thread.  Good choices so far, and while I can't necessarily disagree with any of the names posted, for me it's difficult to have an all-time list without Tracey Gipson on it.  Before Bryce, he was VU's all-time leading scorer and was really fun to watch.  He sometimes gets lost in the crowd because he played right before the VU program turned the corner in the mid 90's.  When you think about what he was able to do with very little around him (no disrespect to anyone on those teams), he is definitely on my list.  It would've been really interesting to think what he would have been able to accomplish if he had the opportunity to play with some of the players that came right after him (Casey, Dave, Bryce, etc.)