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Plus you've got the Bears in a big game against Detroit, so the students are going to choose that on TV over a D3 school

Yeah, that one

WVUR is on the tuned in radio app so if WJOB doesn't work, try that.

Does anyone know what time the banner ceremony will start? I don't want to show up and miss it!

[Over]

1)  Keith Carter:  5.0 apg	Over
2)  Jordan Coleman:  9.5 ppg	Over
3)  LaVonte Dority:  80% FTs	Under
4)  Bobby Capobianco:  75 3PT att	Under
5)  Moussa Gueye:  2.0 bpg	Over
6)  Clay Yeo:  20 mpg	Over
7)  Vashil Fernandez:  6.5 rpg	Under
8)  Lexus Williams:  0.8 spg	Under
9)  Nick Davidson:  redshirt?  yes or no	Yes
10)  Jubril Adekoya:  22 games played	Over
11)  Alec Peters:  45% FG%	Under
12)  David Chadwick:  35% 3FG%	Under
13)  Team:  20 wins	Over
14)  Tie-breaker--team points per game, to 3 sig figs	69.8

I'm putting 6.  I think the Murray State will be a big confidence boost for the freshmen and I think Illinois, Evansville and UCF will be tough games.  It sucks they put UCF on the schedule for Thanksgiving week so our student section could be gone.

I presume Kampe is wearing a rug. Its either a bad rug or a really bad haircut.

That's got to be a piece.  If it's not good god...


Also here's my article from the event with audio.
http://www.midmajormadness.com/horizon-league/2013/10/16/4846488/college-basketball-preview-horizon-league-media-day-2013 

Youll be happy to know lecrone answered my question head on. I'll give some updates after the event

Sent from my HTC One VX using Tapatalk 4

I love how Oakland and Detroit is going to be the "Best Game", you know the #5 vs #7 team based on rankings... 

Has anyone seen the results of the fan poll?  Results were supposed to be released on the 14th, per the above link.

My guess is they release it tomorrow at press day.

Again, thank goodness Loyola moved on.  It's a relief knowing the "nation's worst" OOC schedule will be pissing all over the MVC this year rather than the Horizon.

Wright State isn't too far off from Loyola's mess. You take Georgetown out of the mix and you've got basically the same SOS from WSU.

To make matters worse (from a league standpoint), they've put together a terrible OOC schedule.  Obviously, Jeter is desperate to put some W's on the credit side of the ledger.  Just another reason why LeCrone should take action to force our resident self-serving programs to improve their OOC scheduling to a minimum acceptable level.  Everyone knows that at the end of the day coaches are judged on W's and L's - period.  For those who are desperate to hang on like Jeter or opportunists like Donlon looking to move up, the temptation is simply too great to "schedule down" rather than do their part to enhance the standing of the league.     

Milwaukee, while having an average OOC RPI of 198 this season, actually doesn't look to bad in terms of the A10 rating for OOC schedule. Wisconsin, Davidson, Northern Iowa, and DePaul are all worth more than 2 points and they have 3 more teams that are actually worth points.

Green Bay on the other hand has only 4 teams worth points (Wisconsin and Virginia worth 4 and 3 respectively) and only have 10 games against D1 opponents. Wardle hasn't had a "bad" team since taking over the team, but they've put together an absolutely putrid schedule.

Wright State has put together a really bad schedule.They weren't expected to be good last year, but you would think they would see the fact that they had a full returning roster and schedule in advanced for a senior laden team.  An average RPI of 232.0... What is that? The teams they had "Home and Homes" with aren't even schools that you could say have historical success.

If Milwaukee had the worst schedule in the Horizon then I think we could pick them out and say "Why aren't they trying to improve?" but they have a similar schedule to UIC and our top 2 teams in preseason rankings are dragging the conference down in terms of out of conference schedules.

Oh and for the list of players, I'm fairly disappointed in some choices.

Cleveland State- No Bryn Forbes...
Detroit- It would have been nice to bring Carlton Brundidge since he'll be their star.
Green Bay- Ditch the stringbean and bring Fouse!
Milwaukee- Eh. I've got no interest in this one.
Oakland- Bader's the star but Petros is a stud too, better than Alec Brown.
UIC- Another transfer, Kelsey Barlow, would have been good to talk to.
Valpo- Bobby? KC? A Freshman?
Wright State- Reggie Arceneaux would be great to have.
Youngstown State- Yeah, we all only want to talk to Kendrick Perry. Good call.

Let's get this out of the way... I've been invited to go to the HL media day.


Thanks Willy.  But I didn't come here to brag.  I came to get some insight.  I know everyone dreams of being able to ask their favorite sports commissioner or coach a question. So here's a chance.  I've got a few ideas for what I want to get out of being at media day (some soundbites that I'll share via Mid-Major Madness, maybe a video if I'm allowed to do that and an article.) But right now I don't have any good questions.  So fire at me, what would you ask the commish, the coaches or players.  You can probably figure which player each team invited if not here's the list:
Cleveland State -- Gary Waters, Anton Grady
Detroit -- Ray McCallum, Evan Bruinsma
Green Bay -- Brian Wardle, Alec Brown, Keifer Sykes
Milwaukee -- Rob Jeter, Jordan Aaron
Oakland -- Greg Kampe, Travis Bader
UIC -- Howard Moore, Hayden Humes
Valparaiso -- Bryce Drew, LaVonte Dority
Wright State -- Billy Donlon, Cole Darling
Youngstown State -- Jerry Slocum, Kendrick Perry

Oh and there will be feeds on the Horizon League site. Check them out as I'm sure there will be some awesome interviews.

Some dickhead wrote a Horizon League top 10 players... Only included 1 Valpo spot...

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2013-14-season-preview/2013/10/8/4815988/mid-major-top-10-players-horizon-league-perry-sykes

I doubt he minds the hits

I'm sure the editors don't, but I don't see a red cent from China. Granted the more hits my articles get, the more they may have me write.

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2013-14-season-preview/2013/10/7/4773366/2013-2014-mid-major-conference-preview-horizon-league

Very, very good. Somebody has done their homework. I know many of us hate to be picked 4th but I really think that is a wise pick. At the same time Valpo could be the #4 seed that nobody, including #1 seed, whomever it turns out to be, wants to play in the league tournament with the Crusaders having a great shot at the auto-bid.

Honestly I think the guy who wrote that article is an idiot. Disrespecting Valpo by picking them behind UWGB and Oakland! Ugh...

That guy's a pretty good writer, and must have some insight on VU basketball

I had Crusader last night at Pikk's during Eat up, Wine down (which if you haven't done is the best deal ever) and it was a decent beer, but nothingly over impressive.

I've not had anything to drink at Hunter's yet - they chased me and my kids out (>21 only). 

I've liked Ironwood's darker stuff (a red and... a porter?) better than their lighter.   Nothing I preferred to e.g. Figure 8's Date Night or Ro Shampo - both of which I think are reasonably impressive.

One of these days I'll make out to 3 Floyds, and will probably bump into Crown sooner or later.

Hunter's is very protective of their liquor license (for good reason).  My dad (57 years old) gets ID'd everytime he goes in there. Since they don't serve food they can't have anyone under 21 there.

Ironwood is decent, I like their wheat because of the ginger flavor.  I prefer going there just because they are less crowded than F8 and even with only 1 "bartender" the service is hands down 100 times better.

1   Green Bay
2   Wright State
3   Oakland
4   Valparaiso
5   Cleveland State
6   Youngstown State
7   UIC
8   Detroit
9   Milwaukee
   
G   Perry
G   Sykes
G   Bader
F   Fouse
F   Petros
   
G   Arceneaux
G   Carter
G   Mondy
G   Forbes
F   Brown
   
PoY   Perry
NCoY   Yeo
CoY   Bryce Drew
Game:   Valpo @ UWGB

I was disappointed to see Keith Carter's name absent from the options for Newcomer of the Year. I tried voting for him as a "write-in" choice, but I was not permitted to do so.

I think they only went with Freshman because I was going to put either Keith or Kelsey Barlow for that but he's not listed either.

again, thinking out of the box.  Is there an ice center in the NW Indiana area?  Can we eventually build a 8 to 9K athletic center to accomodate both?  We just need LCMS cash.

There's one in St. John, but

1. They are frequently booked with Lake Central Hockey and their amateur adult league team.
2. That's a 45 minute drive from campus (trust me I've done it too many times) and you're not going to get student or locals driving out to do that. 
3. You won't get Lake County people coming to a VU event unless they are a VU grad.  There's not nearly enough of those to be successful.

I would be the first in line to buy season tickets to Valpo Hockey, but you'll need to get an ice rink in Porter County.

Figure 8 is good, but I'm quite discerning when it comes to beer. I can see why other rave about it, but nothing about it separates itself from the usual microbrew.  3 Floyds, Crown Brewery, Backroads Brewery (in LaPorte) and Hunter's Brewing (in Chesterton) all do something that's special.

I prefer to go to Hunter's or Ironwood over Figure 8.  But keep going to Figure 8 so my microbrews aren't super crowded.

Here's the full transcript for anyone (and I don't blame if your not) who isn't subscribed to ESPN Insider.

2012-13: 26-8 (13-3)
In-conference offense: 1.14 points per possession (1st)
In-conference defense: 0.99 points allowed per possession (4th)

After taking over a talented young roster from his dad Homer two years ago, Bryce Drew faces the first real rebuilding challenge of his tenure: He's replacing six departed seniors, all of whom played the most minutes for the Crusaders last season and together used about 75 percent of the team's possessions.

Drew does have the good fortune of not leaning on youthful inexperience in his attempt to defend Valpo's conference crown. Senior LaVonte Dority missed the first nine games in order to fulfill his transfer obligation to the NCAA, but he became a key player after becoming eligible, using 26 percent of possessions in his 20 minutes a game. He wasn't terribly efficient with those touches (44 percent effective field goal percentage), but he did demonstrate a knack for drawing fouls. Senior forward Bobby Capobianco is the most efficient returning player. A backup center last season, he's dropped some weight in order to become a stretch 4 and make room for Alabama transfer Moussa Gueye, a senior who is immediately eligible (he's a graduate student). Gueye is big (7-foot, 270 pounds) but offensively challenged -- he made just 37 percent of 2s -- and is prone to committing fouls. Although Capobianco is an excellent rebounder, both he and Gueye will need to step up their offensive games for Valpo to carry on its tradition as the dominant interior team in the Horizon.

Projected starting lineup
Pos.    Name    Year
C   Moussa Gueye   Sr.
F   Bobby Capobianco   Sr.
F   Alec Peters   Fr.
G   Jordan Coleman   Sr.
G   LaVonte Dority   Sr.

Two other newcomers will be heavily counted on. The first is 6-8 freshman Alec Peters, who is likely to start from day one. That's highly unusual at Valpo -- freshmen have played exactly 22 minutes in two years under Drew -- but Peters has a sweet 3-point stroke and is physically ready for the rigors of college ball. The other newcomer is sophomore Saint Louis transfer Keith Carter, who will become eligible at semester's end. More than one practice observer has noted that Carter -- whom Rick Majerus once compared to Andre Miller -- will immediately become the best player on the team. Drew has had some practice over the past two years integrating players midstream, but incorporating a new go-to guy at the beginning of league play is a different kind of challenge.

Carter's eligibility makes Valparaiso a tough team to project. There probably will be some bumps in the road early in league play, preventing Valpo from threatening the top Horizon teams. But it wouldn't be a surprise if nobody wants to face the Crusaders come conference tournament time.

Nicely done, 2014.  For those who think of Valpo as a "young team", let me point out that by the time league play starts in January, the average age of Dority/Capobianco/Gueye/Fernandez/Chadwick/Coleman will be about 22 1/2 years.  They'll also need contributions from some freshmen, but they've got a very mature and experienced group to build around. 

Not so much young, but inexperienced. They have a combined 3145 D1 minutes played coming into this year.  That's how many minutes Rowdy played in his career or 400 less than Alec Brown has played so far.

I'm a big believer in Fouse, and I'm not sure if 2014 is considering his increased role.  But I completely agree with him on Brown. Tall twig who can shoot a 3 or two.

Since we're sharing, here's my preview of it I wrote for Mid-Major Madness and will be published soon.

The Horizon League had 7 teams play in the postseason tournaments last season, but coming into the season it was believed that Detroit and Valparaiso would compete for the conference title.  With these top two teams losing a 90% of their starting lineups, Loyola-Chicago leaving for the Missouri Valley and Oakland joining the league, who will lead the conference and dance in March?

1. Green Bay Phoenix

Last year: 18-16 (10-6), Lost in HL Tourney Semifinals, Lost in CIT 1st round

Key Departures: Brennan Cougill (9.0ppg, 5.3 rpg), Sultan Muhammad (5.7ppg, 23.4 mpg), Kam Cerroni (5.8ppg)

Key Returners: Keifer Sykes (15.9ppg, 4.3apg), Alec Brown (14.1ppg, 6.0rpg), Jordan Fouse (6.8ppg, 7.9rpg)

Green Bay returns their best 3 players, and arguably 3 of the top 5 returning players in the conference.  After an offseason filled with turmoil, the Phoenix are looking to capitalize on their experience.  Sykes will be in contention for Player of the Year, Fouse will be filling a bigger role which suits him well, and Brown will be trying to prove that he is the NBA talent people have been talking about for 3 years now.  An 8-2 conference record at home seems very repeatable and if they can fix their road woes this should be the team representing the Horizon League in the Big Dance.

2. Wright State Raiders

Last year: 23-13 (10-6), HL Tourney Runner-Up, Lost in CBI Semifinal

Departures: None.

Key Returners: Everyone

The Raiders return all 12 of their rotation from last season.  Their formidable defense led the Horizon league giving up only 0.910 points per possession and 58.5 points per game.  Although their 23 wins were bolstered by a fairly weak schedule (Only 2 non-conference games played in the top 150 RPI) they continued to play well in conference.  With the addition of Chrishawn Hopkins from Butler, this team should prove to be a tough team to knock off in the Horizon League.  Hopkins, Reggie Arceneaux and Cole Darling make for one of the tougher match up issues for anyone in the league. Wright State fans don't need to be reminded that this was the same squad that was buzzer beater away from hosting the conference championship.

3. Oakland Golden Grizzlies

Last year: 16-17 (10-6), Lost in Summit League 1st Round, Lost in CBI 1st round (1-1 vs HL last season)

Departures: Drew Valentine (10.2ppg, 6.5rpg)

Key Returners: Travis Bader (22.1ppg, .394 FG%), Corey Petros (12.5ppg, 8.2 rpg), Duke Mondy (12.0ppg, 5.1apg)

This is the new kid on the block, and I'm not exactly sure how they will compete against the Horizon League.  Their returning players all dominated the Summit league, but their defense was woefully lacking (1.081 points per possession would have been last in the HL).  Will they sink or swim in the new conference?  I'm putting them as my third place team, with the assumption their offence can carry them ala Detroit last season.  One stat I'll be watching this season is Travis Bader's shots per game.  Last season he put up 15.8 per game, can he crack 20?

4. Valparaiso Crusaders

Last year: 26-8 (13-3), HL Tourney Champions, 14 seed in NCAAs (Lost to #3 Michigan St)

Departures: Ryan Broekhoff (15.7ppg), Kevin Van Wijk (12.4ppg), Matt Kenney (8.3ppg), Erik Buggs (7.0ppg), Will Bogan (6.4ppg), Ben Boggs (5.6ppg)

Key Returners: LaVonte Dority (8.6ppg, .371 FG%), Bobby Capobianco (5.9ppg, 4.5 rpg)

A dream season ended with a 2nd round exit in the NCAA tournament for the Crusaders.  And after that exit came the graduation of 6 of their top 7scorers last season.  Valpo lost 75.84% of the minutes played, 77.23% of their scoring, 75.20% of their rebounding, and 82.44% of their assists.  Now for the good things: They return the sixth man of the year LaVonte Dority, they return a big man in Bobby Capobianco, and they had arguably the best recruiting classes in the league.  With the second semester addition of Keith Carter, the Crusaders are reloading not rebuilding.  With a little luck and some fantastic Freshman performances, Valparaiso could repeat as conference champions.

5. Cleveland State Vikings

Last year: 14-18 (5-11), 1st round of HL Tourney

Departures: Tim Kamczyc (8.1ppg, 3.6rpg), Junior Lomomba (5.8ppg, 2.3rpg)

Key Returners: Bryn Forbes (12.7ppg, 3.5rpg), Charlie Lee (11.6ppg, 4.8apg), Marlin Mason (8.0ppg, 5.3rpg) Anton Grady (13.7ppg, 5.5rpg in 6 games)

Anton Grady returns after tearing a meniscus in his knee.  Losing Grady last season led to the emergence of Freshman Bryn Forbes to lead the team in scoring.  Unfortunately this also led them to a 5-11 conference record and a first round exit to UIC.  A young team should improve and could prove a good challenge for the top tier of the Horizon League.

6. Youngstown State Penguins

Last year: 18-16 (7-9), Lost in HL Semi-finals, Lost in CIT 2nd round

Departures: Blake Allen (12.4ppg, 3.1apg), Damian Eargle (11.8ppg, 6.6rpg, 3.2bpg)

Key Returners: Kendrick Perry (17.3ppg, 5.5rpg, 4.1apg), Kamren Belin (11.1ppg, 5.4rpg), DJ Cole (6.9ppg, 3.4apg)

Losing 3.2 blocks per game is tough for the Penguins, and Eargle was a huge contributor last season, earning Defensive Player of the Year.  Luckily they return First Team All-League Kendrick Perry, one of the most dynamic players in the league.  Perry should challenge Sykes for player of the year. Along with sophomore Kamren Belin, they will have a great backcourt, but the front court will remain a question mark.  If they can find someone to fill Eargle's mask... err... shoes, they should be able to make a run towards bigger things.

7. Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Flames

Last year: 18-16 (7-9), Lost in HL Tourney Quarterfinals, Lost in CIT 2nd round

Departures: Gary Talton (12.3ppg, 4.4apg), Daniel Barnes (12.1ppg, 4.4rpg), Josh Crittle (10.5ppg, 5.5rpg)

Key Returners: Hayden Humes (10.3ppg, 5.2rpg)

Humes returns for his senior season and he's accompanied by former Purdue guard, Kelsey Barlow.  Together they should provide an offensive spark to a team that is losing their top 3 starters.  The third best defensive team in the Horizon is hoping their offense improves from a dismal 62.8 points per game. I wouldn't say they are a bad team, but I believe they are missing pieces to become a conference championship contending team.

8. Detroit Titans

Last year: 20-13 (12-4), Lost in HL Tourney Semifinals, Lost in NIT 1st round

Departures: Ray McCallum (18.7ppg, 5.1rpg), Jason Calliste (14.4ppg, 3.3apg), Nick Minnerath (14.6, 5.9ppg), Doug Anderson (12.1ppg, 110% dunk-itude)

Key Returners: Juwan Howard Jr. (7.6ppg, 3.2rpg), Evan Bruinsma (5.6ppg, 4.3rpg)

When your star player is a 2nd round NBA draft pick, you know you've got a good one.  When you lose 80% of your starting lineup, you know you could be in trouble.  Detroit could be reeling from the loss of player of the year Ray Jr., but more importantly they could be in trouble losing key role players in Calliste and Minnerath.  Hopefully another junior, Juwan Jr. can fill a portion of McCallum's shoes and Detroit won't be below water two years after being a tournament team.

9. Milwaukee Panthers

Last year: 8-24 (3-13), Lost 1st round in HL Tourney

Departures: Paris Gulley (14.7ppg, 3.5rpg), Demetrius Harris (9.1ppg, 5.3rpg), James Haarsma (6.5ppg, 4.5rpg)

Key Returners: Jordan Aaron (14.4ppg, 4.0apg, .371 FG%), Austin Arians (6.6ppg, .382 FG%), Kyle Kelm (5.1ppg, 3.6rpg)

This is a team in the Horizon league.  They were coached by Bo Ryan and Bruce Pearl at one point.  They aren't anymore.  They lost their top scorer and their top two rebounders.  This could be a really rough season again for the Panthers. This was the only team to shoot below 40% in the league last season and it'll be interesting to see if they can improve their shot selection.