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Looking to offload a bunch of Valpo gear for free rather than throw it away. Former VU employee with polos, sweaters, pullovers, coats, and some rain gear that are all size XL. Don't believe I have the ability to post pictures to the board yet, but can send them if you're interested.

Check your DM

Very true.  It surprised me a little that of all the newcomers the walk-on was mentioned.  Clearly Preston has talent and maybe more than what was thought during recruiting.  He is also the most hungry trying to earn a scholarship.

Just from memory I'm thinking Kiser played something like 150 to 180 minutes his walk on season. As deep as our 21-22 team is, Preston will have to be great to find much more than 100 minutes. Sight unseen I'm hoping he reaches that mark!

I think Preston has a real shot to earn a scholarship in the future. He apparently has Kiser characteristics and really pushes guys in practice. Every successful team needs those guys.

I played for Preston's dad (who was a hell of a player in his own right) in high school. If he has the kind of intensity/drive/determination that his father had, he will be successful.

This is a little bit off-subject, but along the same lines,

I've wondered why Valpo's homerun play seems so successful, and so hard to stop.  Surely, opposing coaches have seen it on film.  I recall questioning in a post-game conference several years ago, and when the player started to answer, Bryce cut him off. 

I've also seen the larger schools simply keep someone back, which seems to me to be the obvious solution.

Nonetheless, I'm wondering whether the players make adjustments just before the play starts or mid-play that cause some sort of defensive preparation difficulty. 

A couple of years ago, I thought one thing was really funny.  VU ran the play to perfection against RI.  Since I was at the game, I didn't hear the TV PbP, but apparently the announcers (Todd?) noted that it was coming.  The fans on the RI fan board were really miffed because the announcers new the play was coming, but the coaches apparently didn't.

It's all based off of the defensive setup. If the defense has someone either guarding the ball or helping defend the inbounds to the two guards, its on. Nearly every team does this in desperation situations.

If they play someone back, it's a simple back screen/cut/pin action that leaves one of the two guards open (or a post can flash from half court to catch near the sideline).

I've run this at every place I've coached. Mostly with high school girls. And it works every time. Just a simple read of how the defense lines up.

2019-20 Over/Unders
Javon Freeman-Liberty: 63.5 steals - OVER
Siggy Lorange: 27.5 3-point field goals - UNDER
Zion Morgan: 16.5 games with more assists than turnovers - UNDER
Daniel Sackey: 3.2 assists per game - OVER
Donovan Clay: 3.8 rebounds per game - OVER
Eron Gordon: 7.5 points per game - UNDER
Emil Freese-Vilien: 10.5 blocks - UNDER
Mileek McMillian: 44.5 field goal percentage - UNDER
Ben Krikke: 5.8 points per game - OVER
Nick Robinson: 10.5 points per game - OVER
John Kiser: 11.5 3-point field goals - UNDER
Ryan Fazekas: 42.5 3-point field goal percentage - UNDER
Matt Lottich: 1.5 technical fouls - OVER

Wins: 17.5 - UNDER
Arch Madness wins: 1.5 - UNDER
MVC Finish: 6.5 (Over means 1-6, Under means 7-10) - UNDER
Postseason victories (NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT): 0.5 - UNDER
Conference win streak: 2.5 - UNDER
Conference loss streak: 2.5 - OVER
Attendance: 2,800 - OVER

Tiebreaker: Combined season points from Brock Pappas and Luke Morrill - 4

[MISSOURI VALLEY]

MISSOURI VALLEY
Bradley – 10/20 vs. Eastern Illinois
Drake – 10/18 vs. Omaha
Evansville – 10/20 vs. UT Martin
Illinois State – 10/27 at Iowa
Indiana State – 10/20 vs. SEMO in Indianapolis; 10/27 vs. Murray State in Evansville
Loyola Chicago – 10/22 vs. Saint Louis
Missouri State – 10/19 at SMU
Northern Iowa – 10/20 vs. North Dakota State in Minneapolis; 10/26 vs. South Dakota State
Southern Illinois – 10/26 vs. Miami (Ohio)
Valparaiso – 10/27 at UIC

Curious if she counts to the 15 total.

I believe that it does. She was listed as a sophomore last season, so she would have two more years on scholarship expected. It's likely that they can absorb this without issue...OR, they have open scholarships this year (there are 13 players listed on the roster) and will go year-to-year and have it for her senior year as well as long as they have one available.

Again, this is not at all uncommon in the women's game.

She's listed as a student assistant. Possibly (no info here), her injury(ies) were not going to allow her to play, or it was clear that her playing time would be minimal, but she will stay involved with the program in exchange for keeping her scholarship.

Women's basketball gets 15 scholarships, so this is not an unusual arrangement in that sport.

[A Mind Dump on Student Attendance and Fan Interaction]

I know there is a lot going on today, and I have much more to comment on - but that's for later perhaps. (If you remember my post-season drivel from several years back, you'll recall I can be long-winded). Here's part one.



A Mind Dump on Student Attendance and Fan Interaction



In August of 2003, a college freshman from a mid-sized Wisconsin city (and a tiny, private high school) arrived on the campus of Valparaiso University. That fall, the football team would go 8-4 and win the PFL, its best season this century. The volleyball team – under second-year head coach Carin Avery – would post a 27-8 record, win the Mid-Continent Conference and make an NCAA Tournament Appearance.

Winter sports would find a way to improve on these results as both the men's and women's basketball teams found their way into the NCAA Tournament, with the women's team giving #2 seed Kansas State a battle before ultimately falling by single digits.

That college freshman took notice at how successful the teams at his University seemed to be, and how many students came to games. Over the next four years, that student became more and more involved in the student section, trying to get more and more students to games, trying to get the rest of the crowd to be engaged and hopefully enhancing the environment at sporting events at Valpo.

While that effort led to a generally neutral effect on sports that were not men's basketball, student attendance and engagement for men's basketball increased and the ARC became a place that was consistently loud – and it became a place that opponents simply did not win many games.

Fast forward to the fall of 2007, when that student – together with a small group of others – decided to take their efforts a step beyond what they had done in the past, creating what they called "The Sixth Man Rewards Program".  These students went out and raised a significant amount of capital – both in cash and in goods – that was given away to the students throughout the year, based on how many games they attended.

That student was me.

The program we started also tracked student attendance. Numbers were up. There were 500 or more students at almost every men's basketball game. Though not all of these students sat in the student section, many did. The section was full game after game. Full and loud.

Then came February 5. The Butler game. ESPN. 1600 students. One Thousand and Six Hundred. Even the chairbacks stood and cheered. A lot.

It was special. But given how the season had gone and how students had been coming to games, it was not entirely unexpected. Maybe not to that extent, but we knew the place would be packed.

Fast forward only a decade and the expectations have, unfortunately, shifted to the opposite extreme. Fans who can't make it to the games turn to ESPN3 and see half-full student sections (at best), a chairback section who looks like they've been told that they will be flogged should they so much as make a peep and (the appearance of?) a general malaise inside the arena that is disappointing – even disheartening.

Things have changed significantly in only ten years.

It has been discussed many times that the Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana community will never fully be supportive of Valpo basketball to fill the arena on a consistent basis. While there is some truth to this, it is not fully accurate. Past games against Marquette, Butler and Purdue have seen a packed house. The recent NIT games against Florida State and St. Mary's were full to the rafters. Horizon League Championship games were played in front of a full house as well. Heck, in 2010, there were close to 2000 people in the ARC for a women's game against Notre Dame. The support does exist, it is simply (or not so simply) a matter of getting those butts in the seats.

There are myriad reasons why fans do or do not show up to games, and they are different for every group. Students want certain things. Young alumni may want different things. Families, older alumni, community members, etc. Everyone wants something different from the game day experience.

For now, I'm choosing to focus on one: student attendance and involvement. If this is improved, it has a cascade effect on all of the others. What can be done to put butts in the student section?

Going back to 2007, there are many similarities to what we saw that year and what we see now. Student attendance had hit a bit of a lull, the team was playing in a new conference that didn't have a lot of "rivalry" feeling to it (albeit that there were a couple of schools that we saw that way).

It takes a significant commitment from a fairly large circle of people to make it happen. There have to be students who are willing to commit their time for little return. There has to be commitment from the athletic department. There has to be commitment from the teams and coaches. There has to be commitment from the community. All of those, however, circle back to the first.


Who is in charge of the student section?

From the time I started in school until I graduated, there was a clear hierarchy of students who were the leaders of the student section. Frankly, I'm not sure who is in charge now or if there is even an organized model for running the section. We took the student section to the Student Senate and became a recognized organization on campus. We had a budget from Student Senate that we were able to use to fund prize programs, theme nights, bus trips and whatever else we needed to do over the course of the season. This was a huge step for us. The student section now needs to have dedicated leadership, with a vision for the future, who will not only run the section, but will prepare the next generation of leaders. It needs campus affiliation. Perhaps through athletics. Perhaps through student government. Perhaps both.

In addition to not knowing who the leaders are, not once in the last ten years has anyone been in touch with the students who had built the student section to where it was. We had developed new "traditions", ideas, thoughts and procedures. Things ran smoothly. Most importantly, STUDENTS SHOWED UP AND STOOD IN THE STUDENT SECTION. Our student section lost its voice, lost connections with sponsors, lost leadership. It is a shell of itself.


What can be done?

Again, everything starts with leadership. Nothing else can happen until that is set. Then, you have to figure out how to get students to games. Usually, it takes things. Stuff. Giveaways. We had a $5 membership fee. It essentially paid for the t-shirt, but it created a little bit of buy-in (no pun intended) from a student. We set up at FOCUS days, had highlights playing on laptops, had players there to meet the incoming freshmen.

We gave out the shirts. Sandwiches from Jimmy John's (our sponsor) from time to time. A rewards program for showing up to games that included Qdoba, Inman's, Strongbow's and many other local businesses. We gave away tickets to a Colts game. Basically, you just had to show up to games and scan your ID card to get points. Enough points and you got a reward at the next game you showed up to. It took some time, but not nearly as much as some may thing. It can be done.

It is hard to compete against the hundreds of other activities on a college campus. This is reality, whether people want to admit it or not. When I was in school, I hung out with men's and women's basketball players. I hung out with volleyball and football players. Athletes were around. The students in the dorm room next to me did not know that Valpo even had a basketball team until late in the season. I wish I was kidding when I say that. Not everyone cares, and that's OK.

There is a snowball effect. Get kids to come to a game. ONE SINGLE GAME. Give them a good experience. Help them make new friends. They'll come back and bring someone else along. It simply doesn't happen overnight.

We advertised everywhere we could. We taped flyers on dorm room doors. We put table toppers in the union and the other dining halls. We set up tables in busy areas every chance we had. It was all worth it. I look back through videos of old games today and I'm still proud of those wild, crazy, loud, obnoxious and (most of all) packed student sections.

It also takes success on the court. Fans – especially students – don't support losing teams. The last few years have not been to the level that we, as Valpo fans, have come to expect. If that improves, it makes it a lot easier for all of the other things to happen.



So, to the leaders of the student section: Be leaders. Go above and beyond. Work with athletics. Work with the teams. Get to know the players (trust me, they're people, too...and they're probably not bad people to know on campus). Use every available resource – and DON'T RELY SOLELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Get in touch with those before you.

We created something great. It has fallen down, but we can lift it up again. And, I truly mean WE!

What's that matter? Is that a rule? I've seen plenty of others that are multipurpose fields without such ugly slashed lines across the end zone??

The lines I can't speak to. I agree they are not particularly attractive.

But from a practicality standpoint, if we had VALPO printed in the end zone, it would be very difficult to discern soccer lines. Thus, no decoration. (Again, I would be fine getting rid of the slashes...)

BTW.... Lets say he doesn't heal this year for whatever reason.   Between his injury this year and I know he had some injuries at his last school.  Any chance he gets an extra year?

Doubtful. The rule states that a player can participate in 30% of his team's games.

Ryan has played in 16 contests. For that to fall under 30%, they would need to play 59 team games, which I feel is unlikely.

[AND]

I'm surprised by the Evansville attendance.  What is it about Evansville that allows them to draw twice the fans that Valpo does?  The team certainly isn't better.  The university isn't larger.  I guess it must be that Evansville is a bigger city than Valpo?

Good trivia question. I got this from my wife's new step-sister. My father-in-law recently got re-married and his new wife's daughter was a secretary to a former Evansville mayor. I'm just getting to know these new in-laws from this past Thanksgiving and Christmas. My father-in-law lives half-way between Evansville and Louisville directly on the Ohio River in Perry County (central time).

What was the name of University of Evansville before 1967?

AND

what was their nickname previous to the Purple Aces?

Moores Hill College, Evansville College
Pioneers

Do I win?

Yes, one more question, What other former rival of Valpo was once known as the Pioneers?

Oakland, when they moved up to D1

[AND]

I'm surprised by the Evansville attendance.  What is it about Evansville that allows them to draw twice the fans that Valpo does?  The team certainly isn't better.  The university isn't larger.  I guess it must be that Evansville is a bigger city than Valpo?

Good trivia question. I got this from my wife's new step-sister. My father-in-law recently got re-married and his new wife's daughter was a secretary to a former Evansville mayor. I'm just getting to know these new in-laws from this past Thanksgiving and Christmas. My father-in-law lives half-way between Evansville and Louisville directly on the Ohio River in Perry County (central time).

What was the name of University of Evansville before 1967?

AND

what was their nickname previous to the Purple Aces?

Moores Hill College, Evansville College
Pioneers

Do I win?

We couldn't even afford to do a decorate end zone lol. It's slashed lines. So embarrassing.

The end zones are not decorated because the field is also used for soccer.

Easiest way to stop thsi is to stick the guy guarding the inbounded at half court 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Absolutely, I've seen the tallest guy on the court put at half court numerous times.  How was this a big argument?  I'm confused.

Easiest way to stop thsi is to stick the guy guarding the inbounded at half court 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Absolutely, I've seen the tallest guy on the court put at half court numerous times.  How was this a big argument?  I'm confused.

This is the "read". If the opponent does not guard the inbounder (aka, the big guy is at half court), then the two guards up front simply have a 2-on-2 and set screens to get open.

So, teams take their chance that they can cover the deep guy and then have help near the ball. As we have seen, it rarely works.

I've used this play for many year with high school girls teams...it works just about every time with them as well.

I will never get tired of watching that play work perfectly!  Does anyone have an update on Ryan's ankle?  I saw he was still in a boot Saturday. 

No update, but the boot is likely just precautionary at this point. I've had players walking around with boots on both feet for months at a time and never miss game time.

With the coaching transition, some things have changed and some things stayed the same.  The home run play will always remain.

We have run that play since the recipient would set shot the ball into a peach basket. Can somebody explain to me why it still works 

It's set up so that if it won't be open, they do something else.

The next time we are in that situation, pay attention to whether or not there is a defender guarding the ball or helping make a 2-on-3 in the backcourt. If that defender is up, we run it. If the person guarding the inbounder is back near half-court, we simply set screens to get open.

The reason it looks like it always work is because whether or not we run it is dependent on the defense.  If guarded a certain way (which everyone seems to do when they are desperate), it will always be there.

I can't confirm when the game was or the opponent.  Or even which coaches were yelling (I do believe it was the visitors, however). I just know that part of the story. So, there's not necessarily connection between the two, now that I see it.

Once they played us at home in the mid-2000s and they had ridiculously fast kids and beat us 80+ to 6 or something.  Their asst coaches were up in the press box at the top of the VU grandstand dropping f-bombs in every direction in the first half.  Sometimes it was in frustration (rarely).  But most of the time is was 1 of every 3 words in their very limited vocabulary.  All 3 of them talked that way.

Pres. Harre was sitting about 10 rows in front of them and there were a bunch of kids and families nearby him.   Many of turned and glared at them often.  They continued.   Suddenly after the half I stopped hearing f-bombs.   Perhaps Pres H got someone's attention.  Good for him.

At one point, Harre turned towards the press box and asked them to stop cursing.

They responded with something along the lines of "and who the hell are you, old man".

Harre fired back with "I'm the president of this University and I'll have you sent out of here if you don't."

They complied. Quickly.

Here is the problem:  We aren't a very good team.  I watched the UNI-Evansville game last night and UNI, which was tied with us for last, drew 3346 to the game which is 47% of capacity.  I doubt there were that many at the game and there as no evidence of a student section at all.  They have historically drawn very well as have we.  I suspect that our fair weather fans may return (including the students) once we return to playing at a higher level.

This doesn't explain the lack of attendance last year when Valpo had a good team with an NBA player in his senior year. Last year the official home attendance average was 3086 and this year the average is down only to 2751. That team won 24 games and was 15-2 at home. Alec Peters' final home game, a senior night for Hamminck and Adekoya as well, only drew 3512 for a first-place team.

You are talking about a pretty big gap, do you think that (on average) 300+ students attended games at any point in the last 20-years?  The student section holds maybe 125-150 students. 

I'm not going to blame a big gap like that only on students.  Welcome to 2018!  I only attended two games this year so far....2-hour drives have a lot to do with that but my point is ESPN3 is GLORIOUS!

That has to be a huge chunk of the 300+ declines.  Again, contributing not all encompassing.  And that is not going to change for the good, get ready for a net-net or decline in the future.  DONT BUILD A 6,500 SEAT ARENA, IT WONT FILL.

Actually, in 2008-2009, the student check in rate was about 500 per men's home game (students physically swiped their ID cards). I don't have the exact number, but it was high. That number was bolstered by 1600 (yes, one thousand, six hundred) who checked in for the Butler game.

The student section has 444 seats, if I remember the number correctly. It's in that ballpark.

Having been heavily involved with the student section during one of the most "prosperous" times that we have seen, I would welcome any questions anyone has for those who have been the "leaders" in the past. I can assure you that running an organization such as the student section takes a lot of time and a lot of work. It is a large group, and by its very nature is transitive and inconsistent.

Our biggest problem was pushing the leadership forward. There was a significant lack of involvement from those who were in the younger classes, and things fell off for a couple of years. It since jumped back up, and then fell...much like a roller coaster.

There are many reasons for the lack of attendance. Significantly among them (and this is a very incomplete list): Lack of connection between team and students, lack of quality/consistent scheduling, lack of student section organization/promotions. There are myriad reasons, but these are some of the most significant ones we faced, and it seems as if they are still there today.


As I did several years ago, I will be posting a post-season reflection on the year (see the old one here: http://www.valpofanzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=2533.msg72229#msg72229). One of the topics I have already written, re-written, deleted, re-written, etc. is on this topic. I think it is something that needs to be addressed at an administrative level. Its a huge undertaking for a student, or group of students. We shall see.

If we ever renovated the ARC it would be cool to have some natural light and window shine into the arena. What would be really cool is we could have one the "endzones" of the arena walls pay homage to the Chapel of Resurrection how a  similar stain glass dimension for the wall letting in the natural light. It would also look iconic and unique to just Valparaiso University if done correctly.

Is it just me or would that look really cool? That would definitely be impressive and would sell recruits.

Glass on the end of an arena is never a good idea.

Think volleyball in the evening in September. Or a 3:00 basketball tip in January. Especially an arena that sits east/west.

The idea is cool, but not practical.

It's interesting that we never heard Parker's name come up for a potential red-shirt. Maybe that suggests he might have been practicing well but just clams up during real games?

Parker started the first 10 games of his career. If the staff thought that highly of him to start the season, a redshirt was nowhere near their minds.

Maybe we should take a shot on Brian Bowen at this point.

Do you mean Matt Bowen at Minnesota Duluth?  I actually Googled him a few weeks ago to see where he was coaching.  He stayed at Bemidji State for several seasons, before leaving for Minnesota-Duluth about 5-6 seasons ago.

Brian Bowen is the player who reportedly (or his father, anyways) was the one the money was being funneled to from Louisville. He played his prep ball at LaLumiere.

Interesting note that Kenpom still has Valpo winning the HL Tournament, even factoring in the AP injury.

                               Qtrs Semis Final Champ
2 Valparaiso              100  84.5  62.2  36.0
1 Oakland                 100  82.9  54.5  32.3
4 Northern Kentucky   100  52.2  21.3   9.6
3 Green Bay              100  67.8  25.0   9.6
5 Wright St.              100  47.8  18.6   8.1
6 Illinois Chicago       100  32.2   7.6    1.8
8 Cleveland St.         65.9  14.1   4.9   1.5
7 Detroit                  56.4   8.8   3.1   0.7
10 Milwaukee            43.6    6.7   2.0   0.4
9 Youngstown St.      34.1    3.1   0.6   0.1

If you read the piece, these numbers do not have the injury factored in.

@PantherU is hyping it too

https://twitter.com/pantheru/status/836999132384542725

Pretty sure he did that facetiously.