Messages

Hi # 62..sorry to hear you left for balmy Wisc. It was a "wicked bad" one last year...like your staged approach, but the other physical plant bldgs. need help too...Seems like other private schools can command higher tuition and fees and still draw well (students and athletes). If the facilities and faculty are top notch the kids and parents will be glad to come up with the cash. We sent 4 through college (none at VU) and paid the price (no aid). It was worth it as they all have  great careers. Not an easy answer to any of this.

Didn't mean to slight Dean Krueger...
Football complex for 6000? Why on earth? Avg. attendance is < 2400 Build it an they will come?
Valpo HS draws more

VU72: How are things on the southshore? Big game at 'boro tonight

#62: Sorry I misstated the arena. I agree with a Fieldhouse approach. More benefits for an entire student body. I do disagree with the FB DNA...it's costly and likely hasn't carried the load budget wise for decades. Many progressive schools have figured this out. Lacrosse (not in Wisc.) is a great and growing sport that can add the male/female athletes as well cost effectively. I'm sure there are also other things to interest students for 5 Saturdays a year!
Lastly, adding football isn't going to increase enrollment in the sciences and engineering, quality facilities and faculty will. I don't recall many FB players in the science or engineering labs.  And oh, by the way, women are permitted to enroll in science and engineering programs and will if the programs are top notch, not just nursing... it is after all 2015, not 1950...Just sayin'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_Division_I_non-football_programs

Dump football, build a legitimate arena  for bb and put the savings into a top notch engineering &  science curriculum...Seems easy to me

Such venom is what is absurd...I am not familiar with any of these "handles" you quoted, and The Chicago Trib was referenced only as a newspaper that is read outside Porter County.
  It's amazing how in less than 24 hours  of my initial  comments about the schools that VU plays in the HL  such a maelstrom of anger has ensued. Ttell me why a small private school is stuck playing against, with the exception of Detroit and Loyola, secondary level state schools, 3,4,5 times their size with much lower academic thresholds. Why? Poor planning on the part of the administration/ath. dept.  and lack of vision. You are all heralding the move to the HL as  an amazing feat. Really?
  This was the year to move on and up. The opportunity has passed VU by once again. VU will never get seeded higher then 12 in the HL, and were VERY lucky to win the HL Tourney to get a bid in the first place..... I'm sure you are familiar with the definition of insanity.....
I guess you all like being a minor-major fish in a small pond.

Step out and see the world guys...see you at Homecoming...

I think you did a fine job and that's plenty of info for a poster who says he follows Valpo basketball but doesn't know much about it's history of conference affiliation. I think his biggest issue maybe that he listens to too many east coast writers (much like setshot) and because they don't do much on the Horizon League on the east coast he feels the Horizon League isn't good enough for where he wants Valpo to be.

Ease up Historyman...We're all on the same team here. No, I don't get to read the Pulitzer Prize winning NW Indiana Times but even the Chicago Trib. doesn't give much love to the HL...and obviously neither does the NCAA with only one bid assigned to such a lofty conference.

Thank you all for the background of the last decade. I truly enjoyed this dialogue. And you are correct, I don't live and die for VU athletics with the exception of BBall and it intensifies after Jan. 1 each year!
I realize the athletic program is more than just basketball, and agree that ALL the programs have been taken up a notch with one exception and I'm sure there is a post somewhere to dump foorball, but I won't go there.
I  will admit, I am guilty of being Eastcoast centric, but also see how schools have turned things around for the campus in general not just the athletic department by being very promotionally minded. Valpo, who? is a common refrain, oh yea "The shot"...thankfully reprised by the NCAA each March and now by AXE.
Our Alumni donations and word of mouth only go so far when attracting a diverse student body and individuals with athletic prowess to boot... All of my children played D1 sports in college, and never gave VU a look.
With perhaps the exception of the Midwest, little is known about the schools in the Horizon League especially by high school coaches, and you are correct that Mid-Con was worse...but waiting for that single bid to the dance  makes it tough competition I'm sure...
Carry on the good fight...BTW Bill Steinbrenner was my dorm supervisor, so my sports history is a bit more ancient than most...
See you all next January

Finally, the win streak against Butler isn't three, it's four.  The only reason they were asked to move up is their championship game record as well as a long history of success in the NCAA tourneys.  It's all about basketball success and something we need to try to follow, no question. 
VU72: I guess I must have missed one win along the way. My apologies. The webcasts just don't do it for me, plus the revenue to build a program isn't through the web...yet ...Did we get any money from allstate for the astronaut ad? That was a highlight after Thursday's disappointment.
Is "lookie here" a colloquial phrase?
       
     
     
       
       
       
          

In checking further, I see that Mr. LaBarbera has a good pedigree and an MBA from DePaul. That's a start.  So he should know how to move us up and out. Perhaps his hands are tied from above?[sic]
Isn't DePaul in the New Big East

I certainly am not versed in the ways of university athletics, so can't chart a path to the mount. Certainly the Drew legacy is worth something at the national level. This is a golden arrow in Valpo's quiver. Let's utilize it!
However, the job of an athletic director,akin to a CEO in the real world, is to be on the lookout for mergers, acquisitions and services that would enhance the BRAND. Being a member of the Horizon league is not enhancing the Valpo BRAND.
As a start, I'd have lunch with Barry Collier, Butler AD, at St Elmos and ask him how they did it. Why did they get the calls? How did they broker a deal. Today, being a Division 1 AD is more than about ordering uniforms and making sure the mascot has a big head!
They must be businessmen first and foremost. I'm not sure who our AD is and where he came from, but I hope he has atleast an MBA...

I am a new member of the Valpofanzone, but a life long VU fan. I will likely not be a regular participant.

I think overall this season was a great one, coach and players did a FANtastic job all around. It was fun to follow the team, inspite of few TV games. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

But, for years I've been very disappointed with the administration's handling of the basketball program(not to mention football). Valpo's participation in extremely weak conferences comprised of schools with little or nothing in common with VU has not elevated our standing in the eyes of most of the nation. This translates to better recruiting potential, more television exposure(revenues) and the opportunity to play a stronger schedule, which in the long run would  build a better BRAND.
One needs to look no further than our arch rival, or former arch rival, Butler University. Sure for years they kicked our butts 4 out of 5 games, but recently we've held our own and can actually claim a mini 3-game win streak! But, we're still stuck in a go nowhere conference, playing 3rd tier teams and hoping to win our year end tourney to get the lone bid to the dance. How was Butler able to move on up from the lowly Horizon League (not to mention the Summit League), to the A10 and now the Big East, where they will be playing nationally ranked teams on a huge national network(FOX). with a potential for 5,6,7 bids to the Dance.
The interesting thing is that Valpo would have more in common with the New Big East schools from an enrollment and geographic standpoint, than we currently do with the  schools we currently play, not to mention the academic standards. Were we afraid of the Catholics!

Why has Butler advanced so rapidly?  Because their athletic department and administration recogized the path to future success wasn't playing the likes of Ill-Chic. or UMGB.  They've blown right by Valpo, 3 losses in a row aside....Did Valpo even get a call to join the Big East, or the A-10 for that matter? On one hand I hope we did, on the other hand I hope we didn't 'cause we're still stuck in the Horizon.
Wake up VALPO!!!