Valpo to be visited by MVC this week, thoughts?

[bbtds]

The MVC is filled with small city universities that draw well because they're the only show in town.

Very good and perhaps uncovered-thus-far point...

(although EC has CLEARLY not seen the 49er or the MOH.)

/s

49er=Tibbs, west side of Indy. Sometimes Indy seems like a small town that grew big.

[vubballfan]

More visits planned by MVC -
http://www.wjbc.com/common/page.php?pt=MVC+officials+visit+possible+replacements&id=44863&is_corp=0

Belmont, ORU, and Denver

....UIC certainly jumped the gun in spreading the rumor that they are in....if they were such a clear cut choice why more visits? Hope it backfires on them

[valpotx]

I still don't see Denver as an option in the MVC.  They expand the geographic footprint too much, don't have really any history of success outside of the last few seasons (maybe just one season), and don't have baseball, which is definitely a main consideration for the conference with it being their second best sport. 

Belmont won't ever really be supported more than it is currently in Nashville.  They averaged around 2k fans this past season, when they had a top 30 rpi...

ORU certainly has a chance.

If I were the MVC, I would look at the ORU/Loyola/Valpo combination.  It gives the conference a good mix of 6/6 private vs. public, and it seems to be their focus based on the schools they are talking to (5 of 7 considered so far). 

[historyman]

If I were the MVC, I would look at the ORU/Loyola/Valpo combination.  It gives the conference a good mix of 6/6 private vs. public, and it seems to be their focus based on the schools they are talking to (5 of 7 considered so far).

Or rather it's what works out best for Valpo. What would be best for the Missouri Valley is to replace Creighton with Saint Louis. I wonder if anyone in St. Louis would agree.

[valpotx]

SLU would only agree to that if the Big East did not already promise them a spot.  I can pretty much guarantee that if the NBE does not offer Dayton/SLU, that those two schools would be highest on the MVC list...but that is a moot point, since they will be offered by the NBE

[classof2014]

If I were the MVC, I would look at the ORU/Loyola/Valpo combination.  It gives the conference a good mix of 6/6 private vs. public, and it seems to be their focus based on the schools they are talking to (5 of 7 considered so far). 

I think that is the best combo so far. None are too far away from other schools. Oral Roberts isn't that far from Wichita and Springfield. It would make for a logical east and west division and each division will have 3 public schools and 3 private schools

East:
Valpo, Indiana St, Evansville, Loyola, Illinois St, Southern Illinois

West:
Northern Iowa, Drake, Bradley, Missouri St, Oral Roberts, Wichita St

[VULB#62]

I might swap Bradley and SIU   

[valpotx]

That would be a pretty solid league right there!  My thinking is great in both basketball and baseball (with DBU included next season).  I believe that our improvements in our core sports would allow for us to compete fairly quickly: M/W basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, M/W soccer.  That doesn't mean we would win championships right away, but we would at least be away from the cellar in most of these in the near future (mid-table to upper 33%).  We would really have to ramp up our T&F, S&D, and CC programs in order to stay away from the all-sports cup cellar, however.

[agibson]

East:
Valpo, Indiana St, Evansville, Loyola, Illinois St, Southern Illinois

West:
Northern Iowa, Drake, Bradley, Missouri St, Oral Roberts, Wichita St

Playing in a two-division league would take some getting used to, for me.  I've never thought about them much.  I guess you play your division home-and-away, and the other division _either_ home or away?  16 conference games a season isn't so bad.

For the other division do you have sort of an "A" group and a "B" group?  In odd numbered years you play A home, B away, and even numbered years vice versa?  Or is it more complicated?

Tournament seeding must get at least a little more complicated...

[classof2014]

For the other division do you have sort of an "A" group and a "B" group?  In odd numbered years you play A home, B away, and even numbered years vice versa?  Or is it more complicated?

Since each division would have 3 public and 3 private. You can play the 3 public at home and the 3 private away, and flip flop every season.

[valpotx]

Even though I would love to play Wichita State in baseball and basketball, maybe they end up leaving the MVC for the MWC or another conference.  If that is the case, the conference becomes even more compact, and we will be even more alluring to the MVC with another slot open 

[wh]

If Valpo does not get an invitation to join the MVC, it will most likely be due to our inferior (by comparison) athletic facilities.  Some of us on this board have said repeatedly things like you can't have your cake and eat it too, we are living on borrowed time, the credit for our bb program goes strictly to the Drews who have succeeded despite the lack of support from the university to upgrade the ARC, etc.  Athletic facility needs should have been planned for years ago and built piecemeal into various campus improvement initiatives over the years - but they weren't.  So here we are when it comes time to put on a dog and pony show for MVC officials, trying to explain how we have a glorified high school gym for men's basketball (our glory sport), an NCAA sponsored inter-collegiate track and field program with no track facilities, a football field that (well, everyone knows the drill), while our competitors are proudly displaying their new this and modern that.  Someone would actually have to lie to make a statement to the search committee that the university fully supports its athletic programs.  I'm sure that whoever represented Valpo conveyed how they have big plans for facility improvements in the future, but why would anyone believe them. Excuses and promises don't make for a very convincing presentation.

For those in the brotherhood who have steadfastly defended past decisions by the administration and board to ignore athletic facility needs in favor of everything else, I hope you don't complain if/when we get turned down. A day of reckoning has been coming for a long time and frankly it's probably long overdue.   

[classof2014]

If Valpo does not get an invitation to join the MVC, it will most likely be due to our inferior (by comparison) athletic facilities.  Some of us on this board have said repeatedly things like you can't have your cake and eat it too, we are living on borrowed time, the credit for our bb program goes strictly to the Drews who have succeeded despite the lack of support from the university to upgrade the ARC, etc.  Athletic facility needs should have been planned for years ago and built piecemeal into various campus improvement initiatives over the years - but they weren't.  So here we are when it comes time to put on a dog and pony show for MVC officials, trying to explain how we have a glorified high school gym for men's basketball (our glory sport), an NCAA sponsored inter-collegiate track and field program with no track facilities, a football field that (well, everyone knows the drill), while our competitors are proudly displaying their new this and modern that.  Someone would actually have to lie to make a statement to the search committee that the university fully supports its athletic programs.  I'm sure that whoever represented Valpo conveyed how they have big plans for facility improvements in the future, but why would anyone believe them. Excuses and promises don't make for a very convincing presentation.

For those in the brotherhood who have steadfastly defended past decisions by the administration and board to ignore athletic facility needs in favor of everything else, I hope you don't complain if/when we get turned down. A day of reckoning has been coming for a long time and frankly it's probably long overdue.   

I agree, Valpo has the athletics right now to deserve to be in a higher conference but the facilities are terrible. We have great coaches and great athletes but if Valpo doesn't show that they appreciate all their hard work they will leave and move on to bigger and better things.

First step, put a track around Brown Field, it can't cost too much money to do that and shouldn't take much longer than the summer.

Hopefully the hospital will be gone this summer and that new fieldhouse will be built where the hospital was. Thus becoming the new home for the basketball squad?

[VULB#62]

If Valpo does not get an invitation to join the MVC, it will most likely be due to our inferior (by comparison) athletic facilities.  Some of us on this board have said repeatedly things like you can't have your cake and eat it too, we are living on borrowed time, the credit for our bb program goes strictly to the Drews who have succeeded despite the lack of support from the university to upgrade the ARC, etc.  Athletic facility needs should have been planned for years ago and built piecemeal into various campus improvement initiatives over the years - but they weren't.  So here we are when it comes time to put on a dog and pony show for MVC officials, trying to explain how we have a glorified high school gym for men's basketball (our glory sport), an NCAA sponsored inter-collegiate track and field program with no track facilities, a football field that (well, everyone knows the drill), while our competitors are proudly displaying their new this and modern that.  Someone would actually have to lie to make a statement to the search committee that the university fully supports its athletic programs.  I'm sure that whoever represented Valpo conveyed how they have big plans for facility improvements in the future, but why would anyone believe them. Excuses and promises don't make for a very convincing presentation.

For those in the brotherhood who have steadfastly defended past decisions by the administration and board to ignore athletic facility needs in favor of everything else, I hope you don't complain if/when we get turned down. A day of reckoning has been coming for a long time and frankly it's probably long overdue.   

With ya all the way WH -- no secret there.  The point is that the Drews, the Avery's, the Woodsons have been winning DESPITE the facilities issue.  That's great coaching and dedication  (and even greater recruiting when ya think about it). 

One good thing and five bad things can happen in this scenario. 

Good Thing:  We get the invite despite the facility issue

The Bad Things:
1) The invite validates the administration's hands-off, meager funding view point and VU continues to be an embarrassment.
2) If we get the invite, the administration continues to believe that good coaches will stay because they love Valpo and are willing to sacrifice.
3) We don't get an invite, because we've neglected to upgrade our facilities and do not meet the MVC standard.  The opportunity was there but the administration blew it.
4) If we don't get the invite we lose our coaches because enough is enough.   We lose out on an opportunity to join a more prestigious conference.  Every one of them could do better financially and winning-wise elsewhere where the facilities were not a burden but a benefit.
5) Even if we get the invite, we loose our coaches anyway, because enough is enough.  We still have crappy facilities and now it will be even more difficult to recruit against other MVC teams (at least in HL, they had a chance).

[vu72]

If Valpo does not get an invitation to join the MVC, it will most likely be due to our inferior (by comparison) athletic facilities.  Some of us on this board have said repeatedly things like you can't have your cake and eat it too, we are living on borrowed time, the credit for our bb program goes strictly to the Drews who have succeeded despite the lack of support from the university to upgrade the ARC, etc.  Athletic facility needs should have been planned for years ago and built piecemeal into various campus improvement initiatives over the years - but they weren't.  So here we are when it comes time to put on a dog and pony show for MVC officials, trying to explain how we have a glorified high school gym for men's basketball (our glory sport), an NCAA sponsored inter-collegiate track and field program with no track facilities, a football field that (well, everyone knows the drill), while our competitors are proudly displaying their new this and modern that.  Someone would actually have to lie to make a statement to the search committee that the university fully supports its athletic programs.  I'm sure that whoever represented Valpo conveyed how they have big plans for facility improvements in the future, but why would anyone believe them. Excuses and promises don't make for a very convincing presentation.

For those in the brotherhood who have steadfastly defended past decisions by the administration and board to ignore athletic facility needs in favor of everything else, I hope you don't complain if/when we get turned down. A day of reckoning has been coming for a long time and frankly it's probably long overdue.   

I agree, Valpo has the athletics right now to deserve to be in a higher conference but the facilities are terrible. We have great coaches and great athletes but if Valpo doesn't show that they appreciate all their hard work they will leave and move on to bigger and better things.

First step, put a track around Brown Field, it can't cost too much money to do that and shouldn't take much longer than the summer.

Hopefully the hospital will be gone this summer and that new fieldhouse will be built where the hospital was. Thus becoming the new home for the basketball squad?

[/b]

This is what Mark L. had to say about the cost of the track several months back:

The last time the track project was priced the estimate was $1.8 million.  The track surface is only part of the cost.  The asphalt base needs to be built, there is a significant amount of site work (eg: removing the old tennis courts) and drainage needed plus landscaping.  Our plan also includes jump areas and the equipment needed for staging track meets.  We still need to raise the majority of those funds.

As for the fieldhouse being the new home for basketball--No, that's not the plan.  The fieldhouse will allow some programs and coaches offices to be moved and reduce the stress currently on the ARC. Then the plan is to gut the ARC and put in the improvements discussed .

[FWalum]

If Valpo does not get an invitation to join the MVC, it will most likely be due to our inferior (by comparison) athletic facilities.  Some of us on this board have said repeatedly things like you can't have your cake and eat it too, we are living on borrowed time, the credit for our bb program goes strictly to the Drews who have succeeded despite the lack of support from the university to upgrade the ARC, etc.  Athletic facility needs should have been planned for years ago and built piecemeal into various campus improvement initiatives over the years - but they weren't.  So here we are when it comes time to put on a dog and pony show for MVC officials, trying to explain how we have a glorified high school gym for men's basketball (our glory sport), an NCAA sponsored inter-collegiate track and field program with no track facilities, a football field that (well, everyone knows the drill), while our competitors are proudly displaying their new this and modern that.  Someone would actually have to lie to make a statement to the search committee that the university fully supports its athletic programs.  I'm sure that whoever represented Valpo conveyed how they have big plans for facility improvements in the future, but why would anyone believe them. Excuses and promises don't make for a very convincing presentation.

For those in the brotherhood who have steadfastly defended past decisions by the administration and board to ignore athletic facility needs in favor of everything else, I hope you don't complain if/when we get turned down. A day of reckoning has been coming for a long time and frankly it's probably long overdue.   

I talked to a friend of mine yesterday who is a D1 AD just coming back from Atlanta and was told that, as much as I wanted it to be different because of our recent successes and the great core coaching staffs in multiple sports, it would be a surprise if VU gets an invite to the MVC because of the poor facilities.  I hope he is wrong.  Told me that if he were at VU he would put a tremendous effort into improving the ARC. VU should do what Loyola did in a 6 month time frame and gut the basketball arena, don't even worry about increased seating, just do it now before all the conference realignment shakes out and perhaps that higher ranked conference could come calling in the near future.

[classof2014]

Hopefully the great core of coaches is more important than the facilities at this point. Most of our athletic teams are doing fairly well and I would imagine that's the most important part of it. Hopefully they were able to show that they have plans and time frames for things to get done ASAP. Guess we'll see how things pan out in the coming weeks.

Would be a disappointment if we didn't get an invite... and we could definitely blame the facilities on that one.

[ml2]

I'm sure that whoever represented Valpo conveyed how they have big plans for facility improvements in the future, but why would anyone believe them. Excuses and promises don't make for a very convincing presentation.

I think an effective response to a question like this could be made. One possible example would go something like this: "Over the last 20 years this University has said that it would build a Center for the Arts, a Library, a Student Union, an Arts & Sciences Building, a Welcome Center and an addition to the Engineering Building. Now all of these buildings are here, just like we said. So when we say that in X years projects Y and Z will be complete, you can rest assured that it will happen."

[crusaderjoe]

I'm sure that whoever represented Valpo conveyed how they have big plans for facility improvements in the future, but why would anyone believe them. Excuses and promises don't make for a very convincing presentation.

I think an effective response to a question like this could be made. One possible example would go something like this: "Over the last 20 years this University has said that it would build a Center for the Arts, a Library, a Student Union, an Arts & Sciences Building, a Welcome Center and an addition to the Engineering Building. Now all of these buildings are here, just like we said. So when we say that in X years projects Y and Z will be complete, you can rest assured that it will happen."

Wonderful.  So we can expect groundbreaking to take place on a majorly renovated basketball facility for the University's flagship sport no later than 2033?  If facilities are an issue for MVC entrance, please tell me how this mentality helps us get into the MVC now.

Of course, I understand that this is a message board and that you are trying to formulate one hypothetical response to which many may be possible.  I do appreciate your effort.  However, keep in mind that your answer can also generate many hypothetical rebuttals.  One such response might be that it fails to take into consideration that all of the aforementioned projects above were thought to be integral to VU from the beginning because they were largely academic in nature.  Conversely, athletics on the other hand have largely been treated as ancillary.  Your answer doesn't change that attitude.

Given this dynamic, I think it would be wise to at least consider the real possibility that there may be VU alumni who will say "eff it" to a request for future athletic donations if VU is specifically excluded from an MVC offer because of a lack of facilities this time around. For those alumni, the thought process you illustrated above might have died three capital campaigns ago since they have been begging for facility upgrades for the last 15 or so years.  Just a thought.

[setshot]

"Eff it." Hopefully we can get a visit from the NCC. Then again facilities could be a problem. Check out Wittenberg's facilities. Nice,huh?

[classof2014]

If the MVC wants a Chicagoland school, is it more important to them to have nice facilities but a terrible team or terrible facilities with a pretty good team? That's the main question. It all depends on what is more difficult. Is it harder to make a team good or do renovations to facilities?

I think people fail to remember Valpo is small both the city and the school. If we were to join we'd by far be one of the smallest schools in probably the smallest town as well. If Valpo had a population of 100,000 instead of 30,000 our facilities would be way larger, same for the student body. Instead of 3,000 undergrads we had 10,000 our facilities would be much larger.

Both Loyola and UIC have very nice facilities but terrible athletics. So, if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it does it still make a sound? That's how I view the athletic situation in UIC and Loyola, none of their teams have been in the national spot light any time recently, unlike Valpo who has had multiple athletic teams win the HL and move into the NCAA tournament, so the facilities at UIC and Loyola essentially go unnoticed... It's not like the facilities at UIC and Loyola helped draw fans to the games. From the games I saw their arenas were pretty much empty accept for the Brown & Gold in the stands.

[78crusader]

For those in the brotherhood who have steadfastly defended past decisions by the administration and board to ignore athletic facility needs in favor of everything else, I hope you don't complain if/when we get turned down

Yeah, I'm one of those guys that WH mentions.  I think a little perspective is needed here.  At the time of our Sweet Sixteen run in 1998, VU was in...well, bad shape, if not crisis mode.  Freshman enrollment had fallen from close to 1,000 in the 1970s and 1980s to as low as 534, a stunning 40%+ decrease.  The average ACT scores of those kids who did come here had fallen.  Fundraising efforts were being met with indifference.  Our library and union were, frankly, eyesores and each year the admissions department would tell the administration of scores of parents and kids who would arrive for their campus visit and then were immediately turned off by these terrible facilities.  If you had taken a aerial photo of the campus on the day that the team rolled back into town after beating Florida State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, the campus would have looked the same -- with the exception of the Performing Arts Center -- as it did back in 1985.  In other words, there had been one major building added to campus in the 13 years leading up to the Sweet Sixteen run.  President Harre was faced with the daunting task of raising at least $75 million to build a new library and union -- a figure that was close to our entire endowment at the time.  I should mention that I have been told that the only reason the Performing Arts facility was built beginning in 1992 was because Harre pleaded/cajoled/threatened the Board to make this happen. 

So, yes, I think Harre and the Board made the right call back then to focus on the library and union (which together wound up costing over $100 million).  There_simply_wasn't an extra $10 million or $15 million around to spend on athletic facilties.  Tough decisions had to be made, and I think they made the right decisions.  I will admit that I am completely mystified by the refusal of the current administration to spend $2 million on a new track since, from the day I saw the new Brown Field, I immediately thought the field looked, well, silly without a surrounding track.  But the cost of a new track pales in comparison with the cost of a remodeled ARC and fieldhouse, which, as I've just spent some time pointing out, VU simply could not afford, and (wisely) chose not to go into debt to build. 

Paul

[classof2014]

So, yes, I think Harre and the Board made the right call back then to focus on the library and union (which together wound up costing over $100 million).  There_simply_wasn't an extra $10 million or $15 million around to spend on athletic facilties.  Tough decisions had to be made, and I think they made the right decisions.  I will admit that I am completely mystified by the refusal of the current administration to spend $2 million on a new track since, from the day I saw the new Brown Field, I immediately thought the field looked, well, silly without a surrounding track.  But the cost of a new track pales in comparison with the cost of a remodeled ARC and fieldhouse, which, as I've just spent some time pointing out, VU simply could not afford, and (wisely) chose not to go into debt to build. 

Paul

Couldn't agree with you more on that statement. I didn't choose to go to Valpo because of the athletics but because of the academics, which is by far the most important part of any university. I currently work in the library and from what I heard of the Moellering Library it was dump and same with the old union. Many of the academic buildings on campus are pretty new and have pretty modern equipment. I'm a geography major so I'm in the new Kallay-Christopher Hall which is very nice and much better than still being in the basement of Neils. I think much of the academics have been addressed and now I think it might be time to start addressing the athletics situation.

[vu72]

Don't know if anybody has posted this before and if so my apologies. The athletic department is adding folks and in addition to ml2, now have added an experienced major gift officer specific to athletics.  Ifthey don't get something launched soon then there are other significant issues.

Here is his bio:

John Kuka joined Valparaiso University as an associate director of athletics in February of 2013.  In his role at Valpo, Kuka is responsible for improving the Athletic Department's communication with core constituents, as well as the development of a new Athletics fundraising model.

Kuka came to Valparaiso from DePauw University, where he most recently served as Director of Athletics Development and Major Gifts Officer.  In his role at DePauw in athletics development, Kuka was responsible for the overall administration of a campaign to secure more than $70 million in commitments to support DePauw athletics, and coordinated the solicitation of athletic gifts totaling more than $24 million in the first year of the campaign.

As DePauw's Major Gifts Officer, Kuka was esponsible for the active management of a portfolio consisting of prospective and current donors, establishing relationships in order to secure and steward gifts of $100,000 or more.  Prior to stepping into that role, Kuka spent nearly five years working with DePauw's Annual Fund, including nearly three years as Director of the Annual Fund and Executive Director of the Washington C. DePauw Society.  annual giving rose nearly 10% in his time as director of the annual fund, while Kuka also coordinated all activities of DePauw's leadership-level giving society and developed the DePauw Loyalty Society.

Prior to his time at DePauw, Kuka served from May 2004 through August 2006 as the Assistant Dean for Communication in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Part of his duties at UNC included aiding in the solicitation of select gifts to the School.

Kuka earned his bachelor's degree in government and international studies from Notre Dame in 1998, and received his master's in mass communication from North Carolina in 2004.  In addition, Kuka served in the United States Army from 1998 until 2000.  Kuka is married to his wife, Katie, and the couple has three children: Jack (8), Maggie (6) and Moira (3).

[valpotx]

If they start a campaign called, 'MVC facilities upgrade,' I would donate again.  I usually just do the baseball program and Valpo Fund, but would be more than willing to donate again this year for such a campaign...