Recruiting 2019

[FieldGoodie05]

I hope we'd be able to beat LIU-Brooklyn for a recruit. Skogman is being recruited by UWM also.

https://twitter.com/WisBBYearbook/status/1064707528053989378

He was treated to a game with 53 fouls and 80 free throws. On the plus side, Milwaukee won in front of their most exclusive group of 895 fans (actual attendance was about half that according to their board).

Would be surprised if UWM was a legit contender for Skogman, and not because of last night's game.

I think UWM's best chance to turn things around is if Pat Baldwin's son plays for uwm one day. I believe I remember hearing that he is a projected Top 5 recruit in the nation for the 2021 class. He has one and done potential. I could see a P5 team paying Baldwin top dollar to be an assistant on their staff if things go south for him a UWM. Baldwin was actually a very highly thought of assistant with Northwestern before taking the UWM job.

That is indeed a legit turnaround approach . . . .see Bryce Drew!

[VU2014]

I hope we'd be able to beat LIU-Brooklyn for a recruit. Skogman is being recruited by UWM also.

https://twitter.com/WisBBYearbook/status/1064707528053989378

He was treated to a game with 53 fouls and 80 free throws. On the plus side, Milwaukee won in front of their most exclusive group of 895 fans (actual attendance was about half that according to their board).

Would be surprised if UWM was a legit contender for Skogman, and not because of last night's game.

I think UWM's best chance to turn things around is if Pat Baldwin's son plays for uwm one day. I believe I remember hearing that he is a projected Top 5 recruit in the nation for the 2021 class. He has one and done potential. I could see a P5 team paying Baldwin top dollar to be an assistant on their staff if things go south for him a UWM. Baldwin was actually a very highly thought of assistant with Northwestern before taking the UWM job.

That is indeed a legit turnaround approach . . . .see Bryce Drew!

I'm not totally familiar with that era but didn't Homer recruit some pretty talented players before Bryce committed? I thought I remember someone saying that the turnaround started to happen a few years before but when Bryce commit it changed the vibe of the program and that's when they developed a winning culture.

[FWalum]

Dave Redmon and Casey Schmidt really were the turning point transfers that started to change the perception of the program.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/hofmembers/HoFInductees/9828/casey-schmidt/
http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/hofmembers/HoFInductees/9895/david-redmon/

[VUGrad1314]

Payton commits to SIU

https://twitter.com/Pg_Kindred/status/1065415439944175617

[VU2014]

We lose the recruiting battle to a conference rival... not good. They could probably offer playing time that we couldn't early on.

https://twitter.com/pg_kindred/status/1065415439944175617?s=21

All I our eggs are in the Skogman and Bediako basket now.

[VUGrad1314]

Have we even offered Bediako? If not why not?

[FieldGoodie05]

We lose the recruiting battle to a conference rival... not good. They could probably offer playing time that we couldn't early on.

https://twitter.com/pg_kindred/status/1065415439944175617?s=21

All I our eggs are in the Skogman and Bediako basket now.

We came late to the party, wasn't he an SIU guy from the get?

Also, very happy the MVC landed another quality player!

[VUGrad1314]

We lose the recruiting battle to a conference rival... not good. They could probably offer playing time that we couldn't early on. https://twitter.com/pg_kindred/status/1065415439944175617?s=21 All I our eggs are in the Skogman and Bediako basket now.

We came late to the party, wasn't he an SIU guy from the get? Also, very happy the MVC landed another quality player!

No his original commitment was to his hometown Redbirds After he decommitted SIU emerged as a frontrunner (and the eventual landing spot) for him.

[IrishDawg]

I hope we'd be able to beat LIU-Brooklyn for a recruit. Skogman is being recruited by UWM also.

https://twitter.com/WisBBYearbook/status/1064707528053989378

He was treated to a game with 53 fouls and 80 free throws. On the plus side, Milwaukee won in front of their most exclusive group of 895 fans (actual attendance was about half that according to their board).

Would be surprised if UWM was a legit contender for Skogman, and not because of last night's game.

I think UWM's best chance to turn things around is if Pat Baldwin's son plays for uwm one day. I believe I remember hearing that he is a projected Top 5 recruit in the nation for the 2021 class. He has one and done potential. I could see a P5 team paying Baldwin top dollar to be an assistant on their staff if things go south for him a UWM. Baldwin was actually a very highly thought of assistant with Northwestern before taking the UWM job.

Yeah I don't disagree with that, and if you're UWM, you might as well wait it out.

[VU2014]

Update on Jayden Bediako's recruitment, he took a visit to Santa Clara recently.

https://twitter.com/coachcrncich/status/1071976488377954305?s=21

[VU2010]

It's crushing to consider this fact.

Just a few miles down the road, there's another Valparaiso basketball team - the Valparaiso High School Vikings. Is it possible that the best basketball player in the city of Valparaiso is not a member of the Valparaiso Crusaders? Is it possible that we have a 4 ⭐️ blue chip recruit in our back yard? Yes, ma'am.

That doesn't happen here every year. No, sir. And yet, he's gone - down to Purdue. And who could blame him? Maybe if we had the facilities and were clearly on the upward trajectory he'd stay in town?

If Bryce were still here, would he have been able to secure the commitment? Build talent around him? Would that project this team into the next level? I saw an article showing that Bryce made upwards of $450k to coach here. Slightly more than President Heckler. Not like he wasn't living a great life!

Oh well. Shoulda coulda woulda.

[VU2014]

The coaching staff definitely recruited him and he was offered but he chose to play in the big 10. It's not too surprising. A lot of kids want to play at the highest level. His recruitment took a huge shift when his Mom unfortunately became ill and he decided to pull out of prep school and ultimately commit to playing closer to home at Purdue. He's definitely a special player.

[M]

The next BIG Valpo high school recruit is currently in 8th grade. Make that offer soon, lol!

[valpo64]

You can't blame the kid for choosing Purdue and one sure cant compare his situation with the Drew thing.  Remember there was also the Rob Hummel and the other big guy Martin from VHS who both chose Purdue over Valpo.  Hummel was even a ball ball at the ARC when Homer coached.  As the story goes, Rob called Homer before calling the Purdue coaches to announce he would indeed go to Purdue.  It is not fair to judge our coaches' recruiting ability because the current VHS kid chose PU over Valpo.

[Valpo2013]

450 k or multi million???
Tough choice I'm sure

We aren't going to get those types of players here
Why would someone pick Valparaiso over Purdue?

No way

[VU2014]

You can't blame the kid for choosing Purdue and one sure cant compare his situation with the Drew thing.  Remember there was also the Rob Hummel and the other big guy Martin from VHS who both chose Purdue over Valpo.  Hummel was even a ball ball at the ARC when Homer coached.  As the story goes, Rob called Homer before calling the Purdue coaches to announce he would indeed go to Purdue.  It is not fair to judge our coaches' recruiting ability because the current VHS kid chose PU over Valpo.

Agreed. It is what it is. We've lost a few guys to Purdue the last few seasons. I never really saw Newman as a attainable recruit when he blew up so it wasn't too much of a gut punch. Losing Sasha Stefanovic to Purdue was me because it felt like Valpo was at the 1 yard line in his recruitment and then Purdue swooped in at the last minute and he signed with them and redshirted last season.

450 k or multi million???
Tough choice I'm sure

As for the Bryce situation I feel like we're beating a deadhorse on this one. He's making millions at Vandy in the sec and earning life changing $, top notch facilities, unlimited recruiting resources (private jet), etc. I'm happy for him. I think he still has a ton of love for Valpo in his heart but he had to do what was best for his family and career. I'm not a diehard Vandy fan but I root for the coaching staff and I'm happy when they succeed.

[FieldGoodie05]

450 k or multi million???
Tough choice I'm sure

We aren't going to get those types of players here
Why would someone pick Valparaiso over Purdue?

No way

Full agreement here, Purdue is legit Top 20 for years.  We shouldn't be expecting to land their top recruit.

Sasha was an example of them losing out on higher level recruits and taking on a heck of a shooter at our expense.  I was frustrated there, but I get why high school kids want to reach higher.

[bigmosmithfan1]

The problem isn't losing kids to Purdue (though the key to being a top midmajor program is plucking away one or two of those P5-level guys every third or fourth class). The problem is when we're losing guys to A-10 programs, or other top Valley programs because our facilities are not on par.

[IrishDawg]

The problem isn't losing kids to Purdue (though the key to being a top midmajor program is plucking away one or two of those P5-level guys every third or fourth class). The problem is when we're losing guys to A-10 programs, or other top Valley programs because our facilities are not on par.

Kids also don't necessarily want to go to college right in the same area that they went to high school either.  That's actually the great thing about being a lot of these big named programs is that they typically aren't located where the talent actually is, so they can sell to the recruits that they're close enough to home for your parents to come and see a lot of games, but far enough away that you don't have to worry about the popping in on you.

Who all has Valpo been losing out to A-10 and Valley programs in the local area?  I feel like for the most part that hasn't been the case, but I also don't follow this stuff for Valpo as closely as you guys do.

[VU2014]

The problem isn't losing kids to Purdue (though the key to being a top midmajor program is plucking away one or two of those P5-level guys every third or fourth class). The problem is when we're losing guys to A-10 programs, or other top Valley programs because our facilities are not on par.

Kids also don't necessarily want to go to college right in the same area that they went to high school either.  That's actually the great thing about being a lot of these big named programs is that they typically aren't located where the talent actually is, so they can sell to the recruits that they're close enough to home for your parents to come and see a lot of games, but far enough away that you don't have to worry about the popping in on you.

Who all has Valpo been losing out to A-10 and Valley programs in the local area?  I feel like for the most part that hasn't been the case, but I also don't follow this stuff for Valpo as closely as you guys do.

I can't really think of too many examples but we did lose out of Chris Payton to SIU, but I think that mostly had to do with them having more playing time available right away. He also had a personal relationships with lot's of the kids going to or already at SIU from what I can tell.

I think facility improvements definitely could help out though with the recruiting pitch. Particularly AC... it's pretty mind-blowing and slightly embarrassing that we don't have AC in the ARC. Most D1 facilities and High Schools even has AC at their gyms. Thankfully the practice facility got that upgrade. We are touring kids around the ARC in the Summers and it must be cooking in there.

Maybe this is just my opinion but I feel like Valpo's main sell has always been that we were a fairly strong Mid-Major program and also our coaches were able to connect with the recruits. Bryce/Powell to AP. Gore to Sackey and the bigs. Diebler to Tevonn/Max. Powell really opened doors for us in the inner city and was able to navigate the CPL/AAU scene.

[valpo64]

I wonder how many recruits know or even care if the ARC is air-conditioned.  To be honest, until not too long ago I didn't even know that it was not.

[vu72]

I wonder how many recruits know or even care if the ARC is air-conditioned.  To be honest, until not too long ago I didn't even know that it was not.

There is no way you would know until the summer after your freshman year.  Now that the practice facility is air-conditioned, that is no longer a concern.  Ask Butler, their main arena isn't air-conditioned either.  The argument is specious at a minimum.

[VULB#62]

I wonder how many recruits know or even care if the ARC is air-conditioned.  To be honest, until not too long ago I didn't even know that it was not.

As far as facilities, I believe that potential recruits look at and assess the following in rank order:

1 - team facility - locker room and support facilities in the BB wing like player lounge, lockers, etc. 
2 - practice facility (Hilltop)
3 - game day arena impression

We have made big strides on 1 and 2. However, when it comes to #3 we let the air out of the balloon (unless a recruit visits at a sold out game when the place rocks).  Here is where we lose out to our competitors. It's not the AC. You can always dismiss this in the summer visit. It's not the PA system. What player cares about that?  It's not the bathrooms or concessions. It is the visual impact of the arena compared to every other MVC arena. These kids visualize themselves playing in front of their parents and fans in that arena. They mentally compare their potential playing environments. It is here where Valpo loses all but a few uniquely dedicated BB players ( AP, Javon as examples).  It really is true that the ARC actually is less modern and attractive than quite a few Indiana HS gyms. Valpo has to take a major step to create a true college D-1 playing environment ( perhaps like Gentile and maxing out at under 5k) before it will be taken seriously as a legitimate player in the MVC scheme of things.

[FieldGoodie05]

I wonder how many recruits know or even care if the ARC is air-conditioned.  To be honest, until not too long ago I didn't even know that it was not.

There is no way you would know until the summer after your freshman year.  Now that the practice facility is air-conditioned, that is no longer a concern.  Ask Butler, their main arena isn't air-conditioned either.  The argument is specious at a minimum.

Bingo

[EddieCabot]

I wonder how many recruits know or even care if the ARC is air-conditioned.  To be honest, until not too long ago I didn't even know that it was not.

As far as facilities, I beieve that potential recruits look at and assess the following in rank order:

1 - team facility - locker room and support facilities in the BB wing like player lounge, lockers, etc. 
2 - practice facility (Hilltop)
3 - game day arena impression

We have made big strides on 1 and 2. However, when it comes to #3 we let the air out of the balloon (unless a recruit visits at a sold out game when the place rocks).  Here is where we lose out to our competitors. It's not the AC. You can always dismiss this in the summer visit. It's not the PA system. What player cares about that?  It's not the bathrooms or concessions. It is the visual impact of the arena compared to every other MVC arena. These kids visualize themselves playing in front of their parents and fans in that arena. They mentally compare their potential playing environments. It is here where Valpo loses all but a few uniquely dedicated BB players ( AP, Javon as examples).  It really is true that the ARC actually is less modern and attractive than quite a few Indiana HS gyms. Valpo has to take a major step to create a true college D-1 playing environment ( perhaps like Gentile and maxing out at under 5k) before it will be taken seriously as a legitimate player in the MVC scheme of things.

So, are you saying that's what happened to the giant Crusader??