Transfers

[wh]

JO sealed his fate the minute he publicly trashed the head coach and the university. He's history.

[valpospartan]

One thing that I haven't noticed mentioned is that some transfers occur because the player has been told that his playing time will be reduced.

[FWalum]

"The decision to come to Valpo really came down to Coach Lottich and the relationship that I've built with him," Anderson said. "He seems to have his players' best interests at heart through and through. Coach Bowen was an important factor as well because when he was at Minnesota Duluth, I had three or four buddies play for him, and he got rave reviews as a coach and as a person. They will have my back for this final year of basketball and in my life moving forward."

"Valpo was very transparent, honest and trustworthy with me through the recruiting process," Taylor said. "Coach Lottich was with me from the start as soon as I entered the portal. I made it hard on him because I asked a lot of questions about how I would fit, and he didn't give up on me and was willing to explain his vision in great detail. Joining Valpo's program will present me with a new challenge. It felt right, and I'm excited to be a part of Valpo Basketball."

I think it is very interesting to hear two 5th year mature players coming onto the team saying these things about our program and staff. Is it that their expectations are more tempered by their experience and age?

[elephtheria47]

Certainly refreshing to hear the positive comments. However, I think it's too soon. If you go car shopping and choose a salesman/dealership, of course you're going to say good things about the experience and why you chose them.

People are transferring out early in their careers. I can't help but wonder if there is a difference between what is being pitched during recruitments and reality after being on campus, whatever that may be. Hopefully these player are still making positive public comments once their playing days are over.

And we better be looking for interior help yet. We're an upper D1 program. If there's spots to fill, you go fill them if a player can make the team better. The cost of a scholarship is relatively low and easily recoupable if the spot fixes a glaring issue. If they aren't filled, it will be another frustrating decision.

[FWalum]

The preceding Bold statements are incorrect or misleading as fact checked by an independent third party. There are many programs that have more transfers than Valpo (19) over the past 5 years 92017-2021. Following is a partial list of schools that had more (did not include ties) transfers than Valpo's 19. I quit when I got to the letter I cause I got tiered so it is only about 1/3 of the way though the alphabet, but enough to challenge the writer's assumptions:

Akron  21
Albany 24
Bryant 21
Central Conn St 21
Chattanooga 20
Cleveland St 20
Detroit Mercy 23
DePaul 23
Eastern Michigan 21
ETSU 20
Fairfield 20
Florida Gulf Coast 22
Idaho 23
Just because a wrong statement is said over and over does not make it true, but the longer it goes on unchallenged, the more people begin to think that it is true.

I just wanted to also point out that the 19 transfers cited above includes at least one none scholarship player and according to my research a player by the name of John Middleton who supposedly transferred from Valpo to Palm Beach State College. I have never heard of this player and can not see any evidence that he was on the roster in 2017, so that would put our number at 17 not 19, 18 if you want to include Steve Helm.

I am sure that most on the forum believe me to be in the "keep Lottich camp". I would say that I just want posters to understand more of the complexities that go into putting a college team together and if that makes me a member of that camp then so be it. However, I do find the JO transfer disturbing for a number of reasons.

• I did think that this was the perfect fit for a higher level Lutheran kid to come and play ball for the "National Lutheran University"
• This seems to signal that the environment was not what I thought it was or perhaps should be
• Something very disturbing must have happened either on the academic/campus side or in the basketball program. I am not sure how a freshman could make this decision in a year when everything was so abnormal and not say to themselves "I need to stick this out and see what a normal season is like" unless things were just unpalatable

I hope Matt, the staff and the school in general are doing an evaluation in regards to the reasons for JO's transfer.

[wh]

The preceding Bold statements are incorrect or misleading as fact checked by an independent third party. There are many programs that have more transfers than Valpo (19) over the past 5 years 92017-2021. Following is a partial list of schools that had more (did not include ties) transfers than Valpo's 19. I quit when I got to the letter I cause I got tiered so it is only about 1/3 of the way though the alphabet, but enough to challenge the writer's assumptions:

Akron  21
Albany 24
Bryant 21
Central Conn St 21
Chattanooga 20
Cleveland St 20
Detroit Mercy 23
DePaul 23
Eastern Michigan 21
ETSU 20
Fairfield 20
Florida Gulf Coast 22
Idaho 23
Just because a wrong statement is said over and over does not make it true, but the longer it goes on unchallenged, the more people begin to think that it is true.

I just wanted to also point out that the 19 transfers cited above includes at least one none scholarship player and according to my research a player by the name of John Middleton who supposedly transferred from Valpo to Palm Beach State College. I have never heard of this player and can not see any evidence that he was on the roster in 2017, so that would put our number at 17 not 19, 18 if you want to include Steve Helm.

I am sure that most on the forum believe me to be in the "keep Lottich camp". I would say that I just want posters to understand more of the complexities that go into putting a college team together and if that makes me a member of that camp then so be it. However, I do find the JO transfer disturbing for a number of reasons.

• I did think that this was the perfect fit for a higher level Lutheran kid to come and play ball for the "National Lutheran University"
• This seems to signal that the environment was not what I thought it was or perhaps should be
• Something very disturbing must have happened either on the academic/campus side or in the basketball program. I am not sure how a freshman could make this decision in a year when everything was so abnormal and not say to themselves "I need to stick this out and see what a normal season is like" unless things were just unpalatable

I hope Matt, the staff and the school in general are doing an evaluation in regards to the reasons for JO's transfer.

Counting non-scholarship players like Steve Helm and whoever the other guy that no one ever heard of makes about as much sense as counting a student manager. And, as '72 keeps saying, counting Mileek and Robinson who in any other year would be done anyway and who no one in their right mind would want them as part of next year's roster is equally senseless, but whatever it takes to paint a dark picture, right naysayers?

[Chairback]

naysayers?  We won 8 games.   

[wh]

naysayers?  We won 8 games.   

Until the switch to the MVC, Valpo had a proud winning tradition and a national reputation as an elite mid major program. Believe me, I understand the frustration about what has happened since. I also agree that "the buck stops here" when it comes to holding the head coach responsible for where we are.

What I don't agree with is how certain posters in expressing their frustrations about where we are have made up facts and spun narratives to show Matt in the worst possible light. Someone went so far as to call Matt a used car salesman that distorts the truth when talking to recruits. Others with a similar mind set signaled their approval with "likes." That's character assassination. It's also potentially damaging to the program whether people like to admit it or not.

These are the "naysayers" to whom I'm referring. Anyone who fits in that shoe, feel free to wear it. Anyone who doesn't, which applies to most, this isn't about you.

[VUBBFan]

Someone else has found a new home.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1383231705901780994

[VUGrad1314]

Good for him! I wish him the best of luck! Maybe we can and should play them starting at the ARC so the fans can give him the senior day sendoff he missed out on last year. I know we shouldn't make the OOC schedule all MAC teams but this is an important exception. I thought that players could only play for their own school for the extra year of eligibility and weren't allowed to use it in a transfer. I guess I was misinformed on that.

[crusader05]

Nope if they stay at their school their scholarship doesn't count against the 13. Which is why we could have 15 scholarship players next year if Zion also stays and we fill our other two spots

[wh]

Someone else has found a new home.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1383231705901780994

I just noticed on Paul's Twitter feed that he is suffering a debilitating reaction to COVID shot no. 2. My best for a speedy recovery, Paul!

[VU2014]

A former Valpo recruit lands with Bryce

https://twitter.com/iamwalterellis/status/1383227680393367555?s=21

[valpotx]

Congrats to Mileek, and I think that is a great school for him to land, in order to get playing time.  He wouldn't have played much at a higher level program.

Walter Ellis is the son of LaPhonso, who always seemed to have an affinity for Valpo.

[JBC1824]

The preceding Bold statements are incorrect or misleading as fact checked by an independent third party. There are many programs that have more transfers than Valpo (19) over the past 5 years 92017-2021. Following is a partial list of schools that had more (did not include ties) transfers than Valpo's 19. I quit when I got to the letter I cause I got tiered so it is only about 1/3 of the way though the alphabet, but enough to challenge the writer's assumptions:

Akron  21
Albany 24
Bryant 21
Central Conn St 21
Chattanooga 20
Cleveland St 20
Detroit Mercy 23
DePaul 23
Eastern Michigan 21
ETSU 20
Fairfield 20
Florida Gulf Coast 22
Idaho 23
Just because a wrong statement is said over and over does not make it true, but the longer it goes on unchallenged, the more people begin to think that it is true.

I just wanted to also point out that the 19 transfers cited above includes at least one none scholarship player and according to my research a player by the name of John Middleton who supposedly transferred from Valpo to Palm Beach State College. I have never heard of this player and can not see any evidence that he was on the roster in 2017, so that would put our number at 17 not 19, 18 if you want to include Steve Helm.

I am sure that most on the forum believe me to be in the "keep Lottich camp". I would say that I just want posters to understand more of the complexities that go into putting a college team together and if that makes me a member of that camp then so be it. However, I do find the JO transfer disturbing for a number of reasons.

• I did think that this was the perfect fit for a higher level Lutheran kid to come and play ball for the "National Lutheran University"
• This seems to signal that the environment was not what I thought it was or perhaps should be
• Something very disturbing must have happened either on the academic/campus side or in the basketball program. I am not sure how a freshman could make this decision in a year when everything was so abnormal and not say to themselves "I need to stick this out and see what a normal season is like" unless things were just unpalatable

I hope Matt, the staff and the school in general are doing an evaluation in regards to the reasons for JO's transfer.

Counting non-scholarship players like Steve Helm and whoever the other guy that no one ever heard of makes about as much sense as counting a student manager. And, as '72 keeps saying, counting Mileek and Robinson who in any other year would be done anyway and who no one in their right mind would want them as part of next year's roster is equally senseless, but whatever it takes to paint a dark picture, right naysayers?

Because the picture isn't dark all on its own??

I sincerely hope this team is better going forward, as we all do, but they've basically blown since switching conferences. Try to get over it.

[elephtheria47]

Im curious why counting Mileek and Robinson into the numbers is senseless? (Whether we want them back is another question). It was a possibility for them to come back, and we are going to be playing other teams next year who brought some players back for their extra year, so I don't understand the reasoning that in a normal year they would be gone so its okay. (Look at Butler, all five seniors are returning for their extra year.) With them not counting against the scholarship limit, there's no reason *not* to bring them back if for no other reason than for depth and experience. But in any fashion, there was a decision to move on and it may have been mutual for all that I know. But to me, they definitely get counted as people leaving. I agree with the Steve Helm reasoning.

We're all here because we are invested and enjoy VU MBB. I think it's fair that we have all been frustrated with the last few seasons, and we all want the team and university to have success. Differences in opinions lead to healthy debate and discussion. As a whole,  there are people who believe the current regime will get it done, there are some who don't, and a lot in the middle who fluctuate. With the current state of the program and recent results on the court,  I think all three sides have valid reasonings to support their stance as well.

As others have said, Western Michigan is a great spot for Mileek. The top of the MAC always has quality teams/talent; unfortunately for the MAC, their bottom teams are definitely bottom teams. Should be a great experience for him and still close enough his family can get to some games.

[bb33]

I wouldn't say counting senior transfers as "senseless", but I also don't think their leaving is a black mark against the program.This is an opportunity to try something different than a small school.    Both Eron and Zion transferred to Valpo so they already had an alternative experience -- and appreciate the value of Valpo.  Mileek was here for four years. This is all he has had a chance to experience.  I'm happy for him and wish him nothing but the best.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/jakelieberman2/status/1383436382845038594?s=21

[valpotx]

Illinois State's DJ Horne lands at Arizona State

[justducky]

Congrats to Mileek, and I think that is a great school for him to land, in order to get playing time. 

Not a bad choice in a sideways or down move. Fresh start, short family drive to Kalamazoo, equally good conference and hopefully he will regain playing time. On the other hand they were 4-16 overall with a 299 NET. They are a close D-1 and we have met maybe twice in recent years? 

[valpopal]

I also hope we can get a big through the portal. I'm really getting tired of getting out rebounded constantly.

I understand this is a priority, and I am expecting it to be addressed in the near future.

And here it is: this is the big I'd been advised to watch:

[tweet]1383930887411146759[/tweet]

[vok22]

Chose us over Indiana, Nebraska, and Clemson. Averaged 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for MSU this year. Played in 29 games and started 14 of them. Only payed 10 minutes per game as a part time starter though...interesting. Says he is a good defender. Averages about 10 and 10 per 40 minutes. Very confusing stat line of starting 14 goes but only averaging 10 mins per game, 2.4 points, and 2.5 rebounds. Not really sure what to make of that but very excited to see it!

[valpopal]

I also hope we can get a big through the portal. I'm really getting tired of getting out rebounded constantly.

I understand this is a priority, and I am expecting it to be addressed in the near future.

And here it is: this is the big I'd been advised to watch:

[tweet]1383930887411146759[/tweet]

[VUGrad1314]

Not bad... He should put up pretty decent numbers on pretty good minutes in the MVC. I like this addition! How many years of eligibility for him? Two with the extra COVID year right?

[vu84v2]

Is he the "player to be named (much) later" for Brandon Wood?

Let's hope that this is a good move for everyone.