Recruiting

[bbtds]

While Davidson is eager to get his Valparaiso career started, he was disappointed to learn that Butler bolted for the Atlantic 10 and will be out of the Horizon League by the time Davidson and his incoming teammates are on the roster.

"I thought the whole thing was kind of sad," Davidson said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Butler and it won't be the same without them on the schedule. It's a packed house and I was looking forward to playing in those games."

I think Bryce and LaBarbara should be working on getting a non-conference opponent with the stature of a Butler. Maybe Gonzaga, VCU, Princeton or Creighton. Don't offer a 2 for 1 but maybe throw some revenue dollars their way for the game at the ARC. Not large dollars but something in line with the level of a mid-major playing against a slightly higher level mid-major.

It's time to work on those relationships with those coaches and their AD's now.

[valpotx]

It would definitely be wise to get another named opponent on the home schedule in losing the Butler games for the rest of eternity (they will never schedule us).  Something to get the stands packed and give the environment that Davidson is speaking about. 

[valporun]

I think we might have a better shot at a Xavier or Dayton. A team with some quality RPI consistency over a long period of time, not just recent years with a coach who might jump to the high major with the next big offer. I sorta like bbtds's list of Gonzaga, VCU, Princeton, and Creighton, but I don't know that any of these teams would really want to travel to Valparaiso, Indiana for a November-December game? I bring up Xavier and Dayton because they would bring decent to large travel parties with them, that wouldn't have to worry about plane tickets and endless hours in airport check-in/security lines. It really works nicely for Xavier or Dayton to have a Saturday game because it makes it more of a day trip for their fans, and an overnight stay for the team by bus, rather than plane tickets, so the revenue sharing idea would work better if we can get an A-10 team with a name that only has to bus to Valpo, rather than fly into Indy or Chicago to bus to Valpo.

[bbtds]

I think we might have a better shot at a Xavier or Dayton. A team with some quality RPI consistency over a long period of time, not just recent years with a coach who might jump to the high major with the next big offer. I sorta like bbtds's list of Gonzaga, VCU, Princeton, and Creighton, but I don't know that any of these teams would really want to travel to Valparaiso, Indiana for a November-December game? I bring up Xavier and Dayton because they would bring decent to large travel parties with them, that wouldn't have to worry about plane tickets and endless hours in airport check-in/security lines. It really works nicely for Xavier or Dayton to have a Saturday game because it makes it more of a day trip for their fans, and an overnight stay for the team by bus, rather than plane tickets, so the revenue sharing idea would work better if we can get an A-10 team with a name that only has to bus to Valpo, rather than fly into Indy or Chicago to bus to Valpo.

Honestly Dayton fans are the best in college basketball and would bring too many. They pack in and almost fill the Dayton Arena for the "First Four," the play-in games for the NCAA tournament, for teams they don't even follow paying prices that range from $25 to $50 or more. Xavier fans have not been too bad but their team certainly has a rotten reputation for confrontation. One of their players broke a drinking fountain at Hinkle Fieldhouse 3 or 4 years ago by trying to bust it off the wall. I bet the Xavier & Butler fans are really going to have plenty to talk about when this rivalry gets really going on a once or twice a year basis with conference positioning on the line.

[vuweathernerd]

my aunt and uncle and now two cousins are ud alums/students. playing the flyers would be perfectly fine for me. one more reason to harass them.

[crusaderjoe]

Until its facility is completely updated, the basketball program is at a complete disadvantage for drawing teams to the ARC, IMO.  What would help a school like VU as far as home scheduling is for the HL to get into some sort of "challenge" with another conference like the MVC for 3-5 years if possible.  That would force at least one game at home every other year against an opponent from a quality mid-major conference.  Perhaps when the MWC/MVC challenge expires the HL could approach the MVC.  One other alternative would be for the HL to arrange some sort of scheduling alliance between itself and one other conference like the CAA, or even the Big West or WCC so that you can get guaranteed 1 for 1's as part of the alliance itself.

The only other option is to schedule "home" games in Chicago as has been done in the past.

[vu72]

Until its facility is completely updated, the basketball program is at a complete disadvantage for drawing teams to the ARC, IMO.  What would help a school like VU as far as home scheduling is for the HL to get into some sort of "challenge" with another conference like the MVC for 3-5 years if possible.  That would force at least one game at home every other year against an opponent from a quality mid-major conference.  Perhaps when the MWC/MVC challenge expires the HL could approach the MVC.  One other alternative would be for the HL to arrange some sort of scheduling alliance between itself and one other conference like the CAA, or even the Big West or WCC so that you can get guaranteed 1 for 1's as part of the alliance itself.

The only other option is to schedule "home" games in Chicago as has been done in the past.

Unless you are planning to increase capacity to say, 12000, and then, find a way to fill it, the capacity of the ARC isn't the issue.  Whether or not we need a renovation (which I certainly agree on) is another issue.  If we take the Loyola model, we maybe increase capacity to about 6000 from 5500 and make everyone more comfortable with nice chairs.  Loyola is a bigger school (16000 students), with a larger alumni base in their backyard, an still can't see why they want more seating.

Being in the mighty A-10 isn't the answer either.  As pointed out by wh, five of the A-10 schools have a smaller capacity than the ARC.  The advantage they have, if any, is their location primarily in bigger cities or near more colleges.  Even so, take a look at Richmond with a seating capacity exceeding 9000.  Last year they brought in American, Hampton, Sacred heart, Iona, Old Dominion and Liberty.  Other than good games with Iona and Old Dominion, does their home schedule make your heart race? Look at another A-10er in LaSalle.  They brought in Lafayette, Robert Morris, Rider, Northeastern, Bucknell, Army and Boston U.  Hardly the ACC.

Other A-10s have apparently scheduled home and homes with Horizon teams as St. Bonnie had Cleveland State at their place last year and Fordham had Loyola.  I doubt they would have gone there without a return game.  I'm sure Butler will want to keep an Horizon team or two on their schedule as well.

I like the idea of a conference challenge and the Valley, being one of the top 10 would be great, but the MAC is more likely.  I also like scheduling "name" team from the Ivy or Patriot league.  Bringing in Harvard or Yale or Princeton sure wouldn't hurt our RPI and would draw some local attention.  We should also look at a home and home with an A-10 other than Butler. St. Bonnie, Fordham, LaSalle, St. Joes, GW or even Richmond would be great on our home schedule and would certainly entertain the idea.

[crusaderjoe]

Who is talking about capacity?  This has to be at least the third or fourth time someone has raised a capacity argument when a discussion breaks out regarding the ARC.  No one on this board as far as I know has ever advocated for a 10,000+ seat arena.  For me personally, I feel that the magic number is between an expandable 7K and 7500 as a multi-purpose type venue.  Not to go off tangent but since we are talking about capacity, this is Indiana--not Minnesota or Missouri. Basketball is king. Three of the largest high school gyms in the nation are located in NWI.  All exceed 7K.  VU needs to be right on par with these facilities given the backdrop of where this institution is located.  Anything else screams small time from a public perception standpoint and from a marketing standpoint, IMO.

It was suggested that VU should throw money at teams like Gonzaga or Dayton to come to the ARC.  Where's this money going to come from?  The general fund?  Probably not.  It will probably come from a split from ticket sales, which means that in order to at least break even, VU will have to charge more per those games than "normal."  And this is where VU becomes hamstrung because the ARC is crap.  While someone might be willing to shell out a hypothetical $30.00-$40.00 for a Purdue or Marquette because those teams come from BCS conferences, the buying public in general will not be willing to do so on a repetitive basis for another mid-major given that the venue has one concession stand, terrible sight lines and a terrible seating configuration, and uncomfortable seating.  The ARC is not a historical venue where the amenities may be garbage but the experience of taking in a game at the venue outweighs those limitations like the old Orange Bowl.  So it is hamstrung.

Hell, when I flew up to see Butler a year ago I stood on the track so I could watch the game from behind the basket in order to see plays break out along with about 50 other Butler and VU fans.  I stood for three hours, and this is after I traveled over 1200 miles to come to a game.  Now I realize that I was there for only one game but to fill the ARC and bring in good teams on a repetitive basis, you are going to have to draw people from Lake County to fill seats for these games.  That ain't happening with the venue VU has in place now.  Otherwise, it would have already happened.  Given the ARC is lacking in many respects, capacity does play a part because it affects revenue.

[vu72]

I guess I' lost on this one.  Are you saying that renovating the ARC will make more good teams willing to come there?  Why would more concession stands, restrooms etc make a Gonzaga come to Valpo if the revenue generated isn't enough to pay them for the visit?  That is the capacity issue.  If you are telling me that people will pay significantly more for a seat after a renovation then it makes some sense.  Loyola has done just that but their non-conference schedule isn't any better than Valpo's.

As I pointed out, A-10 teams face the same problem.  It isn't the venue, although I think to some extent people will pay more if they have good views and comfortable seats, it's mid-major basketball.  People have limited interest across the board, except a Gonzaga, Xavier or Dayton which would all argue, and correctly, that they no longer fall into this category via national rankings.

[crusaderjoe]

'72, you had raised the capacity issue in your post so I responded to it.  I never contended that the capacity of the ARC was in issue as it relates to drawing teams there.  But since you mentioned capacity, I kind of rolled with it in my response.  Sorry for the confusion.  I do think capacity is important though from a multi-purpose venue standpoint.

My contention simply is that the ARC currently hampers home scheduling in general.  Further, if VU is going to throw money at a Gonzaga or another mid-major in order to get them to come to the ARC, Valpo will have an easier time collecting revenue to do so by selling those programs and the general public a remodeled arena with better amenities.  As it stands right now, I think VU is in a difficult position to do so given the ARCs current limitations.

Since you brought up capacity, let me just say one other thing about some of the smaller venues in the A-10.  Comparing their situations to Valpo's in some respects is like comparing apples and oranges.  Take Hagan Arena at SJU for example.  Yes, Hagan only seats 4200, which is smaller than the ARC.  But on the other hand, Hagan is also a historical venue, having been built in in the 1940's, so it has a historical element to it as a draw.  It was also completely remodeled two years ago.  Also too, SJU also has access to the Palestra.  Valpo has no historical tie in to the ARC, has no remodeled venue, and has no "fall back" arena as SJU does.  Therefore, comparatively speaking, as between VU and SJU and their respective venue capacities, it's not as big a deal as it might appear that the ARC is larger than Hagan Arena.  VU doesn't necessarily have an advantage one way or another because it has the larger venue.

[valpo64]

this topic is getting a long way away from "recruiting" as I understand recruiting...facilities are one thing but I think of recruiting as info regarding signees or potential ones

[valpopal]

this topic is getting a long way away from "recruiting" as I understand recruiting...facilities are one thing but I think of recruiting as info regarding signees or potential ones

Getting back to "recruiting": word is that Mack Mercer 6'8" from Plymouth HS (2014) will visit Valpo June 6.

[wh]

Late last night (1/31) Plymouth's Mack Mercer, a 6'8" Sophomore received a phone call from Xavier and was urged to take a visit to campus soon.  Mercer also told the Indiana Recruiting Guide that he has been hearing from Butler, Notre Dame, Valparaiso, and Indiana State.  

[valpopal]

Mercer has visited Indiana State and will visit Valpo June 6. The coaches from Indiana State indicated that they will likely extend an offer on June 15, the first day college coaches can call 2014 prospects directly. With Mercer's visit the first week of June, perhaps Valpo will offer on June 15 as well.

[valpopal]

One of the more skilled and physical prospects in the class of 2013 is Elkhart (Ind.) Memorial combo guard Markese McGuire. The 6-foot-3 junior has enjoyed a fine spring with Spiece Higher Level and currently holds offers from UIC, Northern Illinois, Evansville, Mercer, Gardner Webb and Valparaiso. Dayton and Davidson are among the programs that have also taken a look.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/highschool/05/24/basketball.recruiting.montrezl.harrell/index.html#ixzz1vqOM70ip

[wh]

this topic is getting a long way away from "recruiting" as I understand recruiting...facilities are one thing but I think of recruiting as info regarding signees or potential ones

Getting back to "recruiting": word is that Mack Mercer 6'8" from Plymouth HS (2014) will visit Valpo June 6.

Any word on how Mercer's visit went?

[zvillehaze]

Link to rosters for the first Indiana-Kentucky Junior All Star Games.  Davidson and Yeo playing in the Friday game.

http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/06/11/indiana-rosters-for-indiana-kentucky-junior-all-star-games/

[valpopal]

this topic is getting a long way away from "recruiting" as I understand recruiting...facilities are one thing but I think of recruiting as info regarding signees or potential ones

Getting back to "recruiting": word is that Mack Mercer 6'8" from Plymouth HS (2014) will visit Valpo June 6.

Any word on how Mercer's visit went?

I haven't heard yet about Mercer's VU visit, but he did visit Ball State today and received an offer on the spot. I wouldn't be surprised by a VU offer soon.

[valpopal]

Latest news on Alec Peters:

"The Rocwithme.com crew was in full force this weekend at the Peoria Richwoods Shootout, and they were not disappointed. Teams from all over the state showed up to compete but one player shined more than the rest. Alec Peters of shootout champion Washington High School put on a show all weekend long. Peters is a Rocwithme.com regular and showed why. On Sunday Peters had games of 31 and 25 points and grabbed double digit rebounds. As mentioned in a previous article Peters is currently sitting on 12 mid-major offers, but with his play this weekend high major schools are starting to take notice. Schools like Penn State, Clemson, Washington St, Stanford, and Nebraska had all called Alec prior to the shootout and now they should start doing a little more. University of Wisconsin has popped up on the radar and has invited Peters to their Elite camp this week. The 6'7 SF is one of the best shooters to come through the state of Illinois since Indiana University sharpshooter Matt Roth, who happened to attend the same high school."

http://www.rocwithme.com/alec/alec-peters-rocwithmecom-mvp-rhs-shootout

[vu72]

I just read that Milos Kostic decomitted from Northwestern.  He is a Class of '13 kid.  Could he be a possible Valpo guy?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

http://www.sippinonpurple.com/2012/6/8/3073035/cruitin-milos-kostic-decommits-brad-north-macan-wilson-commit

apparently his recruiting coach (after he left Noll) is Ivan Vujic!?!?!?  I think he should put in a good word for his alma mater if his current employer won't admit him.  Lord knows there are scholarships available...

[valpopal]

I just read that Milos Kostic decomitted from Northwestern.  He is a Class of '13 kid.  Could he be a possible Valpo guy?

I hear he is looking at attending Dayton.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Northwestern Schadenfreude:
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=179&f=1606&t=9049555

Dayton speculation:
http://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21120

Basically it boils down to 3 Croatian AAU teammates; one got admitted, the other two went to a podunk school and didn't test well (should've stayed at Noll, dude), and had their tickets pulled.  Now the first to get dropped, Brzoja, is looking at Dayton, but their dance card is full: http://northwestern.scout.com/2/1192368.html.


So...your guess is as good as mine.  If Kostic wanted to go to Dayton, it would only be because Brzoja was there too. But he won't be...so he is probably still up in the air.

[lowposter]

Kostic entered Noll as a 6'8" freshman and is now a 68" senior.  The word is Noll was not too disappointed that he left a year ago.  I havent seen him play since last June, so I have no idea of his progress. 

Mercer is a very nice player (watched him recently) and will improve with age.  He has excellent low post skills, but favors going to his left.  That of course can be worked on.  He has 3 point range.  He needs to work on his rebounding and defensive skills, but let's not lose track of the fact that he is a junior who is pushing 6'9".  His frame will fill out nicely.  Could be a 6'10 - 250 pounder by junior year in college, perhaps more. 

This is one to keep your eye on.  It is understood why Ball State offered him. 

lowposter

[valpo64]

Am interested to hear what the status of Alec Peters is currently...I had been under the impression that he was leaning toward Valpo.  He an his Dad told me at a VU b=ball game late in the year that he intended to decide and sign during the early signing period.  At that time he spoke very well of Valpo, especially of Bryce and the young staff and appeared to be leaning toward Valpo.  Sounds like he could be a great find if we can get him.