Valpo is a 2,500 (once 4,000+) student university that is struggling to survive on multiple levels. Athletically, it used to be a DI program that was remembered for “the shot” and multiple MBB appearances in March Madness. That was the past. Its two most visible teams, MBB and FB are a shell of their former selves (MBB 1998, FB 2003). MBB is the flagship. Having Roger on board is a first step, but even his dedication has limits. FB has slowly gotten to sporadic levels of accomplishment but hasn’t consistently broken into the top half of the PFL since the beginning of the century. Throughout the last ~40 years our alumni, not the richest of populations, have been less than enthusiastic in their support of the athletic arm of the Valpo spectrum of offerings compared to others.
When we moved to the Horizon, it seemed like we found a fit and we managed to even excel. Great. It was within our financial means. It offered a door to post season competition. We could recruit players based on a winning tradition. Our facilities were not the worst in the league. We had opponents who hated us for our success. Pretty cool.
Now we are spending more money than previously to be a basement dweller and deriving all of the negative “benefits” of same.
OTOH, imagine if we had committed those same additional resources to more intense HL participation? Might it be possible that we could have become the Gonzaga of the Midwest? Think of the regional publicity. Think of the NCAA shares. Think of media exposure. Think of the allure for applicants who only follow sports incidentally to enroll in a high profile regionally vibrant university that everyone refers to with a level of respect for both the academic as well as the general reputational vibes brought about by its sports exposure.
Sorry for this downer post, but I’m depressed after our FB loss to Drake. Yeah, some of our teams have occasionally risen to the MVC challenge, but think about the result if the same dollars been invested in a known competitive environment — including, yes, additional funds for football.
I think just about any CBB purist whose been around since the shot will tell you that VU had a chance to be Gonzaga. Homer, and by extension Bryce, kept screaming at the university to dump money into basketball, but the university refused. Homer continued with success yes, but ultimately, without the increased funding of Gonzaga post their trip to the final 4. The hype train eventually ran out of gas. The school had a real opportunity to market basketball, market the HL, market themselves and get a lot more out of the media than they did. Gonzaga's success on the media end enabled them to charge as much as 10k more than VU charges in tuition, but have 10k students as well. Sports sell, but its a longshot as to if that success can be built upon.
As for football, I dont think this program is as bad as they look on the field. There is a great QB who has a great RB and and a good WR core surrounding him. The struggles of the O Line are where this team has struggled against Drake. Morehead was a different reason, but lets not throw shade as to which QB should have played that game. The defense is phenomenal. The VU defense can shut down a scholarship offense and could probably hold their own against a low level G5 team. If Valpo cleans up the offensive line. They have the makings of a great team.
On the basketball end. The fall off can be attributed to just not making the right choice at HC in a crucial period. Lottich was just the wrong choice when moving up in leagues from the HL to the Valley. The game of college sports has changed however. Unless there is any legislation that can be passed on the portal, high turnover rates are going to be seen across the board for years to come. The x factor to keep your players now depends on if you can make the decision to transfer harder, and if someone does transfer, how many guys can you pick up to mitigate the damage. Powell is an excellent recruiter who learned from some of the best in the game. He can turn the ship around. We need only give him time to do so. Coop had 0 D1 offers and was quoted saying that when he told the Schweigers that Coop could be freshman of the year, they looked at him like he was crazy. Now Coop is freshman of the year, getting calls from high major programs and telling them to buzz off because he is committed to the mid major, high school gym having VU. There is something about Powell and the team culture he created that makes that decision worse.
In my opinion, athletics will do just fine in the coming years. Its up the the academics to pick up the slack on their end. Who knows, maybe athletics can get another run and give the academics a boost.
62 - it is depressing because we go through the motion of providing D1 teams without a vision on proficiency. We could have been successful like Gonzaga but the Valpo leadership is ridiculasly passive, conservative and exploited the 1998 basketball success without committing to growth. We were fortunate the Drew family stayed around as long as they did. This has been addressed repeatedly so I will shut up on this topic.
