Listened to Paul's podcast, and I am tempted to say it is his best commentary yet. However, maybe that is because everything he said echoed the conversations at my house following the game Saturday. Paul correctly covered the unfortunate state of mid-major basketball with the NIL and transfer rules that are turning away former fans, the great regard for Darius (can we add him as an assistant coach next year?), the difficult situation concerning futures for Schwieger and Wright, the emotional investment in this program and his players by Powell, the poor officiating at the tournament that seemed intent to enable a Drake-Bradley finals, the lack of respect for Valparaiso from the league leadership and other teams in the conference, the loss of stature for the program in its downturn following the Horizon League days, the lessening of enthusiasm and engagement by Valpo fans since the team entered the MVC, the uncertain path ahead, etc. Kudos, Paul.
Paul’s comments about getting towered over by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Bradley, Drake, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Illinois St, etc fans and having the same 20 or so of us go to STL every year was exactly what I posted last week. Great supportive point about how we took over conference tournaments that were in-state.
Still one of the funnest weekends ever even if there were only 50-100 VU fans there. Thank you Roger and the players.
If Valpo wins in the regular season, you will see fans at Arch Madness. We did it in Fort Wayne and Kansas City, but we were winning. Unless you live in the STL area, you aren't very motivated to watch an 11 seed play.
- Yes good podcast and it laid out everything the die hards are thinking. I do think Valpo fans will show up to st Louis if the team wins more. I know that’s pretty trite, but the team didn’t really figure things out until the end of the season. Had opportunities to build momentum and trust with fans but they played awful against Murray at home, tough losses to UIC, Cleveland State and Southern Ill at home, Drake. On and on etc….
If Cooper & Wright Stay, you have some marketable stars that our locals can identify with. To many unknowns, with our non con schedule and roster.
let’s say our stars return and we add some good players, the preseason hype increases but they will still need to take advantage of non con games In Nov/Dec. at home and even then the fans won’t really show up until late January. The turning point on the season, the home buzzer beating win over Missouri State. Why, It became All’s team. He sealed the deal at Carbondale, his best game of the year as VU was dead in the water and All put the team on his back.Well if the MVC is honoring Ian Clark then I guess they can honor Alec Peters as well. He dominated the MVC in his four years. Hah
Likely Valpo gets clarity with Wright and Cooper when school resumes next week. How soon did Cooper and Stafford announce their return after last season?. It was pretty quick
Heard from the Valley today.
1) There has been a Homer Drew banner for the last several years. Sounds like it wasn't put up this year by mistake. They shared an image of the banner with me.
2) Hall of Fame process includes the schools voting on inductees. Each school gets to nominate athletes. Valpo athletes have been discussed for inclusion, but obviously no one has been voted in.
3) There were clips of Valpo earlier in the highlight package I referenced. The package was heavy on the better teams. It was produced on Mar. 3, prior to the start of Arch Madness.
I appreciated the Valley being proactive and reaching out to me. Nothing but class from them.
Well if the MVC is honoring Ian Clark then I guess they can honor Alec Peters as well. He dominated the MVC in his four years. HahLikely Valpo gets clarity with Wright and Cooper when school resumes next week. How soon did Cooper and Stafford announce their return after last season?. It was pretty quick
They made the post to their Instagram story, which gets hidden from public eyes after viewing/a few days after. I cannot find the exact data, but I am 80% sure it was pre portal opening when they made an announcement
I hope this memorable run reengages fans who lost interest. VUGrad1314 is one who used to be really enthusiastic, but I haven’t seen him in forever.
I think you have.
If we lose Wright and Cooper that would signal that the Powell approach isn't working and I would be gone also never again to be a fan of any mid major or Power conference team. I would be done. Over! Finished! I find this whole farm team, me first, money grab instability to be both foreign, offensive and destabilizing enough that it could undermine the entire foundation of college sports.
First....this has been a great step in the right direction for the program. The first point I've actually felt that since Powell took over...aside from me feeling he was better that Lottich in general.
Second is that I agree with the above in that this will be the test....and possibly the first legit test....of Powell's building of the program. If Wright and/or Schwieger leave, it will be an obvious signal that he would need to reconsider his approach and recruit upper classmen to be the main cogs in the lineup with underclassmen as filler
With Portal potential still up in the air, it's premature to discuss a potential roster next season but a team which has Wright, Cooper, Stafford, Monegro back along with what I think are a true point guard....with Stafford and Wright out there it's possible no one else touches the ball....and some bulk in the middle which can either be a 5 or a sidekick for Cooper who is a banger at 4, the team will be pretty good. Carson I'd think can contribute some and Isiah Shaw always looks like he can play but, somehow, it rarely works. Maybe McNair takes a freshman to sophomore leap.
Heard from the Valley today.
1) There has been a Homer Drew banner for the last several years. Sounds like it wasn't put up this year by mistake. They shared an image of the banner with me.
2) Hall of Fame process includes the schools voting on inductees. Each school gets to nominate athletes. Valpo athletes have been discussed for inclusion, but obviously no one has been voted in.
3) There were clips of Valpo earlier in the highlight package I referenced. The package was heavy on the better teams. It was produced on Mar. 3, prior to the start of Arch Madness.
I appreciated the Valley being proactive and reaching out to me. Nothing but class from them.
@thevictorybell and did they address the ridiculous disparity in calls? That was the worst officiating I've ever seen. 10-4 in the second half? The refs tried to blow the game for us against UNI and again did it against Bradley. We only lost by 5 and barely shot FTs. Our player got hurt!
Also, to address some of the others about this being RPJs true test to see Schwieger and Wright's loyalty, I think it's a little tougher than that. Sure, are they loyal? We'll see. But being offered 500K at another school and 50K by Valpo (just speculative numbers but rumor is Coop has had those offers. Not sure how much we have), that's more than a "loyalty" or "good coaching style" question. A reasonable question I want to ask is how much SHOULD we pay them? It's no secret Valpo is struggling as an institution financially and with declining enrollment, etc etc. Is it worth trying to come up with at a minimum 100-150K/each to keep them? Will they stay for less? Obviously can ride the bench elsewhere and make that amount. Or is it better to keep Carson, Justus, Shaw, try to recruit other hidden gems? We've done at well finding unrecruited players like Schwieger and All. Can we find some more? I also am thinking All might be more important to keep (and more realistic being that he's a freshman still). Shooting has plagued us all year and to have someone with confidence who shoots the 3 at least decently is pretty important. Here's hoping they both aren't sell-outs and see the value their minutes are at Valpo.
A reasonable question I want to ask is how much SHOULD we pay them?
One of the frustrating things about NIL is the lack of transparency. You hear rumblings of what a player may be getting but there nothing definitive. It would nice to know the “market rate” of players so we could manage our expectations.
I thought I’d share a post I put on MVCFans in case anyone on this forum doesn’t lurk there. It is a response to a poster’s statement that Valpo “just had a good weekend.” I hope I adequately communicated an appropriate response that reflects our sentiments.
A good weekend was just beating UIC. This is a bit more. Taking down a seeded top 4 took it to a higher level. Then pushing the preseason #1 to within 2 minutes of a loss in the semis upped that even more.
Guys, granted, a lot of the [negative] institutional crap that’s flying around is deserved. It is no secret that Valpo fans echo that and are pissed as well - probably more than outsiders. But that does not lessen the effort and accomplishment of the players Roger brought to St. Louis this past week.
Roger is committed to building a resilient program combining first year recruits (Wright this year and Coop last year, and we have another good one coming in next season) and, hopefully retaining them, with some xfers to fill holes. Yeah, it’s kinda old school given the gross meat market and the win-now-or-you’re-gone atmosphere that is the portal. But what can a small DI institution without a multi-million $$ collective do?
So….. just so you guys are aware, if Roger is successful in keeping All, Cooper and many of the underclass minutes, as well as leveraging the final end of the season to get a big 5 to protect the rim, despite our HS gym and questionable institutional support, you’ll have to anticipate a very significant challenge when facing Valpo every game next season.
Until next November, all the best
How can $500k offers be discussed with people yet in the portal? This is just so shady, and Congress really needs to get involved. The NCAA can't hack it, and you have backroom/workaround middlemen that are trying to get kids out of their signed agreements with universities, outside of the approved process. To the point that someone made, I am probably stupid in my loyalty, but yes, if I was offered $50k and made a commitment to a university when I was playing 20 years ago, no amount of money would have pulled me away. Then again, I didn't view college athletics as needing to be compensated, so it is a very different landscape.
How can $500k offers be discussed with people yet in the portal? This is just so shady, and Congress really needs to get involved. The NCAA can't hack it, and you have backroom/workaround middlemen that are trying to get kids out of their signed agreements with universities, outside of the approved process. To the point that someone made, I am probably stupid in my loyalty, but yes, if I was offered $50k and made a commitment to a university when I was playing 20 years ago, no amount of money would have pulled me away. Then again, I didn't view college athletics as needing to be compensated, so it is a very different landscape.
Unfortunately, backdoors have existed way before the NIL issue was mainstream. It was no secret that big name football schools (Bama) would give players and their families cash under the table to sweeten deals. While no "official" discussions can begin until the portal opens, they definitely take place. What I believe is the reason for this is that if the NCAA tried to enforce portal rules, it would just mean yet another lawsuit with a preliminary injunction. Congress involvement likely means the dissolution of the NCAA itself, which would be a disaster as the power conferences would take over and kill all the mid majors in a heartbeat. (Which they haven't been shy about expressing their interest to do so)
How can $500k offers be discussed with people yet in the portal? This is just so shady, and Congress really needs to get involved. The NCAA can't hack it, and you have backroom/workaround middlemen that are trying to get kids out of their signed agreements with universities, outside of the approved process. To the point that someone made, I am probably stupid in my loyalty, but yes, if I was offered $50k and made a commitment to a university when I was playing 20 years ago, no amount of money would have pulled me away. Then again, I didn't view college athletics as needing to be compensated, so it is a very different landscape.
$500K is nothing compared to what some of the top power conference players get lured with.
