I just want to win. Some here are coming up with 12 reasons why the MVC is the place to be and 11.5 of them have nothing to do with winning. Check your reasons. Honestly how many are directly tied to winning basketball games without some stretch or additional explanation.
I just want to win. I don't want to compare academic backgrounds. I don't want to make lots of extra money. I don't want to sit in the glow of the prestige of my conference name.
I JUST WANT TO WIN!
Well said...people like 72 have this pompous attitude that Valpo is so much better academically then the Horizon schools...and no one that is a basketball fan gives a shit about that...they are concerned that once again march Madness starts and we are on the sidelines...Thank the former AD and Heckler for making us totally irrelevant in the world of college basketball
There are 364 D1 Men's basketball teams. If some number could be assigned to each which could reflect the NIL fundraising potential for each school where would we rank? The number would obviously be influenced by things like enrollment, alumni base, fan base, community location and wealth plus surviving rich and generous donors. My wild guess would be 250 of the 364 but it might be much worse. In a pure bidding war how could we ever rise to near 100 NET? 
Clearly everyone was disappointed in a 6-14 record, yet I maintain this is not as far of a difference as some suggest. Just look at how VU did against some top teams, including wins against UNI (14-6 in conference), a double OT loss to Bradly (15-5) and a win against Belmont (13-7). Valpo played pretty well against Drake. Then, look at a credible run in the conference tournament with wins against UIC, UNI and a close loss against Bradley. They did all of this without Stafford.
A 10-10 in was good for fifth place in the MVC this year, so it is not so far of a stretch to say that VU could have been in the top half of the conference if Stafford had played.
Hypotheticals doesn't equate in the win/loss column, reality unfortunately does. Until VU can prove otherwise, they will be in the bottom of the MVC
There are 364 D1 Men's basketball teams. If some number could be assigned to each which could reflect the NIL fundraising potential for each school where would we rank? The number would obviously be influenced by things like enrollment, alumni base, fan base, community location and wealth plus surviving rich and generous donors. My wild guess would be 250 of the 364 but it might be much worse. In a pure bidding war how could we ever rise to near 100 NET?
I don't think VU would sniff anything in the 200's, best bet would be around 300-325.
They transferred because they hated Lottich in some cases. They all seem to like Roger. What give? Show me the money! Wake me up in May when the roster is complete. Very difficult to put positive spin on any of this. I guess maybe the whole team is transferring. If if Schmidt stays, we've seen his ceiling Not like he's going to take an enormous leap
Saying "I just want to win" shows you know nothing about how athletics works. Let alone college athletics. Obviously everybody "just wants to win" but there are other factors besides just winning in this game. Factors people have told you about multiple times, but brush off because, "I only care about watching sports". Its nice you like to watch, but there is a lot that you dont see.
If you just want to win. Why do you want to move down to a league with less prestige? You arent going to keep the same level of talent that has been seen while in the MVC. You dont get Cooper Schwieger, you dont get All Wright, you dont get Isaiah Stafford, without those 3 letters on the court. The MVC is one of the best MM leagues in the country, that has weight with recruits and with transfers. I would even argue that role as a top MM league has amplified this in recruits and agents of recruits. The MVC is a league that can earn 2 bids even in the current landscape of college athletics. That boosts the eyes on the conference and boosts the teams within that conference. The MW has been doing this for years, to the point that they werent even considered a mid major anymore. Their one mistake, trusting the PAC-2 not to talk with their teams behind closed doors. In fact, a lot of Valpo's struggles boils down to key mistakes, or outright misfortune.
Do you expect recruits like Cooper Schwieger to stay 1 more year at all if he had been in the HL. Do you expect recruits like All Wright, to say he may consider a return instead of hitting the door and never looking back. Heck, do you expect McNair to even want to stay if this team is in the HL. You have this notion that "we will keep recruiting guys of this caliber and win league titles easily in the HL" when that couldnt be further from the truth. In fact it is more fantasy than all of the people here with hypothetical scenerios. The HL earns less money, less TV games, less MM Units, and less everything to the MVC. HL schools are even being forced to shutter whole athletic programs in response to the court settlement. Sure, Valpo closed mens tennis and mens soccer, however at the time Valpo offered more athletics programs than any MVC member schools. Downsizing was seen as an effort to pool funds elsewhere. Which certainly might have been the case if not for the events of 2020
Like it or not, without regulations surrounding NIL and the Portal, recruits are going to leave at every level. The lower level you go, the more you are likely going to have to rebuild your roster year in and year out. Valpo isnt even the only Valley school being affected by these changes. ISU last year was completely gutted. Evansville this year is being completely gutted, Drake is likely hinging on if their coach decides to jump ship or not and Bradley is in the same boat as Drake.
So tell me, because I am just dying to know at this point, and this goes for all of you who think VU should move down. How do you expect to be competitive in the HL. How can you guarantee Valpo "Just wins".
One thing i would just point out about the moving down idea. Even under Bryce in the Horizon leage, our best teams included Junior and Seniors and keeping our best players for 3-4 years. If our recruiting cache goes down and we are still losing our best players to the portal at best you're in a crapshoot situation. I just don't think we can compare our experience in the MVC to our past experience in the Horizon anymore. It's possible that we drop to Horizon and end up a mid-range team there which I would say is even worse than a low range team in the MVC
If you just want to win. Why do you want to move down to a league with less prestige? You arent going to keep the same level of talent that has been seen while in the MVC. You dont get Cooper Schwieger, you dont get All Wright, you dont get Isaiah Stafford, without those 3 letters on the court.
Sorry, but this is just patently wrong. Cooper and All had no other D1 offers. I don't care if we were Chicago State, they'd both have been here. Stafford is not guaranteed but I don't think he had any other D1 offers in the portal either. Being in the Valley is a nice draw for sure, but if those three players wanted to play D1 basketball, they were coming here no matter what.
Here is a question: Had anyone on this board heard of Schwieger in March of 2023? Had anyone hear of All Wright in March of 2024? Both became the best young players in the conference. If Coach Powell can find the next players of similar talent or higher, it is not delusional to think that VU can be competitive next year and in upcoming years.
If by competitive you mean right in line to finish 1 spot from the bottom of the conference then absolutely yes.
Folks can't be this delusional, can they? VU is a good school, no doubt about it, but they are not a Harvard or even a Notre Dame by any stretch of the imagination. According to the last US News & World Report College Rankings VU was #204 in National Universities. In the HL Robert Morris is #214, Detroit Mercy #189 and IU Indy is #196.
Yes it's a lot easier to get a second bid in the Missouri Valley, but the teams that were fighting for that second bid have bolted to other conferences in the last 10 years. I just want to see VU winning championships regularly instead of being cellar dwellers. It's a harsh reality, but until VU can get folks to rally around and invest in a collective and create more NIL $$$$ it's going to be the same.
Bids aside in each conference, the only school aspect of things can come from comparisons of athletic programs. I live outside of the territory of most of the MVC and Horizon League and there's a good number of fans who would wonder if at least some of the HL's members are DI programs while that doesn't happen with MVC schools. Academically I do think it's a stretch for any comparison in a does it mean anything fashion.
With Stafford healthy VU would not have been in the top half of the MVC. Maybe 9th at best. You can’t polish a turd, because it’s still crap. Sorry but those are facts.
They'd probably be better but I thought all we'd end up with is two players just as likely to shoot the team out of games as shoot the teams into games. The weaknesses on the roster would have been at point guard, and either 4 or 5.
Clearly everyone was disappointed in a 6-14 record, yet I maintain this is not as far of a difference as some suggest. Just look at how VU did against some top teams, including wins against UNI (14-6 in conference), a double OT loss to Bradly (15-5) and a win against Belmont (13-7). Valpo played pretty well against Drake. Then, look at a credible run in the conference tournament with wins against UIC, UNI and a close loss against Bradley. They did all of this without Stafford.
A 10-10 in was good for fifth place in the MVC this year, so it is not so far of a stretch to say that VU could have been in the top half of the conference if Stafford had played.
Suppose, instead, all of the close wins amongst those six became losses? The "close loss against the good team" argument is a poor one.
I’m starting to lose track of who’s in and who’s out. Do we have any one left with eligibility other than Sepp? Is McNair still on board? Thanks.
McNair has tweeted he is staying. Tyler Schmidt could stay. Coulibaly, Ellis, Shaw, Salem, Carson Schwieger, Scroggins, Watson, Vick and Lombardi are still on the team as of today March 20th.
Saying "I just want to win" shows you know nothing about how athletics works.
You always revert to insults when debating. I would suggest you work on that.
Anyway, you immediately bring up prestige. Again. I would definitely rather finish top half in a lower league. But you would rather finish bottom half in a higher league.
Prestige > winning in your mind.
MVC has weight? Except they are a consistent one bid league. You are stuck in the past. If they had weight, then Indiana St. makes the tournament last year. And Drake is higher than an 11 seed this year. The MVC, nor any other MM has any weight. MVC is better than the other MM yes. But the prize for that is still just one bid. Learn it, know it, live it.
Correct, I expect players to bolt no matter what league we are in for not just us but every team in either league. I really don't care the caliber of player we recruit. I would gladly win with lower talent players in a lower talent league. You would rather finish at the bottom as long as you have more talent than in the lower league.
We will have to rebuild our roster every year in the MVC, you agree. Yet you say we will have to rebuild our roster EVEN MORE in the HL? What? What does that even mean? MMs will ALL be gutted EVERY year. That's the fact that so many here think that we can sidestep. Accept it.
So tell me, because I am just dying to know at this point, and this goes for all of you who think VU should move down. How do you expect to be competitive in the HL. How can you guarantee Valpo "Just wins".
I can't guarantee that we are competitive in the HL. But I can guarantee that we won't be competitive in the MVC. How do I know? Eight years of consistent evidence. Wise man once said "the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior". Another once said "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result".
I can't sit by and do nothing while my house is on fire and tell myself that maybe it will go out if we just wait a little longer. Eventually I need to take action to put out the fire.
Meanwhile others here would just keep telling themselves that the house isn't actually on fire at all. We are just one bucket of water away from the fire never actually happening.
