I'll give this situation a different spin--and "spin" is probably the right word, but here it goes--
What we are facing is a revolving door situation and the key to success or failure will be our coaching staff's ability to recruit, develop and put the right combinations on the floor. So I took a look at the box score for our first couple of D1 games and then the last one against Bradley. Here's what I found. The starters at the beginning of the season were Ellis, Cooper, Jeff, Shaw and Darius. In the first game against Liberty, Schmidt was our leading scorer followed by Ellis and Jeff. All Wright played 19 minutes, for 1-5 shooting and 0-2 from the three.
In the game against CSU we had the same starting five but Ellis was our leading scorer, Schmidt had 2 points and All had 10 point but 2 assists against 3 turnovers.
By the end of the year, the starting five were Cooper, Jeff, All, Carson and Darius. Shaw and Ellis? Payed a combined 2 minutes and zero points. Not sure what my point is here other than the coaches made some hard choices, benched guys who started at the beginning of the year and ended starting a guy who didn't see the court for most of the year. The result? A much improved result and a run to the semi-final game.
This is the new and only task of Roger Powell. Finding guys who can produce when put in the right situation, and not to care much about egos as most are going to leave if either they are successful or dissatisfied.
It's a true mess, but it will again be fun to see Roger recruit and coach what amounts to a pickup game at the Y.
And the money gap expands. The March Madness units are set, and unsurprisingly, the SEC has created a new record. The SEC's 35 units is 140% of the previous record, 25 by the ACC in 2016. The 35 units will be worth an estimated $70M for the conference. The Missouri Valley will receive $4M thanks to Drake, and almost all other mid-major conferences get $2M to divide among their many teams.
The SEC ($70M) will receive almost as much money as all the 26 mid-major conferences ($76M) combined. The other large conferences—Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and Big East receive a total of $118M. So the top 5 conferences will get $188M, while the bottom 26 mid-major conferences make $76M, a gap of $112M. Ironically, the best players on tournament teams in those top earning conferences were pilfered from mid-majors, obtained through NIL/Transfer because of their greater wealth already.
All the more reason to advocate for contracts to be in College Sports. Powell isnt the only person advocating for these things as well. Dick Vitale has shown his support for a contract system. Coach K has also had guests on his new podcast that express their support for contracts in college athletics.
For what it's worth...Robert Morris, Horizon League regular season and tournament champs, began this season with a starting 5 of 5 transfer/portal players. They started the year with a "conglomerate mess", losing games with an unorganized lineup. However as the season progressed they improved game by game and closed out the regular season winning almost all of their games and then their Tourney. Now all 5 of their starters at the end of the season have entered the portal. Who can figure? Perhaps we do not have the NIL dollars that some of our fellow MVC have(but who really knows) but we are not alone in trying to put a roster together for next year. I am not ready to write us off yet. Let's see how the rest of the Valley comes out of this mess. We may not be as bad off as some people on this blog think. I have alot of confidence in Coach Powell to adjust to the changing market and his ability to put together a competitive team for next year.
For what it's worth...Robert Morris, Horizon League regular season and tournament champs, began this season with a starting 5 of 5 transfer/portal players. They started the year with a "conglomerate mess", losing games with an unorganized lineup. However as the season progressed they improved game by game and closed out the regular season winning almost all of their games and then their Tourney. Now all 5 of their starters at the end of the season have entered the portal. Who can figure? Perhaps we do not have the NIL dollars that some of our fellow MVC have(but who really knows) but we are not alone in trying to put a roster together for next year. I am not ready to write us off yet. Let's see how the rest of the Valley comes out of this mess. We may not be as bad off as some people on this blog think. I have alot of confidence in Coach Powell to adjust to the changing market and his ability to put together a competitive team for next year.
Even Blue Bloods are being picked apart. IU does not have a single rostered athlete following the exit of Mike Woodson from the HC role.
Guys… Not sure if you realized, but our team kind of sucked this year!
At least, until the conference tournament. Yes, it's terrible to lose Cooper and AW. But, realistically there were what, maybe 3-4 quality players that we will miss?!
Maybe losing most of the roster was actually a good thing. Now we can start fresh, jump in the portal and grab some talent that fits Powell's philosophy.
(And yes, as an attorney, I can agree with the above sentiment – having the student athletes as employees under contracts would be better for all parties involved and fix a lot of the current system. But, schools and the NCAA do not want this to happen because they do not want to have to pay for insurance/worker's compensation, etc.)
The cobbling together of a mid-major basketball roster has now become like playing in a continuous fantasy basketball league, but instead of retaining your top 3 players from season to season, you may have to start over each year and hope that lightning strikes.
@david81 David, there are two (and probably more) issues at play here.
You can be the best cobbler in the western world, but if you lack a good shop, the tools and quality raw materials to compete in the footwear marketplace, swimming upstream, comparatively, is a picnic — sorry for the mixed metaphor 🙄.
And second, the uncertainty of who is even on a team at season’s tip off and whether they are even good, creates confusion in supporters. Generally, confusion engenders a reluctance to act. People back off. They wait. And, worst of all, they are afraid to commit. At a lot of smaller MMs like Valpo, I’m afraid that will translate to lower live attendance regardless of the opponent, lower financial support, and decreased enthusiasm (…that is……. until the product on the floor manages to convince them that it is “safe” to go all in — but that, in itself, is a catch 22). It’s a flip from the past when fans started off all-in and it took some really bad years to deflate that enthusiasm.
As many on this board already have said in one way or another: “We’ll just have to wait and see.” And, I guess, that’s my point.
@vulb62 I completely agree that there is confusion with rosters. Unfortunately, college basketball is in a state of confusion across the board. Even fans at Kansas and IU are confused and won’t know their players until what seems like just a few months prior to the season. Let’s hope that there is some kind of change in the NCAA to support MMs. But, knowing the NCAA they will favor the $$$. In the meantime, we can do our best to keep up with our team and try to support. Last year (thankfully) was a step in the right direction. But like you said, we gotta wait and see.
The cobbling together of a mid-major basketball roster has now become like playing in a continuous fantasy basketball league, but instead of retaining your top 3 players from season to season, you may have to start over each year and hope that lightning strikes.
This is an issue at all levels of Div I basketball (as well as other sports). Not at all limited to mid majors.
@david81 David, there are two (and probably more) issues at play here.
You can be the best cobbler in the western world, but if you lack a good shop, the tools and quality raw materials to compete in the footwear marketplace, swimming upstream, comparatively, is a picnic — sorry for the mixed metaphor 🙄.
And second, the uncertainty of who is even on a team at season’s tip off and whether they are even good, creates confusion in supporters. Generally, confusion engenders a reluctance to act. People back off. They wait. And, worst of all, they are afraid to commit. At a lot of smaller MMs like Valpo, I’m afraid that will translate to lower live attendance regardless of the opponent, lower financial support, and decreased enthusiasm (…that is……. until the product on the floor manages to convince them that it is “safe” to go all in — but that, in itself, is a catch 22). It’s a flip from the past when fans started off all-in and it took some really bad years to deflate that enthusiasm.
As many on this board already have said in one way or another: “We’ll just have to wait and see.” And, I guess, that’s my point.
This season with rosters completely in flux across the board and programs not having set rosters from year to year what did we end up with. Record ratings for the NCAA Basketball championship. Fans who are more casual aren't paying attention to who's on the roster anyway. Fans like ourselves know who's on the roster. Both should show up to root.
This season with rosters completely in flux across the board and programs not having set rosters from year to year what did we end up with. Record ratings for the NCAA Basketball championship. Fans who are more casual aren't paying attention to who's on the roster anyway. Fans like ourselves know who's on the roster. Both should show up to root.
But what is there to root for? Virtually new rosters of players every year, made up of young men who have little to no interest in the university and its fans (despite claims of Godly inspiration and being "all in" whenever they announce a move on social media), while hoping to leverage the opportunity to move on and make more money next season?
The unbridled combination of the transfer portal, no waiting period to play, and NIL money has turned DI MBB into a giant, de facto pro league via the universities, courtesy of an NCAA-enabled scaffolding of complete, unrestricted free agency. This all happened with lightning fast speed.
(Even the NBA isn't that blatantly mercenary. Players sign multi-year contracts and develop bonds with their teammates. They seek out situations where they can develop their games and contribute to a winning team over a course of seasons, with some finding ways to become part of their communities. Rosters have some degree of year-to-year continuity, and fans become attached to their favorite players.)
Sooooooo.....unless there's some type of uprising (and I don't know where it will come from), the environment in which VU attempts to compete as a mid-major almost guarantees the kind of annual exodus that we've just witnessed. Even a head coach as gifted as Roger Powell, who develops these kids as players and as young men, couldn't staunch that flow.
(And don't expect the impetus for reform to come from the NCAA, especially with the likes of Charlie Baker in charge. Schools like VU are invisible to this guy.)
Student Athletes should set themselves up for the best opportunities in life. All this sentiment that posters would stay and that these players do not care about the fans are moot. Players are receiving opportunities to receive more fiscal earnings for larger brand names than Valparaiso. Valparaiso has a donor problem. Probably a great deal of that donor problem (especially young donors) is the high price tag, limited alumni job market, and overall lack of ROI on attending the University in the past 15 years.
Everyone can yell into a pillow about it being unfair and not right but the rules are what they are. Until the above problem is fixed the basketball team, football team, and University will not exceed expectations rather than remain afloat. At least in sports there can be diamonds in the rough to give flash in the pan success.
In terms of what I have seen about lowering divisions athletics wise... Lots of thought here. I would say about 60% of Valparaiso athletes are not on full ride scholarships (really anyone outside of Basketball / Volleyball / Partials of Softball & Baseball), I do not believe the fiscal savings would be there in tuitions. In terms of regional travel and scheduling, we would lose pay games across the board. Our conference is already regional with mostly bus travel again no major savors here, football pay games more than pay for the airfare of the PFL league.
The only hope is that Division 3 will make Valparaiso more competitive in sports. I would argue that this would be an extremely dangerous move for the University. Do we have a similar alumni network to the Wittenberg / DePauw / Wabash / North Central / Mount Union traditional powerhouses? Do we have the same facilities (quick answer, no)? Is our price tag cheaper (again, no)? So we run the risk of becoming a middling Division 3 Program instead of a middling Division 1 program. We lose the scholarship athletes and the non-scholarship athletes that pay tuition because they are going Division 1. Athletes are a larger portion of our student body than I would argue a vast majority of division one.
This season with rosters completely in flux across the board and programs not having set rosters from year to year what did we end up with. Record ratings for the NCAA Basketball championship. Fans who are more casual aren't paying attention to who's on the roster anyway. Fans like ourselves know who's on the roster. Both should show up to root.
But what is there to root for? Virtually new rosters of players every year, made up of young men who have little to no interest in the university and its fans (despite claims of Godly inspiration and being "all in" whenever they announce a move on social media), while hoping to leverage the opportunity to move on and make more money next season?
The unbridled combination of the transfer portal, no waiting period to play, and NIL money has turned DI MBB into a giant, de facto pro league via the universities, courtesy of an NCAA-enabled scaffolding of complete, unrestricted free agency. This all happened with lightning fast speed.
(Even the NBA isn't that blatantly mercenary. Players sign multi-year contracts and develop bonds with their teammates. They seek out situations where they can develop their games and contribute to a winning team over a course of seasons, with some finding ways to become part of their communities. Rosters have some degree of year-to-year continuity, and fans become attached to their favorite players.)
Sooooooo.....unless there's some type of uprising (and I don't know where it will come from), the environment in which VU attempts to compete as a mid-major almost guarantees the kind of annual exodus that we've just witnessed. Even a head coach as gifted as Roger Powell, who develops these kids as players and as young men, couldn't staunch that flow.
(And don't expect the impetus for reform to come from the NCAA, especially with the likes of Charlie Baker in charge. Schools like VU are invisible to this guy.)
sell the brand. you think Duke is selling their players...other than the rare Cooper Flagg type?
Pining for years past isn't going to work. Homer Drew videos aren't going to work. Work within the rules provided as best you can.
