Messages

Yes, thank you for the correction.  Zane, or I should say Mr. Doughty,  i apologize for the name mistake.   I would think Roger and perhaps Coach  Gore could work with Zane whose strength is with his back to the basket.  In any event next year should be fun and interesting.

Austin Peters...wouldn't that be something?  Where has ne been up to this point?

Great hire for the University including President Padilla and Dr. Small.  Now let's get Ben and Zack back in the family.  Maybe Brandon too?

Thanks "native" because my sources tell me the same so your conclusion MUST be true.

While Dr. Small may look at comments posted on this board, I am sure he isn't taking advice or suggestions from comments found on this board.  He is way ahead of this board in analyzing and getting a list of candidates for a potential hire...at least I hope he is.

I believe that some of Bruce Weber's coaching tree successes were achieved in spite of him.  However I should sya he was well respected and considered to be a real gentleman.

That is not necessarily true.  Whatever time it takes, let's do the job right and get a good fit for our unique situation at Valpo.  But I sure hope we get the thing settled real soon.

There is a report out that New St. John's Coach, Rick Pitino said he could bring in as many as 8 new players for next season as the number of current players hit the portal.  I think that is what you call a fresh start.

And as far as being a "stepping stone" position...there is nothing wrong with that.  If you move up, that means you have been successful.  Isn't that what we want?

As far as recruiting goes, very often the assistant coach(es) are the ones who get the job done and rightfully deserve the credit.
(example was Alec Peters.....Roger Powell  was "his man")

Paul Oren's last report was a great assessment of the VU situation.  I like his concluding remark.

If he was interested in the Cleveland State job he surely would at least look at Valpo I would think.  He is a good candidate as is Tonagel.

All of this coaching change talk and backround stuff didn't happen in a day of so of Matt's firing.  You can bet that Dr. Small has been working on this problem for weeks or months prior to letting Matt go.  I feel very confident that Dr. Small had already compiled a list of potential candidates prior to last week and also did some homework on any possible new hire.

Zane is a great player playing with his back to the basket.  There are not alot of guys that do that well. At this point no outside game so he needs a system that will utilize his strengths.  Sure would love to see Zane and Ben together with Ben's outside game.  Zane handled the big guy from Kokomo very well, whether scoring or rebounding.  I like the fact that Zane can handle himself inside very well, even against tough big guys.  I sure hope he stays with us.

Schools always want to make the change to a new coach as soon as possible to keep continuity in returning players, recruits and staff.  In Matts's case blending in transfers was his biggest problem.  In many cases when as new coach arrives and is greeted by a "clean house" with respect to players, it is often easier to start with a whole new group all learning a new system together.  One, or perhaps 2 transfers, or maybe even more newcomers often are very difficult to blend into a new starting five, especially when holdover players are competing for a starting position.   Many coaches have problems with this type of senario.

I cannot imagine a recruit not even waiting to see who the next coach is before making a decision to de-commit.  I also think Ben should wait before making any decision.  I do not understand why some of our posters in a way encourage Ben to transfer.  Where is your loyalty to Valpo?  I too want the best for Ben but not to the extent that he leave the program.  I put Valpo's interest before Ben's.  Ben's name is not on my diploma nor do I send my checks to him.

Does Paul Oren have any idea of when a decision will be made?  I hope it is soon so recruiting can be completed and the trransfer  situation can be settled.

So it doesn't matter regarding qualifications, just meet the quotas?

Dr. Small is a class act.  We ae fortunate to have him as our AD.  I have great confidence in his hiring of our new Coach.

I am hoping that when Ben sees who the new Coach is he will remove his name out of the portal and return to Valpo.

You're right David81, let's get this Fall's Pigskin Preview' back on track        Time for a medical break from our basketball headache.

Maybe some D-2 programs would be interested if they know that ML is sitting on a hot seat and he gets let go or leaves on his own.

One thing President Padilla did early in his tenure was bring back the old Valpo Seal that could be reproduced up to then.  For many years it was not allowed to be reproduced on clothing, etc.  Why and how that ever happened I do not know.

I believe we have put alot of money into our overall athletic program since we joined the MVC  Misplaced where it was spent?  I am not sure although I know we had to make some improvements to get in the Valley.  There were major improvements in the technical aspect of television capabilities,  practice facilities,  A/C,  major improvements to the baseball field and some others.  The disappointing part is that  major improvements to the ARC have not yet come to fruition.  I believe that our men's b-ball budget is about in the middle of the pack in the MVC  Let's hope we are close to the money needed for the ARC project, whatever that might entail.  We must remember that it has taken years and in some cases decades, for some mid-major schools to get new or improved facilities.  We have just begun our journey in the upper echelon's of mid-major competion/conference.  Perhaps we will be surprised one of these days.  I sure hope so.  Look how long it ltook Butler to improve Hinkle.  That place, while an iconic structure, was a hole before they started to put money into it.  As an example, their men's restrooms not only had latrine urinals, but they were porcelain.  And how many years were a significant portion of their seating wooden bleachers with no backs?  In some cases I think some of us are our getting priorities mixed up.

Kids will flock to a pig with lipstick...the dogs are a joke like many other of our marketing ideas.  Let's get serious folks.    Let's admit it...they are "comfort dogs".   And even they aren't doing well.

So that gym is better than ours?    Why?   Because it it newer?     If we think our facilities are poor(which they are),  look at some of the "minor" schools facilities in the Big East Conference,  A -10 and A Sun.