Arch Madness 2017-18

crusader05 · February 26, 2018, 01:40:03 PM

My guess is the two felony charges get dropped pretty easily. If he's never been in any trouble those seem like annoyance charges. IE they pissed the police off so they hit them with a couple other charges for the extra hassle.

He'll probably end up with a possession of marijuana misdemeanor and hopefully a life lesson. I'd hate to see this get him kicked off the team for something like this.

VUGrad1314 · February 26, 2018, 01:43:19 PM

Wow... That headline really made it sound worse than it is... I do hope that he is able to remain on the team if it's really not that serious He was really starting to turn it around on the court. But if not I'm sure there's a future starting role waiting for him with Coach Kampe.

SanityLost17 · February 26, 2018, 01:47:33 PM

Throwing your bag of weed out the window to avoid getting caught is a felony? Seems a little harsh for a recreational drug that is less harmful than alcohol.

VU2014 · February 26, 2018, 01:51:59 PM

Quote from: VUGrad1314 on February 26, 2018, 01:43:19 PM
Wow... That headline really made it sound worse than it is...

The folks at NWI.com want their clicks...

Not a good look for the Program or the University. I honestly don't care much about the pot but he needs be smarter then this. When you're caught you are caught. Just open the door and own it. He made it worse for himself by forcing them to get a warrant to search the apartment. Kids will be kids and make mistakes but I'm just disappointed.

The cherry on top of a disappointing season or last 2 seasons.

elephtheria47 · February 26, 2018, 01:56:22 PM

Not good. porter county doesn't play

VU2014 · February 26, 2018, 01:56:59 PM

Quote from: SanityLost17 on February 26, 2018, 01:47:33 PM
Throwing your bag of weed out the window to avoid getting caught is a felony? Seems a little harsh for a recreational drug that is less harmful than alcohol.

They were probably pissed that they made them get a warrant and trying to hide the weed by throwing it out the window. The felony will get dropped in court. Just dumb.

covufan · February 26, 2018, 02:06:59 PM

Quote from: Valpo89 on February 26, 2018, 01:10:17 PM
Don't expect Micah to be on this trip.

https://twitter.com/nwi/status/968209387172003842

vu72 · February 26, 2018, 02:11:19 PM

My guess is that he will plead to some lesser charge, do community service and be suspended for 5 games--if he comes back to Valpo. Just dumb, really dumb.

NativeCheesehead · February 26, 2018, 02:12:45 PM

Jeebus, what the &*%$ else can possibly go wrong with this team? The last 12 months have been a complete dumpster fire of injuries and stupidity.

VU2014 · February 26, 2018, 02:20:41 PM

Well we now know why Coach Lottich missed his media teleconference call today...

VU2010 · February 26, 2018, 02:38:12 PM

At what point do we start sincerely questioning the way this team operates? Too many excuses. Coach L seems like a super good guy. Seriously a good man.

But, there are too many excuses floating around. First, the transfers. Then, Jubril. Then, Sarolla. Then, Joe. Now, Micah.

Just sad. Keep hearing to "trust the process" and such. But, there are thousands of other D-1 athletes (including plenty of freshmen) who aren't making these mistakes. It's starting to become a trend.

What kind of team gatherings are there? What's the chemistry like? Do they want to play together? Idk. Not an insider. Do they see the value of not letting each other down? What's the accountability like?

Maybe it's just kids being kids. I don't know. But, there needs to be something done about this.

It's not like there's 85 guys on scholarship, like football. There's 13. That's manageable. People make mistakes, and we have to help them through it. But, there also needs to be changes made in how things are managed... I would think.

Sad. Very sad. 😢

VU2014 · February 26, 2018, 03:08:45 PM

I hope Micah doesn't even make the trip. If he isn't excused from the team, the suspension should start at Arch Madness. He doesn't deserve to play and represent our school at the Conference Tournament, imo.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/968210775998386176

a3uge · February 26, 2018, 03:14:16 PM

Looks like Kampe found his point guard for next year.

FieldGoodie05 · February 26, 2018, 03:20:30 PM

Quote from: VU2010 on February 26, 2018, 02:38:12 PM
At what point do we start sincerely questioning the way this team operates? Too many excuses. Coach L seems like a super good guy. Seriously a good man.

But, there are too many excuses floating around. First, the transfers. Then, Jubril. Then, Sarolla. Then, Joe. Now, Micah.

Just sad. Keep hearing to "trust the process" and such. But, there are thousands of other D-1 athletes (including plenty of freshmen) who aren't making these mistakes. It's starting to become a trend.

What kind of team gatherings are there? What's the chemistry like? Do they want to play together? Idk. Not an insider. Do they see the value of not letting each other down? What's the accountability like?

Maybe it's just kids being kids. I don't know. But, there needs to be something done about this.

It's not like there's 85 guys on scholarship, like football. There's 13. That's manageable. People make mistakes, and we have to help them through it. But, there also needs to be changes made in how things are managed... I would think.

Sad. Very sad. 😢

= Life

You going to start a task force to stop kids from making mistakes?

The higher up we go in conferences (Summit to HL to MVC) the more high level players we have to recruit to stay winning. The announcer from Drake said it best, "there are only so many 7' tall men walking around on earth" in reference to how few are in the MVC over the years. Take that concept and apply it to the pool we have to pull from that is eligible high level D1 b-ball recruits without a record, that have high enough grades, high enough test scores etc etc etc

My thoughts are NEXT. Let it shake out and see what comes from it.

Please stop this better than thou "changes made now" bs.

Ya got me going, now I'm on my soap box!!!

hailcrusaders · February 26, 2018, 03:39:44 PM

I'm not going to make excuses for foolishly breaking the rules at a critical point in the season but I will echo the sentiment that two felony counts for dropping some weed out the window seems excessive. Valparaiso city police have the reputation of being pretty nasty to college students.

As others have mentioned, one has to start wondering if Lottich controls the team as well as the Drews did. This off-the-court rulebreaking has been far too common recently.

valpopal · February 26, 2018, 04:05:14 PM

I'm curious about a few details involving the Bradford situation. The news article stated Bradford was not in public but in a private apartment and the police were called to it. Who called the police and what was the reasoning given for summoning them? Also, the police activity happened Saturday evening with the arrest time being 9 p.m. Therefore, the university must have known about this either that night or early Sunday morning. I heard rumors about this Monday morning. The news story was released early Monday afternoon. Yet, we are approaching Monday evening and there has been no official statement from the university, the Athletics department, or Coach Lottich. All we have is that the university spokeswoman has declined to comment. I'm surprised. Normally, the advice is to get out ahead of a bad news story as quickly as possible.

crusader05 · February 26, 2018, 04:10:31 PM

I think we have to be careful what we lay at Lottich's feet
In the last four years or so:
Jubril and Shane got arrested under Bryce
The academic stuff happened under Bryce,
With Lottich it's been:
Burton, Bradford with weed and Jaume with alcohol who's charges got dropped.

So I'd say if we see it continue for another year or two it's an issue.

As far as the University saying something, it's never been the habit of the AD to blast out stuff about their students. They probably generally, and rightly, feel it just feeds the rumor mill. Micah will have a consequence and we will know about that. I'm not sure we're entitled to too much else. Sounds like the kid was smoking week and a neighbor smelled it and called the cops.

I would suggest maybe some more random drug testing though just to put a little bit more fear in the guys.

Valpo89 · February 26, 2018, 04:12:59 PM

Quote from: valpopal on February 26, 2018, 04:05:14 PM
I'm curious about a few details involving the Bradford situation. The news article stated Bradford was not in public but in a private apartment and the police were called to it. Who called the police and what was the reasoning given for summoning them? Also, the police activity happened Saturday evening with the arrest time being 9 p.m. Therefore, the university must have known about this either that night or early Sunday morning. I heard rumors about this Monday morning. The news story was released early Monday afternoon. Yet, we are approaching Monday evening and there has been no official statement from the university, the Athletics department, or Coach Lottich. All we have is that the university spokeswoman has declined to comment. I'm surprised. Normally, the advice is to get out ahead of a bad news story as quickly as possible.

Surprised? You shouldn't be.
The university never wants to confront the truth. Why do you think Lottich didn't attend the conference call this morning?
Everyone is paranoid and afraid of the truth.
They just need to be up front with the truth in all cases, good and bad.
And, if you look at the arrest on the Porter County Sheriff web site, he wasn't booked until 3:19 a.m. I'm guessing Micah's first call was not to anyone associated with the university.

crusader05 · February 26, 2018, 04:15:42 PM

Booking time doesn't really tell you anything. If anything he might not have been able to make a call until he was booked. They probably just made him sit in the Drunk tank while they brought in the usual from the night and got them all in the system later.

vu72 · February 26, 2018, 04:18:49 PM

Quote from: hailcrusaders on February 26, 2018, 03:39:44 PM
I'm not going to make excuses for foolishly breaking the rules at a critical point in the season but I will echo the sentiment that two felony counts for dropping some weed out the window seems excessive. Valparaiso city police have the reputation of being pretty nasty to college students.

As others have mentioned, one has to start wondering if Lottich controls the team as well as the Drews did. This off-the-court rulebreaking has been far too common recently.

Hold on a minute! The Drew's had their problem children as well:

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/vu-basketball-player-arrested-suspended/article_c1654cd0-ec6b-5c7e-8d97-a963e42b3f6c.html

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/vu-basketball-player-jailed-on-theft-charge/article_cfb6c8b1-7c2a-57db-b376-3a1e88f3ac78.html

And how about:

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/former-vu-basketball-player-bouchie-arrested/article_81694b1d-ee08-51c7-bedf-efca4d340713.html

hailcrusaders · February 26, 2018, 04:33:25 PM

Definitely not saying there were never any issues under the Drews. And I'll admit it's easier for the average fan like myself to overlook the occasional incident when the team wins regularly.

That said, if you told me at the beginning of the year that neither Burton nor Bradford would be playing in Arch Madness (granted, this has not been announced for Bradford but I'd be surprised if he gets off with nothing) for separate off-court disciplinary issues, I'd wonder what was going on.

AranJacobs · February 26, 2018, 04:47:15 PM

I believe Sorolla got arrested last season but didn't serve the 2 game suspension until the beginning of this season.

crusadermoe · February 26, 2018, 04:48:41 PM

I thought the same thing about Lottich teams vs. the Drew teams. I honestly think the kids playing for both represent the general population fairly closely.

If these kids were key D-1 prospects who had an ACT of 32 and a rack of Boy Scout Medals they would have been signed by Duke or Notre Dame or Stanford.

bigmosmithfan1 · February 26, 2018, 04:51:44 PM

QuoteI'm not going to make excuses for foolishly breaking the rules at a critical point in the season but I will echo the sentiment that two felony counts for dropping some weed out the window seems excessive. Valparaiso city police have the reputation of being pretty nasty to college students.

Police in Valpo and Porter County have a LOOOOONG history of doing stuff like this, and not just to VU students. They are famous for tacking on the largely made-up charge of "fleeing" to people charged with underage drinking if they made any effort to leave out the back door of the party when the cops pulled up out front, and know of a guy who was threatened with additional charges for asking that a cop produce a breathalyzer rather than just submit to the cop's judgment that he was intoxicated (the guy wasn't drunk).

Vindictive policing and over-charging is s.o.p. in Porter County and has been so for a good 20 years.

FWalum · February 26, 2018, 05:57:54 PM

I guess that the team must have flown to Drake? Even at that, the timeline is pretty tight. 2PM game ending at 4PM, after game media obligations and post game player trainer activities, and then trip to airport for a 380 mile flight back to Valpo and then going back to the ARC to get vehicles. I think he would be lucky to get to the apartment by 7:30PM. I don't know that we should automatically think that Micah is the guilty party, who knows who was there toking up after the game and could have left before the cops got there???