Valparaiso Beacons

Valparaiso Beacons

School Name:	Valparaiso University
Location:	Valparaiso, IN
Arena:	Athletics-Recreation Center
Capacity:	5,000
Conference:	Missouri Valley
Head coach:	Matt Lottich

The Valparaiso Beacons represent Valparaiso University (popularly abbreviated as "Valpo"), located in Valparaiso, Indiana, in NCAA Division I men's basketball. The school's team currently competes in the Missouri Valley Conference, having joined that league in 2017. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2004. The Beacons are currently coached by Matt Lottich, who enters his sixth season in 2021–22. The Beacons play in the Athletics-Recreation Center, which has a capacity of 5,432.

History

The beginning

The Beacons' first game was as the Crusaders in 1917. Under the coaching of Sidney Winters, the team lost to Chicago. The team would finish 7-2 that year [1]. In 1988, Homer Drew took the job as head coach, a position that he is still in today. 1988 would also be the year that the Crusaders defeated Number 19 Notre Dame in a game that came to be known as "The Lutheran Miracle."

The tallest team

The 1944-1945 team was billed as "The World's Tallest Team."[2] That year, they defeated Long Island University in a game played in Madison Square Garden.

Conference affiliation

The Crusaders would join the Indiana Collegiate Conference for the 1950-1951 season. The Crusaders advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 1961-1962. In 1968-1969, they hosted an NCAA tournament game for the first time.

Division I

The Crusaders joined Division I before the 1978-1979 season. After four years as an independent, they became charter members of the AMCU. They would move from there to the Horizon Leageu in 2007, spending 10 seasons there until leaving for the Misouri Valley Conference in 2017.

NCAA tournament

Under coach Homer Drew, the Crusaders became a conference power. They won their first Mid-Continent championship in 1995, led by star player Bryce Drew. However, the team was not invited to the NCAA Tournament. The Crusaders won the 1996 conference championship and received their first invitation to the Division I NCAA Tournament. In the 1998 Tournament, the Crusaders won their first Tournament game, defeating the University of Mississippi on a last second shot by Bryce Drew. The Crusaders would go on to win their second round game against Florida State University before losing in the Sweet 16 to the University of Rhode Island. The Crusaders would win the Mid-Continent Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament every year until 2001, when Southern Utah University won the conference tournament. In Coach Scott Drew's only year as head coach, the team advanced to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to the University of Iowa in their first game televised by ESPN. They would play in the title game of the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament every year between 1995 and 2004.

Nickname change

On February 11, 2021, near the end of the 2020-21 season, Valparaiso announced that it would drop the "Crusaders" nickname and its associated mascot. The university's press release cited "negative connotation and violence associated with the Crusader imagery" and the use of said imagery by certain hate groups. Valpo went without a nickname for the rest of the 2020–21 school year and announced the new nickame of Beacons on August 10, 2021.

All time tournament results

The Beacons have appeared in seven NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 2-7.

Year	Seed	First Round Winner		First Round Loser		Second Round Winner		Second Round Loser		Sweet 16 Winner		Sweet 16 Loser
1996	14	Arizona	90	Valparaiso	51
1997	12	Boston College	73	Valparaiso	66
1998	13	Valparaiso	70	Mississippi	69	Valparaiso	83	Florida State	77	Rhode Island	74	Valparaiso	68
1999	15	Maryland	82	Valparaiso	60
2000	16	Michigan State	65	Valparaiso	38
2002	13	Kentucky	83	Valparaiso	68
2004	15	Gonzaga	76	Valparaiso	49

Radio

All Beacons games are broadcast for free on the Valparaiso website at www.valpo.edu/athletics. WVUR-FM, the student-run campus radio station, also broadcasts select Crusader games on 95.1 FM and on the station's website.

Beacons in the NBA

• Don Bielke
• Bob Dille
• Bryce Drew
• John Janisch
• Milt Schoon

2007-08 schedule and results (men)

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Record
11/12/2007*	Grace	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN (South Padre Island Invitational)	W 90-59	1-0
11/15/2007*	Indiana Purdue - Fort Wayne	Allen County War Memorial Colisseum • Fort Wayne, IN	W 74-64	2-0
11/20/2007*	Vanderbilt	Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, TN (South Padre Island Invitational)
11/23/2007*	vs. Maryland - Eastern Shore	South Padre Island Convention Centre • South Padre Island, TX (South Padre Island Invitational)
11/24/2007*	vs. TBA	South Padre Island Convention Centre • South Padre Island, TX (South Padre Island Invitational)
11/28/2007*	Western Michigan	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
12/01/2007*	Ball State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
12/06/2007	@ Wright State	Nutter Center • Dayton, OH
12/08/2007	@ Detroit	Calihan Hall • Detroit, MI
12/11/2007*	Evansville	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
12/15/2007*	Chicago State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
12/22/2007*	@ Wisconsin	Kohl Center • Madison, WI
12/30/2007*	@ North Carolina	Dean Smith Center • Chapel Hill, NC
01/02/2008*	Indiana Wesleyan	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/05/2008	Butler	Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, IN
01/10/2008	Wisconsin - Milwaukee	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/12/2008	Wisconsin - Green Bay	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/17/2008	@ Youngstown State	Beeghly Center • Youngstown, OH
01/19/2008	@ Cleveland State	Wolstein Center • Cleveland, OH
01/24/2008	Illinois - Chicago	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/26/2008	Loyola (IL)	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/05/2008	Butler	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/07/2008	@ Wisconsin - Green Bay	Resch Center • Green Bay, WI
02/11/2008	@ Illinois - Chicago	UIC Pavilion • Chicago, IL
02/14/2008	Cleveland State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/16/2008	Youngstown State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/20/2008	@ Loyola (IL)	Joseph J. Gentile Center • Chicago, IL
02/23/2008*	TBA	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN (ESPNU Bracketbusters)
02/25/2008	@ Wisconsin - Milwaukee	U.S. Cellular Arena • Milwaukee, WI
02/28/2008	Detroit	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
03/01/2008	Wright State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
*Non-Conference Game. All times are in Central Time.

2007-08 schedule and results (women)

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Record
11/09/2007*	@ Bowling Green	Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, OH	L 81-56	0-1
11/12/2007*	@ Purdue	Mackey Arena • West Lafayette, IN	L 65-62	0-2
11/16/2007*	@ Cincinnati	Fifth Third Arena • Cincinnati, OH	L 96-69	0-3
11/23/2007*	@ Xavier	Cintas Center • Cincinnati, OH
11/23/2007*	vs. Eastern Kentucky	Alico Arena • Fort Myers, FL (Florida Gulf Coast Tournament)
11/24/2007*	TBA	Alico Arena • Fort Myers, FL (Florida Gulf Coast Tournament)
12/01/2007*	Ball State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN (Hoosier Classic)
12/08/2007*	North Texas	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
12/12/2007*	@ Notre Dame	Edmund P. Joyce Center • Notre Dame, IN
12/16/2007*	South Dakota State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
12/22/2007*	Saint Xavier	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/05/2008	Butler	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/10/2008	@ Illinois - Chicago	UIC Pavilion • Chicago, IL
01/12/2008	@ Loyola (IL)	Joseph J. Gentile Center • Chicago, IL
01/17/2008	Wisconsin - Milwaukee	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/19/2008	Wisconsin - Green Bay	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
01/24/2008	@ Wright State	Nutter Center • Dayton, OH
01/26/2008	Detroit	Calihan Hall • Detroit, MI
01/31/2008	Youngstown State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/02/2008	Cleveland State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/07/2008	Loyola (IL)	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/09/2008	Illinois - Chicago	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/14/2008	@ Wisconsin - Green Bay	Resch Center • Green Bay, WI
02/25/2008	@ Wisconsin - Milwaukee	J. Martin Klotsche Center • Milwaukee, WI
02/21/2008	Detroit	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/23/2008	Wright State	Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN
02/28/2008	@ Cleveland State	Wolstein Center • Cleveland, OH
03/01/2008	@ Youngstown State	Beeghly Center • Youngstown, OH
03/08/2008	@ Butler	Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, IN
*Non-Conference Game. All times are in Central Time.

All-time records

1126-1064

External links

• School website
• [https://www.valpoathletics.com/ Official athletics website