| |
| 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.[1] 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.[2]
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) |
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| 11/23/2007* | vs. Maryland - Eastern Shore | South Padre Island Convention Centre • South Padre Island, TX (South Padre Island Invitational) |
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| 11/24/2007* | vs. TBA | South Padre Island Convention Centre • South Padre Island, TX (South Padre Island Invitational) |
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| 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) |
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| 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) |
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| 11/24/2007* | TBA | Alico Arena • Fort Myers, FL (Florida Gulf Coast Tournament) |
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| 12/01/2007* | Ball State | Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN (Hoosier Classic) |
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| 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. | |||||||
Conference membership history[]
All-time records[]
1126-1064
External links[]
- School website
- [https://www.valpoathletics.com/ Official athletics website
- ↑ "Valparaiso University to Retire Crusaders Mascot". Valparaiso University. February 11, 2021. https://www.valpo.edu/news/2021/02/11/valparaiso-university-to-retire-%E2%80%A8crusader-mascot/.
- ↑ "Valparaiso University Unveils New Nickname". Valparaiso Beacons. August 10, 2021. https://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/news/2021-22/20576/valparaiso-university-unveils-new-nickname/.