2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball
Conference Horizon League
2016–17 record 7–1 (0–0 Horizon)
Head coach Matt Lottich (1st year)
Assistant coach Luke Gore
Assistant coach David Ragland
Assistant coach Jackie Manuel
Home arena Athletics–Recreation Center
2016–17 Horizon League men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
Oakland 0 0       8 1   .889
Valparaiso 0 0       7 1   .875
Wright State 0 0       6 3   .667
Northern Kentucky 0 0       5 3   .625
UIC 0 0       4 3   .571
Youngstown State 0 0       5 4   .556
Green Bay 0 0       4 4   .500
Milwaukee 0 0       3 5   .375
Cleveland State 0 0       2 5   .286
Detroit 0 0       1 7   .125
2017 Horizon League Tournament winner
As of December 3, 2016; 

The 2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represents Valparaiso University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by first-year head coach Matt Lottich, play their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center and are members of the Horizon League.

Previous season

The Crusaders finished the 2015–16 season 30–7, 16–2 in Horizon League play to win the regular season championship. They lost in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament to Green Bay. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, the Crusaders received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As one of the last four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament, they received a No. 1 seed in the NIT where they defeated Texas Southern, Florida State, Saint Mary's, and BYU to advance to the championship game where they lost to George Washington.

This season was Bryce Drew's final season as Valparaiso head coach. He accepted the Vanderbilt head coaching job on April 5, 2016.[1] He finished at Valpo with a five year record of 124–49 and went to the postseason every year as head coach. On April 7, the school promoted assistant coach Matt Lottich to head coach.[2]

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Keith Carter 0 G 6'1" 180 Senior Maywood, IL Graduated
E. Victor Nickerson 1 G/F 6'8" 185 Senior Atlanta, GA Graduated
Darien Walker 5 G 6'3" 220 Senior Chicago, IL Graduated
David Skara 10 F 6'8" 205 Sophomore Zadar, Croatia Transferred to Clemson
Vashil Fernandez 14 F 6'10" 260 Senior Kingston, Jamaica Graduated

Incoming Transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Bakari Evelyn 3 G 6'2" 175 Sophomore Detroit, MI Transferred from Nebraska. Under NCAA transfer rules, Evelyn will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
Joe Burton 10 G/F 6'6" 215 Junior Houston, TX Transferred from Oklahoma. Under NCAA transfer rules, Burton will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
John Middleton 13 G 6'4" 215 Sophomore Atlantic City, NJ Transferred from Utah State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Middleton will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

Class of 2016 signees

Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Micah Bradford
PG
Bradley, Illinois Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Nov 18, 2015 
Scout: N/A   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Class of 2017 signees

Roster

2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Home town
G 1 Bradford, MicahMicah Bradford 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Fr Bradley, IL
G 2 Walker, TevonnTevonn Walker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Montreal, Quebec, Canada
G 3 Joseph, MaxMax Joseph 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Montreal, Quebec, Canada
G 4 Evelyn, BakariBakari Evelyn (I)  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Detroit, MI
G 5 Karys, JasonJason Karys (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Newton, MA
G/F 10 Burton, JoeJoe Burton (I)  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Porter, TX
G 11 Hammink, ShaneShane Hammink 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Millingen aan de Rijn, Netherlands
G 13 Middleton, JohnJohn Middleton (I)  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Atlantic City, NJ
C 14 Sorolla, JaumeJaume Sorolla 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Tortosa, Spain
G 15 Williams, LexusLexus Williams 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) RS Jr Chicago, IL
C 21 Smits, DerrikDerrik Smits 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Fr Zionsville, IN
G 22 Davidson, NickNick Davidson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Munster, IN
F 23 Adekoya, JubrilJubril Adekoya 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Tinley Park, IL
F 25 Peters, AlecAlec Peters 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Washington, IL
F 30 Levingston Simon, ChandlerChandler Levingston Simon (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr Vernon Hills, IL
G/F 33 Kiser, JohnJohn Kiser (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Noblesville, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Exhibition

11/05/2016*
7:30 PM
Hillsdale W 78–63 
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN
Non-conference regular season

11/11/2016*
7:00 PM
Southern Utah
Men Who Speak Up Main Event
W 79–65  1–0
Athletics–Recreation Center (3,560)
Valparaiso, IN

11/12/2016*
7:00 PM
Trinity Christian W 89–75  2–0
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,588)
Valparaiso, IN

11/14/2016*
7:00 PM
Coppin State
Men Who Speak Up Main Event
W 78–58  3–0
Athletics–Recreation Center (1,972)
Valparaiso, IN

11/17/2016*
8:00 PM, P12N
at No. 4 Oregon L 76–54  3–1
Matthew Knight Arena (7,509)
Eugene, OR

11/21/2016*
11:00 PM
vs. Alabama
Men Who Speak Up Main Event semifinals
W 68–60  4–1
MGM Grand Garden Arena (2,107)
Paradise, NV

11/23/2016*
10:59 PM, ESPN2
vs. BYU
Men Who Speak Up Main Event Championship
W 92-89  5-1
MGM Grand Garden Arena 
Paradise, NV

11/27/2016*
1:30 PM
Ball State W 79–73  6–1
Athletics–Recreation Center (3,166)
Valparaiso, IN

11/29/2016*
7:00 PM, ESPN#
No. 21 Rhode Island W 65–62  7–1
Athletics–Recreation Center (4,149)
Valparaiso, IN

12/07/2016*
7:00 PM, SECN
at Kentucky   
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY

12/10/2016*
7:05 PM
at Missouri State   
JQH Arena 
Springfield, MO

12/17/2016*
7:00 PM
Indiana State   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

12/22/2016*
7:00 PM
Santa Clara   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

12/28/2016*
7:00 PM
Chicago State   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN
Horizon League regular season

12/30/2016
4:00 PM, ESPNU
at UIC   
UIC Pavilion 
Chicago, IL

01/06/2017
8:00 PM, ESPN2
Oakland   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

01/12/2017
6:45 PM
at Youngstown State   
Beeghly Center 
Youngstown, OH

01/14/2017
2:30 PM
at Cleveland State   
Wolstein Center 
Cleveland, OH

01/16/2017
7:00 PM
Green Bay   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

01/22/2017
2:00 PM, ASN
UIC   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

01/27/2017
 ESPNU/ESPN3
Wright State   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

01/29/2017
1:30 PM
Northern Kentucky   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

02/02/2017
2:00 PM, ESPN3 exclusive
at Milwaukee   
UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena 
Milwaukee, WI

02/04/2017
2:00 PM, ESPN3 exclusive
at Green Bay   
Resch Center 
Green Bay, WI

02/09/2017
7:00 PM
Cleveland State   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

02/11/2017
7:00 PM
Youngstown State   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

02/16/2017
6:00 PM, ESPN2
at Oakland   
Athletics Center O'rena 
Rochester, MI

02/21/2017
7:00 PM
Milwaukee   
Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN

02/24/2017
6:30 PM
at Wright State   
Nutter Center 
Dayton, OH

02/26/2017
1:00 PM
at Northern Kentucky   
BB&T Arena 
Highland Heights, KY
Horizon League Tournament

03/03–07/2017
vs.    
Joe Louis Arena 
Detroit, MI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

References

  1. "Sources: Vandy, Bryce Drew reach 6-year deal". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  2. Technologies, Streamline. "Matt Lottich Hired as Valparaiso University Men's Basketball Head Coach". ValpoAthletics.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.