2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by first-year head coach Matt Lottich, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 24–9, 14–4 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for the Horizon League regular season championship. As the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they lost to Milwaukee in the quarterfinals. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Illinois.

2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball
Men Who Speak Up Main Event champions Horizon League regular season co-champions
NIT, First round
Conference	Horizon League
Record	24–9 (14–4 Horizon)
Head coach	Matt Lottich (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Luke Gore David Ragland Jackie Manuel
Home arena	Athletics–Recreation Center
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 Horizon League men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Oakland	14	–	4		.778			25	–	9		.735
Valparaiso	14	–	4		.778			24	–	9		.727
Green Bay	12	–	6		.667			18	–	14		.563
Northern Kentucky †	12	–	6		.667			24	–	11		.686
Wright State	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
UIC	7	–	11		.389			17	–	19		.472
Detroit	6	–	12		.333			8	–	23		.258
Cleveland State	5	–	13		.278			9	–	22		.290
Youngstown State	5	–	13		.278			13	–	21		.382
Milwaukee	4	–	14		.222			11	–	24		.314
† 2017 Horizon League Tournament winner

This was the Crusaders' final season as a member of the Horizon League as the school announced on May 25, 2017 that it would be joining the Missouri Valley Conference effective July 1, 2017.^[1]

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 marked Bryce Drew's final season as Valparaiso head coach. He accepted the Vanderbilt head coaching job on April 5, 2016.^[2] 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.^[3]

Offseason

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 had to sit out the 2016–17 season, and would then have three years of remaining eligibility.
Joe Burton	10	G/F	6'6"	215	Junior	Houston, TX	Transferred from Oklahoma State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Burton had to sit out the 2016–17 season, and would then 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 had to sit out the 2016–17 season, and would then have three years of remaining eligibility.

2016 recruiting class

College recruiting information

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
	Star ratings: Rivals:   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:

2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2017)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Parker Hazen #42 SF	Columbia City, Indiana	Columbia City High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	188 lb (85 kg)
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
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:

Preseason

In a poll of the League’s coaches, media, and sports information directors, Valparaiso was picked to win the conference, receiving 35 of the 39 first-place votes.^[4] Alec Peters was named the Preseason Horizon League player of the year.^[4] Shane Hammink was also named to the Preseason All-Horizon League second team.

Roster

2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Micah Bradford 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Fr Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School Bradley, Illinois G 2 Tevonn Walker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Vanier College Montreal, Quebec, Canada G 3 Max Joseph 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Vanier College Montreal, Quebec, Canada G 4 Bakari Evelyn (I)  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Nebraska Detroit, Michigan G 5 Jason Karys (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Newton South High School Newton, Massachusetts G/F 10 Joe Burton (I)  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Oklahoma State Porter, Texas G 11 Shane Hammink 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr LSU Millingen aan de Rijn, Netherlands G 13 John Middleton (I)  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Utah State Atlantic City, New Jersey C 14 Jaume Sorolla 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Sunrise Christian Academy Tortosa, Spain G 15 Lexus Williams 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) RS Jr Marist Chicago, Illinois C 21 Derrik Smits 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Fr Zionsville Community High School Zionsville, Indiana G 22 Nick Davidson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Andrean High School Munster, Indiana F 23 Jubril Adekoya 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Victor J. Andrew High School Tinley Park, Illinois F 25 Alec Peters 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Washington Community High School Washington, Illinois F 30 Chandler Levingston Simon (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Jr UMKC Vernon Hills, Illinois G/F 33 John Kiser (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Noblesville High School Noblesville, Indiana	Head coach Matt Lottich (Stanford) Assistant coach(es) Luke Gore (Bethel (IN)) David Ragland (Southern Indiana) Jackie Manuel (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt 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 54–76	3–1	Matthew Knight Arena (7,509) Eugene, OR
11/21/2016* 11:00 pm, YouTube		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, ESPN3		No. 21 Rhode Island	W 65–62	7–1	Athletics–Recreation Center (4,149) Valparaiso, IN
12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, SECN		at No. 6 Kentucky	L 63–87	7–2	Rupp Arena (21,805) Lexington, KY
12/10/2016* 7:05 pm, ESPN3		at Missouri State	W 84–81	8–2	JQH Arena (6,147) Springfield, MO
12/17/2016* 7:03 pm, ESPN3		Indiana State	W 89–71	9–2	Athletics–Recreation Center (2,172) Valparaiso, IN
12/22/2016* 7:00 pm		Santa Clara	L 80–87 OT	9–3	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,854) Valparaiso, IN
12/28/2016* 7:00 pm		Chicago State	W 80–61	10–3	Athletics–Recreation Center (2,024) Valparaiso, IN
Horizon League regular season
12/30/2016 4:00 pm, ESPNU		at UIC	W 70–59	11–3 (1–0)	UIC Pavilion (3,826) Chicago, IL
01/06/2017 8:05 pm, ESPN2		Oakland	L 66–78	11–4 (1–1)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,872) Valparaiso, IN
01/08/2017 12:00 pm, ASN		Detroit	W 81–74	12–4 (2–1)	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,776) Valparaiso, IN
01/12/2017 6:45 pm, ESPN3		at Youngstown State	W 78–62	13–4 (3–1)	Beeghly Center (2,517) Youngstown, OH
01/14/2017 2:30 pm, ESPN3		at Cleveland State	W 78–67	14–4 (4–1)	Wolstein Center (1,831) Cleveland, OH
01/16/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Green Bay	W 80–56	15–4 (5–1)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,625) Valparaiso, IN
01/22/2017 2:00 pm, ASN		UIC	W 96–65	16–4 (6–1)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,881) Valparaiso, IN
01/27/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Wright State	W 70–55	17–4 (7–1)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,461) Valparaiso, IN
01/29/2017 1:30 pm, ESPN3		Northern Kentucky	W 65–58	18–4 (8–1)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,578) Valparaiso, IN
02/02/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Milwaukee	W 71–53	19–4 (9–1)	UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (2,267) Milwaukee, WI
02/04/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Green Bay	L 69–86	19–5 (9–2)	Resch Center (3,963) Green Bay, WI
02/09/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Cleveland State	W 78–57	20–5 (10–2)	Athletics–Recreation Center (2,455) Valparaiso, IN
02/11/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Youngstown State	W 82–72	21–5 (11–2)	Athletics–Recreation Center (4,823) Valparaiso, IN
02/16/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN2		at Oakland	L 71–82	21–6 (11–3)	Athletics Center O'rena  Rochester, MI
02/19/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Detroit	W 83–63	22–6 (12–3)	Calihan Hall (2,003) Detroit, MI
02/21/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Milwaukee	W 67–61	23–6 (13–3)	Athletics–Recreation Center (3,512) Valparaiso, IN
02/24/2017 6:30 pm, ESPN3		at Wright State	W 84-74	24–6 (14–3)	Nutter Center (5,028) Dayton, OH
02/26/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Northern Kentucky	L 78–82	24–7 (14–4)	BB&T Arena (3,304) Highland Heights, KY
Horizon League tournament
03/04/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3	(2)	vs. (10) Milwaukee Quarterfinals	L 41–43	24–8	Joe Louis Arena (8,481) Detroit, MI
NIT
03/14/2017* 6:15 pm, ESPN2	(7)	at (2) Illinois First round – Illinois State Bracket	L 57–82	24–9	State Farm Center (4,719) Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

1. "It's Official. Welcome, Valparaiso" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. May 25, 2017. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
2. "Sources: Vandy, Bryce Drew reach 6-year deal". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
3. Technologies, Streamline. "Matt Lottich Hired as Valparaiso University Men's Basketball Head coach". ValpoAthletics.com. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
4. "Horizon League Announces Men's Basketball Preseason Awards | Horizon League". www.horizonleague.org. Archived from the original on January 3, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.