Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball

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Valparaiso Crusaders
Valparaiso Crusaders athletic logo
University Valparaiso University
Conference Horizon League
Location Valparaiso, IN
Head Coach Homer Drew (18th year)
Arena Athletics-Recreation Center
(Capacity: 5,000)
Nickname Crusaders
Colors Brown and Gold

             
Uniforms
 
Home jersey
Home jersey
  
Home shorts
Home
 
Away jersey
Away jersey
  
Away shorts
Away
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1998
Conference Tournament Champions
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 (Summit League)
Conference Regular Season Champions
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 (Summit League)

The Valparaiso Crusaders Basketball team is the basketball team that represent Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. The school's team currently competes in the Horizon League. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2004. The Crusaders are currently coached by Homer Drew, who is in his 18th year. The Crusaders play in the Athletics-Recreation Center, which has a capacity of 5,000.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] The beginning

The Crusaders' first game was in 1917. Under the coaching of Sidney Winters, the team lost to Chicago. The team would finish 7-2 that year [1]

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 with the shot. 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.

[edit] All time tournament results

The Crusaders have appeared in seven NCAA Tournament. 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

[edit] Radio

All Crusader games are broadcast for free on the Valparaiso website at www.valpo.edu/athletics and on WVUR-FM.

[edit] Crusaders in the NBA

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Horizon League Men's basketball

Butler • Cleveland State • Detroit • UIC • Loyola Chicago • Valparaiso • UW-Green Bay • UW-Milwaukee • Wright State • Youngstown State