Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball

Valparaiso Crusaders
2014–15 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team
University	Valparaiso University
Conference	Horizon League
Location	Valparaiso, IN
Head coach	Bryce Drew (4th year)
Arena	Athletics-Recreation Center (Capacity: 5,432)
Nickname	Crusaders
Colors	Brown and Gold
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1998
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
1998
NCAA Tournament appearances
1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2013, 2015
Conference tournament champions
Mid-Continent Conference 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 Horizon League 2013, 2015
Conference regular season champions
Mid-Continent Conference 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Horizon League 2012, 2013, 2015

Butler–Valparaiso rivalry
Butler Bulldogs Valparaiso Crusaders
Sport(s)	Men's basketball
Total meetings	103
Series record	Butler leads, 67–36
First meeting	1934-35 Butler 41, Valparaiso 25
Last meeting	March 3, 2012 Valparaiso 65, Butler 46
Largest win	Valparaiso, 85–49 (1945-46)
Longest win streak	Butler, 15 (1957–1964)
Current win streak	Valparaiso: 4 wins (2011-2012)
Trophy	none

The Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represents Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. The basketball team competes in the Horizon League and is coached by Bryce Drew. Bryce replaced his father, Valparaiso coaching legend Homer Drew, in May 2011. The Crusaders play in the Athletics-Recreation Center, which has a capacity of 5,432. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2015.

History

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] In 1988, Homer Drew took the job as head coach and remained until retiring in May 2011. He was then succeeded by his son Bryce. 1988 was also the year that the Crusaders defeated 19th-ranked 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."^[1] That year, they defeated Long Island University in a game played in Madison Square Garden.

Conference affiliation

The Crusaders joined 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 1978–79 season. After four years as an independent, they became charter members of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities, now known as The Summit League. In 2007, Valparaiso became a member of the Horizon League.

Championships

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Valparaiso (Mid-Continent Conference) (1982–2007)
1994–1995	Homer Drew	20–8	14–4	1st
1995–1996	Homer Drew	22–10	13–5	1st	NCAA 1st Round
1996–1997	Homer Drew	24–7	13–3	1st	NCAA 1st Round
1997–1998	Homer Drew	23–10	13–3	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1998–1999	Homer Drew	23–10	10–4	T–1st	NCAA 1st Round
1999–2000	Homer Drew	19–13	10–6	T–2nd	NCAA 1st Round
2000–2001	Homer Drew	24–8	13–3	T–1st
2001–2002	Homer Drew	25–8	12–2	1st	NCAA 1st Round
2002–03	Scott Drew	20–11	12–2	1st	NIT Opening Round
2003–2004	Homer Drew	18–13	11–5	1st	NCAA 1st Round
Valparaiso (Horizon League) (2007–present)
2011–12	Bryce Drew	22–12	14–4	1st	NIT First Round
2012–13	Bryce Drew	26–8	13–3	1st	NCAA Second Round
2014–15	Bryce Drew	28–6	13–3	1st	NCAA Second Round
Total:
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Postseason

NCAA Division I 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 won their second round game against Florida State University before losing in the Sweet 16 to the University of Rhode Island. The Crusaders won 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, in their first game televised by ESPN, they lost to the University of Iowa. The Crusaders played in the title game of the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament every year between 1995 and 2004.

NCAA Division I tournament results

The Crusaders have appeared in nine NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 2–9.

Date	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site
1996	#14(W)	vs. #3(W) Arizona (First Round)	L 90–51	0–1	ASU Activity Center
1997	#12(W)	vs. #5(W) Boston College (First Round)	L 73–66	0–2	Jon M. Huntsman Center
1998	#13(MW)	vs. #4(MW) Mississippi (First Round)	W 70–69	1–2	Myriad Convention Center
1998	#13(MW)	vs. #12(MW) Florida State (Second Round)	W 83–77 OT	2–2	Myriad Convention Center
1998	#13(MW)	vs. #8(MW) Rhode Island (Sweet Sixteen)	L 74–68	2–3	Kiel Center
1999	#15(S)	vs. #2(S) Maryland (First Round)	L 82–60	2–4	Orlando Arena
2000	#16(MW)	vs. #1(MW) Michigan State (First Round)	L 65–38	2–5	Wolstein Center
2002	#13(E)	vs. #4(E) Kentucky (First Round)	L 83–68	2–6	Edward Jones Dome
2004	#15(St. Louis)	vs. #2(St.Louis) Gonzaga (First Round)	L 76–49	2–7	KeyArena
2013	#14(MW)	vs. #3(MW) Michigan State (Second Round)	L 65–54	2–8	The Palace of Auburn Hills
2015	#13(MW)	vs. #4(MW) Maryland (Second Round)	L 65–62	2–9	Nationwide Arena
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region MW=Midwest.

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Crusaders have appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament five times. Their combined record is 7–5.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1962	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Kentucky State Concordia (IL) Sacramento State	W 75–61 W 75–72 L 54–61
1966	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals	Saint Procopius North Dakota	W 107–76 L 82–112
1967	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Colorado State–Preblo Indiana State Missouri State	W 89–52 W 80–77 L 72–86
1969	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals	Concordia (IL) Illinois State	W 91–81 L 87–103
1973	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals	Capital Kentucky Wesleyan	W 69–64 L 66–74

NAIA tournament results

The Crusaders have appeared in the NAIA Tournament two times. Their combined record is 1–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1938	First Round Second Round	Western Oregon Central Missouri	W 57–48 L 24–44
1943	First Round	Eastern Washington	L 42–45

NIT Results

The Crusaders have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) two times. Their combined record is 0–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
2003	Opening Round	Iowa	L 60–62
2012	First Round	Miami (FL)	L 50–66

CBI Results

The Crusaders have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) one time. Their record is 1–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
2008	First Round Quarterfinals	Washington Houston	W 72–71 L 67–91

CIT Results

The Crusaders have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two times. Their record is 0–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
2011	First Round	Iona	L 77–85
2014	First Round	Columbia	L 56–58

Radio

All Crusader games are broadcast for free on the Valparaiso website at valpoathletics.com. WVUR-FM, the student-run campus radio station, also broadcasts select Crusader games on 95.1 FM and on the station's website.

Crusaders in the NBA

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

External links

• Official website
• "NBA players who attended Valparaiso". Basketball Reference. 
• Pahl, Justin (March 17, 2015). "Countdown to March: Life and Death with a Small-Town Team". SBNation. Retrieved March 18, 2015.  Archived March 18, 2015 at the Wayback Machine.

References

Valparaiso University Presidents O. P. Kretzmann (1940-1968) Alan Harre (1988-2008) Mark A. Heckler (2008-present) Academics Valparaiso University School of Law Buildings Chapel of the Resurrection Christopher Center library Heritage Hall Culture Brauer Museum of Art Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center WVUR Athletics Valparaiso Crusaders Men's Basketball Baseball Football Brown Field Athletics-Recreation Center Emory G. Bauer Field "The Shot"

Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball Venues Hilltop Gym (19??–1984) ARC (1984–present) Culture & lore History "The Shot" People Head coaches NBA players Seasons 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Horizon League men's basketball Teams Cleveland State Vikings Detroit Titans Green Bay Phoenix Milwaukee Panthers Oakland Golden Grizzlies UIC Flames Valparaiso Crusaders Wright State Raiders Youngstown State Penguins Championships and awards Conference tournament Player of the Year Seasons 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14