2020–21 Valparaiso University men's basketball team

2020–21 Valparaiso University men's basketball
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record10–18 (7–11 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Luke Gore
  • Rob Holloway
  • Matt Bowen
Home arenaAthletics–Recreation Center
Seasons
2020–21 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 17 Loyola Chicago † 16 – 2   .889 26 – 5   .839
Drake 15 – 3   .833 26 – 5   .839
Missouri State 12 – 6   .667 17 – 7   .708
Indiana State 11 – 7   .611 15 – 10   .600
Evansville 7 – 11   .389 9 – 16   .360
Valparaiso 7 – 11   .389 10 – 18   .357
Northern Iowa 7 – 11   .389 10 – 15   .400
Bradley 6 – 12   .333 12 – 16   .429
Southern Illinois 5 – 13   .278 12 – 14   .462
Illinois State 4 – 14   .222 7 – 18   .280
† 2021 MVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Valparaiso University men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Valpo, led by fifth-year head coach Matt Lottich, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 10–18, 7–11 in MVC play to finish a three-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to Missouri State in the quarterfinals.[1]

In February 2021, the school officially retired the use of the Crusaders name and mascot due to its use by certain hate groups.[2][3]

Previous season

The Crusaders finished the 2019–20 season 19–16, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Evansville, Loyola–Chicago, and Missouri State[4] to advance to the championship game where they lost to Bradley.[5] All further postseason play was canceled shortly thereafter due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Javon Freeman-Liberty 0 G 6'3" 175 Sophomore Chicago, IL Transferred to DePaul
John Kiser 33 G/F 6'5" 205 Senior Noblesville, IN Graduated
Ryan Fazekas 35 G/F 6'7" 220 RS Senior Chesterton, IN Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Goodnews Kpegeol 0 G 6'5" 200 RS Sophomore St. Paul, MN Transferred from Southwest Mississippi CC.

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Sheldon Edwards
#13 SG 		West Palm Beach, FL Palm Beach Lakes / TLAP Sports Academy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg)  
Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Jacob Ognacevic
#34 PF 		Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan Area Lutheran 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg)  
Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Connor Barrett
#35 SG 		Chicago, Illinois Loyola Academy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg)  
Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   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:

Roster

2020–21 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Goodnews Kpegeol 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So North HS
Kansas State/SW Mississippi CC 		St. Paul, MN
G 1 Sigurd Lorange 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Metis Videregaende Skole Trondheim, Norway
G 2 Zion Morgan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Kenwood
UNLV/Wabash Valley 		Chicago, IL
G 3 Steven Helm 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So Valparaiso HS
Carroll 		Valparaiso, IN
G 4 Daniel Sackey 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Thornlea Winnipeg, MB
G/F 5 Donovan Clay 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Alton HS Alton, IL
G 10 Eron Gordon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Cathedral HS
Seton Hall 		Indianapolis, IN
C 11 Emil Freese-Vilien 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 255 lb (116 kg) So Falkonergardens Gymnasium Copenhagen, Denmark
G/F 12 Tyler Fricke (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Buffalo Grove HS Arlington Heights, IL
G 13 Sheldon Edwards 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Palm Beach Lakes HS
TLAP Sports Academy 		West Palm Beach, FL
G 15 Luke Morrill (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Montini Catholic HS Lombard, IL
F 21 Brock Pappas (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Washington Township HS Valparaiso, IN
F 22 Mileek McMillan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Merrillville HS Merrillville, IN
F 23 Ben Krikke 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Jasper Place HS Edmonton, AB
G 25 Nick Robinson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Kenwood
Saint Joseph's 		Chicago, IL
F 34 Jacob Ognacevic 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Sheboygan Lutheran HS Sheboygan, WI
G/F 35 Connor Barrett 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Loyola Academy Chicago, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: January 1, 2021

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 27, 2020*
6:00 pm, SECN 		at Vanderbilt L 71–77  0–1
 Memorial Gymnasium (0)
Nashville, TN
December 1, 2020*
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		at UIC L 50–66  0–2
 Credit Union 1 Arena (0)
Chicago, IL
December 4, 2020*
6:00 pm, BTN 		at Purdue L 61–68  0–3
 Mackey Arena (0)
West Lafayette, IN
December 6, 2020*
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		Judson W 85–45  1–3
 Athletics–Recreation Center (66)
Valparaiso, IN
December 9, 2020*
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		SIU Edwardsville W 80–58  2–3
 Athletics–Recreation Center (60)
Valparaiso, IN
December 12, 2020*
3:30 pm, ESPN3 		at Central Michigan L 79–84  2–4
 McGuirk Arena (0)
Mount Pleasant, MI
December 16, 2020
6:00 pm 		Eastern Michigan
Canceled due to lack of available scholarship players for Eastern Michigan[7] 		Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN
December 17, 2020*
5:30 pm, ESPN3 		Purdue Northwest W 89–71  3–4
 Athletics–Recreation Center (74)
Valparaiso, IN
December 19, 2020*
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Toledo L 57–71  3–5
 Savage Arena (0)
Toledo, OH
December 21, 2020
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		Mount St. Joseph
Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols[8] 		Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN
January 9, 2021
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Missouri State L 68–81  3–6
(0–1) 		Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN
January 10, 2021
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Missouri State L 68–78  3–7
(0–2) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (80)
Valparaiso, IN
January 16, 2021*
3:00 pm, FS1 		at DePaul L 58–77  3–8
 Wintrust Arena 
Chicago, IL
January 20, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Loyola–Chicago L 39–75  3–9
(0–3) 		Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN
January 23, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Illinois State W 69–60  4–9
(1–3) 		Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
January 24, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Illinois State W 70–66  5–9
(2–3) 		Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
January 28, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		Bradley W 91–85 2OT 6–9
(3–3) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (77)
Valparaiso, IN
January 31, 2021
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Evansville L 52–70  6–10
(3–4) 		Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
February 1, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Evansville L 51–58  6–11
(3–5) 		Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
February 6, 2021
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		No. 25 Drake L 77–80  6–12
(3–6) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (123)
Valparaiso, IN
February 7, 2021
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		No. 25 Drake W 74–57  7–12
(4–6) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (119)
Valparaiso, IN
February 10, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		Bradley L 52–76  7–13
(4–7) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (88)
Valparaiso, IN
February 13, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Northern Iowa W 70–57  8–13
(5–7) 		McLeod Center (713)
Cedar Falls, IA
February 14, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Northern Iowa L 60–74  8–14
(5–8) 		McLeod Center (953)
Cedar Falls, IA
February 17, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at No. 22 Loyola–Chicago L 52–54  8–15
(5–9) 		Joseph J. Gentile Arena 
Chicago, IL
February 20, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Southern Illinois W 66–65  9–15
(6–9) 		Banterra Center 
Carbondale, IL
February 21, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Southern Illinois L 64–67  9–16
(6–10) 		Banterra Center 
Carbondale, IL
February 26, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		Indiana State L 43–58  9–17
(6–11) 		Athletics–Recreation Center 
Valparaiso, IN
February 27, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Indiana State W 70–58  10–17
(7–11) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (128)
Valparaiso, IN
MVC tournament
March 5, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN+ 		(6) vs. (3) Missouri State
Quarterfinals 		L 55–66  10–18
 Enterprise Center 
St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[9][10][11]

References

  1. ^ "Valparaiso vs. Missouri State - Box Score - March 5, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  2. ^ Oren, Paul. "Mascot debate at Valparaiso has proponents and opponents, just as it did in the 1940s". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "You are being redirected..." www.athleticbusiness.com. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  4. ^ "Valparaiso vs. Missouri State - Game Recap - March 7, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  5. ^ "Valparaiso vs. Bradley - Game Recap - March 8, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  6. ^ "NCAA cancels March Madness tournaments, all other winter and spring championships". NBC News. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  7. ^ "EMU-Valparaiso Men's Basketball Game Canceled". emueagles.com. Eastern Michigan Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  8. ^ "Valpo Men's Basketball Announces Schedule Change". valpoathletics.com. Valparaiso University Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  9. ^ "Men's Basketball Schedule". valpoathletics.com. Valparaiso University Athletics. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  10. ^ "2020-21 Valparaiso Crusaders Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  11. ^ "2020-21 Valparaiso Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved July 8, 2021.