Best MVC Coach

[Rambler63]

I got thinking about this discussion from earlier and thought it might be a fun read going back to a topic again since Lusk is a main talk now. I wonder if many would rank their coaches the same way now as they did earlier in the year. I am sure Moser has moved up most people's rank, and wonder how many would still keep Jacobson as high as they had him.

My biggest changes would be Porter moving up and Lansing moving down. Jacobson is still the best coach in this league by a long ways. It took him 12 years before he hit a play in game and he has a resume that no one can touch, also has the highest rated recruit in at least 10 years coming in next year. Yes, AJ Green is rated higher than Shamet, McDuffie, VanVleet, etc.

My current rankings-
1-Jacobson
2-Muller
3-Moser
4-Wardle
5-Hinson
6-Medved
7-Lansing
8-Simmons
9-Lottich (still a bit incomplete, but there were times where he was totally outmatched)

AJ Green is rated exactly as high as 6'9" Franklin Agunanne from La Lumiere, who's coming in next year for Loyola at the PF spot. He'll be playing side by side with 3-star Krutwig, 3.3-star Christian Negron, and 6'7" New Mexico transfer Aher Uguak in what could be the league's best front court.

Moser is probably the best recruiter. He was well below average IMO as a game-day and strategic coach until 2015 (the CBI championship year) when he seemed to figure it out. He has improved a lot as a game-planner, and he's learned how to get motivation and high level buy-in from players.

Getting Loyola to the tournament is a feat that shouldn't be underestimated. From 1987 to 2001, Loyola had 14 straight years without a winning season. Moser is the sixth coach for the Ramblers since their last tournament appearance, with four coaches in between Gene Sullivan and Moser who came up empty on ANY KIND of postseason experience (no NCAA, no NIT, no CBI, no CIT, no Vegas 16) in their combined 22 straight seasons of futility.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Moser made me eat crow.

[Drakey]

I got thinking about this discussion from earlier and thought it might be a fun read going back to a topic again since Lusk is a main talk now. I wonder if many would rank their coaches the same way now as they did earlier in the year. I am sure Moser has moved up most people's rank, and wonder how many would still keep Jacobson as high as they had him.

My biggest changes would be Porter moving up and Lansing moving down. Jacobson is still the best coach in this league by a long ways. It took him 12 years before he hit a play in game and he has a resume that no one can touch, also has the highest rated recruit in at least 10 years coming in next year. Yes, AJ Green is rated higher than Shamet, McDuffie, VanVleet, etc.

My current rankings-
1-Jacobson
2-Muller
3-Moser
4-Wardle
5-Hinson
6-Medved
7-Lansing
8-Simmons
9-Lottich (still a bit incomplete, but there were times where he was totally outmatched)

I don't see how you can bolster Jacobsen as a coach by the fact that one of his assistants happens to have a son who is really good. UNI would have had no shot at Green if not for his father's employment. I don't think Jacobsen has ever even had a three star recruit has he? He has been successful with that knock people around style of play, but I wonder if maybe it is becoming less effective over time. It's sure no easier to watch.

[pafan]

I didn't participate in this thread in the fall, but I'll throw out my thoughts at this point.

1. Jake is still #1. Yes, UNI struggled for a lot of this season. If there's one area where he seems to struggle, it seems to be player development through their careers.
2. Porter moves up to #2. I always liked Porter, but he was kind of like Marty in the first few years in the MVC. One star player (Doyle) and not much else most nights. Loyola's recruiting for the last couple of years has been much better. Scheme has always looked good to me.
3. Muller swaps spots with Porter. I'm not really sure how he keeps winning, but I won't argue with the results.
4. Medved. Bigtime props for getting what was mostly the same roster as last year out of Thursday.
5. Wardle moves down a notch. He did a good job executing phase one of the Geno Ford turnaround, but I'm starting to wonder where the ceiling is.
6. Barry. Barry knows his players' limitations, and that helps him at the "chess match" aspects of the game. Recruiting for this year's team was good, but has been very spotty in years past.
7. Lansing. It's the worst job in the Valley, and I guess he's doing well enough all things considered.
8. Marty. I think next year someone should try guarding the Aces with this plywood cutout. Set it up across the free throw line.
   
9. Vacancy - Empty chair moves MSU up one spot, for being less harmful on court than Lusk. Terrible recruiter though.
10. Lottich - Needs time to grow into the job. I see potential.

[Mikovio]

, also has the highest rated recruit in at least 10 years coming in next year. Yes, AJ Green is rated higher than Shamet, McDuffie, VanVleet, etc.

Actually Green matches 2014 Geno Ford recruit Josh Cunningham at #88 on the Rivals 150. Cunningham bailed when Wardle came in and is averaging 16/8 for Dayton.

1-Jacobson
2-Moser
3-Muller
4-Wardle
5-Hinson
6-Medved
7-Lansing
8-Simmons
9-Lottich

[LanceShock]

1. Jake is still #1. Yes, UNI struggled for a lot of this season. If there's one area where he seems to struggle, it seems to be player development through their careers.

Not sure what you mean by this. I've always thought that developing his players over the years is one of his strengths. When he has a group of players he has been able to work with for a few years, those teams tend to be really good.

[BCPanther]

I got thinking about this discussion from earlier and thought it might be a fun read going back to a topic again since Lusk is a main talk now. I wonder if many would rank their coaches the same way now as they did earlier in the year. I am sure Moser has moved up most people's rank, and wonder how many would still keep Jacobson as high as they had him.

My biggest changes would be Porter moving up and Lansing moving down. Jacobson is still the best coach in this league by a long ways. It took him 12 years before he hit a play in game and he has a resume that no one can touch, also has the highest rated recruit in at least 10 years coming in next year. Yes, AJ Green is rated higher than Shamet, McDuffie, VanVleet, etc.

My current rankings-
1-Jacobson
2-Muller
3-Moser
4-Wardle
5-Hinson
6-Medved
7-Lansing
8-Simmons
9-Lottich (still a bit incomplete, but there were times where he was totally outmatched)

AJ Green is rated exactly as high as 6'9" Franklin Agunanne from La Lumiere, who's coming in next year for Loyola at the PF spot. He'll be playing side by side with 3-star Krutwig, 3.3-star Christian Negron, and 6'7" New Mexico transfer Aher Uguak in what could be the league's best front court.

Moser is probably the best recruiter. He was well below average IMO as a game-day and strategic coach until 2015 (the CBI championship year) when he seemed to figure it out. He has improved a lot as a game-planner, and he's learned how to get motivation and high level buy-in from players.

Getting Loyola to the tournament is a feat that shouldn't be underestimated. From 1987 to 2001, Loyola had 14 straight years without a winning season. Moser is the sixth coach for the Ramblers since their last tournament appearance, with four coaches in between Gene Sullivan and Moser who came up empty on ANY KIND of postseason experience (no NCAA, no NIT, no CBI, no CIT, no Vegas 16) in their combined 22 straight seasons of futility.

Um, nope.

https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals150/2018

[VU2014]

It's tough for me as a Valpo fan to totally evaluate and rank the MVC coaches because we've only been in the league for 1 season. All I have to stay is this league is incredibly well coached.

I think most Valpo fan's view Matt Lottich positively but we know he's still growing into the job. This was only his 2nd season as a head coach. He did a great coaching job last season given all the chaos/injuries he had to deal with. Alec Peters went down with a stress fracture. We lost another starter to a NCAA academic violation midway through the season. The NCAA dragged their feet on ruling on the case and then eventually ruled him out for the season, which was an egregious over punishment given P5 players who committed the same crime only received a few games for the crime. What also needs to be considered is the same student-athlete was a 2 a time HL Academic Honor Roll recipient, Athletes in Action participant, also a member of the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum.

Lottich also had to deal with a Prep "Coach" (who is also a active player agent) of one of our best players try and strong arm him and the athletics department into hiring one of his clients onto the coaching staff. Coach Lottich refused to hire his guy so he forced the student athlete to transfer. I highly encourage you guys to read this article: http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/in ... d6508.html

I think the one complaint that many Valpo fans have of Coach Lottich is that he gets run over by the refs and he hasn't learned the art of "working the refs" for calls. Some fans hold the belief that he doesn't "fight for his guys" on the sidelines when there is a blatant awful call by the refs. Lottich is very composed on the sidelines at all times and doesn't get nearly as emotional or angry as a guy like Wardle on the sidelines.

Overall I think Matt Lottich is going to prove himself to be a really great Head Coach in this league. He's an extremely intelligent and impressive guy. He's also a great leader. We were one of the youngest teams in the nation this season and most of our roster had not played together before this season. I'm high on his future as our head coach. We had some tough breaks this season also with lose Tevonn Walker to mono midseason and never fully recovering. He also had to deal with losing arguably the most talented player on the roster Joe Burton who was let go right before Conference play because he couldn't cut it academically at Valparaiso University. Losing Joe Burton (former Top 100 recruit) was the death nail of this team because he was the most talented scorer and 3rd most experience player. The coaches and team had to remake the offense on the fly during conference play. The team started to play a lot better the last month of the season. The guys really never quit on the season and played hard all through the tough 1st year in the MVC. The defense was always pretty good this season.