Is Valpo keeping Lottich?

[Fraydog]

The key issue is they are not only failing to follow through on promises but now actively making excuses for doing so in spite of having one of the largest endowments in the MVC.

They are not living up to the terms of their admission to the MVC. It’s all excuses.

[BEARZ77]

What's been amazing to me is that Lottich has actually been able to recruit fairly well there, but unable to keep them or string together enough classes to make a move. I mean it's gotta be a tough sell when a kid starts comparing resources and facilities. I thought about 3-4 years ago Valpo had some of the best young talent in the league , but they kept losing pieces. The beauty of basketball right now, is you can become competitive in 1 recruiting cycle, but to win consistently , you need some continuity and they just haven't had it roster wise.

[VULB62]

So far, everyone who has posted about the VU situation has articulated pretty much what most VU Fan Board members know about it.

We have a new President who has hired a new AD. President Padilla has made statements that would point the Athletic Department — that is, if he can find the funds — in a positive direction. For instance, a feasibility study has been contracted for that would assess whether a new BB arena or a substantial ARC upgrade should be done. That is the first visible big step taken by Valpo since joining the MVC (BTW, the AC mentioned was for the practice facility, not the arena). He also said that BB has to meet higher expectations. But on the other hand, VU changed their nickname to Beacons and selected two friendly, passive dogs (chocolate lab and golden retriever) as dual mascots to the chagrin of most alums which has had a negative affect on support.

The new AD, Charles Smart, only began work mid-summer. He’s out of Iowa State and has experience at Pitt, so he understands D-I. He appears to be carefully gathering information about the department and our teams. He was in attendance, along with Padilla, at the Thursday debacle and saw it first hand. But there will come a time, hopefully very soon, where the assessment has to end and proactive action taken.

But it remains to be seen whether they can pull off anything earth shattering given what appears (because no one on the outside really knows, and the administration is pretty close-lipped) to be some concerning financial issues. Valpo also suffers from the absence of a cash cow alum who might be able to underwrite a Lottich buy-out, or be the lead in the building of a new arena. Suffice to say, there is a lot of frustration over the MBB results and a lot of frustration with how all of this is being handled.

[VULB62]

What's been amazing to me is that Lottich has actually been able to recruit fairly well there, but unable to keep them or string together enough classes to make a move. I mean it's gotta be a tough sell when a kid starts comparing resources and facilities. I thought about 3-4 years ago Valpo had some of the best young talent in the league , but they kept losing pieces. The beauty of basketball right now, is you can become competitive in 1 recruiting cycle, but to win consistently , you need some continuity and they just haven't had it roster wise.

Part of that, in the opinion of many, is he is a good guy with high integrity and relates well to his players, but, unfortunately, his overall system, on the floor coaching, game day strategy and in-game adjustments leave much to be desired.

[Dean Wormer]

What happened the Valpo poster? VUgrad something, right? Wish we could get an update from the ground.

If Valpo was attempting to sell private art collection pieces to fund real estate (new student dorm), I’m guessing that means they can’t even get financing based off their financials. If that’s the case, there isn’t a positive thing about athletics. No facilities upgrades, increased recruiting budget, or competitive salary increases will be coming at a time where you have several coaches at Valley schools who will probably see raises in the short to medium timeframe.

They’re gonna be the new Evansville for a long time to come if that’s all true. Yeesh.

How long is a long time? Longer than the 50 years Drake was the doormat of this conference? That would really be yeesh.

[Bulldog4life24]

What happened the Valpo poster? VUgrad something, right? Wish we could get an update from the ground.

If Valpo was attempting to sell private art collection pieces to fund real estate (new student dorm), I’m guessing that means they can’t even get financing based off their financials. If that’s the case, there isn’t a positive thing about athletics. No facilities upgrades, increased recruiting budget, or competitive salary increases will be coming at a time where you have several coaches at Valley schools who will probably see raises in the short to medium timeframe.

They’re gonna be the new Evansville for a long time to come if that’s all true. Yeesh.

How long is a long time? Longer than the 50 years Drake was the doormat of this conference? That would really be yeesh.

Your season being done really hurts doesn’t it?

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

What happened the Valpo poster? VUgrad something, right? Wish we could get an update from the ground.

If Valpo was attempting to sell private art collection pieces to fund real estate (new student dorm), I’m guessing that means they can’t even get financing based off their financials. If that’s the case, there isn’t a positive thing about athletics. No facilities upgrades, increased recruiting budget, or competitive salary increases will be coming at a time where you have several coaches at Valley schools who will probably see raises in the short to medium timeframe.

They’re gonna be the new Evansville for a long time to come if that’s all true. Yeesh.

How long is a long time? Longer than the 50 years Drake was the doormat of this conference? That would really be yeesh.

Your season being done really hurts doesn’t it?

The dude is a troll. Don’t bash SIU based on his comment. He doesn’t even like SIU. Lol

[Bulldog4life24]

What happened the Valpo poster? VUgrad something, right? Wish we could get an update from the ground.

If Valpo was attempting to sell private art collection pieces to fund real estate (new student dorm), I’m guessing that means they can’t even get financing based off their financials. If that’s the case, there isn’t a positive thing about athletics. No facilities upgrades, increased recruiting budget, or competitive salary increases will be coming at a time where you have several coaches at Valley schools who will probably see raises in the short to medium timeframe.

They’re gonna be the new Evansville for a long time to come if that’s all true. Yeesh.

How long is a long time? Longer than the 50 years Drake was the doormat of this conference? That would really be yeesh.

Your season being done really hurts doesn’t it?

The dude is a troll. Don’t bash SIU based on his comment. He doesn’t even like SIU. Lol

All good - I enjoy the SIU fans I meet at Arch Madness. *Limits and Exclusions apply to dewormer*

[BCPanther]

So far, everyone who has posted about the VU situation has articulated pretty much what most VU Fan Board members know about it.

We have a new President who has hired a new AD. President Padilla has made statements that would point the Athletic Department — that is, if he can find the funds — in a positive direction. For instance, a feasibility study has been contracted for that would assess whether a new BB arena or a substantial ARC upgrade should be done. That is the first visible big step taken by Valpo since joining the MVC (BTW, the AC mentioned was for the practice facility, not the arena). He also said that BB has to meet higher expectations. But on the other hand, VU changed their nickname to Beacons and selected two friendly, passive dogs (chocolate lab and golden retriever) as dual mascots to the chagrin of most alums which has had a negative affect on support.

The new AD, Charles Smart, only began work mid-summer. He’s out of Iowa State and has experience at Pitt, so he understands D-I. He appears to be carefully gathering information about the department and our teams. He was in attendance, along with Padilla, at the Thursday debacle and saw it first hand. But there will come a time, hopefully very soon, where the assessment has to end and proactive action taken.

But it remains to be seen whether they can pull off anything earth shattering given what appears (because no one on the outside really knows, and the administration is pretty close-lipped) to be some concerning financial issues. Valpo also suffers from the absence of a cash cow alum who might be able to under-right a Lottich buy-out, or be the lead in the building of a new arena. Suffice to say, there is a lot of frustration over the MBB results and a lot of frustration with how all of this is being handled.

Just a heads up.

We hired the guy that had Small's position before him at Iowa State and he's an unmitigated disaster of an AD. By far the worst in our DI history and that includes the guy in the 90s that tried to de-emphasize basketball in favor of wrestling.

I hope, for your sake, that you got somebody a helluva lot closer to being Jamie Pollard than we did.

[squirrel]

Valpo is selling artwork to raise funds for the university itself. Moody’s downgraded their credit rating. Any other questions?

The optics of buying out a basketball coach while selling valuable assets and eliminating programs, professors, and athletic teams over the last few years isn’t a good look. Valpo joining the MVC was a mistake by both parties. They’re WAY over their head.

Considering Bradley was in a similar spot when we hired Wardle, you also have to fix the optics of a failing basketball program, which for better or worse, is the single most valuable market asset a school has. You have to stop the bleeding. That has a net positive optical impact.