Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After an eight-day hiatus from game action, the Valparaiso University men's basketball team will return to the court on Thursday to host Lindenwood and begin a portion of the schedule where the games will come fast and furious. This marks the start of a stretch where Valpo plays four games in a nine-day span. After this one, the next three games will be part of a multi-team event – home dates with Eastern Illinois and Northern Illinois and a road game at DePaul. Thursday is "Basketball for All" night at the ARC featuring a basketball hoop giveaway and a Special Olympics event taking place at halftime.
 
Last Time Out: Valpo is coming off a 75-67 loss to Cleveland State on Tuesday despite four players scoring in double figures, led by Devon Ellis with 19. Freshman All Wright had his first collegiate double-figure scoring output on an efficient 4-of-5 shooting. Cooper Schwieger pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and tallied 14 points, while Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro chipped in 12 points. The Beacons led 31-28 at halftime, but were outscored 47-36 after the break.
 
Following the Beacons: Streaming – ESPN+ – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Jamie Stangel (analyst) 
Valpo Radio – 95.1 FM, WVUR, ValpoAthletics.com, TuneIn Radio App –
X updates – @ValpoBasketball
Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.
 
Head Coach Roger Powell Jr.: Roger Powell Jr. (8-27) is in his second season as the head coach of the Valpo men's basketball program. After helping guide Gonzaga to a 121-13 record during his four seasons as an assistant coach, Powell returned to Valpo, where he was part of head coach Bryce Drew's staff from 2011-2016 and led the team to 124 wins in five seasons, including a program-record 30 victories and a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) title game appearance in 2015-16. He was part of head coach Mark Few's Gonzaga staff as the Bulldogs reached the 2021 national championship game after winning their first 31 games of the season. During Powell's first season on staff in 2019-20, Gonzaga was 31-2 at the time the NCAA college basketball season was halted due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs reached the Sweet Sixteen in each of his final three seasons on staff, including two Elite Eight appearances and the aforementioned trip to the 2021 national title game. Prior to his arrival at Gonzaga, Powell served as the associate head coach at Vanderbilt University under Bryce Drew from 2016-2019. During his stint as an assistant at Valpo, he was part of four Horizon League regular-season championships in a five-year period while also leading the 2012-13 and 2014-15 squads to Horizon League tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. A product of Joliet West High School and a native of Joliet, Ill., Powell capped a prolific collegiate playing career at Illinois with a national title game appearance in 2005 before going on to a successful professional playing career.
 
Series Notes: This will represent the first matchup between Valpo and Lindenwood.   
 
What's Trending?

• Valpo has shot 79 percent or better at the free-throw line in each of its first three games.
• Two players have been in double figures all three games – Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro and Devon Ellis.
• De La Cruz Monegro is 9-for-14 (.643) shooting over his last two games. He is 13-of-14 (92.9 percent) at the free-throw line this season. He has scored a dozen or more in each game.
• All Wright has made all three of his 3-point attempts in the team's last two games. 
• Ellis was just 1-for-4 from the free-throw line this season prior to Nov. 12 vs. Cleveland State, but went 8-for-11 at the stripe against the Vikings.
• Cooper Schwieger has pulled down at least six rebounds in all three games and eight or more in each of the last two games.
• Louth-M Coulibaly has exactly five rebounds in each of the last two games despite playing 17 total minutes over the two contests.

Busy Beacons

• Valpo is in the midst of five straight games at the ARC prior to the team's first true road game of the season on Nov. 29 at DePaul. This will mark the latest Valpo has played its first true road game since 2008-09 (Dec. 2 at Cleveland State).
• The program improved to 19-1 in its last 20 home openers with the Nov. 8 victory over Concordia Ann Arbor with 16 of those home-opening victories coming by double-figure margins. 
• After an eight-day layoff, Valpo is starting up a stretch of four games in a nine-day span.

DeAveiro Approaching 300

• Senior point guard Darius DeAveiro is coming off a junior season where he dished out 170 assists, the third-most in a single season in program history behind only John McIlvain (197, 1982-83) and Ali Berdiel (185, 2003-04).  
• DeAveiro enters Nov. 21 with a career assist total of 298 that ranks 15^th in program history.
• DeAveiro is two assists away from becoming the 15^th player in program history to get to 300.
• He finished last season second in the MVC and 30th nationally with 170 assists and ranked second in the MVC and 36th nationally in assists per game at 5.3.
• In addition, the point guard scored in double figures 12 times after not having done so at all over his first two collegiate campaigns. His scoring numbers took a significant junior jump, as outlined below.

Valpo Career Assists – No. 10-15
Rank    Player                          Years               Assists
10        Matt Kenney               2009-13           330
11        Rob Cavanaugh          1990-94           329
12        Tracy Gipson              1989-93           316
            Brandon McPherson   2005-10           316
14        Keith Carter                2013-16           301
15        Darius DeAveiro         2021-pres.       298
 
DeAveiro's Junior Jump
2022-23           2023-24           Increase
Overall PPG                1.8                   7.9                   6.1
MVC PPG                   1.4                   9.3                   7.9
 
Scouting the Lions

• Started the season at Oklahoma (L 93-60) and vs. University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis (W 98-30) before playing three games at the Urban-Bennett Invitational MTE in Moon Township, Pa. this past weekend – losses to New Orleans and Robert Morris before a 75-74 win over Stonehill.
• Went 9-22 overall and 3-15 in the Ohio Valley Conference last season.
• Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Kyle Gerdeman.
• Picked eighth of 10 in the OVC preseason poll.

Notes Wrapping Up Nov. 12: Cleveland State 75, Valpo 67

• Devon Ellis tallied a season-high 19 points including 8-of-11 at the free-throw line while squeezing five rebounds.
• Cooper Schweiger led Valpo on the boards with eight and scored a season-high 14 points.
• Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro posted 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
• Freshman All Wright made his way into double figures with 10 on 4-of-5 shooting, his first collegiate double-figure scoring output.
• Redshirt junior Louth-M Coulibaly grabbed five rebounds in six minutes of action including three offensive boards.
• Valpo went 4-of-19 from 3 but did go 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) at the free-throw line.
• Senior Darius DeAveiro handed out three assists, moving to within two assists of becoming the 15^th player in program history with 300.
• This was the first meeting between Valpo and Cleveland State since Valpo departed the Horizon League after the 2016-17 season.

Mega Margin

• Valpo defeated Concordia Ann Arbor 111-46 on Nov. 8, with the 65-point margin of victory representing the third largest in program history. This was Valpo's most lopsided win since beating IU South Bend by 70 (111-41) on Nov. 28, 2005. The program record for margin of victory is 79 in a 132-53 win over Western Ontario on Dec. 5, 1964.
• The 111 points were Valpo's most since Nov. 6, 2018, a 121-65 win over Concordia Chicago. This was the fifth time in the last quarter century that Valpo has scored upward of 110 points.
• Valpo shot 58.2 percent for the game, the team's highest field-goal percentage since 58.3 on March 3, 2022 against Evansville.
• The Beacons outrebounded the Cardinals 62-28. The +34-rebounding margin was Valpo's largest on record. The team's last time over +30 in the rebounding margin was +31 on Nov. 21, 2017 vs. Samford. Valpo outrebounded Purdue Northwest by 32 on Nov. 18, 2010.
• The Beacons became just the 11^th team nationally this season to win by 65 points or more and the 11^th team nationally this year with a rebounding margin of +34 or better.
• The 46 points were the fewest by a Valpo opponent since Judson's 45 on Dec. 6, 2020.

Other Notes Wrapping Up Nov. 8: Valpo 111, Concordia Ann Arbor 46

• Redshirt freshman Lucas Scroggins enjoyed a perfect night from the floor, knocking down all six of his field-goal attempts while finishing with 12 points and five rebounds. He became the first Valpo player to go perfect from the field with at least six attempts since Donovan Clay on Dec. 30, 2019 vs. Loyola Chicago.
• Cooper Schwieger posted his third career double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. He usurped his previous career high on the glass of 13 that came on Jan. 14, 2024 at Illinois State.
• Schwieger added four blocks, the most by a Valpo player since Jaxon Edwards and Ola Ajiboye had four apiece on Nov. 14, 2023. Schwieger became the first Valpo player to record four blocks in a double-double since Vashil Fernandez (13 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks) on Jan. 16, 2016 vs. Green Bay.
• Devon Ellis had a team-high 16 points to go along with nine boards. Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Shaw tallied 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro had 13 on 5-of-7 and Schmidt added 13 on 5-of-8.
• Shaw's 14 points marked a career high, surpassing his previous best of 13 achieved twice while playing for GCU.
• Freshman Justus McNair made it seven Beacons in double figures with 10 points.

Schmidt Shines in Beacon Debut

• A graduate transfer who scored 2,267 points in his four-year NAIA career at Olivet Nazarene, Tyler Schmidt didn't skip a beat in his Division-I debut. The Valpo native who attended Valpo men's basketball kids camps as a child scored 17 points in his Beacon debut on Nov. 4 vs. Liberty.
• Schmidt shot 7-of-8 from the field, becoming the first Valpo player to post a single-game shooting percentage of .875 or better with at least eight attempts since Nick Robinson went 7-for-8 on Dec. 17, 2020 vs. Purdue Northwest.
• He was the first player to accomplish that feat against a Division-I opponent since Donovan Clay went 8-for-8 from the field on Dec. 30, 2019.
• Schmidt, who played 24 minutes, also squeezed five rebounds, went 2-of-2 at the free-throw line and drilled his only triple try.
• Schmidt became the first Valpo player to shoot .875 from the field on at least eight attempts while also recording eight rebounds since Deion Lavender (8-for-8 FG, eight rebounds) on Nov. 16, 2018 vs. Monmouth. Eight Valpo players have achieved that feat in the last 14 years – Schmidt, Lavender, Derrik Smits, Joe Burton, Alec Peters, Bobby Capobianco, Kevin Van Wijk and Ryan Broekhoff.

Schwieger Back for More

• After being named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, Cooper Schwieger is back in a Valpo uniform for his sophomore campaign.
• Schwieger has hauled in several preseason accolades, being named to the Preseason All-MVC First Team and the Blue Ribbon Magazine Preseason All-MVC First Team.
• Schwieger was tabbed to the 2023-24 Kyle Macy Freshman All-America Team and a finalist for the Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year Award by CollegeInsider.com last season.
• By earning the MVC Freshman of the Year Award, he became just the fourth Valpo rookie to win a league Newcomer/Freshman of the Year distinction, joining Lubos Barton (1998-99), Bryce Drew (1994-95) and Lance Barker (1991-92). He was the first to do so in a quarter of a century and the last two are members of the Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame.
• Schwieger was just the fourth MVC freshman since 1992-93 to average at least 13.0 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game, joining three other Freshmen of the Year – Southern Illinois' Marcus Domask (2019-20), Creighton's Doug McDermott (2010-11) and Tulsa's Shea Seals (1993-94).
• Also a member of the MVC All-Freshman Team, Schwieger led all MVC rookies in the following categories – overall points per game (13.2), overall rebounds per game (5.4), MVC-only points per game (14.6) and MVC-only rebounds per game (5.7). He also had 11 steals, 28 blocks and 31 assists while shooting 50.2 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from 3 and 78.9 percent from the free-throw line. In league play, he shot 51.9 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from 3 and 82.2 percent from the free-throw line.
• Schwieger finished the season as the only freshman in the nation averaging double figures in scoring and shooting 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line in league play.
• He was one of only six players in the MVC to average double figures in scoring and shoot at least 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line in league play, joining Robbie Avila (All-MVC First Team), Malevy Leons (All-MVC First Team), Cade Tyson (All-MVC Second Team), Jayson Kent (All-MVC Second Team) and Ja'Kobi Gillespie (All-MVC Second Team).
• The freshman sensation finished the season with 409 points, tied with Belmont's Cade Tyson's 2022-23 season for the 23rd most points by a freshman in the long and proud history of the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Schwieger was one of nine freshmen nationally to average 13.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg. He became just the third Valpo freshman to average over 13.0 points per game since 1992-93, joining Lubos Barton (13.8, 1998-99) and Bryce Drew (13.4 ppg, 1994-95), both Valpo Athletics Hall of Famers.
• Schwieger became the third Valpo freshman since 1992-93 to average over 5.0 rebounds per game, joining Raitis Grafs (1999-00, 5.8) and Lubos Barton (1998-99, 5.6), both Valpo Athletics Hall of Famers.
• He was named the MVC Freshman of the Week a league-high five times – Nov. 27, Jan. 15, Jan. 24, Feb. 12 and March 4.
• Schwieger scored in double figures 20 times and had six games with 20+ points including a season-high 28 points in a March 3 win over Illinois State, the highest scoring output by a Valpo freshman since Alec Peters in March 2014. He had back-to-back double-doubles on Jan. 14 at Illinois State and Jan. 17 at Evansville including a season-high 13 boards in the Jan. 14 win in Bloomington-Normal.
• The rookie ranked 19th in the MVC in scoring average at 13.2 ppg, 20th in rebounding at 5.4 rpg, ninth in field-goal percentage at 50.2, ninth in blocked shots per game at 0.9 and 10th in offensive rebounds per game at 1.94. In league-only play, he ranked 14th in scoring average at 14.6, 19th in rebounding average at 5.74, seventh in field-goal percentage at 51.9, tied for 14th in blocks per game at 0.74 and tied for ninth in offensive rebounds per game at 2.0.

MVC Freshmen, 13 ppg & 5 rpg (since 1992-93)
Player, Team                           Year                PPG     RPG                MVC Freshman OTY?
Cooper Schwieger, Valpo       2023-24           13.2     5.4                   Yes
Marcus Domask, SIU             2019-20           13.6     5.2                   Yes
Doug McDermott, Creighton 2010-11           14.9     7.2                   Yes
Shea Seals, Tulsa                    1993-94           16.8     6.5                   Yes
 
Freshmen Nationally Averaging 13 ppg & 5 rpg in 2023-24
Player                          Team                           PPG     RPG
Cooper Schwieger      Valpo                          13.2     5.4
PJ Haggerty                Tulsa                           21.2     5.5
Jocob Meyer               Coastal Carolina         15.7     5.1
Carlton Carrington      Pittsburgh                    13.8     5.2
Darren Buchanan        George Washington    15.6     6.6
Tyler Perkins              Pennsylvania               13.7     5.3
Vasean Allette            Old Dominion             17.4     5.7
Garrett Johnson           George Washington    13.4     5.6
 
Valpo Freshmen to Win League Freshman/Newcomer of the Year
Name                          Year                Award
Cooper Schwieger      2023-24           MVC Freshman OTY
Lubos Barton*            1998-99           Mid-Con Newcomer OTY
Bryce Drew*               1994-95           Mid-Con Newcomer OTY
Lance Barker              1991-92           Mid-Con Newcomer OTY
*indicates Valpo Athletics Hall of Famer
 
Stafford Sidelined

• Senior guard Isaiah Stafford returned to the program this season after leading the team in scoring and ranking seventh in the MVC at 16.9 points per game a year ago.
• Stafford is sidelined with an injury for at least the start of the 2024-25 season. It is unknown whether or not he will return by season's end.
• In MVC-only action, Stafford ranked fourth in the league in points per game at 17.6, fifth in steals per game at 1.5 and 11th in made 3s with 37.
• Stafford was one of three players in the MVC with at least three 30-point games, joining Southern Illinois' Xavier Johnson and Drake's Tucker DeVries, the third-place finisher and winner in the Larry Bird Player of the Year Trophy balloting.
• He had 12 games last season with 20 points or more, and was one of six players in the MVC with a dozen or more 20-point games, joining three All-MVC First Team selections (Drake's Tucker DeVries, Southern Illinois' Xavier Johnson and Indiana State's Robbie Avila), an All-MVC Second Team pick (Indiana State's Ryan Conwell) and one All-MVC Third Team pick (Belmont's Malik Dia).

Number of 20-Point Games by MVC Players in 2023-24
Rank    Player                          School             Number of 20-Point Games
1          Tucker DeVries          Drake              19
2          Xavier Johnson           SIU                  18
3          Robbie Avila               Indiana St        14
T-4      Isaiah Stafford            Valpo              12
T-4      Malik Dia                    Belmont          12
T-4      Ryan Conwell             Indiana State   12       
 
Family Legacy

• Redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Shaw is the grandson of legendary Valpo head coach Homer Drew and the nephew of former Valpo head coaches Scott Drew (now at Baylor) and Bryce Drew (now at GCU).
• Shaw is the son of Dana Drew Shaw and Casey Shaw. His father Casey was drafted 37th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1998 NBA Draft out of the University of Toledo. After one season in the NBA, he spent the majority of his career in Italy, leading the league in rebounding in 2005. He also played in Poland, Spain and Latvia.
• His mother Dana, a 1990 Valparaiso High School graduate, is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and was an Indiana All-Star and first-team all-state selection before scoring in double figures in every game she played at Toledo, where she finished with a school-record 1,919 career points in addition to a school-record 659 assists. Dana was a two-time Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and a three-time MAC Tournament MVP. The two-time Academic All-American was inducted into the Toledo Hall of Fame in 2001.
• Isaiah is the second oldest of four siblings. His older sister Anna never got into sports and is in the movie-making industry. She directs and choreographs films, making Christian and family-friendly movies. His youngest brother Luke finished his senior year of high school in Arizona in 2023-24 and set a school record for career points while leading his team to three state championships and earning league MVP honors. He is taking a postgrad year at Athletes in Action Prep in Lebanon, Ohio in 2024-25. His second-youngest sibling is Caleb, who redshirted at Grand Canyon in 2023-24 after transferring from Northern Colorado.
• Isaiah was born in Rome, Italy while his father was playing professionally. Casey's professional season would run from September to April or May, and Isaiah went to Italian school through second grade. The family had a summer home in Valpo and spent the summer months with Bryce and the Valpo coaching staff.
• When Isaiah was about 10 years old, Casey retired from playing and began working for a financial planning company in Chicago. The family lived in Valpo for a year and a half, then in Chicago for another three years.
• The next stop for the Shaw family was Nashville, Tenn. as Bryce departed Valpo to become the head coach at Vanderbilt. Casey joined Bryce's staff at Vanderbilt, and current Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr. went with Bryce from Valpo to Vandy.
• Isaiah began his collegiate career playing for his uncle and father at GCU from 2021-2024 before transferring to Valpo prior to the 2024-25 campaign.
• With Bryce's permission, Isaiah is wearing jersey No. 24, a number that is retired by the program and was worn by Bryce during his legendary Valpo career including his famous buzzer-beating shot against Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

Inside the Roster

• The 2024-25 roster features five returning letterwinners (Darius DeAveiro, Cooper Schweiger, Kaspar Sepp, Isaiah Stafford and walk-on Joe Vick), one returning player who redshirted last season (Lucas Scroggins), six transfers (Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro, Devon Ellis, Carson Schwieger, Tyler Schmidt, Isaiah Shaw and Louth-M Coulibaly) and five true freshmen (Justus McNair, All Wright, Jayden Watson, walk-on Ramzi Salem and walk-on Nick Lombardi).
• The Beacons boast three returning starters from a year ago.
• This year's roster features players from four different countries – Mexico, Canada, Estonia and the United States. In addition, six states are represented – Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Arizona, Virginia and Missouri. The Beacons have a heavy Midwest presence including a team-high five players hailing from the state of Illinois.
• The roster is comprised of seven freshmen (two redshirt), three sophomores (one redshirt), four juniors (one redshirt) and three seniors (one fifth-year).

Newcomer Notes

• Freshman guard Justus McNair averaged 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game as a senior at Joliet West High School in 2023-24, when he was Class 4A Honorable Mention All-State and named Herald-News Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
• Junior guard Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro is a transfer from Western Michigan, where he played in 63 games and made 61 starts over the last two seasons. He averaged 8.8 points, 3.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game in 2023-24 for the Broncos.
• Freshman guard All Wright played his first three high school seasons at Joplin High School in Missouri before transferring to Link Year for his senior season, where he averaged 15.0 points and 7.0 assists per contest.
• Junior forward Devon Ellis played in 25 games and made 23 starts for Maryland Eastern Shore of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2023-24 after starting his collegiate career with a junior college season at State Fair CC in Sedalia, Mass. He scored in double figures 16 times last season and averaged 11.6 points per game.
• Freshman forward Jayden Watson spent the 2023-24 season under Dave Maravilla at Bosco Institute after finishing his high school career at Bloom.
• Redshirt freshman forward Carson Schwieger redshirted at Wright State in 2023-24 after averaging 12.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists at Link Year Prep in 2022-23.
• Fifth-year guard Tyler Schmidt spent four seasons at Olivet Nazarene, where he twice earned NAIA All-American status and averaged better than 20.0 points per game over each of his final three seasons, totaling 2,267 points at the NAIA level.
• Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Shaw saw action in 32 of 35 games at GCU last season for a Lopes team that went 30-5 overall, 17-3 in the Western Athletic Conference and won the WAC regular season and tournament titles before beating Saint Mary's in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and falling to Alabama in the Round of 32.
• Redshirt junior forward Louth-M Coulibaly played in 62 games and made 11 starts over four years at Holy Cross.
• Freshman guard Ramzi Salem and freshman guard Nick Lombardi have joined the program as walk-ons.

Beacon Bits
Random facts on each Valpo player.

• #1 Justus McNair – Went to the same high school as Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr.
• #2 Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro – From the same area as former Valpo standout Tevonn Walker and the two know each other.
• #3 All Wright – His brother Always Wright is a member of the Rhode Island men's basketball program. His father Joe played at Kansas State University from 1984-1986 and went on to play professionally overseas. Joe holds the single-season scoring record for his team in Iceland after averaging 46.6 points per game in 1992-93.
• #5 Ramzi Salem – Is musically inclined as he knows how to play the piano, produce songs and make beats. He has a software system for music production.
• #6 Darius DeAveiro – Father David is the former head coach at McGill University in Montreal… Also played soccer until his freshman year of high school and traveled significantly for the sport, including a trip to England.

• #9 Isaiah Stafford – Won a national championship at the junior college level at John A. Logan in 2022-23, helping the Vols to a 33-2 mark.
• #10 Lucas Scroggins – Loves to draw and is passionate about art.
• #11 Devon Ellis – Enjoys the outdoors and is good at snowboarding – something some may not expect for his 6-foot-7 stature.
• #12 Jayden Watson – Brother Elijah is also a college basketball player and spent the past two seasons at Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb. after starting his collegiate tenure with two years at West Liberty University in West Virginia. Elijay is currently playing at Northwood University in Midland, Mich.
• #13 Cooper Schwieger – The fraternal twin brother of Valpo redshirt freshman Carson Schwieger. Many people think they are identical twins.
• #20 Joe Vick – Son of Julie Vick, the administrative assistant for the Valpo men's and women's basketball programs.
• #21 Kaspar Sepp – His national team coach is former teammates with Valpo assistant coach A.J. Moye and his prep coach is Moye's former roommate.
• #22 Carson Schwieger – Stepmother Denise Guth is a Valparaiso University graduate and was part of the women's soccer program's first two seasons in 1993 and 1994 as a goalkeeper.
• #23 Tyler Schmidt – Went to the Valpo basketball camp in fifth grade and frequently attended games when Alec Peters was on the team and Bryce Drew was the head coach.
• #24 Isaiah Shaw - Earned an undergraduate degree from GCU in three years with a degree in business management and a minor in biblical studies. Plays a little bit of guitar, which his dad taught him at a young age. He and his brother play Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo Switch, which like anything in the Drew/Shaw household, gets a little competitive.
• #32 Nick Lombardi – Is interested in pursuing a career as a play-by-play sports broadcaster and is a huge fan of sports cars.

• #44 Louth-M Coulibaly – Graduated from Holy Cross with a degree in international relations and is pursuing an MBA at Valpo. He has known Darius DeAveiro since eighth grade and enjoys watching MMA and UFC fights as well as soccer.

The Game's Biggest Stage

• Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr. owns the unique distinction of having played and coached in the national championship game.
• Just 12 coaches in the last 25 years have coached in the national title game after previously playing in the national title game, and two others have coached in the national championship game after being a rostered player but not seeing action in the national title game as a student-athlete.
• In the last quarter of a century, only two coaches have coached in the national title game after previously playing in the national title game at a different school – Roger Powell Jr. and Kenny Payne.

Name                          Year, Team as Player              Year, Team as Coach
Sean May                    2005, UNC                              2022, UNC
Roger Powell Jr.        2005, Illinois                          2021, Gonzaga
Jeff Capel                    1994, Duke                             2015, Duke
Nate James                  1999 & 2001, Duke                2015, Duke
Jon Scheyer                 2010, Duke                             2015, Duke
Ricky Moore               1999, UConn                           2014, UConn
Kenny Payne              1986, Louisville                      2014, Kentucky
Danny Manning          1988, Kansas                           2008 & 2012, Kansas
Chris Collins               1994, Duke                             2010, Duke
Jim Thomas                1981, Indiana                          2002, Indiana
Johnny Dawkins         1986, Duke                             2001, Duke
David Henderson        1986, Duke                             1999, Duke
Quin Snyder                1986, Duke                              1999, Duke - DNP
Jeremy Case                2008, Kansas                          2022, Kansas - DNP
 
"The Rev" in the Community

• Since head coach Roger Powell Jr. was hired to lead Valpo's program, he has made numerous community engagement appearances including IBCA State Wide Clinic, Popcorn Fest, Valpo Kiwanis, Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana, Big Shoulders NWI, the Valpo Athletics Coaches Tour and many more.
• An engaging speaker with an active social media presence, Powell has launched a video series featuring local restaurants called "Powell Party of Six," showcasing the Powell family meals in the community. Several editions have been released.  
• Nicknamed "The Rev" because of his strong faith and calling as a preacher, Powell's hire as Valpo head coach made an immediate media splash. The news was featured prominently in the Chicago Sun-Times, on CBS 2 Chicago's 4 p.m. news and WGN-TV's GN Sports. He appeared on the Mully & Haugh morning show on 670 The Score in Chicago and Indiana Sports Talk with Bob Lovell out of Indianapolis.

Inside the Assistants

• Valpo's staff features two coaches who have played in the national title game – Powell and A.J. Moye. Powell has also coached in the national title game.
• Powell, Moye and Matt Gordon have all either coached or played in the Final Four.
• Powell, Moye, Gordon, Pat Baldwin and Lubos Barton have all either coached or played in the NCAA Tournament.
• Assistant coach Pat Baldwin brings head coaching experience to the staff as he spent five seasons at the helm at Milwaukee before serving as an assistant coach under Patrick Ewing at Georgetown during the 2022-23 season. He also worked under Chris Collins as an assistant during a successful run at Northwestern, so he has recent stops in the Big Ten and Big East to go along with head coaching experience.
• Assistant coach Matt Gordon spent two years in the Big 12 Conference at Oklahoma as Director of Recruiting and Special Assistant to head coach Porter Moser. He joined Moser in Norman, Okla. after they previously worked together for a decade at Loyola. Gordon knows what it takes to win in the Missouri Valley Conference as he played a key role in a turnaround that saw the Ramblers post a 156-80 (.661) record during his seven seasons as an assistant coach. He helped the team to two Sweet Sixteen appearances in a four-year period including a historic run to the Final Four.
• Assistant coach A.J. Moye was a standout during his playing days at Indiana, where he took the Hoosiers to the 2002 national title game before beginning a professional playing career. He trained professional and collegiate players from 2011-2023 as part of Rising Talent Development (Mamba Sports Academy), serving as the Master Basketball Trainer for Kobe Bryant's academy. Moye played against Powell in the Big Ten and they later finished out their playing careers as teammates with Skyliners Frankfurt in Germany in 2010-11.
• Recruiting & Player Development Coach Lubos Barton returns to Valpo over two decades after wrapping up his storied career donning the brown and gold. After retiring from his professional playing career, Barton stayed in the game of basketball by beginning his coaching career overseas in 2016. A member of the Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2017, Barton was a standout on the court from 1998-2002, leading the team to three Mid-Continent Conference regular-season titles, three conference tournament championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Special Assistant to the Head Coach Quintin Garrison served as the associate head coach at Trinity International University from 2018-2023.
• Assistant Player Development Coach Sean Taylor served as SIUE's graduate assistant/video coordinator from August 2021 to May 2023.
• All six of the aforementioned members of Powell's staff plus graduate assistants Jacob Lindsey and Collin Walls are back for their second season in the program in 2024-25.
• The program welcomed Seamus Glennon as its sports performance coach prior to the 2024-25 season. He previously served as a strength & conditioning assistant for the VCU men's basketball program, a position he held for the last two seasons. He also spent time at Temple and Clemson.

Tradition of Excellence

• Valpo has 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and four NIT berths in the program's proud history, with the team's postseason success highlighted by a Sweet Sixteen run in 1998.
• The program has produced nine All-Americans, won 15 regular season conference championships and 10 conference tournament crowns.
• Valpo also boasts eight NBA players, 10 conference players of the year and 20 20-win seasons.
• Nine of the team's NCAA appearances have come since 1996.
• Valpo has developed a myriad of professional basketball players over the last quarter century, most notably a pair of recent NBA players. Ryan Broekhoff (class of 2013) signed a contract with the Dallas Mavericks in the summer of 2018 after spending five seasons playing internationally in Russia and Turkey. Alec Peters (class of 2017) was the 54th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. Peters appeared in 20 games for the Suns in 2017-18, highlighted by a 36-point performance in the season finale against Dallas – a new single-game high by a Valpo alum in the NBA. He has gone on to a successful career overseas with CSKA Moscow (2018-2019), Anadolu Efes (2019-2020) and Kirolbet Baskonia (2020-2022) and Olympiacos (2022-present). 
• Valpo has produced over 50 professional players in the last three decades.