It's a full-circle moment for former Valparaiso University men's basketball standout Lavonte Dority.
 
After finishing his collegiate career at Valpo in 2014, playing professionally for eight years in Europe and most recently working with Adidas Basketball, Dority has returned to Valpo as the program's Recruiting & Player Development Coach under head coach Roger Powell Jr., who was an assistant coach under Bryce Drew during Dority's playing days. Dority was Powell's first recruit during his first stint on Valpo's staff.  
 
"I'm super excited to be back at Valpo," Dority said. "The program made me who I am today. To get back and pour into these guys with Coach Powell, who gave me the opportunity to be here, is awesome. Roger has been a mentor to me. As a young kid from Chicago, coming here was a life changer. This University and playing under Coach Powell and Coach Drew made me into the man I am today on and off the court."


 
After starting his collegiate career at the University of South Florida, the Foreman High School product and Chicago native transferred to Valpo at the semester break during the 2011-12 season and became eligible in December 2012 after sitting out due to transfer rules. He helped Valpo win the 2013 Horizon League championship and was a senior in 2013-14 on a young team that featured Alec Peters as a freshman.
 
"I'm so excited to have the first player that I recruited to Valparaiso University and someone who has led us to an NCAA Tournament come back as part of my staff," Powell said. "He's the modern-day college basketball player for Valpo and how I'm building it. He came from the inner city of Chicago and went to South Florida, and when things weren't going great for him there, he transferred here and had an awesome career. It's such a blessing to have a kid like that come home. He's been working with grassroots Adidas Basketball and building a lot of relationships. He's going to be a huge asset to our program as we recruit kids from the area and as we recruit transfers into the program."
 
Dority was named the Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year in 2012-13 and earned first-team all-league honors in 2013-14, also garnering All-District 12 Second Team status that season. He earned weekly awards from the league office on three occasions. In his hometown of Chicago, Dority scored 33 points on Feb. 1, 2014 at UIC. He averaged 8.6 points per game in 2012-13 before a team-high 15.7 points per game in 2013-14, when he started all 34 contests.
 
"I have fond memories of when we punched our ticket to go to the Big Dance my junior year," Dority said. "My senior year, being around the young guys like Alec Peters, Keith Carter and Lexus Williams was memorable. I worked hard throughout my career, so to be able to be first team all-conference my senior year was special."
 
Dority played for the Kircheim Knights (2014-15, Germany), Francavilla Fontana (2016-17, Italy), Den Helder Suns (2017-18, Dutch Basketball League), Dutch Windmills (2018-19, Dutch Basketball League) and T71 Dudelange (2019-20, Luxembourgian Total League). During his post playing days, he has run events and done talent evaluating on the AAU circuit for Adidas Basketball.
 
"I'm here to help give knowledge to the current players with my experience as someone who was part of a winning squad at Valpo," Dority said. "I think I can help bring that winning tradition back. Being a relationship guy, I'm able to see how I can jump in and fit in by passing down the knowledge that Coach Drew and Coach Powell instilled in me. I'm excited to pour some of the knowledge into the nice squad that we have this year and help them become champions as well."
 
The Beacons showed significant progress in 2024-25, over doubling the team's win total from Year 1 to Year 2 of Powell's head coaching tenure. The season culminated with two upset victories in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship and playing a competitive semifinal with an opportunity to reach the title game of the prestigious league.
 
"I used to love playing home games and the energy around the ARC when we were winning a lot of games. It was second to none. I think that's the type of energy we can build up with this squad. I'm not far removed from the game, so I'm excited about creating opportunities for our players on and off the court. When I played, the culture here was very welcoming and loving and that helped us jell together and become champions. The talent will take care of itself, but togetherness will win championships."