Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men's basketball team will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon as the Beacons visit Evansville for a 3 p.m. tip. Valpo will be the first of the 11 Missouri Valley Conference teams to reach the regular-season finish line as the other 10 teams – even the Purple Aces – are all in action on Sunday, while Valpo watches from home and rests up for Arch Madness. With this game, the 103^rd matchup between the two schools, Evansville will move into a tie with Butler as Valpo's most common opponent of all-time. 
 
Last Time Out: Valpo faced an immediate 9-0 hole and trailed by six with under four minutes remaining, but the Beacons rallied past Drake 74-71 in Wednesday's home finale at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Freshman JT Pettigrew hit a top-of-the-key 3 with 2.1 seconds remaining to break a 71-all deadlock, and as Drake's half-court heave to beat the buzzer was off the mark, the Athletics-Recreation Center went into a frenzy. Brody Whitaker and Rakim Chaney shared the team lead with 17 points apiece. Valpo knocked down a dozen 3s in the win, while also going 82.4 percent at the free-throw line.  
 
Glancing Ahead: The game date, game time and opponent are all still up in the air for Arch Madness, the State Farm MVC Tournament, which will take place Thursday through Sunday, March 5-8, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
 
Following the Beacons: Streaming – ESPN+ – Kyle Peach (play-by-play) and Rick Johnston (analyst)
Radio – WVUR 95.1 FM Valparaiso, TuneIn Radio App, ValpoAthletics.com – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Brandon Vickrey (analyst)  
X updates – @ValpoBasketball
Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.
 
Head Coach Roger Powell Jr.: Roger Powell Jr. (39-57) is in his third 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. In the second season of the Powell Era in 2024-2025, Valpo over doubled its overall win total from the previous season and doubled its conference win output before earning a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal berth. The Beacons finished with 15 wins, the team's highest total since 2019-20.
 
Series Notes: This will mark the 103^rd matchup between the two teams, allowing Evansville to move into a tie with Butler as Valpo's most common opponent of all-time. Evansville leads 76-26 in the all-time series. Valpo stopped Evansville's four-game head-to-head winning streak with an overtime victory at the ARC earlier this season, beating the Purple Aces for the first time in the Roger Powell Jr. Era. UE leads 45-8 in home games against Valpo, with the most recent road victory for the Beacons coming on Jan. 14, 2023.
 
Feb. 6 – Valpo 70, Evansville 63 (F/OT): Valpo faced a 13-point second half deficit, but rallied past instate foe Evansville 70-63 in overtime earlier this month at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Fifth-year senior Owen Dease scored 18 points against his hometown team, while sophomore Justus McNair tallied 16 in his first collegiate start. During a seven-minute stretch in the second half, Valpo outscored Evansville 21-3, turning a 12-point deficit into a six-point lead. In the overtime session, the Beacons made five of their six shots while Purple Aces missed five of their six attempts. Valpo played without the services of Brody Whitaker, who was sidelined by an injury.
 
River City Reunion

• Fittingly, redshirt senior Owen Dease will finish his regular-season collegiate career back where his basketball journey began.
• The Evansville native is a product of Evansville Reitz High School, where he was one of the top players in the state of Indiana and was named to the Hoosier Basketball Magazine Top 60.
• Sophomore Tucker Tornatta is also an Evansville native. He attended Reitz Memorial, where he was an Indiana All-Star as a senior, becoming the third in school history. Tornatta grew up going to games at UE.

With the Win vs. Drake, Valpo…

• Owns a four-game winning streak, program's longest since a five gamer during the 2018-2019 campaign.
• Swept the season series with Drake for the second time since joining the MVC and the first time since Year 1 in 2017-2018.
• Tied the longest winning streak in league play since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, matching the 2018-2019 team, which started 4-0 in Valley play.
• Clinched a winning Missouri Valley Conference record and secured the team's highest winning percentage in league play since joining The Valley.
• Improved to 6-1 in the last seven games and 9-3 in the last 12.
• Has a stretch with six wins in a seven-game span in conference play for the first time since joining the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Clinched a winning season.
• Earned a 17^th regular-season victory, the program's highest regular-season win total (not counting conference tournament) since 2016-2017, the program's final Horizon League season and most recent regular-season conference title.
• Finished with a 13-4 home record this season, which marks the team's highest home win total since 2016-17.

With a Win on Saturday at Evansville, Valpo Would…

• Extend its winning streak to five games, the program's longest since also winning five in a row during the 2018-19 campaign and tied for the team's longest winning streak since starting 8-0 in 2017-2018.
• Own the program's longest winning streak in league play since joining the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Double last season's MVC win total by finishing with 12 conference wins, which would mark the second straight year that the team has doubled its conference win total, going from three in Year 1 under head coach Roger Powell Jr. to six in Year 2 and 12 in Year 3. It's bittersweet news to report that the team will not be able to double its MVC win total from Year 3 to Year 4 since there are only 20 league games ??.
• Improve to 7-1 in the last eight games – the program's best eight-game stretch since starting 8-0 in 2017-18.
• Improve to 10-3 in the last 13 contests.
• Finish the regular season on a five-game winning streak for the first time since the 2015-2016 team that eventually reached the title game of the NIT.
• Garner the team's fifth road victory of the season, the team's most since 2019-2020.
• Have consecutive road wins for the first time since January 2023.

Seeding Scenarios

• Entering this weekend, Valpo is tied for fifth and is one game out of a three-way tie for second in the Missouri Valley Conference. Valpo could finish as high as the third seed and as low as the seventh seed depending upon results this weekend.
• The top five teams receive a bye at Arch Madness, something Valpo has enjoyed just once since joining the league (2020-21).
• That 2020-21 campaign was Valpo's highest finish in the Valley standings at tied for fifth.
• Valpo is the only team in the 11-team league that will not play on Sunday. The Beacons close the regular season on Saturday at Evansville, and the other 10 teams – even the Purple Aces – will be in action on Sunday while the Beacons rest up and watch from home.
• With a win over Evansville on Saturday, Valpo would secure at least the sixth seed. With a win over UE and an Illinois State loss at Belmont on Sunday, Valpo would clinch a first round bye. There are other scenarios where Valpo could get a bye even with Illinois State winning, but an Illinois State loss to Belmont coupled with a Valpo victory is the clearest path to a first-round bye.
• Valpo will clinch the No. 3 seed if Valpo beats Evansville, Indiana State beats UIC and Murray State beats Bradley.
• Valpo's first Arch Madness game will be…
  • Thursday at 6 p.m. if Valpo finishes as the No. 7 seed.
  • Thursday at 8:30 p.m. if Valpo finishes as the No. 6 seed.
  • Friday at 2:30 p.m. if Valpo finishes as the No. 4 or No. 5 seed.
  • Friday at 8:30 p.m. if Valpo finishes as the No. 3 seed.

Started From the Bottom, Now We're Here…

• Although the Missouri Valley Conference only released the top five in the MVC preseason poll, Valpo Athletics can confirm that the Beacons were voted last in the 11-team league in the preseason survey of head coaches, sports information directors and media members.
• Since Valpo joined the Missouri Valley Conference, the team projected to finish last has been in the bottom two in four seasons, but in four other years, the team picked last finished in the top five. Valpo hopes to join 2024-2025 UIC (picked 12^th of 12, finished tied for fifth), 2020-2021 Evansville (picked 10^th of 10, finished tied for fifth), 2019-2020 Southern Illinois (picked 12^th/12, finished fifth) and 2017-2018 Drake (picked 10^th of 10, finished tied for third) in exceeding expectations.
• Last-place Missouri State left the league after 2024-25, so of the teams that returned to the league for this season, Valpo had the worst MVC record last season. The last time the team with the worst league record from the previous season finished above .500 in league play was Drake in 2017-2018.

More Last-Second Heroics

• Freshman JT Pettigrew's 3 from the top of the key with 2.1 seconds remaining to lift Valpo over Drake 74-71 continued the program's long history of beating the buzzer.
• Pettigrew had Valpo's first game-winner in the final five seconds since All Wright on Feb. 19, 2025 vs. Missouri State.
• This marked Valpo's 25^th game-winner in the final five seconds since the start of the 1992-1993 season. The full list can be found below.

Valpo Basketball Game-Winning Shots in Final Five Seconds
Date                Player                          Opponent        Score
2/25/26            JT Pettigrew               Drake              W 74-71
2/19/25            All Wright                  Missouri St     W 68-64
12/20/24          Justus McNair*           at WMU          W 76-73
11/27/22          Nick Edwards             v. James Mad. W 81-79(ot)
3/6/20              Eron Gordon               v. Loyola         W 73-73(ot)
11/5/19            Javon Freeman-Liberty Toledo          W 79-77
1/2/19              Markus Golder*          Illinois State   W 58-56
2/28/16            Shane Hammink         at Green Bay   W 70-68
3/9/13              Ryan Broekhoff*        Green Bay       W 70-69
11/20/12          Kevin Van Wijk         at Kent State   W 88-83(ot)
1/6/12              Erik Buggs*                at Detroit        W 73-71
12/31/09          Brandon McPherson   Milwaukee      W 55-54
3/1/08              Shawn Huff                Wright St        W 75-73(ot)
2/1/07              Shawn Huff                Oral Roberts   W 70-67(ot)
1/24/02            Lubos Barton              at IUPUI          W 74-73(ot)
2/12/00            Ivan Vujic                   Oral Roberts   W 60-59
1/11/99            Greg Tonagel*            Belmont          W 71-68
12/5/98            Lubos Barton              UMKC W 66-63
3/13/98            Bryce Drew*               v. Ole Miss     W 70-69
11/17/98          Bryce Drew*               Buffalo            W 82-80
1/4/98              Bill Jenkins                 Northeastern Ill. W 72-69
11/30/97          Jamie Sykes*              v. Pacific         W 75-73
1/11/97            Bob Jenkins                at Northeastern Ill. W 82-80
11/13/96          Craig Brunes               at CCSU          W 79-76
3/1/93              Lance Barker              at Western Ill. W 104-100(ot)
*-true buzzer-beater (no time on clock)
 
Notes Wrapping Up Feb. 25 – Valpo 74, Drake 71

• JT Pettigrew scored in double figures for the sixth straight game, finishing with 15 points and seven rebounds. This marked his 10^th straight game with at least five boards. He also dished out four assists, his fourth straight game with multiple.
• Brody Whitaker and Rakim Chaney shared the team lead with 17 points apiece. Whitaker was 6-of-8 from the field and swished four of his five 3-point attempts on his senior night. He has made at least three 3s in three of his last four games.
• Chaney turned in his third straight double-figure performance and fifth in the last six games. This tied for his second-highest scoring output in league play behind only 20 in the first matchup with the Bulldogs.
• Shon Tupuola had seven rebounds, his fourth straight game with at least five.
• Drake led by as many as nine and held the lead for 30 minutes, 30 seconds, while Valpo led when it counted but was in front for only 5 minutes, 31 seconds. The contest featured 11 ties and six lead changes.
• The Beacons buried a dozen 3s, tied for a season high with the Jan. 13 game at Belmont.
• Valpo was 14-of-17 at the free-throw line for 82.4 percent, the team's highest free-throw percentage in a game since Jan. 1 at Southern Illinois.
• Brody Whitaker, Owen Dease, Isaiah Barnes, Kyonte Thomas and Joe Vick were the five seniors celebrated on Wednesday along with managers Jojo David and Jam McClellan.

Freshman Firepower

• Named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week for the second straight week and third time this season on Feb. 23, Valpo's JT Pettigrew has scored in double figures in six straight games and secured at least five rebounds in 10 consecutive contests.
• Pettigrew's latest Freshman of the Week award represented Valpo's eighth total MVC weekly award in 2025-26 and the team's fifth Freshman of the Week Award this year, the most in the league.  
• This represents the 19^th time since head coach Roger Powell Jr. arrived at Valpo prior to the 2023-24 season that a Valpo freshman has earned that weekly accolade. Valpo has the most Freshman of the Week Awards in the league by a wide margin, with Evansville second with seven. Valpo has won 19 out of 49 total MVC Freshman of the Week awards during the Powell Era. 

Mostly Close Calls

• Valpo has an affinity for close calls, as 10 of the team's last 11 games have been decided by single figures.
• In league play, 17 of Valpo's 19 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
• Valpo's last eight wins have been decided by seven points or fewer.
• All 11 Missouri Valley Conference wins have been decided by 10 points or fewer.

Pettigrew Among Freshmen Leaders

• JT Pettigrew broke the program's freshman rebounding record with his first rebound of the game on Feb. 21 at UIC.
• The freshman record book is getting a workout during the Powell Era, as All Wright set the school's freshman scoring record last season.
• Pettigrew has 197 rebounds, moving past Raitis Grafs (184; 1999-2000) atop the program record book, breaking a mark that had stood for a quarter of a century.
• Pettigrew has also cracked the Missouri Valley Conference record book for rebounds by a freshman. He ranks 22^nd in MVC history for rebounds by a rookie. He needs just three more to become only the 21^st freshman in MVC history to hit the 200-rebound threshold.
• Pettigrew has the top rebound total by an MVC freshman since the 2017-18 campaign, when UNI's Tywhon Pickford (248), Loyola's Cameron Krutwig (233) and Bradley's Elijah Childs (204) all had big seasons on the boards.
• Pettigrew ranks 15^th nationally in rebounds by a freshman this season.

Valpo Freshman Rebounding – All-Time Top 5
Rank    Name                          Reb.     Yr.
1          JT Pettigrew               197      2025-26
2          Raitis Grafs                 184      1999-00
3          Lubos Barton              178      1998-99
4          Cooper Schwieger      168      2023-24
5          Alec Peters                 164      2013-14
 
Among The Valley's Top Rookies

• Valpo has two of the league's top six freshmen in scoring average in JT Pettigrew (11.9 ppg, third) and Rakim Chaney (10.3 ppg, sixth).
• Pettigrew has surged into the conversation for the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Award with hopes of becoming the third straight Beacon to earn that honor.
• Murray State's Romon Domon leads Valley rookies in scoring at 14.0 ppg.
• Pettigrew is the league's leading rookie rebounder at 6.6 per contest.
• Pettigrw's season point total of 358 ranks in the program's all-time top 10 for points by a freshman. He ranks eighth on that list.
• Three of the top four players on that list were recruited to Valpo by Roger Powell Jr. with All Wright (526; 2024-25), Lubos Barton (441, 1998-99), Alec Peters (433, 2013-14) and Cooper Schwieger (409, 2023-24) comprising the top four.

Valpo Freshman Scoring – All-Time Top 10
Rank    Name                          Points  Yr.
1          All Wright                  526      2024-25
2          Lubos Barton              441      1998-99
3          Alec Peters                 433      2013-14
4          Cooper Schwieger      409      2023-24
5          Larry Dougherty         397      1984-85
6          Javon Freeman-Liberty 364   2018-19
7          Bryce Drew                 361      1994-95
8          JT Pettigrew              358      2025-26
9          Tevonn Walker           349      2014-15
10        Samuel Haanpaa         347      2006-07
 
Duh-nuh-nuh, Duh-nuh-nuh

• Isaiah Barnes threw down a rim-rattling dunk in the second half of the Feb. 21 win over UIC, earning the No. 4 spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays the next morning.
• The Chicago native's hometown dunk was also highlighted prominently on the Chicago news, including on WGN-TV's "GN Sports."
• The Barnes dunk was the first time Valpo Athletics appeared on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays in 2025-2026, but the department is no stranger to being featured on the popular countdown. Valpo Athletics had six SportsCenter Top 10 plays in 2024-2025, most recently baseball's Connor Giusti on May 17, 2025.
• Barnes became the first Valpo men's basketball player on SportsCenter's Top 10 since Justus McNair's half-court buzzer-beater on Dec. 20, 2024 vs. Western Michigan. Other recent Beacon hoopers to appear on the Top 10 include Devon Ellis (poster dunk on Nov. 27, 2024 vs. Northern Illinois) and Kobe King on Dec. 11, 2022 vs. Charlotte.
• This marks the seventh time in the last six years that Valpo men's basketball has been featured on SportsCenter Top 10. Furthermore, Valpo Athletics has produced 19 SportsCenter Top 10 plays spanning six sports since joining the Missouri Valley Conference in 2017.

Beacon Breakthroughs in 2025-26

• Valpo swept both regular-season matchups from UIC, winning 66-59 on Jan. 4 at the ARC and 71-67 on Feb. 21 in Chicago to sweep the Flames for the first time since UIC joined the MVC in 2022-2023.
• Valpo won both matchups over Indiana State, winning 76-72 in overtime in Terre Haute on Jan. 31 and 76-75 at the ARC on Feb. 15. This marks just the second time since joining The Valley that Valpo has swept Indiana State, something the team also achieved in 2021-2022.
• The 77-71 win over Illinois State on Jan. 7 at the ARC allowed Valpo to knock off the MVC preseason favorite and secure the program's best win in terms of KenPom rating in five years.
• The 81-76 victory at Drake on Feb. 9 was Valpo's first success in Des Moines since 2018 and first win over the Bulldogs in any location since 2021. That snapped an eight-game head-to-head losing streak. Valpo went on to sweep the season series from Drake for the second time since joining the MVC and the first time since Year 1 in the league in 2017-2018.  
• Valpo ended a 10-game head-to-head losing streak to Bradley by beating the Braves 79-72 on Feb. 18 at the ARC.

Scouting the Purple Aces

• Coming off a 98-64 loss at Belmont, the team's fourth straight setback.
• Recorded an 88-80 victory over Illinois State on Monday, Feb. 9, but have lost 10 out of their last 11 games.
• Under the direction of former Valpo assistant coach David Ragland. His staff features a pair of ex-Valpo staffers – Joel Zimba (General Manager) and Peter Funk (Assistant Coach).
• Playing the first of a back-to-back necessitated by a snowstorm postponement from earlier in the season. They will close the regular season vs. Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. on Sunday, a makeup game from earlier in the year.
• Have hopes of leapfrogging Indiana State for the No. 10 seed as Evansville is currently 2-16 and Indiana State is 3-16.

Nothing But NET

• Valpo currently ranks 148 in the NET.
• This season, the Beacons have earned their top NET rating since finishing the 2019-20 season at 138.

KenPom Progress

• The Beacons have continued to climb the KenPom rankings, currently ranked a season-best 143 in the KenPom. 
• The Beacons started the season at 283, moving up 140 spots in the rankings since the season tipped off.
• The improvement of 140 puts the Brown & Gold fourth in the country in KenPom improvement.
• The full top five in KenPom improvement nationally is listed below.
• Valpo's current ranking is its best of the Roger Powell Jr. head coaching era and best since the final 2019-2020 ranking of 139.  

Rank    Team                           Improvement
1          Central Arkansas        192
2          Cal St Fullerton          162
3          Stephen F. Austin       143
4          Valpo                          140
5          Austin Peay                 138
            Buffalo                        138
Improved on D

• Valpo's defensive numbers are much improved from recent seasons.
• See below for more details on how this year's Valpo "D" stacks up against that of earlier seasons in the Roger Powell Jr. Era. National and MVC ranks are listed in parentheses.
• Valpo's field-goal percentage defense is currently its best since 2020-2021 (.436), 3-point defense is its best since 2017-18 (31.4) and scoring defense is its best since 2021-22 (70.5).
• This season is on pace to rank third in program history in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.320), behind only 1996-97 (.305) and 2017-18 (.314).

Year                Scoring Defense         FG% Defense             3pt%Defense
2025-26           70.9 (5^th/97^th)              44.4 (7^th/185th)           32.0 (4^th/82^nd)
2024-25           73.9 (9^th/234^th)            46.2 (11^th/306^th)          34.6 (6^th/245^th)
2023-24           75.5 (11^th/273^rd)          47.8 (12^th/341^st)          35.4 (11^th/295^th)
 
Notes Wrapping Up Feb. 21 – Valpo 71, UIC 67

• Sader Servilus scored a team-high 13 points, leading five Beacons in double figures. He became the seventh different Valpo player to lead the team in scoring in a game this season, joining Dease, Pettigrew, Chaney, Whitaker, McNair and Barnes.
• Servilus was 4-for-4 from the floor and drained his only 3-point attempt on his way to over doubling his previous career high of six points that came on Dec. 29 at UNI. He had a plus-minus of +10 in Saturday's win.
• Senior Brody Whitaker did not score and only attempted one shot, but he owned a team-best +13 in the win over the Flames and is often the team leader in plus-minus.
• JT Pettigrew stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. This marked his fifth straight double-figure scoring output and his ninth straight game with at least five rebounds.
• Rakim Chaney led the team with seven rebounds while also pouring in 12 points. His seven boards marked his most in league play and his most since eight on Nov. 16 vs. Bryant.
• Justus McNair scored 11 points off the bench, his fifth double-figure output in his last eight games.
• Junior Shon Tupuola was the fifth Beacon in double figures with 10 points, his second consecutive contest with 10 or more. Valpo had five in double figures for the first time since Jan. 31 at Indiana State.
• Isaiah Barnes' eight points marked his most since Jan. 21 vs. Southern Illinois and tied for his most in league play this season. 
• Valpo's 3-point defense was stellar, holding UIC to just 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from long range.
• The Beacons were 19-of-25 at the foul line (76 percent), their best day at the stripe in the last five games.
• Valpo won the turnover battle 12-9, keeping turnovers to single figures for a fourth straight game.
• Valpo had 17 assists, the team's most against a Division-I opponent this season and the squad's third straight game with 15 or more.
• Valpo held a 35-34 rebounding edge including a 13-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
• UIC's Crawford finished with 22 points but was just 1-of-6 from 3.
• Valpo led by as many as 13 and was in front for 34 minutes, 38 seconds while trailing for just 4 minutes, 35 seconds.

Dease Reaches Milestone

• Fifth-year senior Owen Dease reached the 1,000-point milestone for his collegiate career on Feb. 15 vs. Indiana State, finishing that game with 1,007 points, all at the Division-I level.
• Dease scored 645 points over three seasons of action at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
• Dease became the first Beacon to score his 1,000^th career point in a Valpo uniform during the Roger Powell Jr. Era. Before Dease, the last Valpo player to reach that milestone was Kobe King (January 2023). Prior to that, it was Ben Krikke (November 2022) and Tevonn Walker (November 2017).
• Dease's milestone basket came on a 3-pointer with 9:39 left in the first half.

Channeling "The Rev"

• At a media timeout during the second half of each Valpo men's basketball home game, a randomly-selected fan has an opportunity to win $10,000 by making a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and halfcourt shot within 25 seconds.
• The promotion is presented by Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute.
• For the first time since the contest began, there was a winner on Feb. 6 vs. Evansville as student Christian Hack came out of the student section and completed the challenge.
• A left-handed pitcher on the Valpo baseball team, Hack was mobbed by his teammates and other Valpo students after hitting the halfcourt shot.
• Hack was sporting a "43 Powell" jersey from the Valpo head coach's playing days with the Illini when he completed the challenge.

Let's Get Gritty
After each victory, the Valpo coaching staff hands out the coveted "Grit Chain" to the grittiest player in that game. Grit Award winners are listed below.

• Eastern Illinois – Carter Hopoi
• Nicholls – Shon Tupuola
• Bryant – Rakim Chaney
• Cleveland State – Justus McNair
• Western Michigan – Shon Tupuola
• CCSJ – Joe Vick & Isaiah Barnes
• UIC – JT Pettigrew
• Illinois State – Brody Whitaker
• UNI – Sader Servilus
• Southern Illinois – Sader Servilus
• Indiana State – Carter Hopoi
• Evansville – Shon Tupuola
• Drake – JT Pettigrew
• Indiana State – JT Pettigrew
• Bradley – Rakim Chaney
• UIC – Sader Servilus, Shon Tupuola and JT Pettigrew
• Drake – JT Pettigrew

Welcome, Rev. Konkol

• On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Valparaiso University announced Rev. Brian E. Konkol, Ph.D. as the institution's 20^th President.
• Rev. Konkol, who took over for retiring President Jose Padilla on Jan. 1, 2026, brings more than two decades of combined experience across higher education leadership, global service and mission-centered work.
• Rev. Konkol and his family have ties to athletics. He competed on the men's basketball team as an undergraduate student at Viterbo University.
• Rev. attended the Valpo vs. CCSJ men's basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 6. He was recognized and introduced to the crowd during a media timeout, and joined Todd Ickow on the ESPN+ broadcast at halftime before visiting the team in the locker room after the game to congratulate the players and coaches on the victory. 

Valpo Athletics Mourns the Passing of Paul Schrage '57

• The Valpo family is saddened to share the news that Paul Schrage '57, a tremendous supporter, fan and friend of Valpo Athletics, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at the age of 90.
• Life-long generosity from Paul and his wife Jan Sievers '59 Schrage has made a long-lasting impact on the Valpo men's basketball program. The couple recently committed $1 million to establish the Paul D. and Janet C. Schrage Basketball Excellence Fund, which provides resources to the program's greatest areas of need, such as team travel, nutrition and new student-athlete benefits.
• That generous gift continued a lifetime of the Schrage family making a transformational impact on the University, athletic department and men's basketball program. Since developing a close friendship with legendary Valpo men's basketball head coach Homer Drew, the Schrages have provided philanthropic support that has benefited every men's basketball coach and student-athlete who has donned the brown and gold.
• Longtime benefactors to the University and ardent supporters of the basketball program, the Schrages funded the Schrage Basketball Wing addition to the Athletics-Recreation Center, which houses the men's and women's basketball offices. Along with the gift to construct the addition, they established an endowment to provide ongoing support for the facility on an annual basis.
• Schrage earned a bachelor of arts in business administration from Valparaiso University, a master of science in advertising from the University of Illinois and an honorary juris doctor from Valpo. He served on the Valparaiso University Board of Directors from 1996-2004 and from 2009-2015. His 30-year career with the McDonald's Corporation began in 1967 when Ray Kroc hired him to start the marketing department. By the time he retired in 1997 as a senior executive vice president and chief marketing officer of McDonald's Corporation and member of its board of directors, he had made McDonald's one of the most powerful brands in the world. In recognition of his career, Schrage was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame in 1997. He was also a lifetime trustee and former chair of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Board of Directors

Who is Next?

• A trio of incoming freshmen have signed to continue their basketball careers at Valpo during the November early signing period.
• 6-foot-4 guard Justin Curry II (Noblesville, Ind.), 6-foot-7 forward Hudson Scroggins (Lake Bluff, Ill.) and 6-foot-1 point guard Rajan Roberts will join the program next year.
• Curry averaged 15.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game as a junior at Noblesville last season. He is a reigning Indiana Junior All-Star.
• Scroggins was a 1,000-point scorer in the high school ranks at Lake Forest (Ill.) and is spending this year at a prep school, Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire.
• Roberts is a highly-rated prospect from Chicago and was considered one of the top available point guards on the west coast at the time of his commitment. He is among the highest-rated recruits in Valpo history, according to 247Sports. His high school stops include a year each at Proviso West, Kenwood, Prolific Prep (Miami, Fla.) and AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.).

Growth Spurt

• Valpo's roster has gotten noticeably larger in terms of height this season, as the squad boasts its highest average height of the Roger Powell Jr. head coaching era.
• The Beacons have seven players on the roster listed at 6-foot-8 or taller – Jayden Watson (6-8), JT Pettigrew (6-8), Owen Dease (6-8), Tucker Tornatta (6-8), Kobe Walker (6-9), Shon Tupuola (6-10) and Carter Hopoi (6-11).
• This marks the first time during the program's long Division-I history that the team has had seven players listed at 6-foot-8 or taller.
• The 1999-00, 2000-01, 2013-14 and 2022-23 teams each had six players listed at 6-8 or taller.

 
One of Four

• Only four programs in the nation have had their league's Freshman of the Year in each of the last two seasons – UConn, Baylor, Valpo and Harvard.
• All Wright was named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2024-2025, becoming the second straight Valpo player to earn the award after Cooper Schwieger did so in 2023-24. 
• This marked just the third time since the award began in 1986 that a school has had back-to-back MVC Freshmen of the Year. Wichita State's Markis McDuffie (2016) and Landry Shamet (2017) were the most recent duo to go back-to-back. Before that, it was Southern Illinois' Tony Harvey (1989) and Ashraf Amaya (1990).
• Wright became just the fifth Valpo freshman to win a league Newcomer/Freshman of the Year Award, joining Schwieger (2023-24), Lubos Barton (1998-99), Bryce Drew (1994-95) and Lance Barker (1991-92).

Inside the Roster 

• This year's roster is comprised of 13 newcomers and four returning players.
• Recruiting the Chicagoland area successfully has been key for the program. Eight of the 17 players hail from the state of Illinois.
• The Hoosier State is another recruiting hotspot for the Beacons. Six members of the team are playing college basketball in their home state, and 14 of the 17 players hail from either Indiana or Illinois.
• The three players from outside the Midwest call Arizona, Montreal and New Zealand home.
• The roster has five seniors, four of which are in their fifth season of college basketball. The Beacons also boast a pair of juniors, a trio of sophomores and seven freshmen (six true freshmen, one redshirt freshman).
• Of the 13 newcomers, six are true freshmen and seven are transfers.

Meet the Team

• Freshman guard Rakim Chaney spent the 2024-25 season at 212° Sports Academy in Sarasota, Fla., where he averaged 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game and was named the Florida Sun Basketball League Player of the Year.
• Sophomore guard Justus McNair is the team's only returning scholarship letterwinner from last season. He was named MVC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 25, 2024. His rookie campaign is most remembered for his buzzer-beater from nearly halfcourt to lift Valpo over Western Michigan 76-73 on Dec. 20, 2024, completing an epic 22-point comeback.
• Fifth-year senior guard Brody Whitaker is a transfer from the Division-II University of Indianapolis, where he spent the 2024-2025 campaign after beginning his collegiate career with three years at NAIA Marian University. He entered the 2025-2026 season with 1,385 collegiate points.
• Redshirt freshman forward Jayden Watson sat out as a redshirt last season, and suffered a preseason injury leading into 2025-2026.
• Freshman guard Camden Webster is a walk-on who attended nearby Kankakee Valley High School.
• Freshman forward JT Pettigrew averaged 16.0 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks during his senior season at Bolingbrook High School. A second team all-state honoree, he recorded just the second triple double (points/rebounds/blocks) in program history. He scored over 1,000 career points and finished as his school's all-time leading scorer.
• Junior guard Mark Brown Jr. averaged 13.3 points and 4.3 assists per game in 2024-2025 at Snow College, where he totaled 669 points, 220 rebounds and 215 assists over the last two seasons. He was ranked No. 61 among JUCO players nationally according to JUCORecruiting.com.
• Redshirt senior guard Isaiah Barnes spent the last two years at Tulsa after starting his career with two seasons at Michigan. He started 54 games and made 57 appearances in his two seasons with the Hurricane after playing on a Michigan team that went to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
• Redshirt senior forward Owen Dease spent his first four collegiate seasons at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, where he redshirted as a freshman before playing in 85 games and making 50 starts over the last three seasons. He was part of the program as a redshirt in 2022 when the team reached the NCAA Tournament and then played on the 2023 team that won a game in the Big Dance.
• Freshman forward Carter Hopoi played at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in September 2024 and has played with the New Zealand NBL's Tauranga Whai.
• Freshman center Kobe Walker averaged 19.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as a high school senior at Normal Community, earning all-state honors. He broke his school's rebounding record, which had stood for 52 years.
• Senior Joe Vick is in his fourth year in the program as a walk-on.
• Fifth-year senior Kyonte Thomas tallied 1,325 points and 513 assists in his four-year career at the NAIA level, playing at Trinity International, University of Pikeville and Southeastern.
• Junior center Shon Tupuola averaged 14.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per game for NAIA Saint Mary-of-the-Woods last season, playing a key role on a team that won regular-season and conference titles before beating nationally-ranked opponents in each of the first two rounds of the NAIA National Championship.
• Sophomore guard Nick Lombardi is in his second season in the program as a walk-on.
• Sophomore Tucker Tornatta was named to the Great Lakes Valley Conference All-Freshman Team in 2025 while playing at the University of Indianapolis.
• Freshman guard Sader Servilus averaged 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in 2024-25 for Fort Erie International Academy. He earned National Preparatory Association Defensive Player of the Year honors, helping his team to a 30-3 record.

Beacon Bits
Random facts on each Valpo player.

• #0 Rakim Chaney – Father Bo played high school basketball and went on to play at the junior college level at Parkland. Both his maternal and paternal grandfathers have been involved with high school basketball in the Chicagoland area over the years.
• #1 Justus McNair – Went to the same high school as Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr. (Not at the same time, obviously.)
• #3 Brody Whitaker – Hopes to stay around sports in the future… Was teammates with Valpo's Tucker Tornatta last year at the University of Indianapolis.

• #4 Jayden Watson – Brother Elijah played five seasons of college basketball –two years at West Liberty University in West Virginia, two years at Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb. and one year (2024-25) at Northwood University in Midland, Mich.
• #5 Camden Webster – Loves going to the lake, wakeboarding, skiing, tubing, being outside, being in the water, listening to music and going to his grandmother's house. His eighth-grade team went to the Jan. 2, 2019 game when Valpo rallied from double figures down with less than two minutes remaining to beat Illinois State 58-56 on a half-court buzzer-beater by Markus Golder.
• #7 JT Pettigrew – Mother Bonnie Bremner-Pettegrew was an All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year during her volleyball career at Penn State, where she was the setter for a national championship team. His father Titcus Pettigrew played football and basketball for the Nittany Lions. His brother Trey also played college basketball and has made stops at Nevada, Bradley and Eastern Michigan.
• #10 Mark Brown Jr. – Older brother Brandon began his career in the JUCO ranks at Phoenix College, where he won a national title as a freshman and lost in the semifinals as a sophomore before going on to play two seasons at the NCAA Division-I level at Loyola Marymount… Mark enjoys clothing and putting on outfits in his spare time. He also likes sightseeing and going on adventures.
• #11 Isaiah Barnes – Older brother Daniel played at Eastern Michigan (2008-09) and UIC (2010-13). He attended games at Valpo to watch Daniel play in the Valpo/UIC Horizon League matchups. He enjoys spending time with his dog. He graduated from Tulsa in 2025 with a degree in organizational study and is pursuing a master's degree at Valpo.
• #12 Owen Dease – Enjoys spending time with his daughter Cohen, who was born in 2024… Graduated from Texas A&M Corpus Christi in May 2025 with a degree in kinesiology/exercise science… Pursuing a master's degree at Valpo.
• #13 Carter Hopoi – Growing up, played various sports including soccer, cricket and volleyball.
• #15 Kobe Walker – Enjoys going to church, golfing and watching movies… Played AAU for Gavin Sullivan, who is close with Valpo legend Alec Peters.
• #20 Joe Vick – Son of Julie Vick, the administrative assistant for the Valpo men's and women's basketball programs.
• #22 Kyonte Thomas – Favorite hobby is bowling with a top score of 278… Graduated with a degree in business management and is pursuing a master's in sports administration at Valpo.
• #23 Shon Tupuola – Was a boy scout as a child and enjoys being outdoors including water rafting, extreme downhill biking and four-wheeling. He also enjoys amusement parks and hopes to at some point try skydiving.
• #32 Nick Lombardi – Is interested in pursuing a career as a play-by-play sports broadcaster and is a huge fan of sports cars.
• #35 Tucker Tornatta – Has been watching the Missouri Valley Conference since he was a kid going to games at the University of Evansville… Enjoys playing golf, watching NBA games and swimming in his spare time.
• #44 Sader Servilus – Enjoys watching Anime… Originally played soccer as a child, but transitioned to basketball because all of his cousins were playing the sport.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

• Favorite Song
  • Shon Tupuola – Into You by Tamia
  • Tucker Tornatta – Any songs by Drake
  • Carter Hopoi – Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars
  • Rakim Chaney – Freestyle by Ra Lee
  • Camden Webster – Free by Zac Brown
  • JT Pettigrew – All Mine by Brent Faiyaz
  • Owen Dease – Do U by G Herbo
  • Isaiah Barnes – One Blood by G Herbo
  • Justus McNair – Greece or Sweden by No Cap
  • Nick Lombardi – Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield
  • Jayden Watson – Greece or Sweden by No Cap
  • Joe Vick – Nights Like This by Kehlani
  • Brody Whitaker – Lying 4 Fun by Yeat
  • Mark Brown Jr. – Night Time by YoungBoy
• Favorite Movie
  • Shon Tupuola – Harry Potter
  • Tucker Tornatta – Creed
  • Kobe Walker – Love & Basketball
  • Sader Servilus – The Dark Knight
  • Carter Hopoi – How to Train a Dragon
  • Rakim Chaney – Love & Basketball
  • Camden Webster – Hannah Montana The Movie
  • JT Pettigrew – Inception
  • Owen Dease – Toy Story
  • Isaiah Barnes – Juice
  • Justus McNair – Coach Carter
  • Nick Lombardi – Casino Royale
  • Jayden Watson – The Dark Knight
  • Joe Vick – Captain America: Winter Soldier
  • Brody Whitaker – Iron Man
  • Mark Brown Jr. – Above The Rim
• Dream Vacation or Favorite Summer Destination
  • Shon Tupuola – Antarctica
  • Tucker Tornatta – Florida
  • Kobe Walker – Italy
  • Sader Servilus – Montreal
  • Carter Hopoi – Japan
  • Rakim Chaney – Dubai
  • Camden Webster – Panama City Beach, Fla.
  • JT Pettigrew – Japan
  • Owen Dease – Hawaii
  • Isaiah Barnes – Paris
  • Justus McNair – Tampa, Fla.
  • Nick Lombardi – Florida
  • Jayden Watson – Bora Bora
  • Joe Vick – Hawaii
  • Brody Whitaker – Bora Bora
  • Mark Brown Jr. – Dubai
• Favorite Dish
  • Shon Tupuola – Chicken Bacon Alfredo
  • Tucker Tornatta – Chicken
  • Kobe Walker – Pizza
  • Sader Servilus – My Mom's Food
  • Carter Hopoi – Sushi
  • Rakim Chaney – My Mom's Mac 'n Cheese
  • Camden Webster – Steak
  • JT Pettigrew – Salmon
  • Owen Dease – Soul Food
  • Isaiah Barnes – Sea Food
  • Justus McNair – Steak Tacos
  • Nick Lombardi – Steak
  • Jayden Watson – Shrimp
  • Joe Vick – Chocolate Chip Pancakes
  • Brody Whitaker – Steak
  • Mark Brown Jr. – Salmon
• Favorite Sports Team
  • Shon Tupuola – Philadelphia 76ers
  • Tucker Tornatta – OKC Thunder
  • Kobe Walker – Golden State Warriors
  • Sader Servilus – Golden State Warriors
  • Carter Hopoi – Arsenal F.C.
  • Rakim Chaney – Houston Rockets
  • Camden Webster – Green Bay Packers
  • JT Pettigrew – Chicago Bulls
  • Owen Dease – Indiana Pacers
  • Isaiah Barnes – Los Angeles Lakers
  • Justus McNair – Los Angeles Lakers
  • Nick Lombardi – Chicago Cubs
  • Jayden Watson – Chicago Bears
  • Joe Vick – Portland Trailblazers
  • Mark Brown Jr. – Arizona Cardinals

Inside the Assistants

• 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 stops in the Big Ten and Big East to go along with head coaching experience. This marks his third season on Valpo's staff.
• 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. This marks his third season on Valpo's staff.
• Assistant coach Jesse McClung is in his first year on staff after a successful two-year run as the head coach at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, where he posted a 53-15 overall record and a 30-4 mark in River States Conference (RSC) play in a two-year stint leading the Pomeroys program. Under his leadership, SMWC made back-to-back NAIA men's basketball national championship appearances, the only two in school history, highlighted by a Round of 16 appearance. He was named the 2024 RSC Coach of the Year.
• Assistant coach/General Manager Quintin Garrison served as the associate head coach at Trinity International University from 2018-2023. He was promoted to his current position prior to the 2025-26 seasons after spending two years as Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
• Recruiting & Player Development Coach Lavonte Dority is in his first season on the coaching staff at his alma mater, where he finished his collegiate playing career in 2014. He was head coach Roger Powell Jr.'s first recruit during Powell's first stint on Valpo's coaching staff. He played professionally for eight years in Europe and prior to joining Valpo's staff, he worked with Adidas Basketball. Dority was the 2012-13 Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year, earned first-team all-league honors in 2013-14 and garnered All-District 12 Second Team status that season. He was part of the 2013 Horizon League championship team and was a senior on a young team in 2013-14 that featured Alec Peters as a freshman.
• Assistant Player Development Coach Sean Taylor served as SIUE's graduate assistant/video coordinator from August 2021 to May 2023. He is in his third season on staff.
• Creative content guru Jacob Lindsey (third season) and former Valpo football and basketball player Anthony Sciarroni (first season) serve as the program's graduate assistants.
• Seamus Glennon is in his second season as the team's sport performance coach. 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.
• Caleb Moreau is in his first season as the team's athletic trainer. He earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Virginia in 2023 before going on to earn his master's in athletic training from Virginia in May 2025.

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.