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McNair MVC Tournament

Men's Basketball

Beacons, Braves to Battle in MVC Quarterfinal on Friday

Valparaiso (18-14, 11-9 MVC)
vs. Bradley (20-11, 13-7 MVC)
Game No. 33 – Friday, March 6, 6 p.m. CT
Enterprise Center (8,476 lower bowl, 16,502 full) – St. Louis, Mo.
 
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men's basketball team will look to clinch its second straight Missouri Valley Conference semifinal berth on Friday night as the Beacons compete in the quarterfinal round of Arch Madness, the State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Louis. In order to get to Saturday, the Beacons must first get through a nemesis that has thwarted Valpo tournament runs in years past, the second-seeded Bradley Braves, who earned a first-round bye and will play their first game of the tournament on Friday. Only two games separated the seventh-seeded Beacons from the second-seeded Braves in the regular-season standings.
 
Last Time Out: The Beacons trailed by as many as 12 points, but rallied to beat Indiana State in dramatic fashion for the third time this season, this time 63-62 on a defensive stand as Shon Tupuola blocked a would-be buzzer-beater to send the Beacons to the quarterfinal round of Arch Madness. Owen Dease made a go-ahead free throw with 1:17 on the clock, giving Valpo its first lead since 3-2. Rakim Chaney scored a team-high 18 points and drained four 3s, while JT Pettigrew (14) and Brody Whitaker (10) also tallied double figures.
 
Glancing Ahead: The winner of Friday's game will face the winner of third-seeded Illinois State and sixth-seeded UNI in Saturday's second semifinal, which tips at 5 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
 
Following the Beacons: Television – MVC-TV Network – Scott Warmann (play-by-play), Kevin Lehman (analyst) and Adam Emmenecker (sideline)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (KCRG 9.2 / MyNet); Ottumwa, Iowa (KYOU 15.3 / THE365); Rockford, Illinois (WIFR 23.2 / Antenna); Peoria, Illinois (WEEK 25.3 / CW+); South Bend, Indiana (WNDU 16.2 / THE365); Fort Wayne, Indiana (WPTA 21.3 / MyNet); Louisville, Kentucky (WAVE 3.2 / Bounce); St. Louis, Missouri (KMOV 32.1 / Matrix Midwest); Kansas City, Missouri (KCTV/KSMO 62.1 / MyNet); Nashville, Tennessee (WSMV 4.2 / TVSN); Memphis, Tennessee (WMC 5.3 / WMC+); Knoxville, Tennessee (WVLT 8.2 / MyNet); Paducah, Kentucky / Cape Girardeau, Missouri (WQWQ 9.2 / CBS); Bowling Green, Kentucky (WBGS 34.3 / TVSN); Davenport, Iowa (KWQC 6.3 / Cozi); Sioux City, Iowa (KTIV 4.3 / MeTV); Quincy, Illinois (WGEM 10.4 / MeTV / MyTV); Evansville, Indiana (WFIE 14.2 / MeTV); Lexington, Kentucky (WKYT 27.4 / MeTV); Springfield, Missouri (KSPR 33.3 / MeTV); Des Moines, Iowa (KCCI 8.2 / Hearst); Chicago, Illinois (WPWR / FOX 50.1); Indianapolis, Indiana (WNDY 23.1 / Circle City); Decatur/Champaign, Illinois (WAND 17.2); Streaming – ESPN+
St. Louis Radio – KTRS 550 AM – Brendan Wiese (play-by-play) and Rich Zvosec (analyst)
Valpo Radio – WVUR 95.1 FM Valparaiso, TuneIn Radio App, ValpoAthletics.com – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and The Victory Bell (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. (40-58) 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: The Beacons dropped all three matchups with the Braves last season including a season-ending 70-65 defeat in the quarterfinal round of Arch Madness. Valpo was on the wrong end of a 72-65 score on Feb. 3 in Peoria in the first matchup this season before breaking through with a 79-72 victory over the Braves on Feb. 18 at the ARC. Bradley leads the all-time series 16-6 and had rattled off 10 straight head-to-head wins before Valpo snapped that streak in the last meeting. Prior to that, Valpo's most recent triumph over Bradley came 91-85 in double overtime on Jan. 28, 2021 at the ARC. Valpo is 0-11 all-time against Bradley away from the Athletics-Recreation Center, 0-9 in Peoria and 0-2 at Arch Madness including last season's 70-65 semifinal defeat and an 80-66 setback in the 2020 MVC title game.
 
All-Conference Honors
  • Two Beacons were celebrated on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Third Team, with Owen Dease and JT Pettigrew both garnering that distinction.
  • This marked the first time Valpo had two all-conference honorees in the same season since joining The Valley and first time in any league since 2016-17, when Alec Peters and Shane Hammink achieved All-Horizon League recognition.
  • Pettigrew became the first Valpo freshman to earn all-conference honors since Lubos Barton was on the All-Mid-Continent Conference First Team in 1998-99. Prior to that, it was Bryce Drew in 1994-95 (Second Team).
  • Dease and Pettigrew join a select group of three other Valpo players who have achieved All-MVC honors, joining Ben Krikke (x3), Javon Freeman-Liberty and Cooper Schwieger.
Roger The Recruiter
  • A tradition of Valpo bringing in elite freshmen continued this season, as this marked the third straight year (all three seasons under head coach Roger Powell Jr.) that Valpo has boasted a top-2 finisher in the league's Freshman of the Year balloting.
  • JT Pettigrew was the runner-up for MVC Freshman of the Year, earning 106 points to Murray State's Roman Domon's 127 in the voting.
  • Pettigrew earned a place on the MVC All-Freshman Team. The Beacons have had an All-Freshman honoree in each of Powell's three seasons and seven total during the program's time in the MVC.
  • Pettigrew joins Javon Freeman-Liberty (2018-19), Donovan Clay (2019-20), Sheldon Edwards (2020-21), Preston Ruedinger (2021-22), Cooper Schwieger (2023-24) and All Wright (2024-25) as Valpo players who have earned MVC All-Freshman Team recognition.
Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Finalist
  • After leading the program to its most successful season since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr. has been named a finalist for the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award.
  • The award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division-I college basketball.
  • The Ben Jobe Award is named in honor of one of the most iconic coaches in the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Jobe was the head coach at Southern University for 12 seasons.
  • The winner will be announced at the Final Four in Indianapolis. 
Beacon Brains
  • Sophomore Tucker Tornatta was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team.
  • Tornatta owns a 3.57 cumulative grade point average in business.
  • The team recognizes all student-athletes who have a 3.50 cumulative grade point average while being at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing. Eligible nominees must compete in at least 75 percent of the regular-season games or start at least 50 percent of the team's regular-season games.
  • Tornatta joins Ben Krikke (3x), Derrik Smits, John Kiser, Thomas Kithier and Kaspar Sepp as Valpo players who have earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Team status.
Advancing at Arch
  • Valpo improved to 5-3 when playing on Thursday in the opening round of Arch Madness with the win over Indiana State. Including one year earning a bye, this marks the sixth time in Valpo's nine years in the league that the team has played in an MVC quarterfinal.
  • With Thursday's victory, Valpo improved to 8-8 all-time in 16 Arch Madness games. Three of the wins came in 2019-2020 and two came last season.
  • Drake, Illinois State and Southern Illinois are the three teams that Valpo has never played in the MVC Tournament.
  • In 2020, Valpo became the first team in the history of Arch Madness to win three games in three days to reach the MVC title game. As a No. 7 seed, Valpo became the lowest seed to ever play in the title game. The Beacons led Bradley 38-36 at halftime of the title game and were 20 minutes from the NCAA Tournament, but the Braves eventually prevailed 80-66.
  • In 2025, Valpo knocked off UIC and UNI in the first two games, winning 67-50 and 64-63 before falling 70-65 to Bradley in the semis. Valpo became the first No. 11 seed to reach the semifinal round since the tournament expanded to 12 teams. Valpo led 63-61 with 4:22 left against the Braves with hopes of advancing to the title game.
  • Valpo entered Arch Madness as the No. 10 seed in 2017-18, No. 9 in 2018-19, No. 7 in 2019-20, No. 6 in 2020-21, No. 7 in 2021-2022, No. 10 (first year with 12 teams) in 2022-23, No. 12 in 2023-24, No. 11 in 2024-25 and No. 7 this season.
  • The Beacons have hopes of making more history this year as no team has ever won Arch Madness when having to play in the first round on Thursday.
With a Win on Friday, Valpo Would…
  • Advance to the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals for the second straight year and third time since joining the league prior to the 2017-18 season.
  • Own two wins over Bradley in the same season for the first time ever.
  • Beat Bradley away from Valparaiso for the first time ever (currently 0-9 road, 0-2 neutral).
  • Secure the team's 19th victory of the season, moving into a tie with the 2019-20 group for Valpo's highest overall win total during the Missouri Valley Conference Era.
  • Move to within one victory of clinching a 20-win season and a berth in the State Farm MVC Title Game.
Feb. 3 – Bradley 72, Valpo 65: Valpo received a team-high 17 points from Justus McNair plus 16 from Owen Dease, but fell 72-65 at Bradley on Feb. 3 in Peoria. The game was back-and-forth for much of the first half as it featured four ties and 13 lead changes, but Bradley pulled ahead by seven going into the locker room and that edge stood as the teams played even after halftime. Rakim Chaney scored in double figures for the third straight game, turning in 11 points and five rebounds. The Beacons were shorthanded as Isaiah Barnes was out and JT Pettigrew was limited. Valpo trailed by 14 with 7:44 to play and cut that lead in half down the final stretch.
 
Feb. 18 – Valpo 79, Bradley 72 (Valparaiso, Ind.): Valpo snapped a 10-game head-to-head losing streak to Bradley, leading by as many as 15 and fending off a late Braves' surge to prevail 79-72 last month at the ARC. Freshman JT Pettigrew scored a team-high 22 points, one shy of his career high, while Rakim Chaney (13), Brody Whitaker (12) and Shon Tupuola (11) joined him in double figures. Valpo won the rebounding battle 30-29 and the turnover battle 15-8. Valpo shot 51 percent from the field, while Bradley shot at a 46.2 percent clip including 50 percent from 3. Bradley's Alex Huibregtse hit six 3s and scored 22 points.

Scouting the Braves
  • Finished in second place outright in the regular-season standings, behind only Belmont.
  • Led by First Team All-MVC performer Jaquan Johnson, who was the runner-up for the Larry Bird Trophy and won MVC Defensive Player of the Year.
  • Alex Huibregtse was a member of the Third Team All-MVC and All-Newcomer Team.
  • Under the direction of 11th-year head coach Brian Wardle, a longtime Valpo foe who previously was the head coach at Green Bay when the Phoenix and Valpo were two of the Horizon League's top teams.
  • Finished the regular season with an 87-78 victory over Murray State.
Notes Wrapping Up March 5 – Valpo 63, Indiana State 62 (MVC Tournament Opener)
  • Rakim Chaney paced the team with 18 points, drilling four 3s and handing out five assists.
  • Chaney scored in double figures for the fifth consecutive game and had his highest point total since 20 on Feb. 9 at Drake.
  • JT Pettigrew scored 14 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. He tallied double figures for the seventh straight game. He went 5-of-8 from the field.
  • Brody Whitaker scored 10 points, his third straight game in double figures and seventh time in the last eight games. Whitaker had a team-best +12 in the plus-minus.
  • Valpo prevailed despite shooting 36.8 percent from the field with Indiana State shooting 46.4 percent.
  • The Sycamores outrebounded the Beacons 37-35, but Valpo held a 16-12 advantage on the offensive boards.
  • Valpo won the turnover battle 14-8, the team's eighth straight game with 11 turnovers or fewer and sixth time in the last seven outings in single figures.
  • Sader Servilus scored seven points and pulled down four rebounds off the bench.
  • Valpo led for just 2:01 to Indiana State's 35 minutes, 15 seconds, but the Beacons led when the final buzzer sounded.
  • Valpo trailed by as many as 12 points, erasing a double-figure deficit to win for the third time this season and second time against Indiana State this season. Valpo also came from 13 down against Evansville on Feb. 6.
  • Valpo swept all three games from Indiana State and they were decided by a total of six points. If you look at only regulation, Valpo outscored Indiana State by a mere two points over the three games.
  • Valpo upped its overall win total to 18, needing one more to tie the 2019-20 season as Valpo's highest overall win total during the Missouri Valley Conference Era and two more to clinch the team's first 20-win season since joining The Valley.
  • With his seven rebounds, Pettigrew lifted his season total to 210, jumping to 13th in Missouri Valley Conference history for rebounds by a freshman.
  • Valpo has played 12 games decided by single figures in its last 13 contests. Valpo's last nine wins have all been decided by seven points or fewer. All 12 wins over MVC teams (11 regular-season, one conference tournament) have come by 10 points or fewer.
  • Each of Valpo's last four games have been decided by four points or fewer, including two straight one-point games. Valpo improved to 2-2 in one-point games this year with both wins coming over Indiana State.
Reaching New Valley Heights
  • Year 3 of Roger Powell Jr.'s head coaching tenure at Valpo saw the Beacons take a major step forward. After he inherited a rebuilding project that saw the team go 3-17 in league play in Year 1, double its MVC win total to 6-14 in Year 2 and finish Year 2 with an MVC semifinal appearance, the Beacons nearly doubled their league win total again, finishing at 11-9 in Year 3.
  • Valpo finished the 2025-26 season with its highest winning percentage in league play since joining The Valley prior to the 2017-2018 campaign. This marked the program's first winning season in MVC play.
  • Overall, Valpo won 17 regular-season games in 2025-2026, the program's highest regular-season win total since its final season in the Horizon League in 2016-2017, Alec Peters' senior year.
  • From Feb. 15 to Feb. 25, Valpo put together a four-game winning streak, the program's longest since a five gamer during the 2018-2019 campaign. Valpo tied its longest winning streak in league play since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, matching the 2018-2019 team, which started 4-0 in Valley play.
  • Regardless of what transpires in St. Louis, Valpo has clinched a winning record, the team's first since 2019-2020.
  • Prior to the Feb. 28 regular-season finale at Evansville, Valpo had won six out of seven games, the program's first stretch with six wins in a seven-game span in conference play since joining the Missouri Valley Conference. All told, Valpo entered the league tournament after going 6-2 in its final eight regular-season games.
  • Valpo finished with a 13-4 home record this season, which marked the team's highest home win total since 2016-17.
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 six. Valpo joins 2024-2025 UIC (picked 12th of 12, finished tied for fifth), 2020-2021 Evansville (picked 10th of 10, finished tied for fifth), 2019-2020 Southern Illinois (picked 12th/12, finished fifth) and 2017-2018 Drake (picked 10th of 10, finished tied for third) in exceeding expectations.
  • Valpo finished tied for sixth and just one game out of a tie for third in a tightly-packed MVC this season.
  • 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.
The Inexperience Factor
  • Valpo's success this season has been in an underdog story in the sense that the team's winningest season since joining the Missouri Valley Conference has come from an inexperienced group.
  • Valpo ranks 325 in the country in KenPom's experience factor, which measures each roster's Division-I experience.
  • Of the teams in the top 150 of the KenPom, Valpo is the fourth least experienced. The only teams with less experience that are also in the top 150 are Penn State, Saint Mary's, Montana State and Florida Atlantic.
  • Only three scholarship players on the team had played in a Division-I game prior to this season – Justus McNair, Isaiah Barnes and Owen Dease.
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 in the regular season, 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.
Mostly Close Calls
  • Valpo has an affinity for close calls, as 12 of the team's last 13 games have been decided by single figures.
  • In league play, 18 of Valpo's 20 games this season were decided by 10 points or fewer.
  • Valpo's last nine wins have been decided by seven points or fewer.
  • All 11 Missouri Valley Conference wins were decided by 10 points or fewer and all 12 games against MVC opponents (including Arch Madness) have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
Freshman Firepower
  • Named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week for the third straight week and fourth time this season following the final week of the regular season, Valpo's JT Pettigrew has scored in double figures in eight straight games and secured at least five rebounds in 12 consecutive contests.
  • Over the final seven games of the regular season, Pettigrew averaged 17.0 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per contest.
  • Pettigrew's latest Freshman of the Week award represented Valpo's ninth total MVC weekly award in 2025-26 and the team's sixth Freshman of the Week Award this year, the most in the league. 
  • Pettigrew tied with Roman Domon of Murray State for the most MVC Freshman of the Week awards this season with four.
  • The honor represented the 20th 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 20 out of 50 total MVC Freshman of the Week awards during the Powell Era. 
  • Rakim Chaney, a two-time MVC Freshman of the Week himself, averaged 13.8 points per game over the final four contests of the regular season.
Justus for All-(League Specialty Teams)
  • Valpo sophomore Justus McNair, the team's lone scholarship player from 2024-2025 who returned for 2025-2026, was named to the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench and Most-Improved Teams.
  • McNair, who was the only player in the league named to both units, nearly doubled his scoring average from his freshman year to his sophomore year. After averaging 4.5 points per game in 34 contests in 2024-25, he boosted that to 8.0 points per game in 30 outings in 2025-26. McNair improved his 3-point percentage from 30.9 percent to 36.1 percent, and also increased his free-throw percentage, rebounding average and assist average.
  • McNair's statistical jump in league play was even more pronounced, as he averaged 8.9 points per game over 20 MVC contests this year after finishing at 4.2 points per game in league play in 2024-25. His 3-point shooting (30.6 percent to 38.6 percent) and field goal percentage (37 percent to 45.7 percent) also saw big increases from Year 1 to Year 2 at Valpo.
  • McNair, who came off the bench in 17 of Valpo's 20 Valley games and 27 of his 30 games overall, scored in double figures a dozen times this season. He boasted a career-high 21 points in a Nov. 19 win over Cleveland State and had 17-point performances in wins over Southern Illinois and Bradley.
  • McNair becomes the eighth Valpo player to earn a place on the Most-Improved Team since the department joined the Missouri Valley Conference. This marks the team's second straight year being represented on that group after Cooper Schwieger achieved that honor a year ago. McNair becomes just the fourth Valpo player to be named to the MVC All-Bench Team and first since Sheldon Edwards in 2021-2022.
Valpo on MVC Most-Improved Team
Derrik Smits, 2018-19
Javon Freeman-Liberty, 2019-20
Mileek McMillan, 2019-20
Ben Krikke, 2020-21
Sheldon Edwards, 2021-22
Ben Krikke, 2022-23
Cooper Schwieger, 2024-25
Justus McNair, 2025-26
 
Valpo on MVC All-Bench Team
Markus Golder, 2017-18
John Kiser, 2019-20
Sheldon Edwards, 2021-22 (team captain)
Justus McNair, 2025-26
 
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 210 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 13th in MVC history for rebounds by a rookie, recently becoming only the 21st freshman in the history of the storied conference 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 16th nationally in rebounds by a freshman this season.
Valpo Freshman Rebounding – All-Time Top 5
Rank    Name                          Reb.     Yr.
1          JT Pettigrew               210      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
 
Valley Freshman Rebounding – No. 10-13
Rank    Name                          Reb.     Team               Yr.
10        Cleo Littleton             231      Wichita St.      1951-52
11        Reggie Ramey            230      West Texas St. 1972-73
12        Wesley Cox                221      Louisville       1973-74
13        JT Pettigrew               203      Valpo              2025-26
 
Among The Valley's Top Rookies
  • Valpo finished the regular season with two of the league's top six freshmen in scoring average in JT Pettigrew (12.1 ppg, third) and Rakim Chaney (10.4 ppg, sixth).
  • Murray State's Romon Domon led Valley rookies in scoring at 13.9 ppg.
  • Pettigrew was the league's leading rookie rebounder at 6.5 per contest.
  • Pettigrew's season point total of 389 ranks in the program's all-time top 10 for points by a freshman. He ranks sixth on that list. 
  • Four of the top six players on that list were recruited to Valpo by Roger Powell Jr. –  All Wright, Alec Peters (433, 2013-14), Cooper Schwieger (409, 2023-24) and Pettigrew. 
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          JT Pettigrew              389      2025-26
7          Javon Freeman-Liberty 364   2018-19
8          Bryce Drew                 361      1994-95
9          Tevonn Walker           349      2014-15
10        Samuel Haanpaa         347      2006-07
 
Valuing the Basketball
  • Valpo takes good care of the basketball, having made single-figure turnovers in six of its last seven games.  
  • Through the end of the regular season, the Beacons ranked 62nd nationally, averaging just 10.4 turnovers per game.
  • Through the end of the regular season, Valpo averaged 10.0 turnovers per game when you combine last season and this year, ranking tied for 25th nationally and tied with UNI for the league best in that time span.
  • Valpo's assist numbers have shot up of late, as the team has handed out 12 or more assists in six straight after previously having fewer than 12 in each of the previous six games.
Heating Up From the ARC
  • Valpo has made at least eight 3-pointers in each of its last four games.  
  • The 12 against Drake on Feb. 25 tied a season high with Jan. 13 at Belmont.
  • The last two games of the regular season marked the first time all season that Valpo has made at least nine 3s in back-to-back games.
  • Valpo shot 40 percent or better from 3 in four of its final five regular-season games, and made at least seven triples in each of those final five contests.
  • The Beacons ranked third in MVC-only 3-point percentage at .365, behind only Belmont (.416) and Bradley (.371).
A Look at Valley Ranks
  • In Missouri Valley Conference games, Owen Dease finished ninth in the league in scoring average at 14.7 points per game.
  • Dease also ranked among league-only leaders in field-goal percentage (.451, 12th), free-throw percentage (.831, fifth), 3-point percentage (.435, fourth) and 3-point field goals made per game (1.85, seventh).
  • JT Pettigrew finished 15th in MVC-only scoring average at 12.9 points per game. The rookie also ranked third in the league in rebounds at 7.1 per game, behind only Murray State's Fredrick King (8.5) and SIU's Rolyns Aligbe (7.6).
  • Pettigrew finished ninth in Valley-only free-throw percentage at .794, tied for 12th in steals per game at 1.2 and second in offensive rebounds per game at 2.4.
  • Rakim Chaney finished 13th in league play with 2.75 assists per game, while he ranked tied for 12th in steals at 1.15. He finished the league slate ninth in assist/turnover ratio at 1.67.
  • Justus McNair was 10th in the league in Valley free-throw percentage at .763.
  • Shon Tupuola was in the top-10 in MVC play in blocked shots, ranking seventh at 1.2 per outing.
A Consistent Five
  • Valpo has settled into a starting lineup of JT Pettigrew, Owen Dease, Shon Tupuola, Rakim Chaney and Brody Whitaker.
  • The Beacons used that lineup in each of the final five regular-season games and 10 of the last 13 regular-season contests. Including the MVC tournament, Valpo has used that lineup in each of its last six games and 11 of its last 14.
  • Whitaker missed one game with an injury and did not start the next two games on Feb. 6, Feb. 9 and Feb. 12. Justus McNair joined the other four during those three games.
  • Shon Tupuola is the only Valpo player who started all 31 regular-season games. Everyone else came off the bench for at least two regular-season contests.
 
Valpo in St. Louis
  • The program's history in the building now known as the Enterprise Center goes beyond the team's MVC Tournament appearances.
  • Valpo's Sweet Sixteen game against Rhode Island in 1998 was played in the building, which was then known as the Kiel Center.
  • Valpo also appeared in the 2002 NCAA Tournament in St. Louis, but the first-round date with Kentucky was played at the Edward Jones Dome.
  • Head coach Roger Powell Jr. played in the Final Four in St. Louis in 2005, when he led Illinois to a 72-57 win over Louisville in the national semifinal before a 75-70 setback to North Carolina in the national title game. The event was held at the Edward Jones Dome.
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 25th 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)
 
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.
Nothing But NET
  • Valpo finished the regular season ranked 155 in the NET.
  • This season, the Beacons earned their top NET rating since finishing the 2019-20 season at 138.
KenPom Progress
  • The Beacons finished the regular season at 150 in the KenPom.
  • The Beacons started the season at 283, moving up 133 spots in the rankings from the beginning of the season to the end of the regular season. 
  • The improvement of 133 puts the Brown & Gold tied for fourth in the country in KenPom improvement.
  • The full top five in KenPom improvement nationally is listed below.
  • Valpo's peak ranking of 139 this season was the program's best since the final 2019-2020 ranking, also 139.  
Rank    Team                           Improvement
1          Central Arkansas        193
2          Cal St Fullerton          163
3          Stephen F. Austin       146
4          Valpo                          133
            Buffalo                        133
 
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 1,000th 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. Welcome, Rev. Konkol
  • On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Valparaiso University announced Rev. Brian E. Konkol, Ph.D. as the institution's 20th 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 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.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Cooper Schwieger

#13 Cooper Schwieger

F
6' 10"
Sophomore
Kaspar Sepp

#21 Kaspar Sepp

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Devon Ellis

#11 Devon Ellis

F
6' 7"
Junior
All Wright

#3 All Wright

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Justus McNair

#1 Justus McNair

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Joe Vick

#20 Joe Vick

G
6' 3"
Senior
Nick Lombardi

#32 Nick Lombardi

G
6' 0"
Sophomore
Jayden Watson

#4 Jayden Watson

F
6' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
Rakim Chaney

#0 Rakim Chaney

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Brody Whitaker

#3 Brody Whitaker

G
6' 3"
Fifth Year
JT Pettigrew

#7 JT Pettigrew

F
6' 8"
Freshman
Mark Brown Jr.

#10 Mark Brown Jr.

G
6' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Cooper Schwieger

#13 Cooper Schwieger

6' 10"
Sophomore
F
Kaspar Sepp

#21 Kaspar Sepp

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
Devon Ellis

#11 Devon Ellis

6' 7"
Junior
F
All Wright

#3 All Wright

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Justus McNair

#1 Justus McNair

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Joe Vick

#20 Joe Vick

6' 3"
Senior
G
Nick Lombardi

#32 Nick Lombardi

6' 0"
Sophomore
G
Jayden Watson

#4 Jayden Watson

6' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
F
Rakim Chaney

#0 Rakim Chaney

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Brody Whitaker

#3 Brody Whitaker

6' 3"
Fifth Year
G
JT Pettigrew

#7 JT Pettigrew

6' 8"
Freshman
F
Mark Brown Jr.

#10 Mark Brown Jr.

6' 0"
Junior
G