Valparaiso (2-1, 0-0 MVC)
at No. 23 Illinois (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) 

Game No. 4 – Friday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m. CT
State Farm Center (15,544) – Champaign, Ill.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team will face a top-25 test on Friday night as the Beacons hit the road for the first time this season to clash with No. 23 Illinois. This will mark a homecoming for head coach Roger Powell Jr. as he was a three-year starter for the Illini during his playing days, helping the team to three Big Ten regular-season titles, two Big Ten Tournament crowns and three Sweet Sixteen berths. During his senior year in 2004-05, Powell was part of an Illinois team that finished 37-2, won 29 straight to open the season and reached the national title game.

Last Time Out: Valpo flipped the script from its previous game, this time trailing throughout the first half but outperforming the opposition down the stretch in a 64-59 win over Green Bay on Tuesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center in the first nonconference clash after the teams’ decade-long period of shared Horizon League affiliation from 2007-2017. Jaxon Edwards (19) and Isaiah Stafford (18) combined for 27 points on a night where Valpo blocked nine shots and committed only five turnovers.

Following the Beacons: Streaming – B1G+ – Scott Sudikoff (play-by-play)  

Radio – 95.1 FM, WVUR, ValpoAthletics.com, TuneIn Radio App – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Brandon Vickrey (analyst)  

Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball

Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach Roger Powell Jr.: Roger Powell Jr. (2-1) is in his first season as the head coach of the Valpo men’s basketball program. After helping guide Gonzaga to a 121-13 record during his four seasons as an assistant coach, Powell returned to Valpo, where he was part of head coach Bryce Drew’s staff from 2011-2016 and led the team to 124 wins in five seasons, including a program-record 30 victories and a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) title game appearance in 2015-16. He was part of head coach Mark Few’s Gonzaga staff as the Bulldogs reached the 2021 national championship game after winning their first 31 games of the season. During Powell’s first season on staff in 2019-20, Gonzaga was 31-2 at the time the NCAA college basketball season was halted due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs reached the Sweet Sixteen in each of his final three seasons on staff, including two Elite Eight appearances and the aforementioned trip to the 2021 national title game. Prior to his arrival at Gonzaga, Powell served as the associate head coach at Vanderbilt University under Bryce Drew from 2016-2019. During his stint as an assistant at Valpo, he was part of four Horizon League regular-season championships in a five-year period while also leading the 2012-13 and 2014-15 squads to Horizon League tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. A product of Joliet West High School and a native of Joliet, Ill., Powell capped a prolific collegiate playing career at Illinois with a national title game appearance in 2005 before going on to a successful professional playing career.

Series Notes: Valpo seeks its first win in the eighth all-time matchup with the Illini, as the two teams clash for the first time since March 14, 2017, an 82-57 loss in Champaign in the first round of the NIT. That marks Valpo’s most recent postseason tournament appearance. Valpo last played at Illinois during the regular season on Nov. 13, 2013, a 64-52 defeat when Powell returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach for the first time. Illinois was ranked No. 1 in the nation for a Dec. 19, 2004 meeting between these two teams, a game the Illini won 93-56.

All-American Rejects

• Valpo rejected nine shots on Nov. 14 vs. Green Bay, the program’s highest blocked shot total since Dec. 30, 2019 vs. Loyola, also nine.
• The last time the Brown & Gold recorded more than nine blocks in a game was March 15, 2016 vs. Texas Southern in the first round of the NIT (10).
• Valpo is one of 44 teams in the country to have blocked nine shots in a game this season.
• Jaxon Edwards and Ola Ajiboye had four swats each. This was the first time in over a decade that a pair of Valpo players had four blocks each in the same game.
• The program record for blocked shots in a game is 12 on Jan. 21, 1998 vs. Northern Illinois.
• This was only the fourth time nationally this season that two teammates each rejected four or more shots in the same game – Arkansas (at Gardner Webb), UAB (vs. Maryland) and Seattle (vs. Prairie View) are the others.
• Valpo has blocked six or more shots in four straight games dating back to last season.

Protecting What’s Yours

• Valpo valued the basketball in a big way in the Nov. 14 win over Green Bay, committing just five turnovers in the contest.
• This was the fewest turnovers committed by the Beacons since Feb. 21, 2021 at Southern Illinois (also five).
• The last time Valpo gave it away fewer than five times in a contest was Nov. 28, 2014 vs. Drake (four).
• Valpo is one of only 22 teams in the country with five or fewer turnovers in a game this season.
• Point guard Darius DeAveiro tallied five assists against no turnovers in the win over the Phoenix.
• Valpo became the first team in the country this season with nine or more blocks and five or fewer turnovers in the same game. That combination was achieved by only seven teams in the nation during the 2022-2023 season.

Facing Ranked Foes

• This will mark Valpo’s first game against a nationally-ranked opponent since Feb. 17, 2021 at No. 22/23 Loyola. The Beacons fell 54-52 in that one after beating No. 25 Drake 74-57 on Feb. 7 of that season and falling to those same nationally-ranked Bulldogs 80-77 a day prior.
• Valpo’s last nonconference game against a nationally-ranked opponent was Dec. 7, 2017, an 80-50 loss at No. 21 Purdue.
• Valpo enters Friday seeking its first ever true road win against a top-25 team. The program is 0-42 all-time on the road against nationally-ranked squads.
• Valpo will seek its fifth all-time win over a top-25 team with three of the first four coming at home and one on a neutral floor – Feb. 7, 2021 vs. No. 25 Drake, Nov. 29, 2016 vs. No. 21 Rhode Island, March 13, 1998 vs. No. 13 Ole Miss (NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City, Okla.; Bryce Drew’s “The Shot.”) and Dec. 17, 1988 vs. No. 19 Notre Dame (“The Lutheran Miracle”).

Valpo vs. Power-Conference Competition

• Valpo’s last win over a power-conference opponent was a 68-60 success story vs. Alabama at a multi-team event in Las Vegas on Nov. 21, 2016.
• The win over the Crimson Tide marked Valpo’s third triumph over a power-conference opponent in a two-year span. During the 2015-16 campaign, the team went on the road to beat Oregon State and then took down Florida State at the ARC in the second round of the NIT.
• Prior to 2015-16, Valpo hadn’t beaten a power-5 opponent since the 2008 win over Washington in the CBI.
• Nine of Valpo’s last 12 victories over power-5 opponents have come on neutral floors, with the most recent true road win coming in the aforementioned game at Oregon State.
• Valpo has lost 15 straight against Big Ten competition dating back to Dec. 28, 2004, a 69-56 victory over Penn State as part of the Arizona State Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

Powell Returns to Illinois

• Roger Powell Jr. will feel right at home during his first road game as a collegiate head coach. He played at Illinois from 2001-2005, appearing in 128 games and making 89 starts for the Illini.
• Powell accumulated 1,178 points and 531 rebounds during his four-year career for the Fighting Illini.
• He helped the team to three Big Ten regular-season titles, two Big Ten Tournament crowns and three Sweet Sixteen berths. During his senior year in 2004-05, Powell was part of an Illini team that finished 37-2, won 29 straight to open the season and reached the national title game.
• This is not the first time Powell has been on the visiting bench at Illinois as he was an assistant coach when Valpo visited Champaign on Nov. 13, 2013.

Hitting the Road

• This will mark Valpo’s first road game of the season after opening 2023-24 with three straight at home. The team will play six of its first seven at the ARC with Friday’s contest representing the lone road trip.
• This was the first time Valpo started a season with three straight home games since 2016-17, when the Beacons started by hosting Southern Utah, Trinity Christian and Coppin State.
• Valpo has owned a record of .500 or better at home in 31 straight seasons.
• Valpo has dropped the first true road game of the season in five consecutive years. The Beacons will look to start the road slate in victorious fashion for the first time since Nov. 15, 2017 at SIUE.

Other Notes Wrapping Up Nov. 14: Valpo 64, Green Bay 59

• Jaxon Edwards paced the team in scoring with a career-high 19, while Isaiah Stafford turned in 18. Edwards became the third Valpo player in the last five years with 19 or more points and four or more blocked shots in a game, joining Ben Krikke (Feb. 14, 2023 vs. Southern Illinois) and Derrick Smits (Nov. 24, 2018 at West Virginia).
• Ola Ajiboye led the team on the glass with nine rebounds. Edwards and Jerome Palm squeezed eight apiece.
• The 3-point line proved to be a frozen tundra for the Phoenix, who went just 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) from long range. This was Valpo’s best 3-point defense since Dec. 18, 2022 vs. Elon (3-of-27, also 11.1 percent).
• This marked the first game between the two teams since Valpo left the Horizon League following the 2016-2017 campaign. The squads have a long history against one another including Valpo victories at the ARC in the 2015 Horizon League title game and the 2013 Horizon League Semifinal (The Ryan Broekhoff Game).
• Valpo extended its head-to-head home winning streak against Green Bay to nine.

Scouting the Illini

• Coming off a 71-64 loss vs. No. 4 Marquette on Tuesday.
• Own wins over Eastern Illinois (80-52) and Oakland (64-53).
• Beat preseason No. 1 Kansas 82-75 in a Maui Strong Relief charity exhibition game on Oct. 29.
• Roster includes Marcus Domask, who played against Valpo regularly over the last four seasons while at Southern Illinois and was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection during his time with the Salukis.
• Picked to finish fourth of 14 in the Big Ten preseason media poll, led by First Team Preseason All-Big Ten pick Terrence Shannon Jr.
• Went 20-13 last season including a 15-2 home mark en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Notes Wrapping Up Nov. 10: IUPUI 66, Valpo 56

• Three Valpo players scored in double figures as Jaxon Edwards, Cooper Schwieger and Isaiah Stafford tallied 12 points apiece.
• Stafford did the bulk of his damage from the free-throw stripe, where he was a perfect 7-for-7.
• Stafford became just the third Valpo player over the last four seasons (since the start of 2020-2021) to go perfect at the free-throw line with seven or more attempts, joining Kobe King (Jan. 17, 2023 vs. UIC) and Kevion Taylor (Feb. 9, 2022 at Illinois State).
• Stafford’s seven made free throws tied his NCAA career high from Feb. 26, 2022 vs. Lindenwood while playing for Southern Indiana.
• As a team, Valpo shot 84.2 percent from the free-throw line, making 16 of the team’s 19 attempts.
• Palm gobbled up a career-high 12 rebounds, outdoing his previous best of 10 on Dec. 4, 2022 vs. Murray State. Four of his rebounds came on the offensive glass. He was one point shy of a double-double with nine points to go along with the 12 boards.
• Palm’s stat line of nine or more points and 12 or more rebounds is one that was achieved by a Valpo player just twice all of last season – Kobe King on Jan. 25 at UNI (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Ben Krikke on Nov. 7 vs. Toledo (18 points, 13 rebounds).
• Valpo blocked six shots as a team, the third straight game the Beacons have rejected six shots including last year’s MVC Tournament game vs. Murray State. The Beacons had one game total (Feb. 14 vs. SIU) with six or more blocks during the regular season last year.
• It was a cold shooting night as Valpo hit just two of its 19 3-point tries.

The Game’s Biggest Stage

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

Name                          Year, Team as Player             Year, Team as Coach

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

“The Rev” in the Community

• Since head coach Roger Powell Jr. was hired to lead Valpo’s program, he has made numerous community engagement appearances including IBCA State Wide Clinic, Popcorn Fest, Valpo Kiwanis, Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana, Big Shoulders NWI, the Valpo Athletics Coaches Tour and many more.
• An engaging speaker with an active social media presence, Powell has launched a video series featuring local restaurants called “Powell Party of Six,” showcasing the Powell family meals in the community. Episode 1 featuring Burgerhaus was released prior to the season with more editions to come.
• Nicknamed “The Rev” because of his strong faith and calling as a preacher, Powell’s hire as Valpo head coach made an immediate media splash. The news was featured prominently in the Chicago Sun-Times, on CBS 2 Chicago’s 4 p.m. news and WGN-TV’s GN Sports. He appeared on the Mully & Haugh morning show on 670 The Score in Chicago and Indiana Sports Talk with Bob Lovell out of Indianapolis.

What They’re Saying About Coach Powell

• Bryce Drew, Valpo Legend, Former Valpo Head Coach, GCU Head Coach: “I am very excited for Roger to be a head coach. He is more than ready to lead his own program, so this is perfect timing for him. I will be cheering for Roger and the Beacons!”
• Homer Drew, Legendary Valpo Head Coach: “We’re really happy and thrilled to see Roger return to Valparaiso University. His love for the University and the community of Valparaiso makes him a great fit. Roger is an excellent teacher; he has tremendous knowledge of the game of basketball. He has been part of the Drew family since he arrived on campus and was an assistant coach for Bryce. He is a dedicated and hard recruiter, and being from the Chicago area, he has a lot of friends and contacts in that area.”
• Mark Few, Gonzaga Head Coach: “Roger has been a very instrumental part of our program these past four years. He is the total package as a coach, and one of the best human beings I have ever been around. He will not only be a great addition to the University, but a positive force in the surrounding community. We look forward to watching his teams grow not only on the floor, but also in their life away from basketball.”
• Chris Standiford, Gonzaga Athletic Director: “I am happy for Roger and his family. His positive energy and winning attitude will serve him well as a head coach. Valpo is getting a great coach, and more importantly, a terrific person.”
• Scott Drew, Baylor Head Coach: “Roger is not only an outstanding basketball coach, but an even better person and representative of Valparaiso University. The community will welcome him as they already know him and his family. He will do a tremendous job.”
• Tommy Lloyd, Arizona Head Coach: “Roger Powell is a first-class individual. He is well liked by the players he coaches and his colleagues in the business. I have no doubt that Roger’s passion, energy and fire will help bring back the glory days of Valpo Basketball!”
• Alec Peters, Valpo’s All-Time Leading Scorer: “The amount of love and passion that Coach Powell is going to put into the program is going to be unmatched. His energy, competitiveness and character are going to show up every day and everyone will feel it.”

Inside the Assistants

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

Inside the Roster

• The 2023-24 roster features four returning letterwinners and 11 newcomers. The team lost 11 letterwinners from last season including all five starters.
• This marks the first time since the 2013-14 season that Valpo has no starters returning from the previous season. The 2012-13 NCAA Tournament team started all seniors – Ryan Broekhoff, Kevin Van Wijk, Erik Buggs, Will Bogan and Ben Boggs. The 2013-14 season featured a five-member freshmen class led by Alec Peters.
• Prior to this season, Valpo had at least two returning starters in nine consecutive years.
• The 12 scholarship players on the roster include three returners, five true freshmen and four transfers. Valpo also has three walk-ons – one returner, one former Valpo football player and one transfer.
• The 12 scholarship players are comprised of two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen (five true; one redshirt).
• The half dozen freshmen represent the team’s most since 2008-09, when the team also had six on the roster – De’Andre Haskins, Cameron Witt, Nick Shelton, Andrew Ferry, Erik Buggs and Logan Jones.
• This year’s roster features players from five different countries – The Netherlands, Canada, Estonia, South Sudan and the United States. In addition, six states are represented – Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia and Kansas.

Returnee Rundown

• Junior guard Darius DeAveiro ranked 14^th in the Missouri Valley Conference in assists per game last season. He ranked fifth in the league in assist to turnover ratio at 1.89. During his rookie year in 2021-22, he finished the season as one of two freshmen nationally with 50 or more assists and fewer than 25 turnovers. He was named a captain by head coach Roger Powell Jr. prior to the season.
• Senior guard/forward Connor Barrett is the team’s leading returning scorer and the longest-tenured member of the program. Now in his fourth season at Valpo, Barrett saw action in 31 of the team’s 32 games a year ago and scored a season-high 13 points including three made 3s on Dec. 18 vs. Elon.
• Senior forward Jerome Palm was named a captain by head coach Roger Powell Jr. prior to the season. He joined Valpo last year after a pair of junior college seasons. He had a season-high 11 points to go along with nine rebounds on Dec. 1 at Belmont.

Newcomer Notes

• Sophomore guard Jaxon Edwards has experience in the Missouri Valley Conference after playing in 11 games during the 2022-23 season as a freshman at Murray State. He led Cathedral to the 2021-22 Indiana 4A state championship in high school.
• Freshman guard Sherman Weatherspoon IV played at Golden State Prep in Napa Valley, Calif. in 2022-23, averaging 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
• Sophomore forward Ola Ajiobye played in 30 of 31 games with 14 starts at Central Michigan as a true freshman in 2022-23.
• Freshman guard Jahari Williamson played for Canada’s U19 World Cup Team in Summer 2023 after participating in the U18 2022 Canada Games for Team Ontario.
• Freshman forward Lucas Scroggins spent the 2022-23 season at Bosco Institute in Crown Point.
• Freshman forward Cooper Schwieger averaged 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists at Link Year Prep in Branson, Mo. last season.
• Junior guard Isaiah Stafford averaged 12.5 points per game to help John A. Logan to the junior college national title and a 33-2 mark in 2022-23 after spending his freshman season at Southern Indiana in 2021-22.
• Freshman forward Kaspar Sepp played for the Estonian national team during the 2023 summer after helping Estonia beat Finland to earn a promotion to the “A” division during the 2022 summer.
• Redshirt freshman Lual Manyang received a medical redshirt in 2022-23 due to a preseason injury at Hofstra.

The Dot Farewell Tour

• Longtime Valpo men’s basketball official scorekeeper Dot Nuechterlein has announced that she will retire from her duties at the scorer’s table following the 2023-24 season.
• Nuechterlein, age 86, began as the official scorer at Valpo in 1984. Her four-decade long tenure as the holder of an official scorebook featured two seasons doing so at Columbia while she lived in New York City during a brief hiatus from Valpo.
• According to Nuechterlein, she was the first female to serve as full-time official scorer for a Division-I men’s college basketball team when she took over the post at Valpo in 1984.

Beacon Bits

Random facts on each Valpo player.

• #0 Jaxon Edwards – Played football up until high school but stopped after eighth grade when he injured his hand.
• #1 Jerome Palm – Started playing basketball at age 15.
• #2 Connor Barrett – Is an avid golfer.
• #3 Anthony Sciarroni – Spent three years on the Valpo football team before joining the men’s basketball program as a walk-on.
• #4 Sherman Weatherspoon IV – Father Sherman Weatherspoon III is a Northwest Indiana native and Gary Roosevelt product... Enjoys clothes, going on walks, nature and hiking.
• #5 Ola Ajiboye – Enjoys meeting new people, playing table tennis, swimming and being around people.
• #6 Darius DeAveiro – Played soccer until his freshman year of high school, when he gave up the sport to focus on basketball. Played on the state team for soccer at age 13 and traveled significantly for the sport, including a trip to England.
• #7 Jahari Williamson – Owns numerous golf medals.
• #10 Lucas Scroggins – Loves to draw and hopes to pursue an art-related career.
• #13 Cooper Schwieger – Twin brother Carson plays at Wright State. A lot of people think they are identical, but they are fraternal twins.
• #19 Isaiah Stafford – Enjoys spending time with family as well as playing board games, card games and video games.
• #20 Joe Vick – Walk-on whose favorite sports memory is playing in Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now Gainbridge Fieldhouse).
• #21 Kaspar Sepp – His national team coach is former teammates with Valpo assistant coach A.J. Moye and his prep coach is Moye’s former roommate.
• #34 Lual Manyang – Favorite TV show is Shark Tank and his favorite athletes are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kobe Bryant.
• #35 Luke Carroll – Walk-on who enjoys golfing and fishing in his spare time.

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.