Valparaiso (4-3, 0-1 MVC)
at Belmont (5-3, 1-0 MVC) 

Game No. 8 – Saturday, Dec. 2, 1 p.m. CT
Curb Event Center (5,000) – Nashville, Tenn.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After starting the season with six of its first seven games within the confines of the Athletics-Recreation Center, the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team will keep the travel bags handy for an upcoming nine-day stretch that features three games away from home on three separate trips to three different states. The Beacons will start that stretch with their first road Missouri Valley Conference game of the season on Saturday at Belmont before stepping outside of league play for the final five nonconference games including two on the road next week.  

Last Time Out: Valpo took the lead on MVC preseason favorite and defending conference champion Drake with 16:29 left in the first half and held that advantage all the way until the final 2:07 of the half with the cushion peaking at nine. The Beacons also led early in the second half before a 10-0 run by the Bulldogs served as a turning point in an 83-65 win for the guests in Wednesday’s league lidlifter. The game was closer than the final score would indicate as Valpo led for 17:25 compared to 18:03 with Drake in front. Isaiah Stafford scored a team-high 20 points while Darius DeAveiro matched a personal best with 11 and Cooper Schwieger contributed 13.

Following the Beacons: Streaming – ESPN+ – Steve Layman (play-by-play), Greg Sage (analyst) and Caroline Fenton (sideline)

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. (4-3) 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 leads 9-4 in an all-time series that began in 1997-98, a season that concluded with a Sweet Sixteen appearance for the Brown & Gold. Belmont won both matchups in its first season in the Missouri Valley Conference last year, besting the Beacons 76-64 on Dec. 1 in Nashville and 74-59 on Jan. 10 in Northwest Indiana. Valpo has dropped three straight dating back to Dec. 3, 2015 and has lost three straight when visiting Belmont with the most recent head-to-head win in Nashville coming 86-60 on Feb. 7, 2000.

Opening League Action

• Wednesday’s game vs. Drake marked the first time Valpo has played a conference game in the month of November since joining Division-I in 1978-79.
• Valpo fell to 1-6 in league openers since joining The Valley. The Beacons have dropped the last five MVC openers after a half-court buzzer-beater by Markus Golder helped Valpo start the 2018-19 conference campaign with a 58-56 home win over Illinois State.
• This marks the second straight season that Valpo’s first MVC road game has occurred at Belmont.
• Valpo is 3-3 in its first MVC road game of the season since joining the league.

A Scoring Surge

• Entering the Nov. 21 game vs. Western Illinois, junior Darius DeAveiro had played 58 career games and owned a career high of eight points, achieved twice (Jan. 15, 2022 vs. Missouri State and Nov. 13, 2022 vs. Western Michigan). Since then, he has scored at least eight points in each of his last three games including a personal-best 11 on Nov. 21 vs. Western Illinois and Nov. 29 vs. Drake.
• DeAveiro made three 3-poiners on Nov. 29 vs. Drake after having entered the game with no more than one 3-point make in any of his first 60 career games. For further comparison, he made three 3s all of last season in 25 games.
• Valpo’s starting point guard entered this season with seven career made 3s over 54 games and has five 3s in the first seven contests this year.
• DeAveiro busted out of a shooting slump as he entered the Nov. 21 game against the Leathernecks having gone 0-for-10 from the field over his previous three games and 2-for-17 shooting for the season. He had scored seven total points over his first four games this season before scoring 30 points over his last three contests.
• Valpo’s starting point guard has also thrived in the assist department during this recent surge, giving out five or more helpers in each of the last three games. He’s tallied five or more assists on five occasions this season, including a season-best seven on Nov. 21 vs. Western Illinois.
• DeAveiro became just the third Valpo player in the last decade to shoot 80 percent or better from the field (minimum five attempts) while handing out at least seven assists in the game against the Leathernecks. He was the first to do it since Max Joseph on Jan. 10, 2018 vs. Drake. Before that, the most recent was Erik Buggs on March 2, 2013 against Green Bay.

Welcome to The Valley

• Valpo newcomers have achieved Missouri Valley Conference recognition in back-to-back weeks as Isaiah Stafford was tabbed MVC Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 20 before Cooper Schwieger earned MVC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 27.
• Valpo has already won two MVC weekly awards in the first three weeks this season, one away from the team’s season total from last year and already only two away from the team’s highest total number of weekly awards in a season since joining The Valley.
• Schwieger’s honor came after he averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, going 4-of-6 from 3-point range in a pair of wins over Western Illinois and Southern.
• Stafford averaged 24.0 points per game during the week of his award, tallying 18 in a home win over Green Bay before exploding for 30 at No. 23 Illinois.

Freshman on Fire

• Schwieger has scored 12 points or more in four consecutive games and in five of his seven games this season. He’s tallied at least eight points in each of his first seven collegiate contests.
• Schwieger has shot at least 45 percent in each of his last four games, boasting five made field goals or more in each of those contests.
• The rookie has pulled down six or more rebounds in five of his first seven games.
• Schwieger has blocked at least one shot in six of his seven games.
• The Overland Park, Kan. native ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring average among freshmen at 12.0 points per game. He is one of three rookies averaging double figures, joining Drake’s Kevin Overton (14.0 ppg) and Evansville’s Chuck Bailey III (11.0 ppg).
• Schwieger ranks second among MVC freshmen with 1.3 blocks per game and leads all MVC rookies with 5.6 rebounds per game.

Stafford’s Steady Scoring

• Isaiah Stafford has scored 17 points or more in five of his seven games this season, most recently turning in his third performance of 20+ points with 20 exactly on Nov. 29 vs. Drake.
• The junior college transfer has led the team in scoring (outright or tied) in five of the seven games this season.
• His rebounding has seen an uptick over the last three games as he has pulled down seven rebounds or more in three straight contests after a stretch of three straight games where he had three or fewer boards.
• Stafford, who ranks sixth in the MVC in scoring at 17.9 points per game, made three 3s in the conference opener against the Bulldogs, his third game this season with at least a trio of triples. He also swiped three steals against Drake, his fourth multi-steal game.

Home-Heavy Start

• Valpo closed out a stretch of three straight home games and six of its first seven at the ARC on Nov. 29 vs. Drake.
• Now, the Beacons will hit the road for three straight.
• Valpo started the season with three straight home games, the first time it has done so since 2016-17.
• This marked the most home games (six) that Valpo has had in the first seven games of a season since the 1969-70 season, when the Beacons traveled to Air Force and had home games against Saint Procopius, No. 10 Notre Dame, Whittier, Pacific Lutheran, Gustavus Adolphus and South Alabama over the first seven contests.
• Valpo has owned a record of .500 or better at home in 31 straight seasons.

Team Trends

• Valpo has held its opponents to 33 percent or lower from 3-point range in all seven games this season. Overall, the Beacons are holding opponents to 26.5 percent from 3, ranking 22nd nationally in 3-point defense.
• The Beacons have had 15 or more free-throw attempts in each of their seven games.
• Valpo has won the turnover battle in five of the team’s seven games this season including each of the team’s four victories.
• Valpo ranks third in the conference in fewest turnovers committed per game at 10.6 and fourth in turnover margin at +3.0 per game.
• The Beacons rank second in the league and 47^th nationally in blocks per game at 5.0.
• Valpo has had the same starting lineup in all seven games this year – Jerome Palm, Cooper Schwieger, Jaxon Edwards, Darius DeAveiro and Isaiah Stafford.

More Individual Beacon Bits

• Jerome Palm has scored 48 points in the first seven games this season. During the Nov. 29 game vs. Drake, he surpassed his 2022-23 season point total of 44.
• Jaxon Edwards has scored 60 points in seven games for Valpo this season. This is 10 times his scoring total of six points in 11 games while playing at Murray State a year ago.
• Ola Ajiboye has over doubled his scoring production from last season despite seeing fewer minutes. He is averaging 6.3 points per game in 18.2 minutes per game after tallying 3.0 points per game in 19.2 minutes per game last year at Central Michigan.
• Sherman Weatherspoon IV had season highs in points (eight) and rebounds (six) on Nov. 25 vs. Southern. He had three total rebounds for the season in his first five games and none over his previous three before tallying six against the Jaguars. He entered the game 2-for-14 from 3-point range but went 2-for-4 against Southern.

Additional Notes Wrapping Up Nov. 29: Drake 83, Valpo 65

• Free-throw shooting played a big role as Valpo went just 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) and Drake was 19-of-26 (73.1 percent). Foul trouble plagued the Beacons as Jaxon Edwards, Cooper Schwieger and Ola Ajiboye were tagged with four fouls apiece.
• Drake was held to just 26.1 percent from 3-point territory, missing 17 of 23 attempts.
• Isaiah Stafford (20), Cooper Schwieger (13) and Darius DeAveiro (11) were three Beacons in double figures. Jaxon Edwards chipped in eight points to go along with seven rebounds, sharing the lead on the boards with Stafford, who also swiped three steals.

Scouting the Bruins

• Picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll.
• Went 21-11 overall and 14-6 in The Valley last season including an overall home mark of 12-2.
• Lost last season’s star player Ben Sheppard, who was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 26^th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
• Put together a 90-70 blowout victory at UNI, the team picked second in the preseason poll, to open league play on Wednesday.
• Have won three straight games but do have losses to Furman, Arizona and Monmouth.

Notes Wrapping Up Nov. 25: Valpo 71, Southern 59

• Isaiah Stafford and Cooper Schwieger had 17 points apiece to share game-high honors while also serving as the team’s top two rebounders.
• Stafford squeezed nine caroms to pace the team in that area followed by Schwieger with seven and Weatherspoon with six.
• Schwieger’s 17 points outdid his previous season best of 13, which came last time out on Nov. 21 vs. Western Illinois. The freshman has tallied 12 points or more in three straight and has scored at least eight points in each of his six contests.
• Stafford tied a season-high with seven made free throws and got to the stripe regularly with a season-high 11 attempts.
• With 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Stafford joined the short list of Valpo players who have achieved that combination in a game in the last decade – Ben Krikke, Javon Freeman-Liberty (x3), Tevonn Walker, Alec Peters (5x), Shane Hammink and Ryan Broekhoff (6x in his career).
• Darius DeAveiro tallied eight points and handed out a team-high five assists.
• This marked Valpo’s most lopsided victory against a Division-I opponent since Jan. 28, 2023, an 81-69 win over Evansville.
• Valpo tied a season high with 18 made free throws, the third time this year that the team has converted exactly 18 freebies. The team shot 70 percent or better at the charity stripe in each of the last five contests.
• Valpo did a good job on the defensive glass, allowing just seven Southern offensive rebounds, the first time this season a Beacon opponent had fewer than 10.

Bench Boost

• In the Nov. 21 win over Western Illinois, Valpo held the upper hand in bench points, 41-8. Three players – all underclassmen – combined for the 41 bench points as Ola Ajiboye (21), Jahari Williamson (13) and Sherman Weatherspoon IV (seven) all made key contributions.
• Ajiboye’s career-high 21 points came on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist.
• Ajiboye over doubled his previous career high of 10 points, which came on Nov. 6 of this season vs. Trinity Christian.
• He became the first Valpo player to shoot 80 percent or better at the ARC (with a minimum of 10 attempts) in a game against a Division-I opponent since Alec Peters on March 4, 2014 vs. UIC. He became just the 10^th Valpo player in the last decade to shoot at an 80 percent clip or better with at least 10 shots.
• Ajiboye became the first Valpo player to come off the bench and score 20 points or more against a Division-I opponent since Sheldon Edwards on Feb. 16, 2022 vs. Loyola.
• This marked quite the turnaround for Ajiboye as he played but did not score in the previous game on Nov. 17 at No. 23 Illinois.
• Ajiboye became just the fourth Valpo player in the last decade to come off the bench and score 20+ points while pulling down 8+ rebounds. He joined Sheldon Edwards (Dec. 9, 2020 vs. SIUE), Darien Walker (Nov. 14, 2014 vs. East Tennessee State) and Bobby Capobianco (Nov. 29, 2013 vs. Mercer).
• Williamson hit three 3s en route to his 13 points while also swiping three steals. He became the first Valpo freshman to achieve that combo since Connor Barrett on Jan. 9, 2021 vs. Missouri State.

 “I” Stands for Isaiah

• As Paul Oren of “The Victory Bell” put it, the “I” on the center of the court in Champaign stood for Isaiah – as in Valpo’s Isaiah Stafford – rather than Illinois on Nov. 17 as the Beacons clashed with the No. 23 Fighting Illini.
• Stafford scored 30 points on 11-of-23 shooting, 3-of-8 from 3 and 5-of-7 at the free-throw line. He finished one point shy of a career high that was set on Feb. 26, 2022 while playing for Southern Indiana vs. Lindenwood.
• Stafford’s performance against the Illini coupled with his 18 points on Nov. 14 vs. Green Bay helped him earn MVC Newcomer of the Week honors on Nov. 20.
• The 30 points at Illinois marked the most points scored by a Beacon since Ben Krikke tallied 34 at UIC on Feb. 19 of last season.
• Stafford joined Krikke (3x), Javon Freeman-Liberty (twice), Bakari Evelyn, Alec Peters (10x) and Lavone Dority (twice) as the only Valpo players in the last decade with a 30-point performance.
• Stafford had the most points scored by a non-power conference opponent against Illinois since Ohio’s Jason Preston in 2020.
• The bulk of Stafford’s damage came before the break as he had 23 first-half points. This marked the highest scoring half by a Beacon since Javon Freeman-Liberty had 23 on March 7, 2020 vs. Missouri State in the MVC semifinals. However, that included points scored in overtime so Freeman-Liberty’s total came in 25 minutes rather than 20.
• The last time a Valpo player scored more than 23 in a half was Alec Peters on Dec. 22, 2016, but that included double overtime.
• Stafford had Valpo’s biggest first half and biggest half that did not include OT by a Valpo player since Peters scored 23 in the opening half on Dec. 17, 2016 vs. Indiana State.

Hats Off for Half 1

• Valpo led for the entirety of a brilliant first half and held a 45-38 advantage at No. 23 Illinois at the break after owning a cushion as big as 10.
• The program was hoping to record its fifth all-time victory against a nationally-ranked opponent and its first true road win against an AP Top-25 foe. The Brown & Gold fell to 0-44 all-time on the road against nationally-ranked opponents, with three of the program’s four ranked wins coming at home and one on a neutral floor.
• Each of the last two road games against Top-25 teams and three of the last six have seen Valpo own the halftime lead. In addition to the Nov. 17 game at No. 23 Illinois, Valpo led No. 22 Loyola 29-26 at the break on Feb. 17, 2021 and held a 35-33 edge at No. 25 Oregon midway through the Nov. 22, 2015 matchup.
• Valpo was also seeking its first power-conference win since 2016 vs. Alabama and was hoping to snap a 15-game skid against Big Ten Conference competition that dates back to Dec. 28, 2004 vs. Penn State.

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.