Valparaiso (4-12, 0-5 MVC)
at Illinois State (8-8, 2-3 MVC) 

Game No. 17 – Sunday, Jan. 14, 2 p.m. CT
CEFCU Arena (10,200) – Normal, Ill.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team will play its first Sunday game of the season this week with a matinee against Illinois State. This is one of two Sunday contests all season for the Beacons, and both are against the Redbirds. The next time the two teams clash will be in the regular season finale on March 3 at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Last Time Out: Isaiah Stafford (19) and Darius DeAveiro (18) led Valpo in scoring as the Beacons outscored Southern Illinois 44-33 after halftime but the Salukis prevailed 77-68 thanks to a 20-point halftime lead on Wednesday at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Valpo shot a robust 63 percent after the break on a night where the nation’s second leading scorer – SIU’s Xavier Johnson – had 22 points and seven assists.

Following the Beacons: Streaming – ESPN+ – Kurt Pegler (play-by-play) and Lexi Ayala (analyst)

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. (4-12) 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 holds a 14-9 lead in an all-time series that dates all the way back to the 1939-40 campaign. The Beacons have had great success against the Redbirds since joining the Missouri Valley Conference as they own a 10-2 record and have won nine of the last 10 with the only defeat in that 10-game stretch coming in overtime. Four of the last five games have been decided by five points or fewer with two of those contests requiring OT. Valpo swept last season’s series, blowing out the Redbirds 71-51 on Jan. 21 in Normal before winning 81-76 on Feb. 11 at the ARC.

Scouting the Redbirds

• Picked up a pair of early MVC wins, beating UIC on Nov. 30 (69-64) and Murray State on Dec. 3 (76-72).
• Lost each of their first three MVC games in the new year, 88-71 at Drake and 71-64 vs. Southern Illinois before most recently incurring a 67-60 setback at Belmont on Wednesday.
• Picked to finish eighth of 12 in the MVC preseason poll.
• Led in scoring by Darius Burford at 13.1 points per game, one of three Redbirds averaging in double figures. Myles Foster is the team’s top rebounder at 7.3 per game.

Roger the Redbird

• Visiting Illinois State holds significance for Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr., whose father Roger Powell Sr. is a 1998 inductee into the Illinois State Athletics Hall of Fame.
• Powell Sr. was a men’s basketball student-athlete for the Redbirds from 1973-76 as a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter.
• Powell Sr. scored 1,306 career points, an average of 13.2 points per game. He finished his career with 568 made field goals, shooting 48.1 percent from the field.
• During his senior season in 1975-76, Powell Sr. led the team by averaging 19.2 points per game. He shot a team-best 51.8 percent from the floor during his senior campaign.

Second-Half Sharpshooting

• Valpo finished with a season-best field-goal percentage of 51.0 on Jan. 10 vs. Southern Illinois.
• This marked the team’s highest shooting clip since Feb. 11, 2023 vs. Illinois State (54.9 percent).
• In the game against the Salukis, Valpo went just 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from the field before halftime before hitting at a 63 percent clip (17-of-27) after the break. The game completely flipped on both ends of the floor after the break as SIU shot 60.7 percent in the opening half but 39.1 percent after halftime.
• Both teams finished the game at exactly 51 percent shooting. This was just the third Valpo game since joining the Missouri Valley Conference where both teams shot over 50 percent, and both previous games were against Loyola – Feb. 16, 2022 at the ARC and Feb. 9, 2020 in Chicago.
• This was the second time in the last four games that Valpo shot above 60 percent in the second half. The team hit at a 61.3 percent clip after halftime at Elon. The 63 percent against the Salukis was the team’s best single-half shooting percentage since the first half of the 2022-23 season opener on Nov. 7, 2022 at Toledo when Valpo shot 65.5 percent.

Other Notes Wrapping Up Jan. 10: SIU 77, Valpo 68

• Valpo outscored SIU 44-33 in the second half, the first time the Beacons have held the upper hand in a half in a Missouri Valley Conference game this season. It marked the team’s best half in any game since outscoring Central Michigan 45-34 after the break on Dec. 6.
• Isaiah Stafford (19) and Darius DeAveiro (18) were the team’s top scorers, while Cooper Schwieger had a team-best seven rebounds to go along with his nine points and Sherman Weatherspoon IV played a season-high 25 minutes and tallied eight points.
• SIU’s Xavier Johnson, the nation’s second leading scorer, had 22 points including 10-of-10 at the free-throw line.
• Longtime Valpo fan and 1942 graduate Connie Bretscher celebrated her 103^rd birthday by attending the game.

Back in Action

• Isaiah Stafford returned to the floor on Jan. 6 at UIC after missing the previous two games with an injury that occurred on Dec. 19 vs. Samford. In his return to action, Valpo’s leading scorer turned in 19 points to pace the team, then he followed that up with another 19-point showing on Jan. 10 vs. Southern Illinois.
• The junior college transfer has led the team in scoring (outright or tied) in 10 of his 14 games this season.
• Stafford, who ranks seventh in the MVC in scoring at 16.6 points per game, has scored 17 points or more in nine of his 14 contests.
• In the Dec. 9 game at Virginia Tech, Stafford became the first Valpo player with 14+ points, four or more steals and multiple blocks in a game since Ryan Broekhoff on Feb. 10, 2011 vs. Detroit Mercy.

Handing Out Helpers

• Just 16 games into the season, Darius DeAveiro has 86 assists, already surpassing his previous single-season career high of 68, set in 25 games last year. He’s up to 204 career assists, reaching the 200 milestone on Jan. 10 vs. Southern Illinois.
• DeAveiro ranks 30^th nationally and second in the MVC with 86 total assists and ranks 33^rd in the country and second in the league at 5.4 assists per game.
• By recording five assists on Jan. 10 vs. Southern Illinois, DeAveiro made it 12 straight games with four or more helpers.
• DeAveiro is on pace to become just the third Valpo player in the last 30 years to average at least 5.4 assists per game. The last to do so was Ali Berdeil in 2003-04 (6.0) and before that it was Bryce Drew in 1994-95 (6.0).
• His 10 assists in this season’s game vs. Samford tied a career high set on Nov. 13, 2022 vs. Western Michigan.

Darius Delivering 

• Over his last 12 games, junior point guard Darius DeAveiro is averaging 9.8 points per game while dishing out four or more assists in each contest.
• DeAveiro has scored in double figures in four straight games after entering that stretch with two double-figure scoring outputs in his first 66 collegiate contests. He’s scored 18 or more in two of his last three games.
• A breakout season for DeAveiro continued in a big way on Jan. 3 vs. Bradley, when he posted a career-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and one steal while committing just one turnover.
• Since 2010, DeAveiro became just the seventh Valpo player with at least 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a game while committing one turnover or fewer. He joined a star-studded list of six Valpo greats who were all first-team all-conference performers – Brandon Wood, Ryan Broekhoff (twice), Alec Peters (3x), Tevonn Walker, Javon Freeman-Liberty (twice) and Ben Krikke. DeAveiro was the first to do it since Krikke on Jan. 25, 2023.
• DeAveiro’s career-high 19 points against the Braves easily outdid his previous career best of 11, which was reached twice this season (Nov. 21 vs. Western Illinois, Nov. 29 vs. Drake). It also marked the first time in his collegiate career (68^th game) that he led the team in scoring.
• DeAveiro’s seven rebounds vs. Bradley led the team, his second straight outing with seven boards after squeezing seven on Dec. 29 at Elon. Before the Elon game, DeAveiro’s season high in the rebounding department was four and his career high was six, achieved back on Nov. 27, 2021 vs. Trinity Christian.
• The four-assist game against Bradley snapped DeAveiro’s streak of nine straight games with five or more helpers. (Since you cannot assist your own made basket, it’s hard to put up a big assist total when you’re the one doing all of the scoring!)

We Are Young

• Valpo’s 2023-24 roster is a new-look group that is among the nation’s most inexperienced teams.
• The Beacons rank 356 of 362 in the KenPom “experience factor” at 0.54. The experience factor is calculated using eligibility class weighted by minutes played.
• The only more inexperienced teams nationally, per KenPom, are Notre Dame, Boston, Saint Francis, Siena, Northwestern State and Idaho.
• Valpo has four freshmen with multiple double-figure scoring outputs this season – Jahari Williamson, Kaspar Sepp, Cooper Schwieger and Sherman Weatherspoon IV. The last time that occurred was 2013-14 – Alec Peters, Clay Yeo, Lexus Williams and Jubril Adekoya.

Rookie Report

• Cooper Schwieger is averaging 10.3 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game this season.
• The Overland Park, Kan. native ranks third in the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring average among freshmen at 10.3 points per game. He is behind only Drake’s Kevin Overton (13.0 ppg) and Evansville’s Chuck Bailey III (10.5 ppg).
• Schwieger ranks second among MVC freshmen with 1.0 blocks per game and leads the league in rebounds per game among freshmen at 4.8.
• Schwieger is one of 15 freshmen nationally averaging at least 10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.

Battling on the Boards

• Valpo enjoyed its best rebounding margin of the season at +11 on Jan. 6 at UIC, outdoing the Flames 44-33 including 15-8 on the offensive glass.
• This marked Valpo’s biggest rebounding edge since Feb. 11, 2023 vs. Illinois State (+11).
• This was just the fourth time total and third against a Division-I opponent that Valpo won the battle on the boards this season. The team’s previous rebounding advantages were vs. Trinity Christian (+8), vs. Southern (+4) and at Elon (+3).
• This was Valpo’s best rebounding performance in a road game since Feb. 19, 2022 at Evansville (+15).

Double-Double Details

• Sophomore Jaxon Edwards enjoyed his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds on Jan. 6 at UIC.
• This marked Valpo’s second double-double of the season and first since Jerome Palm’s 12 points and 10 rebounds on Nov. 17 at No. 23 Illinois.
• Edwards boasted his second double-figure scoring output in the last three games (15 points at Elon) and his sixth of the season. This marked his second double-figure rebounding performance and first since 15 on Nov. 17 at No. 23 Illinois.
• Edwards also rejected three shots in the game against UIC, his fifth game this season with three or more blocks.
• Edwards became just the fourth different and sixth total Valpo player since 2010 to record a stat line featuring 10 or more points, 11 or more rebounds and three or more blocked shots. He joined Kobe King (Feb. 5, 2022 vs. Indiana State), Vashil Fernandez (three times, M.R. 1/18/16 at Youngstown State) and Ryan Broekhoff (Nov. 18, 2011 vs. Akron).
• Edwards slammed home his team-leading eighth dunk of the season in the game against UIC. Four of those jams have came in a three-game span from Dec. 29 to Jan. 6.

Other Notes Wrapping Up Jan. 7: UIC 70, Valpo 64

• Four Valpo players finished in double figures – Isaiah Stafford (19), Darius DeAveiro (11), Jaxon Edwards (10) and Kaspar Sepp (10).
• Edwards paced the team with 11 rebounds, while Cooper Schwieger had eight to tie a season high set way back on Nov. 6 vs. Trinity Christian. Ola Ajiboye squeezed seven boards.
• The game featured eight ties and 18 lead changes.
• Valpo lost the turnover battle for the second straight game after a stretch of six straight either winning or tying the turnover battle. UIC’s seven giveaways were the second-fewest by a Beacon opponent this season (Drake, six).
• The Beacons held the Flames to 6-of-24 (25 percent) from 3-point distance, the lowest clip by a Valpo opponent in the last 12 games after Green Bay was 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) on Nov. 14.
• UIC entered the game leading the nation with an average of 6.9 blocked shots per game, but it was the Beacons who rejected seven shots while the Flames turned away two. The seven blocks marked Valpo’s highest total in the last 11 games since registering seven on Nov. 17 at No. 23 Illinois.
• This was Valpo’s fourth loss by six points or fewer in the last seven games.

Williamson Captures MVC Honor

• Valpo’s Jahari Williamson was named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week on Jan. 2 following his career-high 24 points on Dec. 29 at Elon.
• Making his first collegiate start in the game against the Phoenix, Williamson knocked down five 3s and was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds and two assists. The scoring output outdid his previous season best of 20 that came on Dec. 16 vs. Chicago State.
• Williamson’s 24 points marked the most by a Valpo rookie since Javon Freeman-Liberty had 27 on Feb. 5, 2019 at Illinois State.
• Williamson became the third Beacon to achieve a Missouri Valley Conference weekly award this season, joining Isaiah Stafford (Nov. 20, Newcomer of the Week) and Cooper Schwieger (Nov. 27, Freshman of the Week). This year’s team has already tied for Valpo’s second most weekly awards in a single season since joining the MVC and needs just one more weekly honor to tie for the program’s most since joining the conference.
• Valpo became the first Valley team this season to have two different players who have won the MVC Freshman of the Week Award (Williamson and Schwieger).
• Stafford’s recognition came after he averaged 24.0 points per game against Green Bay and No. 23 Illinois including 30 against the Fighting Illini. Schwieger’s came after a week where he averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in wins over Western Illinois and Southern.

20-Point Tandem

• On Dec. 29 vs. Elon, Cooper Schwieger and Jahari Williamson both eclipsed 20 points, marking the first time a Valpo tandem turned that trick since Ben Krikke and Kobe King did it on Feb. 14 of last season vs. Southern Illinois.
• This marked the first time in over 30 years that a pair of Valpo rookies each reached the 20-point threshold. No freshman tandem had achieved that feat since at least the start of the Homer Drew head coaching era in 1988-89.
• This marked the first time Valpo had a pair of 20-point scorers in a true road game since Dec. 18, 2019 at High Point (Javon Freeman-Liberty and Eron Gordon).

Underclassmen on Display

• A young and inexperienced team was even more young and inexperienced on Dec. 29 at Elon as junior Isaiah Stafford was sidelined with an injury.
• Three of the five starters in that game were freshmen and four were underclassmen, including rookie Jahari Williamson, who made his first collegiate start.
• Of the team’s 78 points at Elon, 51 (65.3 percent) were scored by freshmen and 68 (87.2 percent) were scored by freshmen and sophomores.
• Williamson scored a career-high 24 points, knocked down five 3s and was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds and two assists. He outdid his previous season best of 20 that came on Dec. 16 vs. Chicago State.
• Cooper Schwieger went 7-of-11 from the field for a season-high 21 points with the bulk of his damage coming after halftime. Over the final 20 minutes, he scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Schwieger outdid his previous personal best of 18 that occurred on Dec. 2 at Belmont.

Jahari’s Jumpers

• Jahari Williamson returned to the rotation on Dec. 16 vs. Chicago State after missing the previous two games due to an illness. He made a significant impact, tallying 20 points and going 4-of-6 from 3-point territory.
• Williamson enjoyed his second 20-point output in a three-game span when he went 5-of-8 from 3 and produced a season-high 24 points on Dec. 29 at Elon.
• On Jan. 3 vs. Bradley, Williamson scored 12 points, his third double-figure scoring output in a four-game span, more than he had in his first eight games of the season (two).
• Before that four-game stretch, Williamson had been held to six points or fewer in six of his previous seven games.

Who’s Next?

• Justus McNair signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his basketball career at Valpo during the November signing period.
• The Joliet West senior and Joliet, Ill. native has a deep connection to head coach Roger Powell Jr. His parents grew up with Powell in Joliet.
• McNair, a 6-foot-3 guard, lists going to state in eighth grade as a favorite basketball memory. He also highlighted last season’s Joliet West sectional championship appearance, fueled by a late-season, 14-game winning streak and a 29-6 record.
• Powell on McNair: “I’m extremely excited about this young man from Joliet, Ill., my hometown. He’s a tough, physical and athletic guard who will add even more athleticism and ability to shoot the ball to our team next year. I’m fired up and can’t wait to get him here and help us continue to build a winning tradition.”

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.