2015–16 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2015–16 Valparaiso Crusaders Valparaiso Crusaders wordmark.svg 175 Horizon League Horizon 30–7 16–2 Bryce Drew 5th Roger Powell Luke Gore Matt Lottich Athletics–Recreation Center Horizon League regular season champions NIT Runner-Up The 2015–16 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by fifth year head coach Bryce Drew, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center and were members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 30–7, 16–2 in Horizon League play to win the regular season championship. They lost in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament to Green Bay. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As one of the last four teams left out of the NCAA tournament, they received a #1 seed in the NIT where they defeated Texas Southern, Florida State, Saint Mary's, and BYU to advance to the championship game where they lost to George Washington. This season was Bryce Drew's final season as Valparaiso head coach. He accepted the Vanderbilt head coaching job on April 5, 2016.https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15140517/vanderbilt-commodores-hire-bryce-drew-valparaiso-crusaders-new-coach Sources: Vandy, Bryce Drew reach 6-year deal ESPN.com 2016-04-05 He finished at Valpo with a five-year record of 124–49 and went to the postseason every year as head coach. Previous season The Crusaders finished the 2014–15 season with an overall record of 28–6, and 13–3 to win the Horizon League regular season championship. They defeated Cleveland State and Green Bay to win the Horizon League tournament championship. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the second round to Maryland. Pre-season On July 31, 2015, the NCAA announced that senior Vashil Fernandez, the 2015 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, would be granted an additional year of eligibility. The Crusaders therefore returned 98.9 percent of their minutes from the previous season in which they won both the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships.http://www.foxsports.com/college-basketball/story/valparaiso-gets-vashil-fernandez-back-073115 July 31, 2015 Fox Sports Valparaiso gets Vashil Fernandez back All five starting players from 2014–15 returned to the 2015–16 team.https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/12/16/midmajor-report-valparaiso-crusaders-bryce-drew Sports Illustrated December 16, 2015 Geary Molly Mid-major report: Valparaiso aiming to be more than an underdog Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes David Chadwick 12 F 6'9" 220 Senior Charlotte, NC Graduated Class of 2015 signees On October 7, 2014, Derrik Smits, son of former NBA Center Rik Smits, committed to Valparaiso.http://www.indystar.com/story/recruiting-central/2014/10/06/zionsvilles-derrik-smits-commits-to-valparaiso-decatur-central-guard-makes-visits/16807945/ Zionsville's Derrik Smits commits to Valparaiso The Indianapolis Star 25 November 2015 no no 2015 Derrik Smits C Zionsville, IN Zionsville 7 1 235 2014-10-06 3 170 3 77 3 2015 ESPN 2674 2011-11-25 yes Class of 2016 signees no no 2016 Micah Bradford PG Bradley, Illinois Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School 6 0 150 2015-11-18 3 Season results The Crusaders won 16 games in Horizon League play and lost 2, both to Wright State. The Crusaders won the Horizon League regular season championship, three games ahead of second place Oakland. After Valparaiso won the regular season Horizon League championship, a Fox Sports writer noted that the Crusaders' strengths were defense, rebounding, depth and experience, and that Valpo—"perhaps the best mid-major team in college basketball this year"—was still likely to be on the edge of the March Madness selection process. Fox Sports http://www.foxsports.com/college-basketball/story/ncaa-tournament-valparaiso-bryce-drew-mid-major-selection-sunday-022216 Could the nation's best mid-major team really miss the NCAA tourney? Forgrave Reid February 22, 2016 February 22, 2016 ESPN's Eamonn Brennan wrote that Valpo was "a really good team that was banged up in nonconference play and -- in the Watch's humble opinion -- probably deserves to be in the tournament at the end of the day."http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bubblewatch College Basketball Bubble Watch Brennan Eamonn March 1, 2016 ESPN https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211419/http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bubblewatch March 3, 2016 March 4, 2016 In January 2016, ESPN selected coach Bryce Drew as one of its ten national Coach of the Year finalists. ESPN https://www.espn.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/110770/top10thursday-national-coach-of-the-year #Top10Thursday: National coach of the year candidates Medcalf Myron January 28, 2016 January 28, 2016 As of late February 2016, the Crusaders allowed opponents 0.87 points per possession, best of all Division I teams. ESPN https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14820599/the-floor-which-teams-give-conference-best-shot-final-four Which teams from each conference have the pieces for a Final Four run? Medcalf Myron February 22, 2016 February 22, 2016 Senior center Vashil Fernandez was again the league's Defensive Player of the Year, and junior forward Alec Peters was named again to the All League First Team. For the third time in five seasons, Bryce Drew was named the league's Coach of the Year. http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/15295/fernandez-peters-drew-earn-horizon-league-postseason-accolades/ Valpo Athletics March 1, 2016 Fernandez, Peters, Drew Earn Horizon League Postseason Accolades Vashil Fernandez earned the 2016 Lefty Driesell Award as the nation's top defensive player. However, Valpo lost their first game of the Horizon League Tournament, losing to Green Bay in the semifinals. The Crusaders failed to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the winners of the Horizon League regular season, the Crusaders received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. Valpo received a #1 seed and defeated Texas Southern, Florida State, and Saint Mary's to advance to the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden. There, they defeated BYU to advance to the NIT Championship game versus George Washington. After a close first half, George Washington ran away with the game in the second half, defeating Valpo 76–60. Following the season, head coach Bryce Drew accepted the head coaching position at Vanderbilt. Roster 2015 Valparaiso Crusaders y 0 Keith Carter G 6 1 180 SR Maywood, IL 1 E. Victor Nickerson G/F 6 8 185 SR Atlanta, GA 2 Tevonn Walker G 6 2 200 SO Montreal, Quebec, Canada 3 Max Joseph G 6 1 210 SO Montreal, Quebec, Canada 5 Darien Walker F 6 3 220 SR Chicago, IL 10 David Skara F 6 8 205 SO Zadar, Croatia 11 Shane Hammink G 6 7 210 JR yes Millingen aan de Rijn, Netherlands y 14 Vashil Fernandez F 6 10 260 y SR Kingston, Jamaica 15 Lexus Williams G 6 0 160 SO Chicago, IL 21 Derrik Smits y C 7 1 235 FR yes Zionsville, IN y 22 Nick Davidson G 6 4 195 JR Munster, IN 23 Jubril Adekoya F 6 7 230 JR Tinley Park, IL 25 Alec Peters F 6 9 230 JR Washington, IL y 30 Chandler Levingston Simon F 6 7 230 SO Vernon Hills, IL Bryce Drew (Valparaiso) Roger Powell, Jr. (Illinois) Luke Gore (Bethel (TN)) Matt Lottich (Stanford) http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/roster/#.VjlnC7erTIU 2015–11–25 Schedule The 2015–2016 Valparaiso University men's basketball schedule is:http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/schedule/ 2015-16 Men's Basketball Valparaiso Crusaders 3 November 2015 2015-16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings 2015 yes yes |- !colspan=9 style="background:#613318; color:#FFCC00;"| Exhibition 11/03/2015 7:00 pm yes Indianapolis Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 2,488 75–67 – |- !colspan=9 style="background:#613318; color:#FFCC00;"| Regular season 11/13/2015 7:30 pm yes IPFW Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 4,117 ESPN3 78–64 1–0 11/15/2015 7:00 pm yes Iona Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN Beaver Showcase 2,769 ESPN3 83–58 2–0 11/17/2015 9:00 am yes yes Rhode Island Ryan Center Kingston, RI 4,881 ESPN2 58–55 3–0 11/18/2015 7:00 pm yes IU-Kokomo Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN Beaver Showcase 1,340 ESPN3 78–40 4–0 11/19/2015 7:00 pm yes Trinity Christian Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN Beaver Showcase 1,422 ESPN3 89–42 5–0 11/22/2015 5:00 pm yes yes Oregon 25 Matthew Knight Arena Eugene, OR 5,752 P12N 67–73 5–1 11/24/2015 8:00 pm yes yes Oregon State Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR Beaver Showcase 5,235 P12N 63–57 6–1 11/28/2015 1:00 pm yes yes Ball State Worthen Arena Muncie, IN 2,447 66–69 6–2 12/03/2015 7:00 pm yes Belmont Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 3,379 61–57 7–2 12/09/2015 6:00 pm yes yes Indiana State Hulman Center Terre Haute, IN 3,621 ESPN3 69–63 8–2 12/11/2015 7:05 pm yes yes Chicago State Jones Convocation Center Chicago, IL 1,733 71–53 9–2 12/19/2015 1:30 pm yes Missouri State Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 3,458 74–45 10–2 12/28/2015 7:00 pm yes yes Belmont Curb Event Center Nashville, TN 3,024 81–85 10–3 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#613318; color:#FFCC00;"| Horizon League regular season 01/02/2016 1:05 pm UIC Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 3,773 ASN 75–47 11–3 1–0 01/08/2016 6:00 pm yes Oakland Athletics Center O'rena Rochester, MI 4,110 ESPN2 84–67 12–3 2–0 01/10/2016 12:00 pm yes Detroit Calihan Hall Detroit, MI 1,513 ASN 92–74 13–3 3–0 01/14/2016 7:02 pm Milwaukee Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 2,619 68–56 14–3 4–0 01/16/2016 7:02 pm Green Bay Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 4,939 85–70 15–3 5–0 01/18/2016 6:05 pm yes Youngstown State Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH 1,703 ESPN3 96–65 16–3 6–0 01/22/2016 6:00 pm yes Wright State Nutter Center Fairborn, OH 5,499 ESPN3 62–73 16–4 6–1 01/24/2016 12:00 pm yes Northern Kentucky BB&T Arena Newport, KY 2,079 ASN 71–46 17–4 7–1 01/28/2016 7:00 pm Cleveland State Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 2,313 77–52 18–4 8–1 01/30/2016 7:00 pm Youngstown State Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 4,520 97–68 19–4 9–1 02/06/2016 3:00 pm yes UIC UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL 4,445 CSN 73–55 20–4 10–1 02/11/2016 7:02 pm Northern Kentucky Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 2,312 64–52 21–4 11–1 02/13/2016 7:02 pm Wright State Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 4,987 59–61 21–5 11–2 02/16/2016 6:00 pm yes Cleveland State Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH 1,545 66–43 22–5 12–2 02/19/2016 7:05 pm Oakland Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 4,863 ESPNU 86–84 23–5 13–2 02/21/2016 1:32 pm Detroit Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN 4,151 90–74 24–5 14–2 02/26/2016 6:02 pm yes Milwaukee UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena Milwaukee, WI 4,137 ESPN2 80–76 OT 25–5 15–2 02/28/2016 2:00 pm yes Green Bay Resch Center Green Bay, WI 4,491 ESPN3 70–68 26–5 16–2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#613318; color:#FFCC00;"|Horizon League tournament 03/07/2016 6:00 pm yes 1 Green Bay 4 Joe Louis Arena Detroit, MI Semifinals 6,557 ESPNU 92–99 OT 26–6 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#613318; color:#FFCC00;"|NIT 03/15/2016 8:15 pm yes 1 Texas Southern 8 Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN First Round – Valparaiso Bracket 2,912 ESPN3 84–73 27–6 3/17/2016 6:00 pm yes 1 Florida State 4 Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN Second Round – Valparaiso Bracket 4,991 ESPNews 81–69 28–6 3/22/2016 6:00 pm yes 1 Saint Mary's 2 Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN Quarterfinals – Valparaiso Bracket 5,444 ESPN 60–44 29–6 3/29/2016 6:00 pm yes yes 1 BYU 2 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Semifinals 8,298 ESPN 72–70 30–6 3/31/2016 6:00 pm yes yes 1 George Washington 4 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Championship 7,016 ESPN 60–76 30–7 |- AP Poll Central Time References 2 Valparaiso Category:Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball seasons Valparaiso Crusaders men's basket Valparaiso Crusaders men's basket Valparaiso