Wood to test NBA waters

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso/article_367beda8-2716-56ef-8244-aaeed006eebe.html

Another article from the Post, http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/4580225-556/vus-wood-to-test-nba-waters.html.
Brandon Wood will apparently declare for the NBA draft but not hire an agent.  This leaves open the possibility to return to VU in the fall.  I fully suspect him to return.

I understand Brandon's thought process here.  Get to the NBA, make some money, and live out a boyhood dream.  I'd love to see him succeed at the NBA as that would greatly benefit the VU recruiting process.  With that said, I fully believe he will return to the Crusaders for his final year of eligibility after these few workouts he attends.  Wood had a breakout year this past season for the Crusaders on the offensive end.  However, when I look at Brandon Wood and look at other NBA players.  Brandon is a bit undersized for an NBA shooting guard at 6'2''.  Wood also hasn't shown the ability to consistantly create his own open shot off the dribble.  His defense is probably a bit above average, but does anybody outside of the Bulls really play defense in the NBA?  Lets take a look at another college player entering the draft who is of similar size and plays the same position in E'twaun Moore of Purdue.  Mock Drafts don't even have Moore being drafted in the first two rounds.  Does anyone put Wood ahead of Moore? 

Here's to hoping Brandon comes back, leads Valpo to a good postseason run in 2011-2012, and improves his draft odds that way.

More success for Butler=more money for Horizon League teams

Come on Bulldogs!  That is what every team in the Horizon League should be saying.  The further the Bulldogs advance the more money they will earn for their fellow conference teams.  The attached article, http://www.cnbc.com/id/42273328,  does a nice job explaining how the system works.  The more games (units) your conference plays in during a NCAA tournament the more money they earn for their conference teams.  Apparently, these units are paid out for 6 years.  So, since Butler went to the finals last year they earned the league 5 units.  The Horizon League will get paid for those 5 units for 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014, and 2015.  Add to those 5 units at least another 4 from what the Bulldogs have done this year, and the teams in the HL should be getting nice little bonus check for years to come. 

Lets hope Butler's run will inspire the people who put the field of 68 together to consider more mid-major programs.  Also, lets hope that the extra money earned by Butler for the teams in the HL can be put to good use in the form of recruiting or updated facilities.

Returning Crusaders

The Crusaders graduated three players from their 2010-2011 team that saw the team go 23-12 (12-6 in Horizon League play), win the Lou Henson Award Tournament, and lose in the first round of the postseason CIT.  Unfortunately for Valpo, the three seniors they are losing were all played substantial roles. 

Cory Johnson started all 34 games he played in and was second on the team in scoring average at a little over 14ppg.  Besides his scoring effectiveness, he also would have to defend the opponents biggest guys in the paint.  Howard Little started all 35 games this past season for Valpo (the only guy to achieve this feat).  Little averaged just under 10ppg and was the teams leader in offensive rebounds (quite a feat considering he stands 6-3 and was usually giving up 4-5 inches to bigger guys inside).  Little's ability to work the baseline on offense and position himself for those key offensive rebounds will be difficult to replace.  Michael Rogers was the Crusader's sixth man this season.  His acceptance of this role after being a starter in previous years was a huge help for Valpo.  Often part of a double team that would take on the opponents inside scorer, Rogers defensive tenacity will be missed.

With those guys gone, lets take a look at who is coming back to suit up for Coach Drew.  The Crusaders will have returning starters Ryan Broekhoff (6-6 G), Brandon Wood (6-2 G), and Erik Buggs (5-10 G).  Also returning for Valpo will be Hrvoje Vucic (7-1 C), Cameron Witt (6-8 F), Nick Shelton (5-11 G), Jay Harris (6-1 G), Matt Kenney (6-3 G), and Kevin Van Wijk (6-8 F).  The Crusaders have 3 recruits already signed (all guards I believe) and have one remaining scholarship to hand out.  With the returning players Valpo has some outstanding shooters in Broekhoff, Wood, and Harris, a nice inside presence in Van Wijk, and some very good on the ball defenders in Buggs and Kenney.  I would like to see the Crusaders find another inside scoring presence with their final scholarship.

With all these guards who can shoot and slash, and without very many options inside we might see a Valpo offense that spreads out the defense.  This could be a team that lives and dies by the long ball.  Right now, I see the keys to a successful run next year being the ability to hit outside shots, get to the free throw line, defend the opponent's inside players, and rebound (being undersized this could be a trouble area).  These returning players have shown the ability this past season to be able to accomplish all of these things, so there is no reason to expect they can't build off of this year's successes.

Later in the spring/summer we'll take a look at the incoming recruits once all four scholarships have been given out as well as a closer look at each individual player.

Butler at it again!

Congratulations to the Butler Bulldogs and their fans!  After a crazy weekend of basketball in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs used the last second heroics of Matt Howard in both games to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.  Read about last night's thriller here http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/wild-finish-sends-butler-to-sweet-16.html.

What a game offensively by Shelvin Mack (30 points).  There was a lot of controversy about the calls in the last few seconds of this game.  In my opinion, both foul calls were correct as there appeared to be plenty of contact.  Judge for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvCaoLj3-Mw&feature=related.

Butler will now travel to New Orleans to take on the #4 seed Wisconsin Badgers on Thursday.  The winner of their game will play the winner of #3 BYU and #2 Florida.  Good luck Butler, keep making the teams of the Horizon League proud!