# 2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by first-year head coach Matt Lottich, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 24–9, 14–4 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for the Horizon League regular season championship. As the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they lost to Milwaukee in the quarterfinals. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Illinois.
This was the Crusaders' final season as a member of the Horizon League as the school announced on May 25, 2017 that it would be joining the Missouri Valley Conference effective July 1, 2017.

## Previous season

The Crusaders finished the 2015–16 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, the Crusaders 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 No. 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 marked Bryce Drew's final season as Valparaiso head coach. He accepted the Vanderbilt head coaching job on April 5, 2016. He finished at Valpo with a five-year record of 124–49 and went to the postseason every year as head coach. On April 7, the school promoted assistant coach Matt Lottich to head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Keith Carter | 0 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Senior | Maywood, IL | Graduated |
| E. Victor Nickerson | 1 | G/F | 6'8" | 185 | Senior | Atlanta, GA | Graduated |
| Darien Walker | 5 | G | 6'3" | 220 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| David Skara | 10 | F | 6'8" | 205 | Sophomore | Zadar, Croatia | Transferred to Clemson |
| Vashil Fernandez | 14 | F | 6'10" | 260 | Senior | Kingston, Jamaica | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Bakari Evelyn | 3 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Sophomore | Detroit, MI | Transferred from Nebraska. Under NCAA transfer rules, Evelyn had to sit out the 2016–17 season, and would then have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Joe Burton | 10 | G/F | 6'6" | 215 | Junior | Houston, TX | Transferred from Oklahoma State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Burton had to sit out the 2016–17 season, and would then have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| John Middleton | 13 | G | 6'4" | 215 | Sophomore | Atlantic City, NJ | Transferred from Utah State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Middleton had to sit out the 2016–17 season, and would then have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Micah Bradford PG | Bradley, Illinois | Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Nov 18, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Parker Hazen #42 SF | Columbia City, Indiana | Columbia City High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 188 lb (85 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 78 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: |||||||

## Preseason

In a poll of the League’s coaches, media, and sports information directors, Valparaiso was picked to win the conference, receiving 35 of the 39 first-place votes. Alec Peters was named the Preseason Horizon League player of the year. Shane Hammink was also named to the Preseason All-Horizon League second team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/05/2016* 7:30 pm | | Hillsdale | W 78–63 | | Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | | Southern Utah Men Who Speak Up Main Event | W 79–65 | 1–0 | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,560) Valparaiso, IN |
| 11/12/2016* 7:00 pm | | Trinity Christian | W 89–75 | 2–0 | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,588) Valparaiso, IN |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm | | Coppin State Men Who Speak Up Main Event | W 78–58 | 3–0 | Athletics–Recreation Center (1,972) Valparaiso, IN |
| 11/17/2016* 8:00 pm, P12N | | at No. 4 Oregon | L 54–76 | 3–1 | Matthew Knight Arena (7,509) Eugene, OR |
| 11/21/2016* 11:00 pm, YouTube | | vs. Alabama Men Who Speak Up Main Event semifinals | W 68–60 | 4–1 | MGM Grand Garden Arena (2,107) Paradise, NV |
| 11/23/2016* 10:59 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. BYU Men Who Speak Up Main Event championship | W 92–89 | 5–1 | MGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise, NV |
| 11/27/2016* 1:30 pm | | Ball State | W 79–73 | 6–1 | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,166) Valparaiso, IN |
| 11/29/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | No. 21 Rhode Island | W 65–62 | 7–1 | Athletics–Recreation Center (4,149) Valparaiso, IN |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 6 Kentucky | L 63–87 | 7–2 | Rupp Arena (21,805) Lexington, KY |
| 12/10/2016* 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | W 84–81 | 8–2 | JQH Arena (6,147) Springfield, MO |
| 12/17/2016* 7:03 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 89–71 | 9–2 | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,172) Valparaiso, IN |
| 12/22/2016* 7:00 pm | | Santa Clara | L 80–87 $^{OT}$ | 9–3 | Athletics–Recreation Center (1,854) Valparaiso, IN |
| 12/28/2016* 7:00 pm | | Chicago State | W 80–61 | 10–3 | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,024) Valparaiso, IN |
| Horizon League regular season ||||||
| 12/30/2016 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UIC | W 70–59 | 11–3 (1–0) | UIC Pavilion (3,826) Chicago, IL |
| 01/06/2017 8:05 pm, ESPN2 | | Oakland | L 66–78 | 11–4 (1–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,872) Valparaiso, IN |
| 01/08/2017 12:00 pm, ASN | | Detroit | W 81–74 | 12–4 (2–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (1,776) Valparaiso, IN |
| 01/12/2017 6:45 pm, ESPN3 | | at Youngstown State | W 78–62 | 13–4 (3–1) | Beeghly Center (2,517) Youngstown, OH |
| 01/14/2017 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cleveland State | W 78–67 | 14–4 (4–1) | Wolstein Center (1,831) Cleveland, OH |
| 01/16/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Green Bay | W 80–56 | 15–4 (5–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,625) Valparaiso, IN |
| 01/22/2017 2:00 pm, ASN | | UIC | W 96–65 | 16–4 (6–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,881) Valparaiso, IN |
| 01/27/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wright State | W 70–55 | 17–4 (7–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,461) Valparaiso, IN |
| 01/29/2017 1:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Kentucky | W 65–58 | 18–4 (8–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,578) Valparaiso, IN |
| 02/02/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Milwaukee | W 71–53 | 19–4 (9–1) | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (2,267) Milwaukee, WI |
| 02/04/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Green Bay | L 69–86 | 19–5 (9–2) | Resch Center (3,963) Green Bay, WI |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cleveland State | W 78–57 | 20–5 (10–2) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,455) Valparaiso, IN |
| 02/11/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 82–72 | 21–5 (11–2) | Athletics–Recreation Center (4,823) Valparaiso, IN |
| 02/16/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Oakland | L 71–82 | 21–6 (11–3) | Athletics Center O'rena Rochester, MI |
| 02/19/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 83–63 | 22–6 (12–3) | Calihan Hall (2,003) Detroit, MI |
| 02/21/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Milwaukee | W 67–61 | 23–6 (13–3) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,512) Valparaiso, IN |
| 02/24/2017 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wright State | W 84-74 | 24–6 (14–3) | Nutter Center (5,028) Dayton, OH |
| 02/26/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Kentucky | L 78–82 | 24–7 (14–4) | BB&T Arena (3,304) Highland Heights, KY |
| Horizon League tournament ||||||
| 03/04/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (10) Milwaukee Quarterfinals | L 41–43 | 24–8 | Joe Louis Arena (8,481) Detroit, MI |
| NIT ||||||
| 03/14/2017* 6:15 pm, ESPN2 | (7) | at (2) Illinois First round – Illinois State Bracket | L 57–82 | 24–9 | State Farm Center (4,719) Champaign, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||