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Valparaiso (13-12, 7-7 MVC)
at Illinois State (16-9, 8-6 MVC)
Game No. 26 – Thursday, Feb. 12, 6 p.m. CT
CEFCU Arena (10,200) – Normal, Ill.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball program will play its first of two regionally televised games over the next week as the Beacons visit Illinois State on Thursday night in a game that will air in markets throughout the country including on Fox Chicago Plus in the Chicagoland area. Fans are encouraged to gather at Wings Etc. Valparaiso for a watch party on Thursday. The surging Beacons will attempt to capture their fourth win in a five-game span and make it a three-game winning streak.
Last Time Out: Valpo trailed by seven in the second half, but a true team effort spearheaded by the freshman class helped the Brown & Gold knock off defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Drake 81-76 on Monday night in Des Moines. JT Pettigrew (23) and Rakim Chaney (20) both reached the 20-point plateau, while another freshman made the biggest plays down the stretch as the defense and rebounding of Sader Servilus helped spur the victory.
Glancing Ahead: Valpo will have three of the next four games at home, including Sunday’s Going for Gold game, where fans are encouraged to wear gold for a 1 p.m. tip against Indiana State. It’s also the Mental Health Awareness Game presented by Compass Counseling. Entering Thursday’s game vs. Murray State, the Sycamores are 10-15 overall and 3-11 in Valley play.
Following the Beacons: Television – MVC TV Network – John Rooney (play-by-play) and Kevin Lehman (analyst) – Rapids, Iowa (KCRG 9.2 / MyNet); Ottumwa, Iowa (KYOU 15.3 / THE365); Rockford, Illinois (WSLN 19.2 / THE365); Peoria, Illinois (WHOI 19.1 / MyTeam); South Bend, Indiana (WNDU 16.2 / THE365); Fort Wayne, Indiana (WPTA 21.3 / MyNet) —
Louisville, Kentucky (WAVE 3.2 / Bounce); St. Louis, Missouri (KMOV 32.1 / Matrix Midwest); Kansas City, Missouri (KCTV/KSMO 62.1 / MyNet); Nashville, Tennessee (WSMV 4.2 / TVSN); Knoxville, Tennessee (WVLT 8.2 / MyNet); Paducah, Kentucky / Cape Girardeau, Missouri (WQWQ 9.2 / Matrix); Bowling Green, Kentucky (WBGS 34.3 / TVSN); Davenport, Iowa (KWQC 6.3 / Cozi); Sioux City, Iowa (KTIV 4.3 / MeTV); Quincy, Illinois (WGEM 10.4 / MeTV / MyTV); Evansville, Indiana (WFIE 14.2 / MeTV); Lexington, Kentucky (WKYT 27.4 / MeTV); Springfield, Missouri (KSPR 33.3 / MeTV); Chicago, Illinois (WPWR / FOX 50.1); Decatur/Champaign, Illinois (WAND 17.2).
Streaming – ESPN+
Radio – WVUR 95.1 FM Valparaiso, TuneIn Radio App, ValpoAthletics.com – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Brandon Vickrey (analyst)
X updates – @ValpoBasketball
Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach Roger Powell Jr.: Roger Powell Jr. (35-56) is in his third 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. In the second season of the Powell Era in 2024-2025, Valpo over doubled its overall win total from the previous season and doubled its conference win output before earning a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal berth. The Beacons finished with 15 wins, the team’s highest total since 2019-20.
Series Notes: Valpo leads the all-time series between these two teams 17-10 including a 77-71 victory over Illinois State earlier this season. Valpo has had more success against Illinois State than any other Missouri Valley Conference opponent since joining the league as the Beacons are 13-3 against the Redbirds since joining the MVC including a 13-2 record in the last 15 matchups. Illinois State is 0-7 at the ARC since Valpo joined the Missouri Valley Conference, and Valpo has had its fair share of success in Bloomington-Normal as well.
Jan. 7 – Valpo 77, Illinois State 71: Valpo knocked down an eye-popping 75 percent of its 3-point attempts en route to knocking off preseason MVC favorite Illinois State 77-71 on Jan. 7 at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Owen Dease scored 28 points – still the most in a single game by any Beacon this season and his career high – to lead an effort that also saw JT Pettigrew pour in 21. Dease dunked home the clincher with 26 seconds left, using the patented Valpo home-run play after a full-court baseline inbound pass from Brody Whitaker. Illinois State entered the game ranked 90th in the KenPom, making that Valpo’s first top-100 KenPom win since Nov. 27, 2023 vs. James Madison (98) and best win in terms of KenPom rating since knocking off nationally-ranked Drake 74-57 on Feb. 7, 2021, when the Bulldogs were 55th in the KenPom. Valpo snapped a nine-game losing streak against teams picked to win the MVC with the victory over the Redbirds.
With Monday’s Win Over Drake, Valpo…
Surpassed last season’s conference win total, making this the best season in league play under head coach Roger Powell Jr.
Matched last season’s overall regular-season win total as Valpo won 13 regular season games and 15 total including Arch Madness last season.
Has clinched the team’s highest league win total since 2020-21 (also seven).
Moved to within two wins of matching Valpo’s highest league win total since joining the Missouri Valley Conference.
Snapped an eight-game head-to-head losing streak, beating the Bulldogs for the first time since 2021 and first time at Drake since 2018.
Owns a winning record through 25 games for the first time since 2018-2019 (also 13-12).
Owns a .500 or better record through exactly 14 Missouri Valley Conference games for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2017-2018 campaign.
Has won back-to-back games, three out of four and five out of seven.
With a Win Over Illinois State on Thursday, Valpo Would…
Extend its winning streak to three, the team’s second three-game surge of the season and first since beating Nicholls, Bryant and Cleveland State in November.
Have its first three-game winning streak in league play since the first three games of January 2025 – at Missouri State, vs. UNI and vs. Indiana State.
Own a winning record through exactly 15 Missouri Valley Conference games for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
Clinch its second-highest league win total since joining the MVC and move to within one win of matching the 2019-2020 conference win total for Valpo’s most since joining the league.
Have its best overall record through exactly 26 games since the 2016-2017 season (21-5).
Improve to 14-3 against Illinois State since joining the MVC and 14-2 in the last 16 matchups.
Win consecutive road games for the first time since January 2023.
Have back-to-back road wins with no home games in between for the first time since January 2021 (both at Illinois State as part of COVID-19 back-to-back).
Have four road wins, the team’s highest total since 2021-22 (also four) and tied for the team’s highest total since 2019-20 (seven).
A Look at the Standings
At 7-7 in league play, Valpo is only one game out of a three-way tie for fourth between Illinois State, UNI and UIC.
The top five teams in the MVC standings receive a bye to the quarterfinal round of Arch Madness.
Valpo is currently in seventh, but would move into a tie with Illinois State and own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Redbirds with a win on Thursday.
Valpo’s highest finish since joining the league was tied for fifth in 2020-2021. That was the only season that Valpo did not have to play on Thursday at Arch Madness.
Dease Approaching 1,000
Fifth-year senior Owen Dease is within striking distance of the 1,000-point milestone as he enters Feb. 12 at Illinois State with 986 career points, all at the Division-I level.
Dease scored 645 points over three seasons of action at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
Dease would become the first Beacon to score his 1,000th career point in a Valpo uniform during the Roger Powell Jr. Era. The last Valpo player to reach that milestone was Kobe King (January 2023). Prior to that, it was Ben Krikke (November 2022) and Tevonn Walker (November 2017).
Rookies Roll in Win at Drake
Valpo played with four freshmen on the court for much of the final stretch of the Feb. 9 victory at Drake.
Rookies played a key role in the win. When Sader Servilus began defending Jalen Quinn late in the game, the Missouri Valley Conference’s leading scorer finally slowed down in crunch time. Quinn finished with 33 points in the game.
Servilus was also a beast on the boards, securing a career-high seven rebounds in just nine minutes of action. Servilus and Murray State’s Brock Vince from earlier this season are the only Missouri Valley Conference players with seven or more rebounds in nine minutes or fewer since 2016. Only 16 players nationally have accomplished that this season.
Freshmen JT Pettigrew (23 points) and Rakim Chaney (20 points) were the team’s top two scorers in the win over the Bulldogs.
20&10 for JT
JT Pettigrew’s 23 points on Feb. 9 at Drake represented a career high, surpassing his previous best of 21 reached against UIC (Jan. 4) and Illinois State (Jan. 7). He also pulled down 12 rebounds, tying a personal best set on Jan. 13 at Belmont.
Pettigrew’s double-double was his team-leading fourth of the season. He was 8-of-11 from the floor with seven of the eight makes coming inside the arc. He added two blocks to his impressive stat line.
The list of Valpo players who have had at least 23 points and 12 rebounds in a game since 2004 puts Pettigrew is in good company – Dan Oppland, Alec Peters, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Ben Krikke, Cooper Schwieger and now Pettigrew. Pettigrew is the only player on that list who was a freshman at the time of a 23-point, 12-rebound performance.
In the last 20 years, there have only been five instances of a Valpo player with at least 23 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks – Peters (twice), Krikke, Schwieger and now Pettigrew.
Nationally this season, only five freshmen have had a 23-point, 12-rebound, two-block game – Duke’s Cameron Boozer, North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, New Mexico’s Tomislav Buljan, Fairfield’s Brandon Benjamin and Pettigrew.
Pettigrew became just the second MVC player with a 23&12 game this season, joining Indiana State’s Ian Scott.
Off The Chane(y) from 3
Valpo’s Rakim Chaney finished with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting on Feb. 9 at Drake, his highest scoring output in league play and highest since scoring 23 on Jan. 19 at Cleveland State.
He drained a career-high five 3s, and pulled down six rebounds, marking his highest total in league play.
Chaney became the second Valpo player to hit five 3s in a game this season, joining Owen Dease at Belmont.
He became the fifth freshman in the Missouri Valley Conference to hit five 3s in a game this season.
Chaney scored in double figures for the fourth time in his last five games and bounced back from a tough shooting game vs. Evansville, when he went 2-of-10.
Scouting the Redbirds
Coming off an 88-80 road loss at Evansville on Monday.
Currently ranked 96th in the KenPom (third MVC) and 88th in the NET (third MVC).
Part of a three-way tie for fourth in the MVC standings, just one game ahead of the Beacons.
Picked as the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference.
Under the direction of head coach Ryan Pedon, who is in his fourth season leading the program.
Led in scoring by Chase Walker at 13.8 points per game.
Beacon/Bird Connects
Playing 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. He was a men’s basketball student-athlete for the Redbirds from 1973-76 as a four-year letter winner and three-year starter who scored 1,306 career points.
Valpo assistant coach Matt Gordon, better known as “Flash,” is a 2006 Illinois State graduate. He began his basketball career with three seasons as the head student manager for the Redbirds and also served as ISU’s video coordinator.
This will be a homecoming of sorts for Kobe Walker, a freshman on the Valpo roster who is redshirting this season. He is a Normal, Ill. native and graduate of Normal Community HS.
Other Notes Wrapping Up Feb. 9 – Valpo 81, Drake 76
After missing the previous game due to an injury, Brody Whitaker tallied 13 points, his second-highest total in league play.
The Beacons outrebounded the Bulldogs 42-34 and shot at a 50 percent clip from the floor and 40.9 percent from 3. Drake was held to 25.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Owen Dease made it four Beacons in double figures with 10 points, his fifth straight game in double figures.
This marked the third straight victory in which Valpo has trailed by at least seven points in the second half.
Nothing But NET
Valpo currently ranks 155 in the NET.
This season, the Beacons have earned their top NET rating since finishing the 2019-20 season at 138.
KenPom Progress
The Beacons have continued to climb the KenPom rankings, currently ranked 151.
The Beacons started the season at 283, moving up 132 spots in the rankings since the season tipped off.
The improvement of 132 puts the Brown & Gold tied for fifth in the country in KenPom improvement.
The full top five in KenPom improvement nationally is listed below.
Valpo’s current ranking of 151 is its best of the Roger Powell Jr. head coaching era and best since the 2020-2021 preseason ratings (149).
Rank Team Improvement
1 Central Arkansas 181
2 Cal St Fullerton 160
3 Stephen F. Austin 147
4 Buffalo 137
5 Valpo 132
Austin Peay 132
Justus For All
Sophomore Justus McNair, who has made the first two starts of his collegiate career over Valpo’s last two games, has scored at least eight points in six of his last seven including at least 11 in four of his last six and 16 in three of his last six.
McNair played a season-high 27 minutes on Jan. 31 at Indiana State, and then followed up with another season high with 29 minutes on Feb. 3 at Bradley, before exceeding that again with 38 minutes on Feb. 6 vs. Evansville.
McNair is averaging 8.0 ppg overall and 9.4 in league play, third on the team in MVC-only scoring average.
McNair has improved his scoring average from 4.5 ppg as a freshman in 2024-25 to 8.0 ppg as a sophomore this season.
OD Among League Leaders
In conference-only games, Owen Dease ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a scoring average at 17.1 points per game. Drake’s Jalen Quinn leads the league at 20.8.
The Valpo fifth-year senior ranks among league leaders in conference-only free-throw percentage (.839, fourth) and 3-point percentage (.424, seventh).
Dease has scored 15 points or more in six of his last eight games.
Overall for the season, Dease is shooting 48 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3 and 85 percent from the free-throw line. He is one of six qualified players nationally averaging at least 14 points per game while meeting the aforementioned percentage thresholds.
The last two Valpo players to finish a season at those marks were Alec Peters (2015-16) and Casey Schmidt (1992-93).
Among The Valley’s Top Rookies
Valpo has two of the league’s top six freshmen in scoring average in JT Pettigrew (11.7 ppg, third) and Rakim Chaney (10.2 ppg, sixth).
Pettigrew is the league’s leading rookie rebounder at 6.3 per contest.
Pettigrew is on pace to set a program record for rebounding average by a freshman. Raitis Grafs (5.8, 1999-00) currently owns that mark.
Pettigrew’s current scoring average would rank ninth in program history among freshmen. If Pettigrew finishes in the top 10 in program history in scoring average by a freshman, three of the top 10 would have come during Roger Powell Jr.’s head coaching tenure, which is only in its third season. All Wright set the freshman record at 15.5 ppg in 2024-25 and Cooper Schwieger ranks fifth at 13.2 ppg in 2023-24.
Dominant Defense
Valpo’s defensive numbers are much improved from recent seasons.
See below for more details on how this year’s Valpo “D” stacks up against that of earlier seasons in the Roger Powell Jr. Era. National and MVC ranks are listed in parentheses.
Valpo’s field-goal percentage defense is currently its best since 2018-19 (43.2), 3-point defense is its best since 1996-97 (30.5) and scoring defense is its best since 2020-21 (67.9).
This season is on pace to rank second in program history in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.312), behind only 1996-97 (.305).
Year Scoring Defense FG% Defense 3pt%Defense
2025-26 70.2 (3rd/83rd) 43.4 (6th/146th) 31.2 (3rd/60th)
2024-25 73.9 (9th/234th) 46.2 (11th/306th) 34.6 (6th/245th)
2023-24 75.5 (11th/273rd) 47.8 (12th/341st) 35.4 (11th/295th)
Battling Back
Valpo has overcome a double-figure, second-half deficit in two of its last three victories and has trailed by at least seven points in the second half in each of its last three wins.
The Beacons overcame a double-figure deficit for the second time this season and the second time in a seven-day period by coming from 13 down to beat Evansville on Feb. 6.
That marked Valpo’s sixth victory when having trailed by double figures in the Roger Powell Jr. Era. Valpo had three such comebacks last season (at Southern Illinois, vs. Missouri State, at Western Michigan) and one in 2023-24 (vs. UIC).
The 13-point rally was Valpo’s largest since coming from 16 down on Feb. 22 of last season at Southern Illinois.
In the Jan. 31 victory at Indiana State, Valpo trailed 37-27 at halftime.
The Jan. 31 victory over Indiana State marked the first time Valpo rallied from a double-figure halftime deficit to prevail since Dec. 20, 2024 at Western Michigan, when Valpo was down 42-26 at the break and won 76-73.
Lineup Tweak
Valpo utilized the starting lineup of Owen Dease, JT Pettigrew, Shon Tupuola, Brody Whitaker and Rakim Chaney in 10 consecutive games prior to Feb. 6 vs. Evansville.
The game against the Purple Aces marked Valpo’s first with a starting group other than that quintet since Dec. 29, 2025 at UNI.
With Whitaker sidelined by an injury for the game against Evansville, Justus McNair made his first collegiate start in the sophomore’s 57th collegiate game.
Although Whitaker returned to the rotation for the Feb. 9 game at Drake, Valpo used the Dease/Pettigrew/Tupuola/Chaney/McNair starting lineup for the second straight game.
Channeling “The Rev”
At a media timeout during the second half of each Valpo men’s basketball home game, a randomly-selected fan has an opportunity to win $10,000 by making a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and halfcourt shot within 25 seconds.
The promotion is presented by Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute.
For the first time since the contest began, there was a winner on Feb. 6 vs. Evansville as student Christian Hack came out of the student section and completed the challenge.
A left-handed pitcher on the Valpo baseball team, Hack was mobbed by his teammates and other Valpo students after hitting the halfcourt shot.
Hack was sporting a “43 Powell” jersey from the Valpo head coach’s playing days with the Illini when he completed the challenge.
Other Notes Wrapping Up Feb. 6 – Valpo 70, Evansville 63
Valpo held a 44-29 rebounding advantage including a 15-9 edge on the offensive glass, outscoring UE on second-chance points 24-5.
Owen Dease finished with 18 points against his hometown team. The Evansville native scored 15 points or more for the fourth straight game.
Justus McNair tallied 16 points, his second straight game with at least that many and third straight in double figures. He scored at least eight for the sixth straight game.
Shon Tupuola squeezed 10 rebounds, his third double-figure rebounding effort of the season and first since Jan. 10 at Murray State.
After struggling at the stripe the previous two games, Valpo went 12-of-15 for 80 percent at the free-throw line against Evansville.
The Beacons were without Brody Whitaker and Isaiah Barnes due to injuries.
Carter Hopoi had 10 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes, going 4-of-4 from the floor. He became the first Valpo player to go perfect from the field with at least 10 points and seven rebounds since Derrik Smits on Feb. 13, 2019 vs. Indiana State.
Valpo played primarily eight players with only eight seeing more than two minutes of run. The three-man bench of CarterHopoi (+12), Mark Brown Jr. (+23) and Sader Servilus (+17) all had big plus-minus numbers, while three of the five starters were in the negative with none better than +3.
JT Pettigrew and Servilus had three steals apiece, while Tupuola rejected three shots.
Beating The Preseason Top Two
Valpo’s 54-44 victory over UNI on Jan. 17 flipped a double-figure loss from the first matchup (58-48 on Dec. 29) into a double-figure victory in the second matchup of the season between the two teams.
This marked the first time Valpo flipped a double-figure defeat from earlier in the season into a double-figure victory over the same opponent since Indiana State in 2020-21.
The win over UNI means that Valpo has defeated each of the top two teams in the league’s preseason poll this year as Illinois State was picked to win the league followed by UNI. This is the first time Valpo has defeated each of the projected top two in the MVC preseason poll in the same season since 2019-20 (Missouri State and Bradley).
The Beacons improved to 3-1 in their last four matchups with the Panthers.
Valpo’s 77-71 victory over Illinois State on Jan. 7 marked the team’s best win in quite some time.
Illinois State entered the game ranked 90th in the KenPom, making that Valpo’s first top-100 KenPom win since Nov. 27, 2023 vs. James Madison (98) and best win in terms of KenPom rating since knocking off nationally-ranked Drake 74-57 on Feb. 7, 2021, when the Bulldogs were 55th in the KenPom.
Valpo snapped a nine-game losing streak in games against the team picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference, topping the league’s preseason favorite for the first time since Feb. 13, 2021 (W 70-57 at UNI). The Beacons improved to 3-14 against preseason favorites since joining the MVC.
Let’s Get Gritty
After each victory, the Valpo coaching staff hands out the coveted “Grit Chain” to the grittiest player in that game. Grit Award winners are listed below.
Welcome, Rev. Konkol
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Valparaiso University announced Rev. Brian E. Konkol, Ph.D. as the institution’s 20th President.
Rev. Konkol, who took over for retiring President Jose Padilla on Jan. 1, 2026, brings more than two decades of combined experience across higher education leadership, global service and mission-centered work.
Rev. Konkol and his family have ties to athletics. He competed on the men’s basketball team as an undergraduate student at Viterbo University.
Rev. attended the Valpo vs. CCSJ men’s basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 6. He was recognized and introduced to the crowd during a media timeout, and joined Todd Ickow on the ESPN+ broadcast at halftime before visiting the team in the locker room after the game to congratulate the players and coaches on the victory.
Valpo Athletics Mourns the Passing of Paul Schrage ’57
The Valpo family is saddened to share the news that Paul Schrage ’57, a tremendous supporter, fan and friend of Valpo Athletics, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at the age of 90.
A Celebration of Life service and reception will be held on Feb. 25, 2026 at 1 p.m. local time at Desert Foothills Lutheran Church, 29305 N Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85266. The service will be simulcast at https://www.youtube.com/live/YU1o617c9yY.
Life-long generosity from Paul and his wife Jan Sievers ’59 Schrage has made a long-lasting impact on the Valpo men’s basketball program. The couple recently committed $1 million to establish the Paul D. and Janet C. Schrage Basketball Excellence Fund, which provides resources to the program’s greatest areas of need, such as team travel, nutrition and new student-athlete benefits.
That generous gift continued a lifetime of the Schrage family making a transformational impact on the University, athletic department and men’s basketball program. Since developing a close friendship with legendary Valpo men’s basketball head coach Homer Drew, the Schrages have provided philanthropic support that has benefited every men’s basketball coach and student-athlete who has donned the brown and gold.
Longtime benefactors to the University and ardent supporters of the basketball program, the Schrages funded the Schrage Basketball Wing addition to the Athletics-Recreation Center, which houses the men’s and women’s basketball offices. Along with the gift to construct the addition, they established an endowment to provide ongoing support for the facility on an annual basis.
Schrage earned a bachelor of arts in business administration from Valparaiso University, a master of science in advertising from the University of Illinois and an honorary juris doctor from Valpo. He served on the Valparaiso University Board of Directors from 1996-2004 and from 2009-2015. His 30-year career with the McDonald’s Corporation began in 1967 when Ray Kroc hired him to start the marketing department. By the time he retired in 1997 as a senior executive vice president and chief marketing officer of McDonald’s Corporation and member of its board of directors, he had made McDonald’s one of the most powerful brands in the world. In recognition of his career, Schrage was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame in 1997. He was also a lifetime trustee and former chair of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Board of Directors.
Who is Next?
A trio of incoming freshmen have signed to continue their basketball careers at Valpo during the November early signing period.
6-foot-4 guard Justin Curry II (Noblesville, Ind.), 6-foot-7 forward Hudson Scroggins (Lake Bluff, Ill.) and 6-foot-1 point guard Rajan Roberts will join the program next year.
Curry averaged 15.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game as a junior at Noblesville last season. He is a reigning Indiana Junior All-Star.
Scroggins was a 1,000-point scorer in the high school ranks at Lake Forest (Ill.) and is spending this year at a prep school, Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire.
Roberts is a highly-rated prospect from Chicago and was considered one of the top available point guards on the west coast at the time of his commitment. He is among the highest-rated recruits in Valpo history, according to 247Sports. His high school stops include a year each at Proviso West, Kenwood, Prolific Prep (Miami, Fla.) and AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.).
Growth Spurt
Valpo’s roster has gotten noticeably larger in terms of height this season, as the squad boasts its highest average height of the Roger Powell Jr. head coaching era.
The Beacons have seven players on the roster listed at 6-foot-8 or taller – Jayden Watson (6-8), JT Pettigrew (6-8), Owen Dease (6-8), Tucker Tornatta (6-8), Kobe Walker (6-9), Shon Tupuola (6-10) and Carter Hopoi (6-11).
This marks the first time during the program’s long Division-I history that the team has had seven players listed at 6-foot-8 or taller.
The 1999-00, 2000-01, 2013-14 and 2022-23 teams each had six players listed at 6-8 or taller.
One of Four
Only four programs in the nation have had their league’s Freshman of the Year in each of the last two seasons – UConn, Baylor, Valpo and Harvard.
All Wright was named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2024-2025, becoming the second straight Valpo player to earn the award after Cooper Schwieger did so in 2023-24.
This marked just the third time since the award began in 1986 that a school has had back-to-back MVC Freshmen of the Year. Wichita State’s Markis McDuffie (2016) and Landry Shamet (2017) were the most recent duo to go back-to-back. Before that, it was Southern Illinois’ Tony Harvey (1989) and Ashraf Amaya (1990).
Wright became just the fifth Valpo freshman to win a league Newcomer/Freshman of the Year Award, joining Schwieger (2023-24), Lubos Barton (1998-99), Bryce Drew (1994-95) and Lance Barker (1991-92).
A Look at the Schedule
The 11-game nonconference slate featured seven home dates and four road contests.
Valpo played at Preseason AP No. 9 Kentucky, a Sweet 16 team from last season, on Nov. 7.
Nicholls, the Nov. 12 opponent, was a 20-win team last season.
Bryant, which was at the ARC on Nov. 16, went 14-2 in the American East and totaled 23 wins on the way to a conference tournament crown and NCAA Tournament appearance last season.
Cleveland State, which hosted Valpo on Nov. 19, went 23-13 overall last year en route to an appearance in the Purple College Basketball Invitational.
Big East foe Marquette, the Dec. 2 opponent in Milwaukee, reached the NCAA Tournament and accrued 23 wins last season.
UNCW, the Dec. 13 opponent at the ARC, won the Coastal Athletic Association championship and totaled 27 wins on the way to an NCAA Tournament berth last season.
The nonconference portion of the season concluded on Dec. 16 at Big Ten adversary Northwestern.
Valpo had three road nonconference games against teams in the top 60 in the KenPom preseason ratings, including Kentucky, rated No. 4 by KenPom.
A Look Back at 2024-2025
Valpo finished with 15 wins, the team’s highest total since capturing 19 victories in 2019-20.
The program advanced to the semifinals of Arch Madness for the first time since 2020 and second time since joining the league.
The Beacons played three or more conference tournament games in the same season for the first time since 2019-20 and just the second time since 2010-11.
The program over doubled its overall win total from the previous season (seven) and doubled its Missouri Valley Conference win total from the previous season (three).
Valpo was one of eight teams in the country that shot 78 percent or better at the free-throw line and had 10.0 turnovers per game or fewer.
Valpo won or tied the turnover battle in 26 out of 34 games last season and had 24 games with 10 turnovers or fewer.
The Beacons had a better free-throw percentage than their opponent in 25 out of 34 games last season.
Valpo broke the modern program record for single-season free-throw percentage (.775 in 2016-17) by finishing at .790.
The team led the Missouri Valley Conference and ranked 11th nationally in free-throw percentage.
Valpo also broke a modern program record for fewest turnovers per game at 9.7, a number that led the Missouri Valley Conference and ranked 19th nationally.
Valpo had three double-figure comebacks, coming from 10 down to beat Missouri State, from 16 down to beat Southern Illinois and from 22 down to beat Western Michigan. Prior to last year, Valpo had not rallied from 15 or more behind to win since 2019-20, but last season the team did so twice.
According to KenPom, Valpo’s win probability of beating SIU was 4.2 percent when trailing 65-55 with 9:24 to play.
In the win over Western Michigan, Valpo trailed by 22 with 6:51 on the clock, tying the largest comeback in program history. The rally was the second latest in NCAA history when trailing by 22 points or more and the latest rally of 22 points or more to finish in regulation. The 22-point comeback also tied for the fifth largest in Missouri Valley Conference history. According to ESPN, Valpo had a win probability of 0.1 percent with under seven minutes remaining. KenPom gave the Beacons a 0.3 percent chance of winning.
Valpo’s 83-79 win at Southern Illinois marked the program’s highest point total in a road Missouri Valley Conference game since joining the league and the team’s highest point total in any true road game since December 2019.
All Wright had a game-winning layup with two seconds remaining on Feb. 19 vs. Missouri State, and Justus McNair made a buzzer-beater from nearly halfcourt to beat Western Michigan on Dec. 20. Valpo now has 24 game winners in the final five seconds since the start of the 1992-93 season.
Valpo beat Belmont 101-86 on Feb. 12. The 101 points eclipsed 98 on Jan. 8 of this season as Valpo’s highest scoring output in league play since joining the Missouri Valley Conference. The Belmont game was Valpo’s highest point total against a Division-I opponent since a 117-108 triple overtime loss to Mercer on Nov. 11, 2013 and first time scoring 100+ in regulation against a D-I opponent since 103 on Dec. 21, 2010 at Oakland. It marked Valpo’s highest point total in league play since a 102-74 Mid-Continent Conference win at Chicago State on Jan. 31, 1998. The 101 points were the most allowed by Belmont since Dec. 15, 2004.
The team finished with a nonconference winning percentage of .636 (7-4), the program’s best since 2017-18 (9-4, .692).
Breakthrough Wins in 2024-2025
Valpo defeated UNI in both matchups last season, winning 80-73 on Jan. 4 at the ARC and 64-63 on March 7 in the MVC quarterfinal in St. Louis. Valpo won back-to-back games in the series for the first time ever in 40 all-time matchups between the two teams. Valpo was 2-0 last season against UNI after entering the season 5-33 all-time against the Panthers.
On Feb. 14 vs. Belmont, Valpo snapped a seven-game head-to-head losing streak, beating the Bruins for the first time since joining the Missouri Valley Conference. That marked the team’s first win in the series since Dec. 3, 2015, a 61-57 nonconference triumph.
By beating Indiana State on Jan. 8, Valpo snapped a four-game head-to-head losing streak and topped the Sycamores for the first time since Feb. 5, 2022 (79-72, 2OT).
With that Jan. 8 victory, Valpo beat the defending conference regular-season champions for the first time since Feb. 13, 2020 and snapped a six-game losing streak against defending MVC regular-season champions.
The 73-72 win at Missouri State on Jan. 1 ended a nine-game head-to-head losing streak as Valpo beat the Bears for the first time since the 2020 MVC Tournament semifinal.
Valpo’s 80-73 win over UNI on Jan. 4 snapped a four-game head-to-head skid and abolished a 15-game losing streak against teams picked to finish in the top two in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll.
Valpo picked up regular-season wins over Indiana State, Missouri State and UNI all in the same season for the first time since joining the Missouri Valley Conference.
Valpo beat Missouri State 66-64 on Feb. 19, securing the team’s only time winning a season series from the Bears in a combined 16 seasons of shared league affiliation between the Missouri Valley Conference and the Association of Mid-Continent Universities.
Valpo stopped a seven-game skid against Southern Illinois with an 83-79 victory on Feb. 22 in Carbondale.
Inside the Roster
This year’s roster is comprised of 13 newcomers and four returning players.
Recruiting the Chicagoland area successfully has been key for the program. Eight of the 17 players hail from the state of Illinois.
The Hoosier State is another recruiting hotspot for the Beacons. Six members of the team are playing college basketball in their home state, and 14 of the 17 players hail from either Indiana or Illinois.
The three players from outside the Midwest call Arizona, Montreal and New Zealand home.
The roster has five seniors, four of which are in their fifth season of college basketball. The Beacons also boast a pair of juniors, a trio of sophomores and seven freshmen (six true freshmen, one redshirt freshman).
Of the 13 newcomers, six are true freshmen and seven are transfers.
Meet the Team
Freshman guard Rakim Chaney spent the 2024-25 season at 212° Sports Academy in Sarasota, Fla., where he averaged 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game and was named the Florida Sun Basketball League Player of the Year.
Sophomore guard Justus McNair is the team’s only returning scholarship letterwinner from last season. He was named MVC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 25, 2024. His rookie campaign is most remembered for his buzzer-beater from nearly halfcourt to lift Valpo over Western Michigan 76-73 on Dec. 20, 2024, completing an epic 22-point comeback.
Fifth-year senior guard Brody Whitaker is a transfer from the Division-II University of Indianapolis, where he spent the 2024-2025 campaign after beginning his collegiate career with three years at NAIA Marian University. He entered the 2025-2026 season with 1,385 collegiate points.
Redshirt freshman forward Jayden Watson sat out as a redshirt last season, and suffered a preseason injury leading into 2025-2026.
Freshman guard Camden Webster is a walk-on who attended nearby Kankakee Valley High School.
Freshman forward JT Pettigrew averaged 16.0 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks during his senior season at Bolingbrook High School. A second team all-state honoree, he recorded just the second triple double (points/rebounds/blocks) in program history. He scored over 1,000 career points and finished as his school’s all-time leading scorer.
Junior guard Mark Brown Jr. averaged 13.3 points and 4.3 assists per game in 2024-2025 at Snow College, where he totaled 669 points, 220 rebounds and 215 assists over the last two seasons. He was ranked No. 61 among JUCO players nationally according to JUCORecruiting.com.
Redshirt senior guard Isaiah Barnes spent the last two years at Tulsa after starting his career with two seasons at Michigan. He started 54 games and made 57 appearances in his two seasons with the Hurricane after playing on a Michigan team that went to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Redshirt senior forward Owen Dease spent his first four collegiate seasons at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, where he redshirted as a freshman before playing in 85 games and making 50 starts over the last three seasons. He was part of the program as a redshirt in 2022 when the team reached the NCAA Tournament and then played on the 2023 team that won a game in the Big Dance.
Freshman forward Carter Hopoi played at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in September 2024 and has played with the New Zealand NBL’s Tauranga Whai.
Freshman center Kobe Walker averaged 19.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as a high school senior at Normal Community, earning all-state honors. He broke his school’s rebounding record, which had stood for 52 years.
Senior Joe Vick is in his fourth year in the program as a walk-on.
Fifth-year senior Kyonte Thomas tallied 1,325 points and 513 assists in his four-year career at the NAIA level, playing at Trinity International, University of Pikeville and Southeastern.
Junior center Shon Tupuola averaged 14.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per game for NAIA Saint Mary-of-the-Woods last season, playing a key role on a team that won regular-season and conference titles before beating nationally-ranked opponents in each of the first two rounds of the NAIA National Championship.
Sophomore guard Nick Lombardi is in his second season in the program as a walk-on.
Sophomore Tucker Tornatta was named to the Great Lakes Valley Conference All-Freshman Team in 2025 while playing at the University of Indianapolis.
Freshman guard Sader Servilus averaged 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in 2024-25 for Fort Erie International Academy. He earned National Preparatory Association Defensive Player of the Year honors, helping his team to a 30-3 record.
Beacon Bits
Random facts on each Valpo player.
#0 Rakim Chaney – Father Bo played high school basketball and went on to play at the junior college level at Parkland. Both his maternal and paternal grandfathers have been involved with high school basketball in the Chicagoland area over the years.
#1 Justus McNair – Went to the same high school as Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr. (Not at the same time, obviously.)
#3 Brody Whitaker – Hopes to stay around sports in the future… Was teammates with Valpo’s Tucker Tornatta last year at the University of Indianapolis.
#4 Jayden Watson – Brother Elijah played five seasons of college basketball –two years at West Liberty University in West Virginia, two years at Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb. and one year (2024-25) at Northwood University in Midland, Mich.
#5 Camden Webster – Loves going to the lake, wakeboarding, skiing, tubing, being outside, being in the water, listening to music and going to his grandmother’s house. His eighth-grade team went to the Jan. 2, 2019 game when Valpo rallied from double figures down with less than two minutes remaining to beat Illinois State 58-56 on a half-court buzzer-beater by Markus Golder.
#7 JT Pettigrew – Mother Bonnie Bremner-Pettegrew was an All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year during her volleyball career at Penn State, where she was the setter for a national championship team. His father Titcus Pettigrew played football and basketball for the Nittany Lions. His brother Trey also played college basketball and has made stops at Nevada, Bradley and Eastern Michigan.
#10 Mark Brown Jr. – Older brother Brandon began his career in the JUCO ranks at Phoenix College, where he won a national title as a freshman and lost in the semifinals as a sophomore before going on to play two seasons at the NCAA Division-I level at Loyola Marymount… Mark enjoys clothing and putting on outfits in his spare time. He also likes sightseeing and going on adventures.
#11 Isaiah Barnes – Older brother Daniel played at Eastern Michigan (2008-09) and UIC (2010-13). He attended games at Valpo to watch Daniel play in the Valpo/UIC Horizon League matchups. He enjoys spending time with his dog. He graduated from Tulsa in 2025 with a degree in organizational study and is pursuing a master’s degree at Valpo.
#12 Owen Dease – Enjoys spending time with his daughter Cohen, who was born in 2024… Graduated from Texas A&M Corpus Christi in May 2025 with a degree in kinesiology/exercise science… Pursuing a master’s degree at Valpo.
#13 Carter Hopoi – Growing up, played various sports including soccer, cricket and volleyball.
#15 Kobe Walker – Enjoys going to church, golfing and watching movies… Played AAU for Gavin Sullivan, who is close with Valpo legend Alec Peters.
#20 Joe Vick – Son of Julie Vick, the administrative assistant for the Valpo men’s and women’s basketball programs.
#22 Kyonte Thomas – Favorite hobby is bowling with a top score of 278… Graduated with a degree in business management and is pursuing a master’s in sports administration at Valpo.
#23 Shon Tupuola – Was a boy scout as a child and enjoys being outdoors including water rafting, extreme downhill biking and four-wheeling. He also enjoys amusement parks and hopes to at some point try skydiving.
#32 Nick Lombardi – Is interested in pursuing a career as a play-by-play sports broadcaster and is a huge fan of sports cars.
#35 Tucker Tornatta – Has been watching the Missouri Valley Conference since he was a kid going to games at the University of Evansville… Enjoys playing golf, watching NBA games and swimming in his spare time.
#44 Sader Servilus – Enjoys watching Anime… Originally played soccer as a child, but transitioned to basketball because all of his cousins were playing the sport.
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
Favorite Song
Favorite Movie
Dream Vacation or Favorite Summer Destination
Favorite Dish
Favorite Sports Team
Inside the Assistants
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 stops in the Big Ten and Big East to go along with head coaching experience. This marks his third season on Valpo’s staff.
Assistant coach Matt Gordon spent 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. This marks his third season on Valpo’s staff.
Assistant coach Jesse McClung is in his first year on staff after a successful two-year run as the head coach at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, where he posted a 53-15 overall record and a 30-4 mark in River States Conference (RSC) play in a two-year stint leading the Pomeroys program. Under his leadership, SMWC made back-to-back NAIA men’s basketball national championship appearances, the only two in school history, highlighted by a Round of 16 appearance. He was named the 2024 RSC Coach of the Year.
Assistant coach/General Manager Quintin Garrison served as the associate head coach at Trinity International University from 2018-2023. He was promoted to his current position prior to the 2025-26 seasons after spending two years as Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
Recruiting & Player Development Coach Lavonte Dority is in his first season on the coaching staff at his alma mater, where he finished his collegiate playing career in 2014. He was head coach Roger Powell Jr.’s first recruit during Powell’s first stint on Valpo’s coaching staff. He played professionally for eight years in Europe and prior to joining Valpo’s staff, he worked with Adidas Basketball. Dority was the 2012-13 Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year, earned first-team all-league honors in 2013-14 and garnered All-District 12 Second Team status that season. He was part of the 2013 Horizon League championship team and was a senior on a young team in 2013-14 that featured Alec Peters as a freshman.
Assistant Player Development Coach Sean Taylor served as SIUE’s graduate assistant/video coordinator from August 2021 to May 2023. He is in his third season on staff.
Creative content guru Jacob Lindsey (third season) and former Valpo football and basketball player Anthony Sciarroni (first season) serve as the program’s graduate assistants.
Seamus Glennon is in his second season as the team’s sport performance coach. He previously served as a strength & conditioning assistant for the VCU men’s basketball program, a position he held for the last two seasons. He also spent time at Temple and Clemson.
Caleb Moreau is in his first season as the team’s athletic trainer. He earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Virginia in 2023 before going on to earn his master’s in athletic training from Virginia in May 2025.
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.