It’s Finally Official

(St. Louis, MO) – As we tweeted Wednesday night, Thursday would be the day that Valparaiso officially became a part of the Missouri Valley Conference, and this morning the Crusaders joined the Valley fraternity. Simultaneous announcements were made in Valparaiso and St. Louis and then a flood of ‘welcome to the Valley’ announcements by member schools filled social media.

Valparaiso is a full fledged MVC member.

Valpo President Mark Heckler told valpoathletics.com that joining the Valley is a significant step in athletic and university progress.

“We are thrilled to join the Missouri Valley Conference,” said Heckler. “This is an important step forward for all of our athletics programs and an opportunity to advance the national standing of Valparaiso University. The Valley is one of the nation’s most historic athletic conferences, and we look forward to actively engaging with its outstanding member institutions and Valley leadership to strengthen both the conference and Valpo Athletics.”

Crusader athletics compete in the same 17 sports the Valley sanctions and they are particularly adept in the basketball. The Crusaders have captured 14 league regular season titles over the last 23 years and have made nine trips to the NCAA Tournament. Their 82 wins over the last three seasons ranks them in the top 15 nationally and Valpo’s two best seasons have occurred over the past three years.

MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin told mvc-sports.com that he is happy the wait is over and that Valpo has accepted the Valley’s invitation.

“We are truly excited to welcome Valparaiso to our family,” said Elgin. “Valpo has a great tradition in athletics and a strong academic profile; they’ll be a great fit in all of the sports the Missouri Valley Conference offers.”

Basketball prowess, geography and academics were three big contributing factors in Valpo’s  invitation. Academically the Crusaders carry a perfect 1,000 APR (Academic Performance Rating) with them to the league and they are in very reasonable travel distance for the other nine Valley teams.

Valpo athletic director Mark LaBarbera told valpoathletics.com he’s excited about fresh opportunities facing Crusader athletes.

“We are excited for the opportunity to become members of the Missouri Valley Conference,” said LaBarbera. “The Valley is renowned for the success of its schools and their student-athletes across all sports. We are excited about this next chapter, renewing historic rivalries, creating new rivalries and continuing the forward momentum of Valpo Athletics.”

The delayed acceptance speeches had something to do with Valpo’s former conference. There were said to be fears that if university officials announced the departure to the Valley sooner, the Horizon League may have pulled Valparaiso’s teams out of the track and field championships or out of this week’s league baseball tournament.

While that sounds like an unlikely happening, Horizon commissioner Jon LeCrone hinted that might have been the case. Our friend Paul Oren (@NWIOren) quotes LeCrone:

“I don’t think anyone, certainly not the league office, not our Board, and certainly not Valpo, wanted any student-athletes to be ineligible because of this.”

After spending 25 years in the Mid Continent Conference the Crusaders spent the last decade in the Horizon League. The Crusaders have played in post season basketball in each of the last seven seasons and won five conference titles in past six seasons.

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