Link to Valpo

Cooper Schwieger Joing Valparaiso

(St. Louis, MO) – If Cooper Schwieger is as good as the praise given him, Valparaiso has a program-changer in the Kansas City native. After an outstanding high school career, Schwieger played a prep year season at Link Year Academy and first year coach Roger Powell landed this versatile player. Heading from Link to Valpo is a logical move.

Powell has compared the 6’9 Schwieger to former Valpo great Alec Peters and former Gonzaga star Drew Timme. Having the ability to play in the paint and stretch the floor are abilities Schwieger has cultivated.

The first-year coach is rebuilding the Beacon roster and Schwieger is one of four freshmen in Powell’s eight-man recruiting class. Three are Division 1 transfers and one comes from junior college. Schwieger hails from Kansas City, Kansas high school Blue Valley Southwest. He went to Link Academy to improve his recruiting prospects and worked on his ballhandling and shooting ability.

He and his twin brother (Connor) both went to Link and Cooper says his AAU coach Pip Dukes nudged him in the direction of the Branson, Missouri post grad program. Adam Donyes oversees Link Academy and he says Schwieger will be great at Valpo.

 

 

Why Head from Link to Valpo?

Schwieger didn’t know a lot about Valparaiso prior to his visit to the northwest Indiana university, but he was deeply impressed by Powell and loved his visit to Valpo. He is encouraged by the comparisons made by Powell.

 

 

Both his prep school and his university have a strong Christian faith component. While Schwieger has been raised in a Christian tradition, the move from Link to Valpo is something of a coincidence. He says his faith definitely grew while attending Link Academy.

 

 

Link Experience & Excitement about the Beacons

Link Academy’s high school team won the national championship and Schwieger’s post grad team competed in the national tournament. While playing roughly 40 games Schwieger feels his game has grown. He averaged 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the Lions.

He’s excited about the fast-paced style Powell wants to employ at Valparaiso. With so many new faces on this year’s Beacon squad there are no defined roles, but Schwieger has been impressed by his new teammates. The incoming freshman tells us about three of the veterans, transfer Jaxon Edwards (Murray State), Connor Barrett and Darius DeAveiro.

 

 

Edwards, Hoffstra transfer Lual Manyang and Central Michigan’s Ola Ajiboye are the D1 newcomers. Two Canadians, Yanis Bamba and Jahari Williamson and Estonia native Kaspar Sepp are the other freshmen. Isaiaih Stafford comes from John A. Logan junior college. Manyang is from the Sudan. Valpo has a long history of recruiting foreign born players.

You can hear our entire conversation with Cooper Schwieger on the Valley Hoops Insider Podcast.

Powell and Gonzaga were highly successful and Link Academy and Schwieger were too. Perhaps the move from Link to Valpo will continue story of success for Schwieger and the Beacons.

Do Good

 

Cover photo courtesy of valpoathletics.com.