Valparaiso will feature a blend of returnees and newcomers as nine individuals who were part of the program last season will join forces with six new arrivals.
Valpo returns its top two scorers as Ben Krikke (14.2 ppg) and Kobe King (14.0 ppg) are both back. The team will have several key players to replace, as Kevion Taylor, Eron Gordon and Trevor Anderson were lost to graduation, Thomas Kithier incurred a career-ending back injury and Sheldon Edwards left via the transfer portal. Taylor has signed a contract to play professionally in Greece, while Gordon was a member of the Houston Rockets NBA Summer League team.
Point guard Preston Ruedinger has been placed on scholarship after competing as a nonscholarship walk-on last season and earning a spot in the starting lineup by season’s end. Other returning letterwinners include junior wing Connor Barrett, sophomore point guard Darius DeAveiro, senior center Emil Freese-Vilien and redshirt senior center Joe Hedstrom. Cam Palesse returns to the program after redshirting as a freshman last season, while walk-on Luke Morrill is also back.
The program has brought in a mixture of true freshmen and transfers to fill the spots vacated by departures. Fifth-year Nick Edwards (Glenville State), sixth-year Quinton Green (Cedarville) and junior college transfer Jerome Palm (Hillsborough CC) have transferred into the program, while Maximum Nelson (Appleton, Wis.) and Ibra Bayu (Flevoland, The Netherlands) are true freshmen. In addition, freshman Joe Vick has joined the squad as a nonscholarship walk-on.
Krikke enters the season just 26 points away from 1,000 for his collegiate career, while Lottich is three wins away from 100 as a head coach.
During the 2021-22 campaign, seven Missouri Valley Conference postseason honors were won by five different players. The team finished fourth in the MVC in free-throw percentage (.759), field-goal percentage (.459), assists per game (12.5) and steals per game (6.4) while finishing third in assist/TO ratio (1.1) last season.
Valpo finished last season with a 5-0 record against Indiana State and Evansville, its first Hoosier State sweep since joining the MVC. Lottich climbed into fourth in program history for career victories by a head coach, surpassing the legendary Gene Bartow.