The reason for this short trip is I had to cash a winning sports bet at the Hard Rock Casino near Gary, Indiana. The closest university to there is Valparaiso, and as they had an afternoon game on Tuesday, the entire trip was planned around that. After watching Northern Illinois the night before, I left DeKalb early in the morning and arrived on campus just before noon, giving me an hour to tour the venue. It is important to note that although most of Indiana observes Eastern time, Valparaiso is in the northwest corner that is part of the Central Time Zone (two schools, Evansville and Southern Indiana, are in the southwest corner that also uses Central time).
The Beacons play out of the Athletics-Recreation Complex, commonly known as the ARC. With students on break, parking was free in the lot across the street (at other times, there are lots slightly farther away that are free; the parking map is very helpful). There is a crosswalk between the lot and the venue that is painted with the school's more commonly used nickname.
The ARC is an addition to Hilltop Gym, where the team had played since 1939. The original building still stands and operates as the practice facility for basketball and volleyball. It is the much more stylish building facing west, with a Victory bell in front.
The picture below shows the edge of the old building next to the new one and you can see clearly the contrasting architectural styles, not surprising as the ARC opened 45 years after Hilltop.
The box office is in the southeast entrance and there were two options: chairbacks for $27 or bleachers for $12. I have never seen such a difference for having a seat back, and obviously opted for the bleachers, notching an aisle seat just four rows from the court, right behind the Valpo bench.
Just inside the main entrance is a large collection of trophies. Valpo used to be members of the Mid-Continent Conference (not to be confused with the Incontinent Conference, of which no one wants to be a member). In 2007, the MCC rebranded as the Summit League, while Valpo moved to the Horizon League the same year; they have since moved to the Missouri Valley Conference.
One of the more interesting series of trophies is that of statistical champions, of which there are at least eight in this display case. In 2016, Vashil Fernandez led all players with 3.31 blocks per game and there are trophies for every sport awarded. Most schools don't display these as I have seen them at only a handful so far, but I like how random they are, and how a player at a small school like Valparaiso is just as likely to win one as a Power 6 athlete.
Above is one of the more impressive trophies I have seen. It is the Naismith Good Sportsmanship Award and is decorated with a small sculpture of James Naismith and a peach basket, which he used when he invented the game. This was awarded to Homer Drew in 1998; Drew was the Valpo coach from 1988-2011 and his son Bryce sank the winning basket in the first round of the 1998 tournament to defeat Ole Miss. Valpo also beat Florida State to reach the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to Rhode Island. Meanwhile, Bryce Drew succeeded his father as coach here, taking the Crusaders to the NIT Final in 2016, a game I attended at Madison Square Garden. Bryce Drew is now coaching at Grand Canyon and I will see them in exactly one month when they visit Seattle. Again, there are so many connections in college basketball and all of this travel has really opened my eyes to them.
The athletics Hall of Fame is along a wall as you approach the gym proper and just before you enter, there are pictures of six teams that have played here. The 1944-'45 squad was known as The World's Tallest Team as the coach had found players too tall to enlist in the military; the picture is showing them outside the old Madison Square Garden, where they defeated Long Island University in a key battle at the time.
You might have noticed that I referred to the team as Beacons once and Crusaders once. The school changed its nickname from Crusaders, which somehow has developed negative connotations, to Beacons back in 2021, using the name of the university yearbook as inspiration. The logo itself did not change, though they had modified it by removing a knight two years prior, obviously in anticipation of changing the name as well.
I'm glad I arrived early because it took a while to look over all the memorabilia here. Still, by the time I entered the gym, it was still pretty empty. The benches are on the side facing the camera, and there are two levels, though few were using the second level on this day.
I did go up to the top to snap a picture however. There are 5,000 seats here with capacity officially listed at 5,432. The record attendance is 5,444, achieved during that 2016 NIT run. Thankfully the NCAA is reducing the number of smaller schools in the NIT starting this year, because who wants to see them when there are dozens of mediocre big schools that can generate more TV revenue? Read the link if you want to be nauseated. Two schools from each of the Power 6 conferences? Such a joke.
Anyway, there is an interior concourse around most of the seating bowl, though at the far end there is a small area reserved for season-ticket holders that prevents you from doing a full circle. Below this is a small section of bleachers where the students would sit, but with it being the holiday break, it was completely deserted.
If you walk out the entrance at this level, you will find one concession along a narrow hallway, across from which is a series of photos. The one below was taken in 1939 and shows Hilltop Gym in the middle. There is another concession inside the gym and I would highly recommend the hot dog at $4, one of the best I have encountered on my travels.
Returning to the gym, there are dozens of banners, so many that two levels are needed, with conference wins hiding behind those for the NCAA, including that Sweet Sixteen appearance.
As mentioned, the team is now a member of the MVC. My visit to Illinois State was the first I had seen an MVC team at home, yet UIC is in the conference and I had been to see their arena as part of my true tripleheader in 2020. But at that time, UIC was in the Horizon, so that wouldn't count as an MVC visit even after they moved. All of this conference movement is another major problem with college sports, but again, money!
The scoreboard is quite small and actually shows stats rather than video. A traditional dot-matrix board can be found at either end of the floor.
Overall, the ARC is another special venue in the world of college hoops. At just over an hour from Chicago, it is worth the trip if you happen to be in the Windy City during the season. And you don't have to worry about the time change.
The Game
The 9-2 Samford Bulldogs of the Southern Conference were the visitors and favoured by 9.5 over the 4-7 Beacons, who are led by Roger Powell in his first year after four years as an assistant at Gonzaga. He played in the 2005 championship game with Illinois and is one of two who have played and coached in the championship game with different schools (the other is embattled coach Kenny Payne of Louisville, who played with the Cardinals in 1986 and was an assistant with Kentucky in 2014). Hat tip to the incredible game notes for that tidbit.
When the starting lineups were announced, I was surprised to hear that Beacon's #6 Darius DeAveiro is from Kanata, the suburb of Ottawa where I spent my teenage years. That's him shooting below.
The game got off to a slow start, with the Beacons leading 5-0 at the first timeout. Samford finally hit a few shots and we were tied at 16 when the Bulldogs went on a 14-2 run that led to a Valpo timeout. That stemmed the bleeding somewhat as they got back within 8, down 35-27 at the half. It was clear that Samford was the superior team, particularly on the offensive boards where their height advantage allowed them to grab several of their misses, but even then, their shooting touch eluded them on those second chances as they managed only one basket on 9 offensive rebounds in the first frame.
On a couple of occasions in the second half, Valpo got within 6, but an 18-6 Samford surge over 7 minutes ended any chance of an upset. Sitting behind the Valpo bench, it was interesting to see the frustration develop on the faces of the coaches, who could not do much to help as they were just overmatched. At one point, they missed an easy shot and Powell lamented "You can't win if you don't score". True dat.
The final few minutes went quickly as there was no need to foul and Samford went back to Alabama with a 79-61 win. The Bulldogs outshot the Beacons 51% to 35% and were generally better in all facets of the game. There were a couple of weird stats however. Both teams had 12 offensive rebounds, but Valpo managed 13 second-chance points to just 4 for Samford. Both teams had 10 turnovers, but the Bulldogs managed 17 points off miscues to just 6 for the Beacons. It was a well-officiated game too, with only 21 fouls called, which kept things moving. I really enjoy these random mid-major meetings and although it wasn't close, it was fun to watch.
Notes
This was number 150 on the quest for 392. Only 242 left! And I got another one that night at Loyola, which will be the topic of the next post.
Best,
Sean
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