"Everything went according to our plan"

Part I: Small lays out the process for hiring Roger Powell Jr.

VALPARAISO - Roger Powell Jr. is coming back to Valparaiso University to rebuild the men’s basketball program. Valparaiso President José Padilla is aiming to build a new Athletics-Recreation Center. In the middle of it all is Charles Small, the athletic director who just made the first major hire of his career.

The three men are all betting on each other and Valparaiso University is betting on all three of the men.

This is the first of a three-part series examining Powell’s hiring. The first story focuses on the process Small used in hiring Powell. The second story, which will be released on Thursday afternoon, will examine Padilla’s quest to build a new arena and how an off-handed remark on Wednesday nearly got buried in the news cycle. The final story, which will be released on Friday morning, will focus on Powell’s first days on the job and the tough decisions he’s already had to make.