The work starts now for Powell
MBB: A look at the five most pressing issues to fix Valparaiso basketball
Roger Powell will spend Easter Weekend with his family in Spokane and then he plans to fly to Valparaiso early next week.
The new men’s basketball coach will bring a unique perspective to the job as Powell has five years of experience at Valparaiso under his belt. That said, the former Gonzaga assistant will be returning to a different Valpo then the one he left in 2016.
The school has a new President, a new athletic director and a new nickname. The men’s basketball team is in a new, and much tougher, conference. The college basketball landscape has changed considerably since Powell walked the sidelines of the Athletics-Recreation Center.
During Powell’s five seasons with Valpo, only two players (Richie Edwards, Jay Harris) transferred to other Division I schools. Valparaiso currently has four players (Ben Krikke, Maximus Nelson, Cam Palesse, Preston Ruedinger) in the portal this year alone and all four are expected to transfer to other Division I programs. Ruedinger committed to Green Bay on Friday evening.
None of this is to say that Powell won’t be successful at Valparaiso, but the first-year coach will have a big pile of work waiting on his desk when he arrives. The following are the five most pressing issues that Powell will have to address to bring Valparaiso basketball back to glory. Some of the tasks will be quick fixes while others will take some time.