ReZyNeZy wrote:That's not how the timeline went.
Lottich was the head coach a full season before they made the move. Drew left after the 15-16 season. Lottich coached the team that shared the HL regular season, but got beat in the league tournament.
Valpo joined in the 17-18 season, same year Wichita State went to the AAC.
Talks to join the MVC came to VU in late 15 early 16. Drew Left after 15-16. They weren't just going to up and stop the conversations, but they still wished Drew would have elected to stay.
First, you're changing your story. You said that Drew left the same year that Valpo announced it was joining the MVC. He did not, as a matter of fact.
Now you're saying that "talks to join..." were happening in late 2015-early 2016, which is an amorphous statement that's open to interpretation. Sounds like the chatter that comes out during a coaching search to save face. Valpo wasn't being asked to join in 2015 or 2016, regardless. If it were true, Valpo could have given proper notice to the Horizon League and not have had to pay the exit fee settlement.
Valpo had been vetted previously (as had several other schools - due diligence and such) and was a quick fallback because Wichita State moved to the AAC. The WSU stuff was all the chatter during the 2017 NCAA tournament. The WSU exit happened quickly. If you knew anything about Doug Elgin, it's that he loved the 10-team league model for the Valley. He certainly wasn't breaking that for Valpo more than a year before WSU left.
Valpo benefitted from an expedited timeline and because the MVC council believed their administration's promises about upgrades to investment and facilities. They seemed to be a safe, quick add at the time.
For civility's sake, let's assume we're debating semantics and your explanation is a plausible rationale for Valpo's lack of success in the league.
Questions remain:
Why did their AD leave after less than two year on the job?
What has Valpo done in the last decade to improve its program or facilities to the MVC level?
Does Valpo have a viable path for making improvement/investments in its program?