1995–96 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

1995–96 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball
1995–96 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball
Mid-Con Regular season champions; Mid-Con tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
Record	21–11 (13–5 Mid-Con)
Head coach	Homer Drew (8th season);
Home arena	Athletics–Recreation Center
	Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Valparaiso †	13	–	5	.722	21	–	11	.656
Western Illinois	12	–	6	.667	17	–	12	.586
Missouri-Kansas City	10	–	8	.556	12	–	15	.444
Buffalo	10	–	8	.556	13	–	14	.481
Northeastern Illinois	10	–	8	.556	14	–	13	.519
Central Connecticut State	9	–	9	.500	13	–	15	.464
Eastern Illinois	9	–	9	.500	13	–	15	.464
Troy State	8	–	10	.444	11	–	16	.407
Youngstown State	7	–	11	.389	12	–	15	.444
Chicago State	2	–	16	.111	2	–	25	.074

† 1996 Mid-Con Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1995–96 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by eighth-year head coach Homer Drew, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as members of the Mid-Continent Conference. Valpo finished atop the conference regular season standings and followed that success by winning the Mid-Con tournament to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Playing as the No. 14 seed in the West region, the Crusaders were beaten by No. 3 seed Arizona in the opening round.^[2]^[3] The team finished with a record of 21–11 (13–5 Mid-Con) which was later adjusted to 22–10.

This season marked the first of five straight trips to the NCAA tournament and seven appearances in and eight-year period.

Roster[edit]

1995–96 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G		Jamie Sykes	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	So
G	24	Bryce Drew	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Valparaiso	Valparaiso, Indiana
C	33	Zoran Viskovic	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	Fr		Croatia
F	44	Bill Jenkins	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	So

Head coach

Homer Drew (William Jewell)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 24, 1995*		vs. Minnesota	L 66–70	0–1	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Hilo, Hawaii
Nov 26, 1995*		vs. Toledo	W 84–65	1–1	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Hilo, Hawaii
Nov 27, 1995*		vs. Utah State	W 79–70	2–1	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Hilo, Hawaii
Dec 14, 1995*		at Wisconsin	L 73–90	5–2	Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin
Dec 21, 1995*		at Purdue	L 53–74	5–3	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 23, 1995*		Canisius	L 68–72	5–4	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 28, 1995*		at Illinois-Chicago	L 72–84	5–5	UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois
Mid-Con tournament
Mar 3, 1996*		vs. Chicago State Quarterfinals	W 118–83	19–10	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
Mar 4, 1996*		vs. Eastern Illinois Semifinals	W 78–65	20–10	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
Mar 5, 1996*		vs. Western Illinois Championship game	W 75–52	21–10	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1996*	(14 W)	vs. (3 W) No. 11 Arizona First round	L 51–90	21–11	ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[4]

Rankings[edit]

^[5]

References[edit]

^ sports-reference.com 1995-96 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary
^ "Arizona 90, Valparaiso 51". AP News. March 15, 1996. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
^ "Despite Crushing Loss, Vintage Year for Valpo". The Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1996. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
^ "Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Valparaiso University Athletics. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] sports-reference.com 1995-96 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary

[2] "Arizona 90, Valparaiso 51". AP News. March 15, 1996. Retrieved July 2, 2023.

[3] "Despite Crushing Loss, Vintage Year for Valpo". The Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1996. Retrieved July 2, 2023.

[4] "Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Valparaiso University Athletics. Retrieved July 2, 2023.

[ESPN-5] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball
Venues	Hilltop Gym (1939–1984) ARC (1984–present)
Culture & lore	"The Shot"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24