Another Valpo player to transfer

[Da Coach]

This is a big blow to Valparaiso. Their leading scorer and rebounder Derrik Smits already announced he is leaving Valpo and transferring, and today, freshman Javon Freeman, who was their 3rd leading scorer (behind Smits and Ryan Fazekas) and the runner-up to A.J. Green as Freshman of the Year, announced he will leave Valparaiso, and transfer. As a freshman he averaged 11.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 2.0 rpg, and played more minutes than anyone on the team (31.2 mpg).

He sounds like a free agent in the pros-
"I just wanted to reach my full potential in basketball and see what else is out there for me," Freeman said.
https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/s...91260110336001

Just my opinion, but I think he is making a big mistake. He is a good player, and would have been a star player in the MVC. But he will not be a huge difference-maker at a higher level. He isn't a point guard, despite playing there a lot his freshman season. He's not a great passer from what I saw of him, and I think his best position is 2-guard, but he isn't a great outside shooter either (shot only 28.9% from three). I suspect he has been coaxed by someone like an AAU coach to "see what else is out there for" him.
Maybe he was afraid his playing time would shrink with Valpo's 2 transfers becoming eligible next season (Eron Gordon and Nick Robinson- both combo guards)

[egib52]

This is a big blow to Valparaiso. Their leading scorer and rebounder Derrik Smits already announced he is leaving Valpo and transferring, and today, freshman Javon Freeman, who was their 3rd leading scorer (behind Smits and Ryan Fazekas) and the runner-up to A.J. Green as Freshman of the Year, announced he will leave Valparaiso, and transfer. As a freshman he averaged 11.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 2.0 rpg, and played more minutes than anyone on the team (31.2 mpg).

He sounds like a free agent in the pros-
"I just wanted to reach my full potential in basketball and see what else is out there for me," Freeman said.
https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/s...91260110336001

Just my opinion, but I think he is making a big mistake. He is a good player, and would have been a star player in the MVC. But he will not be a huge difference-maker at a higher level. He isn't a point guard, despite playing there a lot his freshman season. He's not a great passer from what I saw of him, and I think his best position is 2-guard, but he isn't a great outside shooter either (shot only 28.9% from three). I suspect he has been coaxed by someone like an AAU coach to "see what else is out there for" him.
Maybe he was afraid his playing time would shrink with Valpo's 2 transfers becoming eligible next season (Eron Gordon and Nick Robinson- both combo guards).

I was actually surprised he ended up at Valpo. He was a good, not great, HS player, however with his uncle being Marcus Liberty I thought for sure he would have some connection to get him on a bench at a P5 school.

[tornado]

Freeman would be a very good player in the MVC - but I suspect may be average at the next level
Prediction - headed to U of I...

but - only 3 times did he score over 12 and lead the team in scoring against a DI opponents -
but in the process he's really hurting Valpo at this late stage...but then you have to wonder if something's going on behind the scenes that multiple players are leaving..

[tornado]

no sooner did I post that and now reported - Valpo's Bakari Evelyn is leaving as a grad transfer...
..so that's 3 starters gone - and Markus Golder is also finishing his 4th year so could he be next as a grad-transfer, too?

looks like Valpo is going the Bradley or Missouri State route of tearing everything down and starting over...

[tornado]

...freshman Javon Freeman...will leave Valparaiso, and transfer.....

I wonder if the conversation between Freeman and the coach didn't go like this....

Coach Lottich: Javon, you did a nice job of scoring but we have a lot of other shooting guards and two more coming in next year.
And you take an awful lot of shots, way, way more than anyone else on the team- especially for a guy who hits only 28% from 3-pt range...
But we're horribly lacking depth at the point guard position so I am gonna ask you to pass the ball more.....

Javon: What the hey - I'm outta here....


BTW-
Head coach Matt Lottich just issued a PUBLIC STATEMENT in effect saying he's getting rid of all the dead weight
and going out to find players who wanna play team ball at Valpo

[brocks]

no sooner did I post that and now reported - Valpo's Bakari Evelyn is leaving as a grad transfer...
..so that's 3 starters gone - and Markus Golder is also finishing his 4th year so could he be next as a grad-transfer, too?

looks like Valpo is going the Bradley or Missouri State route of tearing everything down and starting over...

But the BU and MSU situations were in the first year of a new coach. Is this really acceptable after year 3?

[tornado]

Time will tell - maybe he has no choice - apparently they all think they are NBA caliber players who are way better than they actually are...

[tornado]

With all this bad news coming out of Valparaiso - makes you wonder how much better the MVC would be if we had just added Belmont or Murray State
or both back in 2017 when we chose Valparaiso instead.

[egib52]

With all this bad news coming out of Valparaiso - makes you wonder how much better the MVC would be if we had just added Belmont or Murray State
or both back in 2017 when we chose Valparaiso instead.

A big swing and a miss for the Valley in the short term with both Murray State and Belmont making the tournament. Especially with Murray State on the national sports shows daily because of Ja Morant.

[Da Coach]

More turmoil and bad news at Valparaiso. Redshirt junior Marcus Golder is "exploring a grad-transfer"-

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1108772660908044288

If Golder transfers, that would leave Ryan Fazekas as the only returning player next year among Valpo's top 6 players-
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...tats/_/id/2674

[tornado]

Yet another Valparaiso player is leaving - part time starting center Jaume Sorolla says he will not be back next season

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1114170505119043584

They have one returning freshman rotation player (Sackey) otherwise all they have left is guys who didn't play much or at all last year
...or who are former walk-ons

[Da Coach]

That one is another transfer that is hard to understand. Yes, the foreign players like Sorolla, who is from Spain, always might be tempted to go back and play pro ball in Europe. But in this case, there is no coaching change, and with Derek Smits already leaving it leaves the center position at Valpo wide open for Sorolla. They do not have any one else on their roster to play Center, and their only incoming recruits/transfers for 2019 are a couple guards (Eron Gordan and Nick Robinson) and a 6'6" freshman wing (Donovan Clay). If Sorolla stays, he would probably get all the playing time he wanted.

[Tommy]

If Sorolla stays, he would probably get all the playing time he wanted.

There must be something serious at Valpo that we are unaware of.

[tornado]

Markus Golder lands at Portland State - kind of a step down...

[Da Coach]

Golder's leaving, along with Sorolla, Smits, Evelyn, Bradford, etc. seem to suggest some friction between those players and coach Lottich

It will be interesting to see how things go for All-Freshman player Javon Freeman next season. He announced he was leaving, was granted his release, checked out other destinations, but then returned to the team 2 months later.

And Markus Golder's transfer to Portland State is not really too surprising. Portland, Oregon is his hometown and he graduated from Clackamas High School in the Portland area.