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Originally posted by Da Coach
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Former Valparaiso player Markus Golder, who left Valpo last spring and transferred to Portland State, just received a waiver from the NCAA and will be eligible to play this season. -
Originally posted by tornado View Post7' center Jaume Sorolla was one of several players that left Valparaiso after last season. He considered returning to his home country of Spain to play pro, but was enticed to transfer to Cincinnati. There he has been nothing but a practice player and a deep reserve. He appeared in 15 of their 21 games, started none, and has seen his playing time drop significantly in American Conference play. So he has officially quit the team, withdrawn from University of Cincinnati, and says he is heading back to play in Europe.Originally posted by Da Coach View Post
Here is a look at other Valparaiso players who left last year-
Valpo's other 7-footer Derrik Smits, who was Valpo's leading scorer and rebounder last season and had a chance to be an all-MVC player this season, transferred to Butler last spring, hoping to get more notoriety and raise his NBA draft stock. However, he has been a total failure at Butler. A combination of injuries and over-estimating his skill level has resulted in Smits playing in only 12 of Butler's 22 games, none as a starter. He plays very little, averages 3.8 ppg and just 2.0 rpg (averaged 12.4 ppg & 5.7 rpg at Valpo last year). In Big East conference games, his average is only 2.8 ppg, slightly more than half of what Ari Boya is averaging in MVC games (4.7 ppg).
6'2" redshirt-senior Bakari Evelyn is playing at Iowa this season. The former Valpo starter, who averaged 8.4 ppg for Valpo last year, doesn't play much at Iowa, and has not started a single game. He is averaging 2.1 ppg (11th on the team), and is shooting a woeful 27% from the field for the season. Another player who appears to have made a bad choice.
6'5" guard Markus Golder transferred to Portland State for his final year as a grad-transfer. He was a starter and averaged 9.2 ppg at Valpo last season. But despite the fact Portland State and the Big Sky Conference are a significant step down in quality of basketball, Golder's season is not going well. Portland State is a sub-.500 team and Golder has been relegated to the bench after being a starter the first half of the season. He's averaging just 6.0 ppg and is shooting only 28.0% from three.
6'1" guard Micah Bradford, who left after a series of legal problems, is actually doing better than any of the other Valpo refugees. He is at Southern University of the pathetic SWAC conference. Southern is 9-13 and has a NET of 298. Bradford is averaging 8.6 ppg.
And recall that Javon Freeman-Liberty also announced he was leaving Valpo after last season.
However, he came to his senses and returned to the team a couple months later. He is now the leading scorer in the MVC and one of the top 2 leading candidates (along with A.J. Green of UNI) for MVC Player of the Year. Seems like he made a wise decision.
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Not to argue too much, but I wouldn’t say Evelyn made a bad choice. Granted he’s not playing there when he would have started at Valpo, but Iowa has a chance to win their conference tourney and make a solid run in the big dance. They could win it all if things break right. And he would never have gotten that opportunity at Valparaiso. If he came out and said he wished he had gone somewhere he could play more, or were a younger player not a redshirt senior, I’d agree with you. But I don’t think either of us can fully speak for him.Gotta stop feeding the trolls.
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I think Smits made a huge mistake. It makes no difference where you play if you are good enough the Pro's will find you.Comment
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