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Milos Milosevic getting some love on ESPN.com today, kind of.

The former Valparaiso sophomore was buried at the end of a Worldwide Leader story concerning from Kansas guard C.J. Henry. Both players have decided to transfer to NAIA Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City. Henry’s case is interesting as the brother of former Kansas star Xavier was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in 2005. After taking three years away from basketball, Henry signed with Memphis, didn’t play and then was brought to Kansas. Once Xavier left, C.J. was out the door.

So in case you’re wondering where the recent former Valparaiso players are playing this upcoming season, here you go…

Chris Halvorsen — Minnesota (sitting out year due to NCAA requirements)

Milos Milosevic — Southern Nazarene (NAIA)

Andrew Ferry — Cornell

De’Andre Haskins — Chaminade

Beas Hamga — UAB

Paul Guede — Portland State

Logan Jones — North Idaho (at least that’s the last information I can find on him and he’s not listed as a player who signed with a D1 school after the season)

2010-2011 Valparaiso University Men’s Basketball

Oct. 30                             Olivet Nazarene !                                                                                                7:30 p.m.

Nov. 6                                Aurora !                                                                                                                TBA

Nov. 12                             IU Northwest                                                                                                        TBA

Nov. 15                             at Kansas #                                                                                                           7 p.m.

Nov. 18                             Purdue North Central                                                                                        TBA

Nov. 23                             at Ohio #                                                                                                                6 p.m.

Nov. 26                             vs. Northern Colorado #                                                                                     4 p.m.

Nov. 27                             vs. Bethune Cookman/Texas A&M-CC #                                                        TBA

Dec. 2                                at UIC *                                                                                                                 TBA

Dec. 4                                at Loyola (Chicago) *                                                                                          TBA

Dec. 7                               Purdue                                                                                                                   TBA

Dec. 11                              at Toledo                                                                                                               6 p.m.

Dec. 18                             IPFW                                                                                                                     TBA

Dec. 20                              vs. Eastern Michigan $                                                                                       TBA

Dec. 21                              vs. Oakland/Rochester College $                                                                      TBA

Dec. 28                             Ball State                                                                                                              TBA

Jan. 1                                 at Butler *                                                                                                              TBA

Jan. 6                                Youngstown State *                                                                                            TBA

Jan. 8                                Cleveland State *                                                                                                 TBA

Jan. 13                               at Wright State *                                                                                                  6 p.m.

Jan. 15                               at Detroit *                                                                                                            TBA

Jan. 20                             Milwaukee *                                                                                                         TBA

Jan. 22                             Green Bay *                                                                                                         TBA

Jan. 29                             Butler *                                                                                                                 TBA

Feb. 3                                at Cleveland State *                                                                                             TBA

Feb. 5                                at Youngstown State *                                                                                       6:05 p.m.

Feb. 10                              Detroit *                                                                                                                TBA

Feb. 12                              Wright State *                                                                                                     TBA

Feb. 16                              at Milwaukee *                                                                                                     7 p.m.

Feb. 19                              TBA (Bracketbuster)                                                                                         TBA

Feb. 21                              at Green Bay *                                                                                                      TBA

Feb. 24                              Loyola (Chicago) *                                                                                              TBA

Feb. 26                              UIC *                                                                                                                      TBA

Mar. 1, 4, 5, 8                   at Horizon League Championships (campus sites)                                        TBA

All times Central.

Home games in bold and played at Athletics-Recreation Center.

! – indicates exhibition game

# – at Las Vegas Invitational (Campus sites/Las Vegas, Nev.)

$ – at Lou Henson Award Tournament (Rochester, Mich.)

* – indicates Horizon League game

The Valparaiso men’s basketball team held an intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday afternoon that was complete with officials in anticipation of next week’s trip to Cancun.

The team played two 12-minute games with the roster being split different ways for both games. Every scholarship player participated except Tommy Kurth after the sophomore tweaked his ankle on Monday night.

The rosters for the first scrimmage were broken down like this:

White — Hrvoje Vucic, Jay Harris, Matt Kenney, Ryan Broekhoff, Mike Rogers, Kevin Van Wijk

Black — Erik Buggs, Howard Little, Cory Johnson, Cameron Witt, Brandon Wood

I showed up with White leading 7-4 with about seven minutes remaining. The White team held its lead until the final 25 seconds when Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 22. Harris brought the ball up the floor and I immediately had visions of Ali Berdiel bringing the ball up the floor against Purdue in 2001. With less than ten seconds left on the clock, Harris kicked the ball to Broekhoff, who was immediately double-teamed. The sophomore tried to spin free and create a shot, but they whistled the ball dead with 0.2 seconds left and instead of running an inbounds play, the coaching staff sent the players to the bench for a break. While Broekhoff didn’t get a good shot off, it’s hard to knock Harris for passing him the ball. Broekhoff had knocked down a couple of shots and was in position to hit the game-winner. Part of me would’ve liked to see Harris drive the lane and draw contact (he appears to be a good free throw shooter), but then again, most officials won’t whistle contact in that situation with the game on the line.

The second game was really what I was waiting for because I really enjoyed the draw of the teams.

White — Buggs, Little, Rogers, Broekhoff, Witt, Vucic

Black — Wood, Harris, Kenney, Johnson, Van Wijk

I expected a dominant performance by the Black team in this game, mostly because of Wood and Johnson, but also because Van Wijk very impressive in the first game. I was glad to see Harris on this team as he’d have the chance to run the show with Wood and Johnson. My intitial observation was correct, the game turned into a blowout, but it was the White team that cruised to a 19-14 victory. White was up 19-9 with two minutes left before Black tried to stage a furious comeback.

Rogers was truly impressive in the second game, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers that left the senior with a huge smile on his face. The Jamaican must feel the pressure from Van Wijk as well as the maturation of Kenney and Broekhoff as it pertains to his playing time. That said, Rogers is a fighter and he won’t give up his minutes without battling hard. Bottom line, Rogers shined on Tuesday. As much as Rogers was on his game, Kenney was off of it, but I don’t think it’s anything to get nervous about. The gym was roasting and at every timeout, both Kenney and Wood were removing their jerseys and trying to cool down. Wood knocked down some shots, but Kenney just looked uncomfortable in the heat. The sophomore had some impressive moments, but his fatigue was magnified by Rogers hitting some big shots.

Back to Van Wijk for a moment. The kid is for real. His motor runs very high and when he gets the ball in the paint, he has a variety of moves to get to the basket. He also appears to be a capable passing big man. Granted, my analysis comes from 20 minutes of a scrimmage in which the wet floor made it difficult to cut under the basket, but Van Wijk is only behind Johnson on the depth chart and the two played well together in the second game.

Harris looked good moving the ball, but I didn’t seem him shoot much. He deferred to Wood and Johnson in the second game and was matched up with Buggs for the entire night. Those two are fun to watch go at each other. I wish Kurth was healthy so there would’ve been the chance to see Buggs and Harris on the floor together, although I’m not sure how much that is going to happen during the course of the season.

It’s easy to be optimistic in the first week of August, but this team looks good. The problem ultimately will be minutes. I don’t know who starts between Harris/Buggs/Kurth, but all three deserve to play. Broekhoff and Kenney have the talent to be starters, but they could be relegated to coming off the bench to provide energy and bench scoring. Little and Rogers are seniors who have the experience. Wood and Johnson are locks for the starting lineup and Van Wijk is in the conversation. Witt and Vucic will more than likely come off the bench, but both players had good moments on Tuesday. I think this will be a year where the starting lineup truly doesn’t matter, it will be about who is playing well on a given night. Tuesday night is was Rogers. On any other night, it could be someone completely different.

In what can only be described as a shocking turn of events, Randy Schneider has abruptly resigned as the head coach of the Valparaiso softball team.

According to Schneider, he received a phone call on Friday. From that conversation, he was given “an opportunity that came up quick and it was one that I had to act on quick.” Schneider was traveling throughout the weekend and described his last 36 hours as “a mess.”

The official release from the University that came on Monday afternoon stated that Schneider was leaving the school for other coaching endeavors, but Schneider has already accepted another position. His future employer has asked Schneider not to disclose where he has been hired until the formal paperwork has been completed.

“Leaving here is not easy for me at all, but I have zero regrets about what I’m doing,” Schneider said. “This is the toughest decision I’ve ever made.”

With the team currently on summer vacation, Schneider wasn’t able to address his former players before the news broke about his resignation.

“I wasn’t in the position to have any conversation with the kids,” Schneider said. “My kids are contacting me now and everyone is supporting me 100 percent. They’re upset and there are tears in the conversation, but every player is supportive of me.”

Valparaiso director of athletics Mark LaBarbera said that the school will launch a national search this week to find Schneider’s replacement and that he expects the process to take four-to-five weeks.

I haven’t seen Kevin Van Wijk anywhere near a basketball court and you can already count me as someone who thinks the Dutch native is going to have a huge impact at Valparaiso.

Van Wijk was cleared by the NCAA early on Wednesday and by the afternoon I had the chance to sit down with the 21-year-old sophomore.

The 6-foot-8 forward is very mindful of the team chemistry Valparaiso has with all of the returning players this season and he has already noted that the team has welcomed him with open arms. Van Wijk arrived in Valparaiso two weeks ago and had to sit out a few open gyms as well as the first practice, something that tortured him.

“I’m new to the team and I get here and just have to sit and watch,” Van Wijk said. “I wanted to get on the court to show these guys what I can do. The first practice, they were all on the court and here I am, this guy just standing on the sidelines. It’s a respect thing once you can show the guys what your game is.”

Van Wijk followed up by saying he was on the floor for the team’s second practice last week and jumped right in. Something the coaching staff is excited about is Van Wijk playing alongside senior Cory Johnson and Van Wijk feels the same way.

“We got to play some five-on-five right away and Cory and I work well together,” Van Wijk said. “I’m excited to play more with him as the season gets going.”

Time will tell how ready Van Wijk will be for the upcoming season, but at 21, and having played at a basketball academy for the last three years, one has to believe that he’ll come in as a seasoned player. Van Wijk even pointed out on Wednesday that while he is new to Valpo, he is an “old freshman who has played some basketball.”

Valparaiso has a long history of bringing in players who are filled with potential, but never live up to the predetermined accolades. Players like Paul Guede and Beas Hamga come to mind. I had similar sitdowns with both players prior to their (short-lived) careers at Valparaiso. Van Wijk just seems different. He could be a starter, he might be a Milosevic or Halvorsen. There was just something about his confidence and sense of being on Wednesday that struck me as a player who is ready to contribute…and a player who is ready to work.

We’re 110 days away from the season opener at Kansas, but if you ask me, this is the starting lineup right now. Just a gut feeling…

PG — Jay Harris

SG — Brandon Wood

SF — Howard Little

PF — Kevin Van Wijk

C — Cory Johnson

Practice is officially underway for the 2010-11 Valparaiso men’s basketball team. Ok ok, I know that football hasn’t even started yet, but who doesn’t get excited in the middle of July when they hear a basketball bouncing on the hardwood?

Monday night was the first practice of the year and nearly the entire team was on hand, including Kevin Van Wijk, but excluding Michael Rogers. Van Wijk is on campus, but isn’t allowed to practice until the NCAA signs off on everything. The coaching staff at Valparaiso isn’t allowed to comment on Van Wijk until the paperwork becomes official, which meant for a very nice elephant in the room situation when discussing the team on Monday night. As for Rogers, the senior would be on campus if it weren’t for him practicing with the Jamaican national team.

Monday’s practice was incredibly physical from the start. After a passionate speech from coach Homer Drew about playing for each other as members of a team, the players immediately started battling in the post. My naive eyes couldn’t tell who was on offense and who was on defense in the one-on-one drills, but neither player backed down in what could best be described as a twenty-second skirmish inside the paint. As soon as the whistle blew, the players patted each other on the back and the next players were up. Each returning player looks bigger and stronger than last year, especially sophomore guard Tommy Kurth. Sure Jay Harris and Erik Buggs are expected to get plenty of playing time at the point guard position, but don’t expect Kurth to give up minutes laying down. From the early indications, this could be the strongest depth the Crusaders have had at point guard since Jared Nuness, Greg Tonagel and Mike Nelke played in 2001-02, and the depth could be even better than that.

Tuesday was a fun day for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams as the two squads bonded through an ultra-competitive ping-pong tournament. The highlight came in a match between Drew and former women’s player Sylwia Zabielewicz. After falling behind 9-3 early, Zabielewicz rallied to put some pressure on Drew before the coach pulled out a 21-18 victory. I’ve saw Drew play ping-pong several times before and let me say, he’s unbeatable. Whenever Drew decides to step away from the Crusaders, he could probably double his salary in hustling ping-pong games at bars…if there were ping-pong tables at bars or if Drew went to bars.

The Crusaders have two of their ten practices down before they head to Cancun on August 8th. The team will play games from Aug. 9-12 before returning home on the 13th. I’ll try and get another practice report in before they leave, hopefully one which sees Van Wijk on the floor.

Valparaiso men’s basketball coach Homer Drew announced to the team on Monday evening that the Crusaders will be traveling to Cancun, Mexico from August 8-13 to participate in a series of games against international competition. Because of the travel, the Crusaders will get ten additional practice days leading up to their departure.

While the trip sounds like fun, it’s the practices that really have the coaching staff excited.

As for me, it’s time to start greasing the big wigs to let me go to Cancun…and have them pay for it!

The worst kept secret is finally in the open as far as the Valparaiso men’s basketball program is concerned: Chris Halvorsen has left the team and will attempt to walk on at Minnesota next year.

I say this is the worst kept secret at Valparaiso because everyone has been talking about it for the last two months. Message boards, Facebook posts and casual conversation yielded that Halvorsen was leaving Valparaiso, but when push came to shove, no one wanted to confirm anything…and I can’t blame anyone.

The marriage between Halvorsen and Valparaiso didn’t work from the start. The school was too far away from Halvorsen’s home state of Minnesota and some people around Halvorsen had an inflated view of what the freshman’s role should’ve been on the team.

A coach told me a while back that homesickness is magnified when a player isn’t playing. I can see that and homesickness clearly took its toll on Halvorsen.

Halvorsen was one of eight newcomers to the roster, so it must have been easy for him to get lost in the eyes of the coaches. Cory Johnson and Brandon Wood were clearly more talented and one could argue the same for Matt Kenney, Ryan Broekhoff and Tommy Kurth. A preseason injury didn’t help Halvorsen’s development and by the time he was ready to contribute physically, mentally he was behind the curve. For all the good things I heard about Halvorsen coming into last season, I’ll always wonder what might have been. I mean, he has to be a solid player if he is going to attempt to walk on at a Big Ten school.

Now, back to why no one said anything. I heard nearly two months ago that Halvorsen was leaving. Maybe I was a bad reporter, but I couldn’t get anyone to talk. For his part, Valparaiso coach Homer Drew has an unwritten policy that he doesn’t comment on a player transferring until that player is set to play somewhere else. With Halvorsen’s departure, the Crusaders have had a player transfer every offseason since Drew returned to the bench from a one-year hiatus. The list is long and distinguished. Sylla, Mike Oppland, Humphrey, Williams, Miles, Skoglund, Frye, Guede, Bouchie, Haanpaa, Fumey, Haskins, Jones and now Halvorsen. That’s 14 players in eight years. I’ve had conversations with Drew about nearly every one of those players and he genuinely cares what happens to them when they leave Valparaiso. Drew is so concerned with making sure the players that transfer find the right fit that he doesn’t want to comment on them until he knows that they’ve landed somewhere that will help them become not only better basketball players, but better men in the long run. It might sound hokey, but I think that’s rather commendable.

While I’m not sure the quotes I got from Halvorsen will make it to the Porter County edition of the paper (and I know they didn’t make it online), the Minnesota native had plenty of good things to say about his time at Valparaiso and he will miss his teammates and coaches. He told me on Thursday night that he had considered walking on at Minnesota before he came to Valparaiso and he was excited at the challenge to play for Tubby Smith. I wish him the best of luck.

As for who replaces Halvorsen on the roster, this part gets interesting. According to the Canarias Basketball Academy website, Holland native Kevin Van Wijk is set to sign with the Crusaders. Per NCAA rules, Drew was not allowed to comment on Van Wijk at all and when a coach doesn’t comment, it’s typically a surefire sign that the kid is coming. The problem however is that there is very little information out there concerning Van Wijk. I’ve heard from one person with knowledge of Van Wijk that the Dutch player is an aggressive 6-foot-9 forward who plays a bit like Cory Johnson. Google tells me that he played with the NBA Basketball Without Borders program in 2006 and it appears he has been at the CBA in Spain for the last three years, but there aren’t any stats on the internet, regardless of what language you speak. Trying to get in touch with Van Wijk or his coach was next to impossible because it was 1:30 in the morning in Spain when I discovered that Van Wijk was coming.

There could be more coming tomorrow if I hear from Van Wijk, but as for now, that’s the story with Valparaiso hoops in the middle of summer.

The schedule for the Valparaiso men’s basketball team likely won’t be available for quite some time, but another opponent was revealed on Monday afternoon when Kansas announced its schedule for the 2010-11 season.

The Crusaders will travel to Lawrence on November 15 as part of the Las Vegas Invitational. My guess is that Valparaiso isn’t actually a part of the Las Vegas Invitational, just like the Crusaders weren’t actually a part of the Legends Classic this past season when they played Michigan State and then traveled to Georgia to play three mid-major (or lower) teams.

Then again, I could be wrong. In 2004-05, the Crusaders hosted Northwestern State and then traveled to No. 1 Illinois as part of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Valparaiso then played Northern Iowa and Longwood in Vegas. For those that remember, that was a nightmare of a travel schedule. On Dec. 28 and 29, the Crusaders played Penn State and Arizona State in Tempe and then played the two games in Vegas on Dec. 30 and 31.

Regardless, the Jayhawks are on the schedule and they’ll be without stars Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry. Hopefully they’ll get into another brawl with the football team during the off-season and a few more players will be unavailable. It should also bear noting that the game against the Crusaders is the first legitimate Division I test for Kansas next season. The Jayhawks will open their regular season three days earlier with a game against Longwood. If there were a time to play Kansas, that would be it. Then again, it doesn’t matter. Even if the Crusaders win, the Jayhawks are headed to Vegas to play Ohio and Arizona while Valparaiso is probably headed to a flyover state to play against Longwood, Purdue North Central and Ivy Tech. Just a guess.

After making a stop at Weatherford College in Texas, Beas Hamga came back on the Division I landscape on Thursday when he signed a National Letter of Intent with UAB. The Blazers are coaching by former Indiana coach Mike Davis.

Hamga played about half the season with Weatherford and averaged eight points and six rebounds per game.

What’s interesting is that in the press release put out by UAB, Hamga’s tenure at Valparaiso is never mentioned. After checking with Aaron Leavitt in the media relations department at Valparaiso, Hamga’s name will never be mentioned in the all-time roster. This of course makes sense because the Cameroon native never played a game. That said, I find it interesting that all this fuss was made (and I’m partially to blame) about a guy who will ultimately never be connected to the Crusaders in a historical sense.

In other news, Illinois junior Jeff Jordan (MJ’s son) has decided to transfer. Maybe he could end up at Valparaiso. If you believe what you read on Facebook, then some spots on the roster should be opening up very soon.