The Valparaiso Crusaders Basketball team is the basketball team that represent Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. The school's team currently competes in the Horizon League. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2004. The Crusaders are currently coached by Homer Drew, who is in his 18th year. The Crusaders play in the Athletics-Recreation Center, which has a capacity of 5,000.  Under coach Homer Drew, the Crusaders became a conference power. They won their first Mid-Continent championship in 1995, led by star player Bryce Drew. However, the team was not invited to the NCAA Tournament. The Crusaders won the 1996 conference championship and received their first invitation to the Division I NCAA Tournament. In the 1998 Tournament, the Crusaders won their first Tournament game, defeating the University of Mississippi with the shot. The Crusaders would go on to win their second round game against Florida State University before losing in the Sweet 16 to the University of Rhode Island. The Crusaders would win the Mid-Continent Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament every year until 2001, when Southern Utah University won the conference tournament. In Coach Scott Drew's only year as head coach, the team advanced to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to the University of Iowa in their first game televised by ESPN. They would play in the title game of the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament every year between 1995 and 2004.

---

Bookmark The Ticket Lodge Tickets!