1997–98 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

1997–98
Mid-Continent Conference
1997–98 Mid-Continent Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 23
Record	23–10 (13–3 Mid-Con)
Head coach	Homer Drew (10th season);
Home arena	Athletics–Recreation Center
	Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

1997–98 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Valparaiso †	13	–	3	.813	23	–	10	.697
Oral Roberts	12	–	4	.750	19	–	12	.613
Youngstown State	11	–	5	.688	20	–	9	.690
Western Illinois	11	–	5	.688	16	–	11	.593
Buffalo	9	–	7	.563	15	–	13	.536
Missouri-Kansas City	7	–	9	.438	9	–	18	.333
Southern Utah	4	–	12	.250	7	–	20	.259
Northeastern Illinois	3	–	13	.188	6	–	19	.240
Chicago State	2	–	14	.125	2	–	25	.074

† 1998 Mid-Con Tournament winner Rankings from ^[1]

The 1997–98 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented

The Shot

" that sparked the Crusaders' Cinderella run. The team finished with a record of 23–10 (13–3 Mid-Con).

Roster

1997–98 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)	—	Sr
G	24	Bryce Drew	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Valparaiso	Valparaiso, Indiana
C	33	Zoran Viskovic	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	Jr		Croatia
F	44	Bill Jenkins	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr

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

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 15, 1997		Bethel (TN)	L 75–85	0–1	Athletics-Recreation Center (3,011) Valparaiso, Indiana
Nov 17, 1997*		No. 8 Purdue	L 56–73	0–2	Athletics-Recreation Center (5,412) Valparaiso, Indiana
Nov 28, 1997*		vs. Montana Big Island Invitational	W 70–58	1–2	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium (NA) Hilo, Hawaii
Nov 29, 1997*		vs. No. 15 Stanford Big Island Invitational	L 65–70	1–3	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium (NA) Hilo, Hawaii
Nov 30, 1997*		vs. Pacific Big Island Invitational	W 75–73	2–3	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium (NA) Hilo, Hawaii
Dec 6, 1997		Elmhurst	W 85–70	3–3	Athletics-Recreation Center (3,481) Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 9, 1997*		at Wisconsin–Green Bay	L 52–60	3–4	Brown County Arena (3,096) Green Bay, Wisconsin
Dec 13, 1997*		at UIC	L 51–72	3–5	Chicago, Illinois
Dec 20, 1997		at Missouri-Kansas City	W 80–68	4–5 (1–0)	Municipal Auditorium (1,823) Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 22, 1997		at Belmont	W 78–62	5–5	Striplin Gymnasium (230) Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 31, 1997		at Western Illinois	L 62–63	5–6 (1–1)	Western Hall (3,144) Macomb, Illinois
Jan 3, 1998		Chicago State	W 82–62	6–6 (2–1)	Athletics-Recreation Center (2,214) Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 5, 1998		Northeastern Illinois	W 72–69	7–6 (3–1)	Athletics-Recreation Center (3,102) Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 8, 1998		at Southern Utah	W 79–70	8–6 (4–1)	America First Event Center (3,081) Cedar City, Utah
Jan 10, 1998		at Oral Roberts	L 60–68	8–7 (4–2)	Mabee Center (6,910) Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 17, 1998		Buffalo	W 82–80	9–7 (5–2)	Athletics-Recreation Center (3,012) Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 21, 1998*		Northern Illinois	W 87–73	10–7	Athletics-Recreation Center (4,339) Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 24, 1998		Youngstown State	L 66–69	10–8 (5–3)	Athletics-Recreation Center (4,413) Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 26, 1998*		at Saint Louis	L 66–77	10–9	St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 29, 1998		at Northeastern Illinois	W 88–82	11–9 (6–3)	Physical Education Complex (550) Chicago, Illinois
Jan 31, 1998		at Chicago State	W 102–74	12–9 (7–3)	Dickens Athletic Center (403) Chicago, Illinois
Feb 5, 1998		Oral Roberts	W 90–68	13–9 (8–3)	Athletics-Recreation Center (4,341) Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 7, 1998		Southern Utah	W 66–56	14–9 (9–3)	Athletics-Recreation Center (4,453) Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 11, 1998		at Buffalo	W 73–64	15–9 (10–3)	Alumni Arena (3,366) Buffalo, New York
Feb 14, 1998		Belmont	W 95–61	16–9	Athletics-Recreation Center (3,876) Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 19, 1998		at Youngstown State	W 70–68	17–9 (11–3)	Beeghly Center (5,568) Youngstown, Ohio
Feb 23, 1998		Missouri-Kansas City	W 75–65	18–9 (12–3)	Athletics-Recreation Center (4,019) Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 25, 1998		Western Illinois	W 66–56	19–9 (13–3)	Athletics-Recreation Center (4,524) Valparaiso, Indiana
Mid-Con tournament
Mar 2, 1998*	(1)	vs. (5) Buffalo Semifinals	W 84–73	20–9	The MARK of the Quad Cities (NA) Moline, Illinois
Mar 3, 1998*	(1)	vs. (3) Youngstown State Championship Game	W 67–48^[3]	21–9	The MARK of the Quad Cities (NA) Moline, Illinois
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1998*	(13 MW)	vs. (4 MW) No. 13 Ole Miss First round	W 70–69^[4]	22–9	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mar 15, 1998*	(13 MW)	vs. (5 MW) Florida State Second Round	W 83–77 ^{OT^[5]}	23–9	Myriad Convention Center (13,369) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mar 20, 1998*	(13 MW)	vs. (8 MW) Rhode Island Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 68–74^[6]	23–10	Scottrade Center (22,172) St. Louis, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[7]^[8]

Rankings

^[9]

1998 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Team
1	16	Bryce Drew	Houston Rockets

^[10]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1997-98 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary
Valparaiso University Athletics
. February 23, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2021.

^ "Colleges: Men's Basketball: Mid-Continent". The Washington Post. March 4, 1998. Retrieved June 26, 2021.

^ "Valparaiso's 'Miracle Shot' Stuns Ole Miss". The Washington Post. March 14, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

Spokesman-Review
. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

^ "URI, Stanford in Final Eight". The Washington Post. March 21, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

Valparaiso University Athletics
. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

^ "1997-1998 Valparaiso Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.

ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2
.

^ "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 21, 2021.

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1997–98_Valparaiso_Crusaders_men%27s_basketball_team&oldid=1171228305"

[1] sports-reference.com 1997-98 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary

[2] Valparaiso University Athletics
. February 23, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2021.

[3] "Colleges: Men's Basketball: Mid-Continent". The Washington Post. March 4, 1998. Retrieved June 26, 2021.

[ncaa-olemiss-4] "Valparaiso's 'Miracle Shot' Stuns Ole Miss". The Washington Post. March 14, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[ncaa-fsu-5] Spokesman-Review
. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[ncaa-uri-6] "URI, Stanford in Final Eight". The Washington Post. March 21, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[7] Valparaiso University Athletics
. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[8] "1997-1998 Valparaiso Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.

[ESPN-9] ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2
.

[10] "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 21, 2021.

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