1997–98 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by tenth-year head coach Homer Drew, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as members of the Mid-Continent Conference. This season is one of the most memorable in program history^[2] as the Crusaders made a run to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. The opening round victory over Ole Miss is best known for "The Shot" that sparked the Crusaders' Cinderella run. The team finished with a record of 23–10 (13–3 Mid-Con).

1997–98 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball
Mid-Con Regular season champions Mid-Con tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	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]

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	UIC Pavilion (3,466) 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	Scottrade Center (15,977) 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	Myriad Convention Center (13,349) 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

Main article: 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[9]

1998 NBA draft

Main article: 1998 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Team
1	16	Bryce Drew	Houston Rockets

^[10]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary
2. "1997-1998 Men's Basketball Team to be Inducted into Valpo's Hall of Fame on February 28". 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.
4. "Valparaiso's 'Miracle Shot' Stuns Ole Miss". The Washington Post. March 14, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
5. "Truly, This Is Madness: Valparaiso Writing Its Own Fairy Tail". Spokesman-Review. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
6. "URI, Stanford in Final Eight". The Washington Post. March 21, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
7. "Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Valparaiso University Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
8. "1997-1998 Valparaiso Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.
9. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
10. "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 21, 2021.