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The Missouri Valley announced that Valparaiso will replace departed Wichita State as the 10th Valley member this fall.
Due to Valparaiso still playing in Horizon League competition, further details cannot be released at this time.
“Ultimately we fully anticipate they will be in our league for all sports beginning in the fall,” Smart said.
Smart also announced that further expansion will be investigated over the coming nine months. The President’s Group has instructed the Expansion Working Group, which is headed by Smart, to look into additional schools to add to the Valley.
“It was critical that we add one to have play in the fall, but we thought we needed additional time to work with the other prospective schools that have been engaged in the process the last several weeks and explore other options,” Smart said.
Though Smart would not confirm, the three other candidates for expansion that were widely discussed in media circles included Murray State, Nebraska-Omaha and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The extended search time will allow the council to investigate other schools outside of that group.
“I think we will look at other options. I think there is interest in exploring options beyond the three other schools we visited in the last several weeks,” Smart said. “I do think all of those schools remain viable contenders. There is interest on both sides. I believe we conveyed to those schools our continued interest in them.”
Two schools will be targeted, as an odd number is untenable for the Valley for scheduling in Women’s Basketball, Volleyball and Softball. Each school has a travel partner to help cut down on costs. Missouri State lost its travel partner in Wichita State, so an 11-team landscape likely would have left Missouri State as the odd team out with no travel partner. That scenario would have further strapped an athletic budget that was forced to cut the field hockey program just last month.
Valparaiso, located in Northern Indiana, fits within the mission of keeping within the footprint of the league.
“They are very much in the footprint of our league. It is very important in our league that geography makes travel affordable for all of the sports the Valley offers,” Smart said.
Smart and his group will work to find viable candidates and present their findings next March.
“We need to work through some things and make sure we build consensus that we have the right members. Once you invite a team into the league, you have them forever. We want to make sure we are not rushed into making a decision that in the long term is not good for the league,” Smart said. “I don’t mean to imply that the schools we visited won’t be the ones that are ultimately there. We need some times to work through some things.”
Whichever decision is recommended, Men’s Basketball will be the driving force as it was with the Valparaiso addition.
“Historically our (conference) profile and reputation turns on basketball and Valparaiso has had a very strong basketball program,” Smart said. “They invest significant money into basketball and have had success and they are committed to doing that.”
Smart has goals of adding teams that can make the Valley a force on the national college basketball scene once again. The Valley has ranked outside of the Top 10 in conference RPI for Men’s Basketball for each of the last four years. The last time the Missouri Valley was better than ninth in RPI was 2008 when conference was sixth.
“I have been a proponent from the beginning that we need to be bolder than just a one-for-one replacement. We need to carve out our identity as the sixth basketball conference; particularly the basketball conference of the Midwest. I think there additional schools that will be interested in joining that vision,” Smart said.
Realizing that vision starts at home and with the teams that are already in the Valley including Missouri State.
“Over the course of time the Valley has lots of schools in and out and we always have been able to be competitive. It is up to us now to step up and be the dominant school. It is up to Illinois State or Northern Iowa to step up to be the dominant school. Those three schools have a history of winning, have a history of having good coaching staffs, and have history of having good attendance and excitement in their communities. There is not any reason we can’t lead resurgence in the Valley. Missouri State wants to be at the head of that and be a part of that. We expect to be picked at the top of the league, and we expect to be at the top of the league next year and consistently thereafter,” Smart said.
