Foreign Aid: International Players Continue to Make Valparaiso Vibrant
2 Trump 20:16 - "Build higher the wall; fingerprint them all." - chapter and verse Trumpism from fake Gospel of Donald about protecting Southern border of U.S.
Punching back at papal pap, perhaps the purge to purify should include tearing down the Vatican wall. But whether in Italy or any foreign country, the art of the deal in basketball is that it can trumpet borders don't exist and legal immigrants have made a significant impact on the sport. No American university has benefited more from fingerprint of foreigners over the years than Valparaiso, which is getting significant support again this season with half of the Crusaders' regular rotation coming from outside North America.
Foreigners have been instrumental in keeping Valpo among the nation's Cinderella stories since the mid-1990s when coach Bryce Drew arrived on campus as the key player under his father (Homer). Previously, many onlookers thought it wasn't an intelligent decision for the Midwest's version of an Ivy League institution to move up to the NCAA Division I level when the Crusaders compiled losing records each of their first 16 years in DI.
Valpo's spanning-the-globe foreign invasion has included: Lubos Barton (Czech Republic), Ali Berdiel (Puerto Rico), Ryan Broekhoff (Australia), Antonio Falu (Puerto Rico), Vashil Fernandez (Jamaica), Benjamin Fumey (Germany), Joaquim Gomes (Angola), Raitis Grafs (Latvia), Moussa Gueye (Senegal), Samuel Haanpaa (Finland), Shane Hammink (Netherlands), Shawn Huff (Finland), Mohamed Kone (France), Calum MacLeod (New Zealand), Moussa Mbaye (Senegal), Roberto Nieves (Puerto Rico), Stalin Ortiz (Colombia), Marko Punda (Croatia), Michael Rogers (Jamaica), David Skara (Croatia), Oumar Sylla (Mali), Kevin Van Wijk (Netherlands), Antanas Vilcinskas (Lithuania), Zoran Viskovic (Croatia), Hrvoje Vucic (Croatia), Ivan Vujic (Croatia) and Cameron Witt (Australia).
Barton, Berdiel, Broekhoff, Gomes, Grafs, Ortiz, Van Wijk and Viskovic were all-conference selections in the Mid-Continent Conference or Horizon League. You can work on your geography by assessing the comprehensive list assembled by CollegeHoopedia.com of foreign players impacting college basketball.