Class of 2017 four-star forward Parker Hazen has committed to Valparaiso University, according to a tweet from Jeff Goodman of ESPN.
Valpo just landed Parker Hazen, sources told ESPN. Brother Plays at Arkansas.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) July 11, 2016
As Goodman mentions, Hazen’s brother, Brachen, has committed to play at Arkansas this upcoming season. (There’s also a town called Hazen, Arkansas, which is fantastically confusing, I’m sure.)
Parker Hazen though had three scholarship offers, from Ball State, IUPUI, and Valparaiso, before deciding on the Crusaders ahead of senior year of basketball at Columbia City High School in Columbia City, Indiana.
Valpo already has a commit for 2017 in two-star forward Nana Akenten, from Bolingbrook, Illinois. Coming in as a four-star recruit (as ranked by ESPN), keeping a player with the skill set and size (6-7) of Hazen within the state and away from the traditional powerhouses seems like a coup for Valpo.
Former head coach Bryce Drew was legend in Valparaiso, Indiana, having nailed the buzzer-beater in the NCAA Tournament that put the school on the map for all intents and purposes. But having left to take over the head coaching job at Vanderbilt, former assistant coach Matt Lottich inherits the program. The program is yet to win a championship of any kind for a coach not with the surname of Drew. (Bryce’s dad, Homer, was the first member of the family to start the Valpo dominance.)
Coming off a loss in the 2016 NIT Championship Game, the Crusaders have won the Horizon League in both 2013 and 2015, establishing themselves as a dangerous Cinderella team that no higher-seeded club wants to see on their opening weekend in the NCAA Tournament. Despite their status as a small school, Valpo has sent five players to the NBA, a lineage Hazen is hoping to follow.
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