The beginning The Crusaders' first game was in 1917 as an independent school.
The tallest team Valpo's "World's Tallest Team" was actually a collection of teams that gained Valparaiso national recognition during World War II and began in 1942 when a pair of
Michigan City, Indiana brothers,
Don and Wally Warnke, joined Valpo when their high school coach,
Loren Ellis, was hired as head coach. At tall, the Warnke brothers were ineligible to be drafted into the service. Ellis found several other tall players, including Milt Schoon. Valparaiso did well with the Warnke brothers before Wally was able to enlist and fight in World War II. In 1943, his brother, Don, stayed and was joined by a group of newcomers, including Schoon, Bob Dillie, John Janisch and Alvin Schmidt, as they finished with 17 wins, including a win over No. 1
DePaul in which Schoon held
George Mikan to nine points. After struggling early under coach Homer Drew, the Crusaders became a conference power beginning with the 1993–94 season where they finished second. The Crusaders won their first Mid-Continent championship in 1995, led by star player
Bryce Drew. However, the team was not invited to the
NCAA tournament. The Crusaders won the 1996 conference championship and received their first invitation to the
Division I NCAA tournament. In the
1998 tournament, the Crusaders won their only Tournament games, defeating
Ole Miss on
a last second shot by Bryce Drew. The shot would go on to be an iconic play in NCAA Tournament history. The Crusaders won their second-round game against
Florida State before losing in the Sweet Sixteen to
Rhode Island. The Crusaders won the Mid-Continent Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament every year from 1996 through 2000. In 2001, though the Crusaders won the regular season championship, they lost to
Southern Utah in the conference tournament. Valpo returned to the
NCAA tournament the following year, losing to Kentucky in the first round. Homer Drew resigned the following season and his son,
Scott Drew, an eight-year assistant under his father, was named head coach. Scott would lead the Crusaders to another regular season championship, but failed to win the conference tournament and settled for an
NIT appearance. After one year as head coach, Scott was hired to take over as coach at
Baylor following that school's
basketball scandal. Homer Drew returned to coach the team to the NCAA Tournament again in 2004. In 2007, Valparaiso became a member of the
Horizon League. The Crusaders played in the title game of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament every year between
1995 and
2004. After three more years as head coach, Drew resigned again and his son and former Valpo star Bryce Drew was named head coach. In five years as coach for the Crusaders, Bryce led them to a postseason appearance every year, including the NCAA Tournament in
2013 and
2015. Following the 2016 season, Bryce was hired to take over at
Vanderbilt. Under Homer, Scott, and Bryce Drew, the Crusaders won 13 regular season conference championships and 10 conference tournament championships. The Crusaders appeared in nine NCAA Tournaments, three NITs, two
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournaments, and one
College Basketball Invitational in 26 years.
The post-Drew years On April 7, 2016, the school promoted former assistant coach
Matt Lottich to the head coach position following Bryce Drew accepting the head coaching position at
Vanderbilt on April 6, 2016. For the first time since 1988, a Drew was not the head coach at Valpo. In Lottich's
first season, the Crusaders earned a share of the Horizon League regular season championship, but lost in the
Horizon League tournament. They received a bid to the
NIT where they lost in the first round. Following the season, Valparaiso agreed to join the
Missouri Valley Conference after 10 years as a member of the Horizon League. The Crusaders were invited to replace
Wichita State which left the league to join the
American Athletic Conference. On April 7, 2023,
Roger Powell Jr. was hired as the new head coach for Valparaiso. In August 2024, Lottich was hired as Associate Head Coach at
Brown University. ==Postseason==