When Bryce Drew left Valparaiso University on April 6, 2016, to become the head coach at Vanderbilt University, it left assistant coaches like New Trier grad Matt Lottich unsure of their future.

“My wife and I had already bought a home in Winnetka and were planning on coming back to the area,” Lottich said.

That all changed a day later when Lottich was named Valparaiso’s new head coach, three seasons after joining Drew’s staff. Lottich brings his Crusaders squad to Chicago on Friday, Dec. 30, to face UIC in the 2000 New Trier grad’s first game as a head coach in Chicago.

“It’s special, no doubt about it,” said Lottich, a Winnetka native. “A lot of familiar faces, but it’s another game. We want to get in good shape at the start of conference play so I can’t tell you how because I haven’t done it yet as a head coach, but I think I’ll be able to do it anywhere.”

After a New Trier career that saw him finish as the school’s all-time leading scorer — a distinction he still holds to this day — Lottich took his skills to Stanford, where he helped lead the Cardinal to two conference titles, and still ranks among the top 10 in career 3-pointers made, as well as the 3-pointers made in a single season (2002-03). 

Following a 10-year professional playing career overseas in New Zealand, Germany and Japan, Lottich came back to the United States looking for the best fit. 

“I played 10 years as a pro and when you play 10 years of professional basketball, especially overseas, you’re constantly wondering ‘What am I going to do next?,’” Lottich said. “The right opportunity came along at the right time and the best part about being at Valparaiso, working under the Drew family, they embodied a lot of the characteristics that I wanted in my life. Valparaiso being a small community, close to home, it was really a perfect fit.”

For many coaches, there is usually someone they look up to. For Lottich, it was Drew, but also the numerous coaches he played for, collegiately and professionally. 

“I had the opportunity to play for some high-level coaches overseas,” Lottich added. “When I was playing in Dusseldorf, Germany, I was playing for the German National Team coach. When I was playing in Japan, I played for the Japanese National Team assistant coach and then playing for coach (Mike) Montgomery in college, a Naismith Hall of Fame coach, it’s just extremely valuable to get the perspectives on how to coach and really collectively taking in what you’ve learned and formulating your own opinions. The biggest influence is coach Bryce Drew and what he embodied as a coach and the system he ran. Collectively taking all those in and putting your own plan together.”

Luckily for Lottich, Valparaiso brought back a team with 10 upperclassmen, including one of the best players in the Horizon League, Alec Peters. Last season, Peters became just the fifth Valparaiso player to be named an All-American and through 12 games, is now second on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,999 points, just 143 behind leader Bryce Drew and fourth in career rebounds with 824, 86 behind leader Chris Ensminger. 

“I would have taken the job regardless, but [the number of returnees] did help,” Lottich said. “I think the thing that gets me is that Alec (Peters) is our best player and he is playing at a very high level, he’ll be an NBA player next year, no doubt about it, but we have really good players starting. We’re really young on the bench, so the challenge this year has been developing those guys and getting contributions from them. They’re taking positive steps forward, so even though we had a lot of key pieces back, we also had a lot of key pieces leave and so trying to blend together newcomers with veterans has been a challenge, but the guys have really responded to it.”

Valparaiso’s men’s basketball team known by many for its 1998 run in the NCAA Tournament behind coach Homer Drew and his son, Bryce. Bryce Drew hit a buzzer-beater to defeat the University of Mississippi and followed that up with a win over Florida State to move onto the Sweet 16, where the Crusaders lost to a Rhode Island squad that featured Cuttino Mobley, who went on to play 11 years in the NBA.

“For us, there has been some success, but the reality is we haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1998,” Lottich said. “We went to the NCAA Tournament in 2013, but that was the first time since 2004, so there’s a long stretch in there. Yes there’s been some success, but I want the expectations here to raise. I want to win games here in the NCAA Tournament. When I say we don’t want to keep things status quo, we want to push them forward and that’s the mentality we’re going at it as a staff, that’s the mentality we want our young men to have and we want to push this thing as far as we can.”

Story Published Dec. 27, 2016.