The disappointment was etched in Homer Drew's face, but it was clearly tempered by pride and optimism.

Valparaiso was destroyed in the College Basketball Invitational quarterfinals by Houston, 91-67, on March 24. The speedy Cougars rained 3-pointers on the Crusaders all night, ending a memorable season for VU in crushing fashion.

But Drew chose to focus on all the things that went right before the CBI quarterfinal, including a big win at Pac-10 Washington in the first round of the tournament -- Valparaiso's first postseason victory since its memorable run to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1998.

The Crusaders, after a quarter-century in the lowly Mid-Continent Conference, were instant contenders in the Horizon League, to the surprise of many. They enjoyed their best start in school history at 10-1, hung with the nation's elite at Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and North Carolina, and won 22 games in the longest season in school history.

Drew believes that the CBI experience will catapult the Crusaders to bigger and better things in 2008-09. The way freshman center Bryan Bouchie scored 20 points against all-Pac-10 center Jon Brockman, for example, raised expectations even higher for next season. Even the lopsided loss to Houston was a valuable experience, according to Drew.

"It was the first season for the CBI, so we're happy to be involved," he said. "It was a wonderful experience to go and play at Washington, a Pac-10 team. It was a huge win for our players and it gave us one style to compete with, then we came down here to another style, a quicker team. That's basketball, you've got to play different styles and be effective and learn to control the tempo. So we grew out of these games."

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.