The gathering place for LU alumni to wax nostalgic about their glory days and tell current students how easy they have it. Old hags & bright-eyed and bushytailed recent grads both welcome.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#12233
Check out the update on one of our old hag ballers from back in the day:
Child of the courts
Kouts player a protege of the Harden brothers

BY AL HAMNIK


VALPARAISO | Kyle Mueller's dream is to play in the NBA. His teachers and coaches at Kouts aren't about to bet against him.

"It seems unrealistic," he said. "But I figure if I put in the hours and the hard work, it'll pay off."

After spending a wondrous weekend at the 2006 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis, the sophomore point guard is convinced anything is possible.

Exhibit A is his photo album and the chummy pictures taken with college coaches Jim Boeheim, Bill Hodges, Jim Harrick, Lon Krueger, Roy Williams, Bruce Pearl, Johnny Orr and Nolan Richardson. Next are the arm-in-arm shots with all-Americans Rudy Gay and Adam Morrison. A determined Kyle approached those VIPs, introduced himself, shook their hands, then click, click, click.

"This past month was one of the best experiences of my life. That was amazing," said Kyle.

OK, so it helped a bit knowing the influential Harden family that sent three sons through the Valparaiso school system.

Al is a former vice president of Converse and was responsible for first signing Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Tony Dorsett, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, and hundreds of other sports stars in the early 1980s. He retired in 1987 after a horrific car accident that left him in a coma for a week. Al and wife Myrna now live in Crawfordsville. Rob (1981), Roger (1982) and Rodny (1987) starred at Valpo.

Roger was the 1982 Mr. Basketball and started for Eddie Sutton at Kentucky. His sportswear company, Motion Athletic Apparel, is based in Louisville and has 200 dealerships nationwide. Rob began his college career at Florida, transferred to Valparaiso University, then left shortly after for the University of Nevada. Rodny starred at Liberty University in Virginia and helps Rob run their Hoosier Sports Scouting and Scholarship Service in Crawfordsville. Both are working with Kyle Mueller to develop his game.

Kyle's dad, Mike, was a teammate of the older Hardens at VHS. The past few months, Mike and Kyle have taken the four-hour roundtrip drive to Crawfordsville for one-on-one training.

"What I see in Kyle is that he really, really, has the desire to be a very good player," said Rodny.

"Being at a 1A or 2A school, it's tough for those kids to get any exposure," added Rob. "But Kyle is very knowledgeable, very quick, a gym rat who knows the game. I think he'll become a fine guard in the next few years. Hopefully, we can help get him to the next level.

"Already, he can distribute the ball, shoot it, and he makes players around him better. The latter is tough to find nowadays among kids."

The 5-foot-10 Mueller averaged 7 points and 4.5 assists for the 15-6 Kouts JV team last season.

"We, as the Harden family, are going to pick up the phone and call college coaches -- if you're willing to put in the work," said Rodny. "In Kyle's case, he spent spring break with us. He even drove down during their season."

Rob and Rodny use the popular Rick Pitino workout emphasizing ballhandling, shooting, and agility drills.

It's been more than 20 years since the Hardens left Valpo, but the fond memories linger. Rodny has a barber shop in Crawfordsville and the walls are covered with celebrity photos and sports memorabilia.

"My coaches know about them. My friends' parents have heard about them and have said how good they were when they played here," said Kyle.

"Rob's still got NBA range," marveled Mike, a 1981 Valpo grad. "Kyle always had the drive for basketball. But the impact the Hardens have had on his game, his confidence, is massive.

"We can't even stop the kid now (on the court). We can't even keep up with him. Getting hooked up with the Hardens is the best thing that's ever happened to him."
http://nwitimes.com/articles/2006/04/19 ... 78897e.txt
By TIMSCAR20
Registration Days Posts
#12281
Cool article Sly. I talk with Rodny all the time actually. He is my man. He was a 5-7 guard that could shoot the lights out. We played the same position and we competed but we always respected one another. When I was a Jr we had 6 guards: Bailey Alston, Steve Farquahar, Tim Scarborough, Rodny Harden, Scott Williams and Stephon Leary. It was tough early on but eventually I won the starting job about half way through the year with Alston and never looked back. I got some of my nices passes from Harden though. I dunked a couple. But he was known for that left handed trigger. He has hooked me up with some gear from his brother's company as well. He still has a lot of coaches and important people like Larry Bird that he keeps in close contact with. We talked about Todd Cline in another thread and he and Rodny were inseperable. Cline's brother Mark worked for Jeff Capel at VCU and played at Wake Forest in the 80's while Rodney's brother Roger starred at Kentucky. Those were the days. I used to get to talk to Rex Chapman on the phone whenever I was with Rodny. They were and are pretty close even today. Harden opened the barber shop last year and I hope to get up there this winter to see it if I go to Bloomington to check out IU. Roadtrip anyone?
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By bigsmooth
Registration Days Posts
#12287
you know im down for that trip. i have always been a closet IU fan. a lot of history in assembly hall.
By TIMSCAR20
Registration Days Posts
#12288
Man, I just assumed you were going Smoothie! You know how we roll!
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#305667
nwi.com wrote:Harden dies suddenly
YOUNGEST OF THREE VALPO BASKETBALL BROTHERS PASSES AWAY AT 40

By Jim Peters - jim.peters@nwi.com, (219) 548-4363 | Posted: Thursday, April 15, 2010 12:00 am


It was just a month ago that Jeff Moore was in Crawfordsville for a happy occasion, the wedding of good friend and former Valparaiso High School basketball teammate Rodny Harden.

He will make a sad return Saturday to attend funeral services for the former Vikings point guard, who died suddenly Wednesday morning.

"I talked to (brother) Roger (Harden) and he said (father) Al (Harden) walked in and found him," Moore said. "I'm shocked. I really am. We were really close. I was the only one from Valpo (at the wedding). I was just thinking of calling him."

The cause of death for Harden, who was 40, was unknown.
Click Here for Full Story
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By PAmedic
Registration Days Posts
#305700
WOW

that is awful

so sorry to hear that.
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