VALPARAISO | There is a photograph in the Karp home in Valparaiso that is quite telling. It illustrates a young man's love for a game and offers an idea of what other teams in the Region must face as the winter turns colder and the gyms get louder.
The picture is of Brad Karp as a 2-year-old, walking around Disney World holding a basketball. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and the Tea Cups had to wait. Even as a toddler the game was on for Karp.
"I see pictures where the ball was the same size as me," said Karp, a 6-foot-4 senior forward for Valparaiso.
Joe Otis saw Karp play on Valpo's sectional championship team last season, when Karp averaged 9.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game. Otis, whose legendary stint at LaPorte included a trip to Indianapolis in the state's final single-class Final Four, loved what he saw in Karp's game.
And when Chris Benedict left the Vikings' bench for good, Otis jumped at a chance to coach at his alma mater. What he saw from last season's team certainly influenced his decision to submit an application to fill the vacancy.
"Brad is an All-American kid, the epitome of what you want in a high school player," Otis said. "He's a coach's dream. He was one of the main reasons I went after this job when it opened up."
Otis said Karp reminds him a lot of former Slicer guards Greg and Ben Tonagel. Greg actually worked out with Karp when he was a guard on Valparaiso University's men's basketball team. And now he is one of many college coaches recruiting Karp's services.
The suitors are VU, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, The Citadel, Evansville, Air Force, IPFW and Tonagel's program, Indiana Wesleyan.
Last summer Karp shot 700 jump shots a day. And that's not counting the jumpers he hit while playing for the Spiece Northwest All-Stars AAU team. That's 4,900 shots a week in an empty gym in a remarkable effort to get better. That's the Valpo way. That's the only way Karp understands.
His father, Dave, hooped at Hobart. The two of them loved watching Michael Jordan and the Bulls playing in the NBA Finals not long ago.
"Jordan and those guys inspired me," Karp said. "My entire family played the game. It's just something I've always loved to do."
Under Otis the Vikings won't need a shot clock. Valpo should let the 3s fly at will once the season tips off. Benedict's more controlled, half-court style, which bothered some Vikings fans the last two seasons, is no longer on the clipboard. For the average fan with a short attention span, this offense will be more fun to watch.
Karp should shine individually, too.
Otis saw Karp outhustle an Elkhart Memorial player for a loose ball at the Michigan City Regional last March, then convert a layup. Even Mickey Mouse would've applauded that kind of effort.
"You can go a long way with those kind of overachievers," Otis said.
Otis believes for the first time in Valpo history every coach in the program is a VHS grad. Otis, Ben Lieske, Brent Kimmel and Matt Thomas all wore Valpo green. The excitement Otis has spread in the program should help Karp and the rest of the team move another step or two up the ladder.
"I'll do whatever's needed," Karp said. "We have a lot of pieces. No one on our team cares who scores. We just want to win."
If this team wins a championship this year, let's hope someone will find Karp in the celebration and snap a photo him with a ball in his hands exclaiming, "I'm going to Disney World."
This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at steve.hanlon@nwi.com.
