Horizon League Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
4. Alec Peters
A 6’9 forward from Washington, Illinois, Peters arrived at Valparaiso back in 2013, joining Bryce Drew’s program a few months after their first Horizon League championship. By the time he graduated four years later, Peters had become a part of all kinds of new history with the then-Crusaders in their final four seasons in the Horizon League.
Peters started all 134 games he played at Valparaiso, already averaging 12.7 points a game as a freshman. During his sophomore year, he helped lead the program back to the NCAA Tournament, scoring 18 points in a close Tourney loss to Maryland. Peters had a 39-point performance against Detroit during an explosive junior season, one that ended in the title game of the NIT at the end of a 30-win season. As a senior, Peters averaged 23.0 points and 10.1 rebounds in Matt Lottich’s first season with the program, another regular season title in the conference.
He earned First Team All-Horizon honors for three straight seasons, winning Tournament MVP as a sophomore and claiming Player of the Year as a senior. His leadership was paramount to Valparaiso and his 2348 career points made him one of the conference’s greatest scorers. He developed into a major threat on the board as well, finishing among the nation’s top rebounders as a senior. He was drafted late in the 2017 NBA Draft and truly established himself as a legend at both Valparaiso and in the league.