ColProd

SIU is becoming one of the most prestigious "mid-majors" (god I hate that term) around. With Majerus as a coach or not, the road to better recruits for SLU goes through Carbondale and Champaign-Urbana. SLU may get some solid recruits, but they will all be "projects," not players who have an immediate impact. Not that there is a reason with "projects," SIU's program has been built on these projects and seniors teaching the freshman. It's just that you are completely delusional if you think a top-rated recruit would choose SLU over SIU. SLU doesn't have the history. Thicks- Did you watch the game? Roundtree and Hare may not have been offensive scoring machines, but they both played great defense. I didn't see the same intensity from Cassity and Thompson on defense or offense. It may be there later, but until then, sorry, they are "just" projects that need work.

Just because our guys couldn't finish worth a crap last year. We lost so many games in the closing minutes! Talking about frustrating! Still can't match your frustration for having a record like that. As for recruiting battles, they could be a little more interesting with Majerus as a coach, but I don't see much of a battle for the top recruits in the area right now. SLU has a lot of improving to do before true recruiting battles can start. A conference title and a couple of NCAA appearances would do wonders for your recruitment, it's just a matter of getting there. Your current batch of freshman are a decent start considering SLU's history, but there is still a ways to go. I wasn't too impressed with Thompson or Cassity though. Were they having off nights or is that average for them? I know Thompson has yet to have a good/big game.

AGAIN, there were just as many bad calls going against SLU. The refs sucked, but they were sucked equally for both teams. Trust me, I was right underneath the basket, I saw plenty of blown and/or missed calls BOTH ways. Sorry guys, try a new topic for your loss, like poor shooting percentages on open shots. Young team, we've had the same problem every now and then, just not to the same extent...*knock on wood*

You guys need to stop blaming the refs. Watch the game again from a unbiased point of view. It was called just as ###### both ways. If you want to get picky about every call that went in SIU's favor, then I'll start listing off just as many calls that went in SLU's favor, including going out of bounds numerous times and walking 2-3 steps right underneath the basket next to an official. Overall the game was called fairly. It just wasn't called well. I'm telling you not as a SIU fan, but as a basketball fan, if every foul was called, it would have been the same ratio of SLU to SIU fouls. For whoever was commenting about the Arena. The renovations are supposed to be done around 2010 if I remember correctly. Personally, I like the "old school" feel that the Arena has, but I'm excited for the renovations. As far as your freshman go, whoever is saying that SLU's frosh. class is better than SIU's needs a reality check. Our young guys have so much talent, it's crazy. If you don't believe me, well, just watch the game again. Sure they still have a lot to learn, but their level of talent is through the roof. Now, SLU's recruitment class is decent by SLU standards. But that's just it, by SLU standards. Where scoring 20+ points a game is an accomplishment. For those of you wanting to end the "rivalry" because of this one game, I think your own fan base would agree with me that this has to be a horrible idea. Not only does it fill in a spot on the schedule, but it allows for a bit of a recruiting battle in the St. Louis area, which is always fun to follow. But in the end, we both know where the good players are going though. SIU BABY! With all that said, good luck the rest of the year. Keep the games over 20 points and you should be fine. See you next year!