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StLouBlue

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  1. Bonnies are on list for Medley if you hit the See More link. He improved as year went on and gained confidence in his shot. Probably not at starter level for a good team but would get minutes off bench as backup PG and look to start in later years if all goes well. I wouldn't mind seeing him back here but wish him luck if he moves on.
  2. I don't think Ford has lost the locker room. I would say let the kids finish out the season with the coach. Once season is over, make the change. Another 2-3 days is not going to change anything as far as setting up committee/consultants to go through candidates for the next coach. Everyone but Mack & Holtman out there are still coaching anyway.
  3. I had mentioned Alan Huss before along with Steve Lutz at Western Kentucky--both former Creighton assistants. This is only Huss first year at High Point & Lutz first year at Western Kentucky after 2 years at TX A&M Corpus Christi. Not sure either would look to jump after only 1 year but think both should be considered. Gibson looked a lot better when we had a real point guard. Meadows was miscast as a PG and Medley getting better but wasn't ready for big minutes this year. Parker when healthy had to have offense run through him--Gibson couldn't do this, depends on a PG. Hope both back next year and we have a real PG and another wing player at least. Ezewiro hopefully in better shape to play more minutes--Zhang & VanBussel have shown enough to come back and keep developing but a strong 4 will be needed.
  4. SLU attendance has decreased amid team’s struggles on court Stu Durando 14 hrs ago 3 St. Louis University’s game against Virginia Commonwealth the desired look for the “Billiken blizzard” that was part of the night’s promotion. Most of those shirts were not worn by fans but rather draped and awaiting takers who never arrived for the men’s basketball game on Feb. 16. They were left unclaimed just as nearly half of seats have been this season. SLU is averaging 5,609 fans per game, the third-lowest total in arena history and a 16% drop from last season. The basketball program is operating with increasing expenses, but attendance has decreased, coinciding with the team’s worst Atlantic 10 Conference showing since the 2014-15 season. The Billikens are 3-11 in league play, tied for last place. The are 10-17 overall and have lost nine of their past 11 games. “A lot goes into that,” SLU athletics director Chris May said. “Your won-loss record comes into play and when you’re playing games. We’re looking at nonconference scheduling and how to do that better. ... You just have to keep selling your strengths, and it’s not easy when your team is struggling from a wins perspective.” SLU has employed a variety of ticket promotions, including a two-for-one offer for the VCU game. However, attendance still fell nearly 4,000 short of last season’s “Billiken blizzard” crowd of 9,230. May said 2,000 to 3,000 more fans were projected before snow hit the area the same day. The only other seasons in which attendance has been lower at Chaifetz were 2020-21, at 5,517, and 2016-17, at 5,593. The downward trend comes as the university is spending more on men’s basketball and a record amount on coach Travis Ford’s salary, which is believed to be more than $2.4 million. A look at the data SLU submitted to the U.S. Department of Education for the 2021-22 academic year shows that $7.6 million was spent on men’s basketball, more than any previous year. That followed the 2020-21 season, when COVID kept fans from attending. SLU spent $5.5 million on men’s basketball in Ford’s first season, eight years ago. That figure has increased more than $2 million. Recruiting expenses have doubled for all sports at SLU since the Billikens’ 2013 NCAA Tournament appearance. “Our revenues are tickets, donations and sponsorships,” May said. “It’s significant, and we’re obviously not where we want to be. Season tickets were solid again. In our world, it’s individual game tickets that are the variable. We’ve got a big game with Dayton coming up (on March 5), so that should be a big night.” On the positive side, a crowd of 7,239 showed up Saturday for a game against George Washington despite the team’s recent slide. And three other announced crowds on par with last season have come in January and February. Ford acknowledged the impact of the fans in SLU’s win Saturday. “What a great crowd with the noise,” Ford said after that game. “Our guys were even talking about it late in timeouts: ‘Feed off the crowd.’ It was getting loud, and you could feel it.” Still, attendance for conference games is down 10%. May said it didn’t help that the Billikens were given four weekend home conference games after playing seven last season. That made for a challenge after a lackluster home schedule in nonconference play produced four crowds smaller than 5,000. Historically, it is part of a trend that has seen attendance decline. SLU averaged 8,428 in the last of its three straight seasons in the NCAA Tournament, 2013-14. Chaifetz Arena has not come close to that figure since — 10 years with one tournament appearance. Once upon a time, SLU was one of the top draws in the country. The Billikens averaged 17,714 fans in their first season at the then-named Kiel Center (now Enterprise Center). Crowds slowly decreased after that peak. However, more than 10,000 attended for eight straight seasons, taking the program into a new century with vast support while playing in a facility that seats more than 20,000. Chaifetz, with its capacity of 10,600, moved games on campus and figured to create more demand. But in the first year, attendance fell to 7,627, which was a drop of 1,200 over the last year downtown. During the NCAA Tournament seasons from 2012 to ’14, averages ranged from 7,673 to 8,428. SLU spent $5.5 million on men’s basketball in Ford’s first season eight years ago. That figure has increased more than $2 million. Apologies if I wasn't supposed to do this.
  5. Hope they get tired making layups. Where is the defense
  6. A couple of Creighton assistants that have moved on to head coaching jobs are Alan Huss at High Point--1st year there & 22-6 and 11-2 in conference and won a mid-season coach award. Grew up KC area. Steve Lutz at Western Kentucky also 1st year there, 19-7 & 8-4 in conference. Was head coach at Texas A&M Corpus Christi for 2 years & made NCAA both years. Assistance to SMU, Creighton & then Purdue before first head coaching job.
  7. Was watching B10, Purdue vs Northwestern, 2 former MVC local area coaches are assistants there--Chris Lowery at Northwestern and Paul Lusk at Purdue. Both had head coaching experience that went okay to not great but now both at bigger schools as assistants. Both would know about NIL & portal recruiting and both have run programs before. Both come a lot cheaper than what paying Ford--since if have to do a big buyout, this probably means less to throw at new coach. Not saying they should be on the list but just don't overlook this kind of hire either.
  8. Agree with this, especially with Ezeriro not being able to play until a judge frees up a bunch of double transfer kids. Seems like he and probably team thought he would not be playing this year and wasn't close to game shape when suddenly eligible. Team already short of decent players & Dalger gone--not great player but still could use 10-15 minutes a game from him. Thought Meadows would bring more but doesn't really fit as a pg and not a scoring threat to help others get open. No idea if Ford will be back or not but if back could only be with a new assistant or two and ones that can bring in talent ASAP from portal.
  9. Thanks for the write up. The class of 6 from last year is the key to this team. I am glad they are all back and their improvement is what will ultimately decide how long Crews is here as our head coach.
  10. I think every AD & College President knows that SLU & Dayton could be gone in one year so why would any midwestern university even think about going to the A10? Belmont, Wichita State, Bradley, Loyola Chicago, etc--no way do they move to the A10 right now and then become the island a year later. A10 needed to add schools and only eastern schools would listen--not surprising.
  11. Wow, the Stivrins name brought back some memories. I grew up in NE following Creighton basketball. I remembered the Stivrins name & had to do some checking. He was a Creighton his first 2 years and then transferred to Colorado where his former basketball coach from Creighton, the one that recruited him had gone--Tom Apke.
  12. The attendance figures for SLU he looked at were probably back in the switch from the Kiel to the Arena to the ScottTrade.
  13. Thanks for the update on both Phillip & Justin. Best of luck to both of them.
  14. It seems to me that this might be a chance to get a Master's Degree since a DOB isn't on the road nearly as much as an assistant. Didn't Charlie Spoonhour's son, can't remember his name right off, do that at Mizz under Synder a while back? Best of luck to Jamall.
  15. This year I was only able to catch a couple of minutes here and there of the show. I didn't think he would be complaining much about scheduling now because having such a young team I wasn't sure how much he wanted to challenge them in the non-conference. I think the only way most BCS teams will go on the road to non-BCS schools if it is mandated by the NCAA or by a threat against funding--like Iowa does.
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