Recruiting - 2017

[slu72]

Backhand is asking the right question here.

Backhand is asking the right question. But a better question is why are ones and twos the best we can do? It sure isn't lack of facilities, which was our age old excuse. It sure isn't a lousy campus, because as far as city schools go we're ok there. It sure isn't because we're a perennial bottom feeder in college hoops, last season excluded, because we've had some recent successes. Therefore, it has to be the coach/staff. These guys must not be able to sell themselves to the 3 star players. So, until they can, we're going to struggle.

[3star_recruit]

SLU is checking out Jared Ridder at his home gym this morning.

[doowop]

SLU is checking out Jared Ridder at his home gym this morning.

What position does he play?

[Old guy]

As per verbal commits he is a Small Forward.

[Clock_Tower]

Backhand is asking the right question. But a better question is why are ones and twos the best we can do? It sure isn't lack of facilities, which was our age old excuse. It sure isn't a lousy campus, because as far as city schools go we're ok there. It sure isn't because we're a perennial bottom feeder in college hoops, last season excluded, because we've had some recent successes. Therefore, it has to be the coach/staff. These guys must not be able to sell themselves to the 3 star players. So, until they can, we're going to struggle.

72. IMO, recruiting boils down to kids making their decision almost exclusively based upon their relationship and comfort level with the head coach/coaching staff and with what basketball opportunities will await them. Kids want to play for a good coaching who is running a winning program. We, the fans and former students, pay far more attention to the school's attributes (the school's "name", conference, academics, facilities, TV appearances, on-campus arena, post-college career opportunities, etc.) and do the kids. While certainly these attributes of a school like Duke can only help the situation I believe that most of the time they are assumed toi be good and they are really mostly factored into by the kids when these attributes are either lacking or they are of poor quality.

For instance, when I sell my house, the buyer is interested in its appearance from the street, its square footage/layout and its location but the fact that I now have a new roof, new driveway, new windows, new furnace, etc. does not make someone now want to buy my home. Roofs, driveways, windows and furnaces are givens and really only become factors when they are lacking, in dis-repair or they can help encourage someone to buy my house as opposed to my neighbors. Kids came to play for Rick Majerus without seeing the school/campus based upon a letter (Brian Conklin) and from half way around the world (Ellis and Loe) and while the new Chaifetz facilities are great, they would have come to play for Rick if still in West Pine and playing games at the Checkerdome. Yes, the Big East is a better conference than the A10 but conference affiliation does only so much. Cincy kids were long dreaming of going to (and actually accepting scholarships and attending) Xavier long before they joined the Big East and would still be going to Xavier if still in the A10.

By analogy, when I used to walk SLU's campus, the NCAA soccer Tournament Championships were still fresh and our soccer coaches were getting the best soccer players to train on public fields in Forest Park after driving their cars to fields, popping their trunks and leaning against the same while putting on their cleats. Games, of course, were off campus with little to no student support. On campus facilities upon which to train and play then came, are certainly appreciated, help keep us "up with the competition" but the quality of the teams did not get better.

[MB73]

Backhand is asking the right question. But a better question is why are ones and twos the best we can do? It sure isn't lack of facilities, which was our age old excuse. It sure isn't a lousy campus, because as far as city schools go we're ok there. It sure isn't because we're a perennial bottom feeder in college hoops, last season excluded, because we've had some recent successes. Therefore, it has to be the coach/staff. These guys must not be able to sell themselves to the 3 star players. So, until they can, we're going to struggle.

Backhand cites 1* and 2*'s, yet we are all 3* and 2*, of our six sophs, four are 3* and two are 2* according to ESPN. As for our freshmen, Welmer is 3*, Bishop 2*, Nuefield N/A from Canada. I know not everyone here will support ESPN, there are other credible ratings entities, I get it.

To you: yes, The Fetz is a plus, but not a true decision point for the recruits, and our campus is nice for a city school, but not top notch, either, enough to impact a top recruit's decision.

Sure, 3*-4*-5* players want to play for a top coach* and a winning program, but also important for them is to play in a power conference against the very best competition, and on TV regularly. (we badly need to get into the new Big East)

SO, you cannot merely pin all recruiting issues on the coaching staff, alone... five 3*s and three 2*'s in two years + Neufield, not bad.

*Majerus was a gift, a magical fluke of luck... we are hard pressed to get anyone who is "big time" like some here think: be realistic.

[3star_recruit]

All things being equal or at least in the same ballpark, the deciding factor in most cases is the coaching staff. But when we had the league's worst practice facillity, the playing field was not remotely level. No matter who the coach was in days of West Pine, no coach was able to put more than a couple of strong recruiting classes together in the last 25 years. Those are the facts.

The 2014 class has three or four 3 star recruits. That is a strong recruiting class by SLU standards. The problem is only one of them is a scorer. That was a tactical mistake. I think the staff has recognized their mistake and rightly focused on scoring in 2016 and 2017. Zeke Moore may not be a 3 star recruit, but he's arguably the best local scorer not named Jayson Tatum in his class.

Three star offensive players with size are hard to come by. That's why the 2017 class is so unusual. There is an abundance of 3 star 6'4+ local/regional players who can put the ball in the hole. A couple of them will be poached by high majors but none of them are the plus athletes that high majors make a priority. I'm glad we have Chaifetz to show them rather than West Pine.

[billiken_roy]

I'd take all four of the althoff kids and frederking before zeke moore. Saw moore a couple of times last year and his poor decision making poor defense and selfish play turned me off. Besides that he does have some skills. I guess you could make the argument good coaching can erase the poor decision making, poor defense and selfish attitude. Personally I'm not

Betting on the good coaching thing.

[Cowboy]

-didn't Crawford come to SLU because of the strength of the academic program he wanted to pursue? he certainly didn't sign because of a head coach as we didn't have one at the time (JCrews was still interim)

[3star_recruit]

-didn't Crawford come to SLU because of the strength of the academic program he wanted to pursue? he certainly didn't sign because of a head coach as we didn't have one at the time (JCrews was still interim)

From a Post Dispatch article titled "SLU recruit Crawford's instincts were right on target":

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/slu-recruit-crawford-s-instincts-were-right-on-target/article_297a0fcd-3d4b-50d1-88b8-55d83330b3e0.html

“There were two real reasons,” Crawford said last week during a break in offseason conditioning. “The first is I was pretty confident Coach Crews was going to get the job, from everything I heard. The second thing was, I kind of wanted to go into my final year of high school basketball without having to worry about getting a scholarship, just to go out and play and try to win a state championship. Both of those things kind of narrowed it down for me.

“With all the time (Crews) put into (recruiting) me, hearing him talk, listening to him, I understood he was a good guy and what St. Louis is about is good people.”

[doowop]

As per verbal commits he is a Small Forward.

From one old guy to another(Old guy), thank you.

[Cowboy]

From a Post Dispatch article titled "SLU recruit Crawford's instincts were right on target":

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/slu-recruit-crawford-s-instincts-were-right-on-target/article_297a0fcd-3d4b-50d1-88b8-55d83330b3e0.html

“There were two real reasons,” Crawford said last week during a break in offseason conditioning. “The first is I was pretty confident Coach Crews was going to get the job, from everything I heard. The second thing was, I kind of wanted to go into my final year of high school basketball without having to worry about getting a scholarship, just to go out and play and try to win a state championship. Both of those things kind of narrowed it down for me.

“With all the time (Crews) put into (recruiting) me, hearing him talk, listening to him, I understood he was a good guy and what St. Louis is about is good people.”

-thanks for answering my question

[jimbofive]

From a Post Dispatch article titled "SLU recruit Crawford's instincts were right on target":

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/slu-recruit-crawford-s-instincts-were-right-on-target/article_297a0fcd-3d4b-50d1-88b8-55d83330b3e0.html

“There were two real reasons,” Crawford said last week during a break in offseason conditioning. “The first is I was pretty confident Coach Crews was going to get the job, from everything I heard. The second thing was, I kind of wanted to go into my final year of high school basketball without having to worry about getting a scholarship, just to go out and play and try to win a state championship. Both of those things kind of narrowed it down for me.

“With all the time (Crews) put into (recruiting) me, hearing him talk, listening to him, I understood he was a good guy and what St. Louis is about is good people.”

Crawford is the exception and not the rule in that regard. SLU actually gets a lot of high character guys, and I'm proud of that, but there's not enough high character guys with high level talent out there to win big.

[kshoe]

@PrepHoopsMO: 2017 PF @WyattYess of Parkway West (Gateway Basketball Club) has October unofficial visits set for Missouri, Illinois, Purdue, Colorado.

[VeniceMenace]

I'd take all four of the althoff kids and frederking before zeke moore. Saw moore a couple of times last year and his poor decision making poor defense and selfish play turned me off. Besides that he does have some skills. I guess you could make the argument good coaching can erase the poor decision making, poor defense and selfish attitude. Personally I'm not

Betting on the good coaching thing.

Thin line separating all these players and too many variables over the next four years or so affecting who pans out and who doesn't.

Three star hit the nail on the head with rationale for chasing offense now in recruiting, and by his posts if he's not Earl Austin he should be his heir apparent.

[Pistol]

@PrepHoopsMO: 2017 PF @WyattYess of Parkway West (Gateway Basketball Club) has October unofficial visits set for Missouri, Illinois, Purdue, Colorado.

Are we losing ground on this kid?

[brianstl]

Are we losing ground on this kid?

We are hard at work trying to schedule him in during a dead period again.

[3star_recruit]

Are we losing ground on this kid?

One of our posters, shempie, says Yess has his heart set on leaving the state. If he prefers the landscape of Wyoming or Colorado, there's not much we can do about that.

[BillikensBlog]

At least at one point, I know we had a lot of mutual interest with Yess. Not sure where that stands now.

[Cowboy]

At least at one point, I know we had a lot of mutual interest with Yess. Not sure where that stands now.

-let's hope still the case....if the kid is a player we want

[Box and Won]

The last player we had from Parkway West turned out to be pretty good.

[kshoe]

The last player we had from Parkway West turned out to be pretty good.

Technically, Even Pederson was the last, right? Scotty wasn't bad either.

[TheChosenOne]

According to Earl Austin, Ryan Stipanovich picked up an offer from Evansville.

[HoosierPal]

From Indianapolis Star:

With the start of the college basketball evaluation period, Lawrence North has been a hot spot for college coaches.

On Thursday, coaches from Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue and UCLA are expected in to see Kevin Easley, a 2018 prospect with several Division I offers. IUPUI and Purdue are also expected to see Ra Kpedi (2017) and Antwaan Cushingberry (2018).

Here's a look at the schools that have been in so far to see Lawrence North's players:

Easley - Butler, Indiana, Purdue, IUPUI, Cincinnati, Indiana State, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Saint Louis and UCLA.

Kpedi - Butler, Indiana, Purdue, IUPUI, Eastern Illinois, Iowa and Saint Louis.

Cushingberry - Indiana, Purdue, Indiana State, IUPUI, Eastern Illinois, Northern Kentucky and Saint Louis.

Dexter Shouse (2019 guard) - Indiana, IUPUI, Eastern Illinois, Iowa and Saint Louis.

[Cowboy]

-Ra Kpedi, 7 letters Guy would never get right

-Dexter Shouse, sounds like something Lisa Douglas from Green Acres would say, I hope he's a great player and we get him as I liked Green Acres and I really like great Billikens

-that's a helluva high school roster