Bizziken

I kept track of this because I was arguing with a friend. I added this season to the totals. SLU vs Top 4 A-10 opponents, including the A-10 Conference Tournament (Regular Season record in parentheses): 2016-17: 0-5 (0-5) 2017-18: 1-5 (1-4) 2018-19: 4-4 (1-4) 2019-20: 2-2 (2-2) 2020-21: 3-2 (2-1) 2021-22: 3-5 (2-4) 2022-23: 1-5 (1-4) 2023-24: 0-7 (0-7) 2024-25: 2-6 (2-5) TOTAL RECORD: 16-40 (11-36) TOTAL RECORD (factoring 16-17 out): 16-36 (11-31) TOTAL RECORD (factoring 16-17 out, 19-20 COVID out, 20-21 COVID out): 11-32 (7-28)

So...tiki/beach theme night when Mason comes to Chaifetz this year?

I've been wanting these unis for years. Are these for sale anywhere?

This was weird.

I thought this graphic was interesting. This shows every Elite 8 team’s starting lineup by where they began their college careers. 11/40 (28%) of the starters came from mid-major (or lower) programs. I find it funny that Duke and NC State are exact opposites when it comes to portaling. Also, Bronny James to Duquesne is actually a possibility?! Crazy.

This slots him in as the 59th highest paid college basketball coach. Seems REALLY low for a blue blood-adjacent program.

Seeing all of these asst coaches this tournament, it's like a who's who of retreads. Chris Lowery at Northwestern Frank Haith at Texas Derek Kellogg at Creighton

Ahearn would be an interesting hire, for sure. Not among my top choices though. Why wouldn't all of these pro-Ahearn advocates suggest he first take a job like SIUC to learn the ropes. Coaching a bunch of hero ball dudes in the G-League and NBA doesn't really impress me and doesn't really demonstrate that you can build and maintain a college program.

Dayton, to their credit, has put on a masterclass in terms of scheduling to the computers this year. NET of 23 (8-7 vs Quads 1 & 2) KPI of 11 SOR of 25. Ken Pom of 33 BPI of 34 All while not having any 'signature' wins. And they only finished 3rd in the conference as well as got bounced early from the A10 Tourney. This is the blueprint for success in today's college basketball...and it requires us to consistently perform well in conference (13+ wins), take care of business against teams we should in the NonCon, and try to schedule a handful of tough games (even if it's on the road). Sounds deceivingly so simple This year Dayton had the good fortune of playing LSU, St. Johns, and Houston in their NonCon Tourney.

Duquesne hasn't made the Tourney since 1977. It would be a good story for the A10 if they were to win.

It's definitely not panic. We'll see, I guess. I just don't view the pool of viable candidates as being that deep. Sure, there are plenty of coaches to choose from, but as soon as you drop out of that top tier the risk profile goes way up. If we put all of our eggs in the Schertz basket, we could easily end up getting Pantsed. And given the state of college ball, I also don't believe we are operating from as strong a position as we think. It's a problem when we are no longer competitive for/attractive to coaches the caliber of Darian Devries.

Holtmann to DePaul. Vandy, Oklahoma St, and likely Michigan jobs all opening up. McCollum to Missouri St. Lousville talking to Schertz. No rumors about coaches currently not working (Mack). Oh, and a big one: May is still seemingly in charge.

Maybe it's my pessimistic attitude towards Billiken basketball, but I'm starting to feel real uneasy about this hire. A week ago I was pretty confident that we would land one of our top targets (Schertz, McCollum, Devries or even a Mack, Moser, Holtmann-type). And we still might. But now, I'm more on the fence. This process appears to be trending towards a desperation hire, especially as the number of attractive jobs increases. In order to evaluate candidates effectively, expectations need to be set. I think this program needs to achieve 4 outcomes: 1) Aim for 3 NCAA Tournament appearances every 5 years (5 or 6 out of 10) 2) Consistently finish top 4 in A10 play. Given our spend/commitment to basketball and the league's recent downward trajectory, I don't think 4 of 5 years is unreasonable. 3) Make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. We need some national exposure and credibility. And unfortunately winning the A10 or the A10 Tourney ain't it. 4) Successfully navigate the changing nature of recruiting and talent acquisition (NIL, portal, etc) by building a consistent, strategic, and scalable system. That asks a lot. But, to me, it's pretty apparent just by looking at a candidate's track record which ones are likely to fall short of these expectations.

That's exactly the scenario where we end up with a clown. Patient, thorough, well-informed decision-making aren't exactly among our core competencies.