TheChosenOne

Feel free to share any other memorable stories, I have really enjoyed reading your posts! I think based on the box score we are past the statute of limitations hahaha.

Dang it. This was one I really wanted, liked that we were seemingly the earlier leader, but then his profile kept rising.

Drake got most of its production from a handful of guys last season; Bennett Stirtz, Daniel Abreu, Tavion Banks, Mitch Mascari, and Cam Manyawu. And then they got more reserve level production from guys like Isaia Howard, Kael Combs, and Isaiah Jackson (was a starter with limited production). Of that group, Iowa landed Stirtz, Banks, Manyawu, Howard, and Combs. I would think of the transfers from Drake, Stirtz and Manyawu are likely starters with Banks maybe being their 6 man, but maybe a starter. The other starters would likely include Brendan Hausen (transfer from Kansas State and Villanova prior to that) and the big from Robert Morris, Alvaro Folgueiras, but I am not sure who the other starter would be beyond it possibly being Banks. They have a solid roster on paper, but will have to incorporate guys like Hausen and Folgueiras with the guys from Drake. Always a question how guys adjust to a league like the Big Ten.

Yeah, I am also curious about this between @SShoe ("Our outside shots fell in the 3rd quarter and we pulled away against their starters.") and @SLUMS81 ("Our 3 point shooting much better in the second half. Iowa kept most of their starters out in the second half.") posts. Although maybe they are saying the same thing and my initial comprehension is off. If we beat Iowa by 20+ in essentially a game like scrimmage with them playing their starters for most of that, that would be a significant result for those craving some positive news heading into the season. Last year at Drake with a veteran squad he largely brought with him, McCollum relied heavily on his top core and then spread minutes around for the other spots somewhat similar to SLU.

Very cool, thanks for posting! Congrats to Robbie on the recognition, now lets make that a reality!

Yeah, Soderberg was often late to offer or like you said offered very few. As much as I disagreed with that approach especially when it came to local kids who often would feel burned when SLU wasn't an early offer, his reasoning was that an offer should in fact be an offer. I think that is when things were changing and it was clear that not all offers were the same at least from the school's side. With him, I think they were, so he wasn't going to throw out an offer that wasn't a committable offer. And then I think it was Ford who would throw a lot of offers at kids who were in town playing in the various Nike camps, so we were offering a lot of those top underclassmen early in their recruitments. Now with NIL, things have probably changed even more as the NIL package is likely the most important factor at the end of the day.

Yeah, I’ll sign up to be the guy being signed, paid, and immediately waived.

Could this rumor and result be proof of this concept?

Right. Too often when the end result doesn't line up with a rumor folks come back calling folks out for being wrong even though the result doesn't somehow invalidate the rumor being true at that point in time. That is why recruiting folks probably hold their tongue a lot since what is true in recruiting one day can likely not end up coming to fruition. Since multiple posters on here and other folks not on this board seemed to be hearing similar things, I assume there was some truth to the story, but it appears to have not resulted in any availability issues. Also, it is funny to read about someone hurting their credibility on a message board.

I think most agree with this and few would dispute that which is why this statement should have been released last Monday.

I'm sure they can work something out for you, young king.

Has there been any formal announcement from the school?

I do not recall claiming to know more than those making significant donations when it comes specifically to what is actually going on within the SLU athletic department or the various programs nor do I care to. I bet I know ball and the college athletics landscape better than those folks writing big checks to the athletic department though. They have the jack, I just got the sickness for college athletics, so this is in no way a flex. If anything, I would gladly take their money over my obsession with college sports. And if I did, I would move about 15 miles west and be on a beach not giving a rip about the inept leadership of Chris May.

I tend to assume all donors are fairly ignorant when it comes to college sports until proven wrong. That isn't meant as a shot at any of those guys, but they all have careers and busy lives that is their primary focus. However, they are likely the most important aspect of any athletic department in this new world of college athletics. And this is probably why the coach/donor relationship can be an interesting one if donors want to throw their weight around so to say. Having one of your lead donors put his name on the stadium and behave like the team owner might be a delicate situation.

Henderson is definitely out, right? It is so weird that there has not been a public statement from the athletic department regardless of any potential litigation (he is still on the website as head coach!) and even stranger that the players are being kept in the dark. It does seem like Chris May understands most folks don't overly care about SLU, so he can feed the information he wants out to Frank and largely ignore everyone else since chances are whoever their audience is will move along to something else they likely care more about. I will still never forget during the Ford era when the group of players were disciplined by the University and the writer for the PD (Jesus Ortiz) asked a question about the number of players recruited by Ford who had been disciplined and whether that would require him to recruit differently putting more emphasis on character traits and Frank stepped in for Ford. I had never seen anything like that. I did not care for Ortiz, but it was a fair question and Frank certainly had no business stepping in like that. Frank was also the one reporting complete bs that Mizzou and Illinois were considering Ford for their job openings. I am sure his source was Ford's agent and hopefully Ford kicked him some $ for that because the concern of him jumping was apparently a factor in his absurd extension. Some have told me DePaul was serious about considering him, but that's a good luck type of job opportunity.