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There is almost a 0% chance we fill all of our scholarships with players who expect to make real contributions. That is unrealistic in the modern NCAA. We're not going to have a 14-15 man rotation of scholarship players. When you can find a player like Russell who is a high-level practice player, good teammate and capable of filling in in emergencies, I consider that to be a useful piece for filling out the end of the bench.

I think posters mistake why other posters would want to give Russell a scholarship. I am not fascinated with Russell and I was not fascinated with Aaron Hines either but Hines got a 1 year scholarship and I am glad he did. I have a soft spot for St.Louis area kids and because there is an extra scholarship available this year and all 14 scholarship players will not play next season I thought for an emergency fill in like the previous season a 1 year scholarship made sense. College basketball business wise I would be a failure I like the kids too much and would have too many nice area kids on the roster so consider the source. I read this site because I learn what is real and what really make sense but I still have my opinion and I do not mind posting that. Be well

I think the immediate transfer rule benefits a coach like Ford. He's a good recruiter and maybe not the best teacher/developer of talent. With immediate transfers you don't have to develop players just get free agents that fit your need.

Do not see the fascination among some fans who want Ford to put Russell on scholarship. He did nothing on the floor last year to convince me that he is anything but an emergency plugin for Collins. The kid looked out of his league to me when he played. I hope if he wants playing time Ford helps to link him up with a program that he might succeed in. Better yet, he gets the needed financial aid to enable him to stay at SLU, get a degree, and enables him to continue his walk on status. As to the last two scholarships ...... a PG, or a combo guard that can effectively play PG, and an athletic big.

I am NOT a life long bills fan so I can say from experiencing other fan bases that SLU is NOT cursed. To quote Doug Vaughn “if we can just get hot, we can win this baby!!”

Russell is gone, time to move on. What I would really like to see next season is more playing time for Hargrove.

Looks like we might know something with Madsen relatively soon

Speaking of Matt Doherty, I once ran into him at a Tex Mex Restaurant in Dallas when he coached SMU. I implored him to call Majerus to schedule a game. He said Majerus was too busy out commenting on abortion (Majerus had just hit the news for this). Doherty did not follow through on my request and he was fired by SMU not long after. Coincidence? I think not.

UNC has this unique situation where they had a Hall of Fame Coach (Frank McGuire) succeeded by his assistant who became an even greater Hall of Fame coach (Dean Smith) and was eventually able to hire away his former assistant from Kansas (Roy Williams) who already had Hall of Fame credentials. Dean's assistant Bill Guthridge had a lot of success in his short run as coach. Matt Doherty did not. It's been an amazing run of consistency.

That one year everybody can transfer and be immediately eligible rule is for this year only. Going forward the old transfer rules will apply. Now will the NCAA grant more immediately eligible waivers than in the past? .... very likely.

The only reason we're even talking about Rashad Williams serving as a combo guard is because we haven't signed a combo guard yet. Coach Ford isn't talking to Mason Madsen for nothing. If we don't get him, it'll be somebody else. There are scores of combo guards in the transfer portal. And we're way ahead of schedule when it comes to spring recruiting. We've already got two commitments. Typically we don't get our first spring recruit until May.

I don't understand why schools are so adamant about hiring alums. The success stories are few and far between. You wind up alienating a chunk of the fan base when you inevitably have to fire them.

Another heart breaker! It is a wonder I still have a heart left https://slubillikens.com/news/2003/12/6/205256713.aspx

Miles Simon should get serious consideration for the Zona job.

I think it will be difficult to keep Hargrove off the floor. I hope the Swede grows into the 4 that stretches the floor,

Considering he only averaged .9 assists per game, I think it's fair to say he's not looking to dish the ball to his teammates very often.

KenPom Assist Rate: French: 2021: 17.8 2020: 15.1 2019: 10.7 2018: 12.0 Okoro: 2020: 2.4 2019: 2.2 We are definitely going to miss French's passing ability.

If you want a good passing team, then you want multiple good passers on the floor as often as possible. That's why I've been repeating the mantra of combo guard for weeks now. That guy can play with Yuri, not just back him up. In that scenario, you could have Yuri, combo TBD and Nesbitt playing together.

BilliesBy40 is correct. SLU, like almost all schools offering a physical therapy program nowadays, doesn't offer a 4 year degree in physical therapy. If you are in the physical therapy program, you have to do either 5 1/2 or 6 years and get a masters or a PhD. However, they want to give you something after four years. So, at undergraduate commencement, they are given degrees in Exercise Science. The Physical Education program at IUPUI would be somewhat different than what she has been studying if she is working toward an Exercise Science degree here.

There are a couple of specific things French does that I think are underrated and will be missed. For example, the big trend in college basketball the last couple of years has been to ice/down side ball screens. One of the best ways to beat this type of coverage is to have a big man who can catch the ball on the short roll and then make plays off the dribble. Yuri was very good at finding Has in these situations and Has, for all his flaws, was a very adept ballhandler and passer for a big. There are several other little things like this that Has did well which I think will be hard to replace. Another example is that Has allowed us to switch 1-5 on defense, which is a lot harder to do with Linssen or Bell. That changes the way you can gameplan when you know you have the option to switch everything if you want to. I'm guessing the coaching staff will miss him more than many on this board will.

That wasn't my recollection. What I saw was that the other team was trying to create some pressure on our guards on our end. They'd be trying to deny the outlet pass to one of our guards, so Ford would essentially trust French to bring the ball up the court and hand it to one of our guards at the other side of the half court line. I never remember him trying to do this a part of a fast break chance. It was simply to diffuse the other team's attempt at pressure since the guy guarding French was standing in the paint on the other side of the court. If it failed once, as BRoy points out, then I believe it only failed once. Every other time I saw it happen, it worked out just fine.

I already love this guy... Can't wait to see him draining threes and alleviating pressure from our professional bucket getter JP.

Dayton likely near the top as well with all the talent they are bringing in.

Besides driving this board crazy I don't think he turned it over very often and occasionally brought the defense to him. Obviously Ford didn't mind.

That’s fair. But didn’t he get hit by car? I worry much more about guys who have a long injury history from practicing/games. For a random example, as a USMNT fan, I worry about Christian Pulisic’s hamstring going every time he takes the field. Not saying you’re wrong for taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. But I don’t think all injuries are the same.

If Okoro is truly an upgrade on French we will be a great team. While French's senior year might be considered a disappointment he is one of the Billiken best big men.

You may be right. At least with St. Louis recruits. Then again I am not too familiar with his recruiting. Tilmon seems to have carried the team these past 2 years. Also he seemed to get quite of few transfers or non- 4 year guys from all over. Do you know what markets he is trying to focus on. I would assume the greater STL area and KC? If so, Gonzaga and UCLA have some guys who could have helped them.

Texas Tech to interview Bucks assistant Darvin Ham. B-rich and C-Tower to "interview" Honey Baked Ham.

Even without a coaching change, it's hard for a mid-major program to sustain this kind of success. Have to strike while the iron is hot if you are ever going to cash in.........and honestly the door will always be open at a program like Loyola.....

A Billiken fan would never say this.

After this season, I will no longer buy into the hype.. I'm NOW convinced that the program is cursed.

Been so long. Who are the schools again? U of A, LSU, Kansas

I recall Isabel changing alot, for the better, under Coach Ford. Believe Williams will as well. Agree w 3 Star, a combo guard, 2 guard, or guard who can dribble and shoot playing alongside Yuri will be good for Yuri and our team. We haven’t had that in awhile. Perkins, Thatch, Hargrove, Jimerson and Strickland could all get minutes if they spent the summer working on their dribbling. Have no clue where Nesbit will play. Sounds like a 3 along with others.

Yes. Good and fair point. But in response, a player does what his coach wants him to do. And I believe most players have the skills to pass if required of them. And if he has better handles than most of the rest of our guards, then he has the potential to be a play maker under coach Ford and in a different environment with different expectations. And if you look at the rest of his team, not a single player other than their point guard even had 2 assists per game. Not my style of basketball. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/2473