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I am glad that there is a thread on this as I saw the twitter post and too was confused. This seems like a subject worth tracking closely. Goodwin being intentional to sign with an agent that allows him to return seems like a big deal to me. The thinking is probably to test the waters to see what his pro prospects are before deciding. If Goodwin's ultimate goal is still the NBA, I put the chances at greater than 50% of him returning to SLU. One more year to return with a packed Chaifetz, break every SLU record there is, and then in April 2022, he will be in the same spot or improved positioning for his pro prospects. The only reason I see leaving is if making 100k is a big deal financially. I have zero awareness of the Goodwin family's financial status or the urgency to cash a paycheck SLU is a much better showcase for him to improve stock in my opinion. As soon as he starts overseas or in the G-league then it is a foregone conclusion that his NBA prospects are next to zilch. He is a lesser prospect to Bess in my opinion and I was disappointed to not see Bess stick on the end of an NBA bench somewhere. Goodwin still has a lot to prove and SLU is the best place to do it. My prediction. He's coming back. Book it.

I think we can probably take this thread down since we know Goodwin still is open to the option of returning. Verbal Commits is not a news source, they are simply aggregating the news from this weekend that Goodwin signed with an agency and missing the part about it allowing him the option to return.

SLU already hired a firm months ago. Duqs hired one guy. Guess you only need one when half your team transfers out every season

With BH announcing that she is returning next year, that means we will be returning our entire starting lineup from the Wash. NCAA game. Add Lawler and Cytron to that group, along with Larson, who couldn't play that game (I think that's correct) and we have an unbelievable top 14 with great depth on the bench, starting the next season. Hopefully Lawler is good to go next season, which is only a few months from now. I have to believe that any knowledgeable poll voters will start the Bills out in the top 15-20. No other team could have more coming back.

TJ is going to have a breakout year. He's going to shoot high volume 37%+ from 3 and will average 9-10+ ppg... Calling my shot right now. He's one of my favorite billiken's already just from his antics on the bench cheering his teammates on. I can't wait to see what fun stuff he'll do on the court.

Updated: 6/21/2021 Getting somewhat quiet and slow around the transfer portal. Thought I'd composite things up as they stand now feeding off the Consolidated A10 Transfer thread.. Seniors: The following seniors have still not declared their intentions regarding the extra COVID year: Ibi Watson and Jordy Tshimanga at Dayton; Ryan Murphy at Duquesne; Jeremy Shepard at Rhode Island; Ryan Daly and Anthony Longpre at St. Joe's; and, of course, our Hasahn French. All others have decided to move on or come back. Any additions or deletions are welcome. What do the transfers bring to the gaining A10 schools? Here's a synopsis of who gets whom and what the plan might be: Davidson: Foster Loyer, the 6'0" junior played in 13 games for the Spartans this year averaging 4.2 ppg over about 14 mpg. He last played for Sparty in February. In the previous two years, he played 31 and 36 games averaging about 7 mpg and 2.4 ppg. A Big Ten benchwarmer recruited over at Michigan State. Former 3-star recruit. Dayton: Toumani Camara (Georgia) and Richard Amaefule (East Tennessee State): Camara, a 6'8" sophomore, led Georgia in blocks (1.1/g) last year, playing 25 games and averaging 12.8 ppg in 28.4 mpg. Amaefule, a 6'9" freshman from England, played in 19 games averaging 8 mpg and 1.5 ppg. Camara was an SEC regular, Amaefuel a Southern League bench warmer. Even if Amzil, Nwokeji, Blakeney and Sissoko stay, Dayton's front line will be young plus two 4-star recruits. Camara should add veteran leadership where its needed. If college is a guard's game, a lot will fall on Elijah Weaver's shoulders and the two highly ranked freshman guards (Gree and Smith) coming in. On 5/15, Kobe Elvis, a 6'2" freshman from Canada, announced hsi transfer to Dayton. Elvis played in 19 games for the Blue Demons, averaging 5.2 ppg and 1.9 apg in about 20 minutes per game. While his shooting percentages were decent enough, he didn't take enough to be substantial. Shot 50% from the line. Member of Canadian National Team. Originally a two star recruit. Duquesne: Tre Williams (Indina State), Pedro Castro (Houston Baptist), RJ Gunn (lenoir-Rhyne), and Leon Ayers IIi (Mercer): The Dambrot Revolving Door is always open and spinning in Pittsburgh. Tre WIlliams, a 6'7" center led Indiana State with 1.5 bpg last year. He played n 25 games at just over 30 mpg averaging 9 ppg and 6 rpg. He likely replaces Michael Hughes. Pedro Castro, a 6'6" junior forward, did it all for Houston Baptist. He led them with 14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.5 steals pg and 1.1 bpg. Looks like he's Marcus Weathers' replacement. Houston Baptisit went 6 and 19 last year, good for 11th in the Southland Conference. Leon Ayers III played in all 29 games for Mercer. The 6'6" junior put up 12.2 ppg with 3.8 rpg. Duquesne has a lot of unknowns in the 2/3 slots. Lenoir-Rhyne, a DII school in NC, went 9 and 7 last year. RJ Gunn, a 6'7" senior, played in all 16 to the tune of just over 30 mpg and averaged 16.6 ppg along with 5.3 rpg. He was their leading three-point attempts guy and shot that at a 38.8%. Looks like a lot of replacement parts but Dambrot will have to start pretty much from scratch. Unless Murphy and Dunn-Martin come back, the backcourt is weak and unproven. Kevin Easley, Jr., a 6'7" sophomore played in all 26 TCU games at about 20 mpg and averaged 4.5 ppg and 3.7 rpg. As noted elsewhere, he was the Southern Conference Rookie of the Year two years ago before transferring to TCU from UT-Chattanooga where he averaged 14.2 ppg with 6.7 rpg. He stepped up into a bigger pond with the Big Twelve. He did start half of TCU's 26 games this year. Fordham: Patrick Kelly (Penn State) and Darius Quisenberry (Youngstown State): Kelly is a 6'7" freshman who didn't see the floor much at Penn State. Only got in five games. Darius Quisenberry played in 60% of the Penguins 25 games but played a lot when in there. The 6'1" junior played 33 mpg and averaged 14.9 ppg and 3.1 apg. Going to need a lot of work at Fordham. It's Fordham. Antonio Daye Jr from Florida International is a 6'1" junior who led the team in scoring at 17.1 ppg along with 4.2 apg and 2.4 rpg. He is a 29% shooter from 3; 45% from the floor and 69% from the line. FIU finished 9 - 17 good for 7th in CUSA's East Division. Fordham added second Penn State transfer DJ Gordon. The 6'5" freshman was essentially another bench warmer for the Nittany Lions, getting in six game of mop up duty. Largest run was 7 minutes and that's where he scored his 3 total points for the year. Originally a two-star recruit. Recently, Fordham announced the transfer of 6'7" SG Kam'Ron Cunningham from Mississippi Valley State. MSVS was a whopping 2 and 22 last year. Cunningham played in 18 games last year averaging 10 ppg. But it was completely erratic. He scored 34 against Alcorn State in early February; with two other games of 24 and 24 points but there were a lot of 0 games as well. Cunningham was a former two-star recruit out of SC. Mason: D'Shawn Schwartz (Colorado), DeVon Cooper (Morehead State) and Davonte Gaines (Tennessee): Mason lost essentially it's entire roster when Paulsen was fired. Who knows what they will look like come next season. I expect Kim English to foster an OOC schedule that is extremely weak as he searches for answers. D'Shawn Schwartz was a steady player for the Buffs. The 6'7" senior played in 30 of 32 games, averaging 28 mpg, 9.3 ppg and 3.1 rpg. Devon Cooper was a solid starter at Morehead. The 6'4" junior played in 32 of 32 games, averaging 12.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.5 apg all over 31.6 mpg. Davonte Gaines, a 6'7" sophomore, saw little time at Tennessee. He played 68 minutes over 19 games. He was originally recruited by Kim English so he followed the coach to Mason. This is a roster in total upheaval. Doubt much will be expected. George Washington: Ira Lee (Arizona), Joe Bamisile (VA Tech), Bryan Knapp (Cornell) and Brendan Adams (Uconn): Another roster with a "Help Wanted" sign on it. Right now, only James Bishop returns of any note. Ira Lee, a 6'8" senior, played in 23 games, averaging 10 mpg and 3 ppg. His best year was his sophomore year when he averaged 6.6 ppg. Not excited. Joe Bamisile, a 6'4" freshman guard, played in 13 of Va Tech's 22 games and averaged 3.5 ppg over 9 mpg. The Ivy didn't play this year but Knapp, a 6'1" senior, played in all 27 games the year prior averaging 7.1 ppg in just under 29 mpg. Adams, is a 6'4" junior, only played in 16 games this year averaging 4.1 ppg. He played a lot early then saw his time cut as the Big East tournament approached. Not a high volume scorer by any stretch. Bets game was 9 points in 31 minutes. One thing Coach Chistian has is time to promise kids. Going to be another hodge-podge year in Foggy Bottom. Geedubya added 6'10" Tyler Warner to their roster as a non-scholarship player. Warner is an obvious big man from Ontario, NY out of the 212 Sports Acadmey in FL. A stretch big who shoots from distance. Geedubya recently added 6'8" PF Qwanzi Samuels from Florida Gulf Coast. Samuels played in three games for the Eagles last year, last appearing in February 5. He played in 24 games in his freshman year. He scored about 50 points total over those two years averaging about 1.8 ppg. He is originally from the District of Columbia so this is a return home. La Salle: Mamadou Doucore (Rutgers) and Josh Nickelberry (Louisville): Doucore, a 6'9" junior from Mali, was essentially a scrub at Rutgers, getting in 11 games for 5 mpg and averaging 1.3 ppg. Nickelberry, a 6'4" sophomore, was a highly recruited kid, a big high school scorer in NC. In two years at Louisville, he has been in 24 games with 15 in his freshman year in mop up duty. Not a lot to write home about. La Salle has always brought transfers in. Clifton Moore, Ramon Galloway, BJ Johnson, Pookie Powell, Tyrone Garland. Traci Carter. And from big schools ..... Indiana, South Carolina, Syracuse, Marquette. None have really set the world on fire. Umass: Michael Steadman (Montana), Trent Buttrick (Penn State), Rich Kelly (Boston College) and CJ Kelly (Albany): Steadman is a 6'10" senior, who played in 19 games this year, his last one being February 13. He averaged 13.2 last year in over 30 mpg but then saw his time drop to 19 mpg and 10 ppg. This will be his third school having started at San Jose State. Buttrick, a 6'8" senior, played in all 25 State games this year at 13.3 mpg and 3.0 ppg with ditto in rpg. Bench/role player. Rich Kelly, a 6'1" senior, also saw his last game action on February 13. Prior to this year, he was a 30 games per season guy. Averaged 11 ppg this year but also had 16.7 and 13.3 ppg last two years prior. Has averaged 40%+ from three the last three years. CJ Kelly, a 6'5" junior, led Albany in scoring at 14.3 ppg over 16 games. He last played with the team on February 28 but that's when their season ended. He was a 41% three point shooter. Umass is going to have a lot of time to give out what with Mitchell, Pierre, DeGray and Gasperini leaving. I think it will be extremely interesting to watch this chemistry experiment going forward. Weeks, Garcia and Fernandes all like to jack it; adding the Kellys will make it interesting. Rhode Island: Ishamel El-Amin (Ball Sate): El-Amin, a 6'1" senior, palyed in all of Ball State's game last year, leading the team with a paltry 2.9 apg. He did average 16.2 ppg coming up from 13.8 his junior year. Jalen Cary, last year's big time transfer from Syracuse didn't pan out and Fatts is gone. Jeremy Sheppard has yet to formally declare. But Rhodey's chief weakness last year was somewhat inept big men (outside of Mitchell) and inconsistent guard play. Rhodey does get the other Mitchell twin back from ACL repair as well. St. Joseph's: Ejike Obinna (Vanderbilt) and Charles Coleman (East Carolina): Obinna, a 6'10" senior Nigerian, did nothing but mop up duty for a relatively bad Vandy team. Nineteen games played at about 8 mpg with replicable averages of 1.9 ppg and rpg. Coleman, a 7'0" sophomore, also was a mop up guy at East Carolina with 0.8 ppg in 9 games but last seen at ECU in January. Neither guy seems to fit Billy Lange's coaching MO to date as he doesn't seem to do big men. But that may have been because of what he inherited. St. Bonaventure: Quadry Adams (Wake Forest) and Abdul Karim Coulibaly (Pittsburgh): Adams, a 6'3" guard, played in 9 games and averaged 2.2 ppg in those 9. He's from NJ and that's where Jaylen Adams is from. Brothers? Cousins? Don't know but Jaylen's career at the Bonnies was legendary so it could be looking for lightning to strike twice. Coulibaly, is a 6'8" sophomore from Mali. In 22 games at 22.5 mpg, he averaged 5.2 ppg and 3.9 rpg. With the transfer of Jalen Shaw, Schmidt needs an Osunniyi part time sub. Coulibaly will likely be an upgrade to Shaw. Plus he has a JUCO big man, Oluwasegun Durosinmi, also Nigerian, in the fold as well. Given that Schmidt has everyone back from his 2021 A10 champions, this is just tweaking and replacing parts departing. Despite focusing on transfer from other four-year schools, it is important to recognize the Bonnies' signing of 6'5" SG Linton Brown this past week. Brown was a first-team All-American JUCO at Indian River State College in Ft. Pierce, FL. Brown averaged over 18 ppg and added over 6 rpg. Schmidt returns his defending champion starting five still but, on paper, he has added tremendous depth and resources. Saint Louis: Rashad Williams (Oakland) and Jordan Nesbitt (Memphis): Williams, the 6'2" junior, missed two of Oakland's 30 games this year. He was the second leading scorer at 13.6 ppg over 29 mpg. He didn't really rebound or assist but shot 78% from the line and 34% from three. Of his 362 shots, 277 came from beyond the arc. That's 75% of his total shots taken. He made 94 threes, which is a little over 3 per game. Nesbitt, as we all know, has no real stats from his brief stay at Memphis. VCU: Marcus Tsoshonis (Washington), and Jimmy Nichols Jr. (Providence): Finally, Tsoshonis is a 6'3" sophomore who was Washington's second leading scorer by average at 10.4 ppg. He shot 37% from three but dished out only 1.1 apg. He shot 45% from the floor with 37% from beyond the arc. Three other guys on Washington took more threes than Tsoshonis; he was fourth leading point producer as well. Nichols, a 6'8" junior, played in 16 of Providence's 26 games, last seeing the court in January. He scored 6.1 ppg with 2.4 rpg. As noted in a previous thread, there will be lots of shot replacement needed at VCU as Bones Hyland moves on to the pros. Assists are not an issue with Ace Baldwin controlling the ball. Davidson has noted no transfers to their program and loses a lot in Grady and Collins. Bates Jones and David Czerpowicz, not so much. Davidson has added 6'8" PF Michael Katsock to their roster. The kid was recruited as a walk-on after playing post grad basketball in the DC area. He will be a freshman. Davidson has 8 guys on scholarship; 13 if you count their walk-ons and LOI signees. Richmond also lists no transfers. But they did get four of their five seniors to commit to coming back in Jacob Gilyard, Nathan Cayo, Nick Sherrod and Grant Golden. This will leave the starting five intact as Sherrod replaces Blake Francis but the bench remains incredibly weak despite getting ample playing time last year with injuries to Francis and Golden. The Bonnies should still fee comfortable and listed as #1. Dayton is very intriguing. Can VCU not skip a beat in replacing Hyland with Tsoshonis? Richmond will have an old and veteran roster. Chemistry should not be an issue there. Then there is us with new parts Okoro and Nesbitt along with the transfer Williams, if eligible. I think the preseason guess will be along these lines with some ranking of these five teams as top five in the various prognostications.

Jordan will do what is best for Jordan, and I support whatever decision he makes. He has been talking with the NBA scouts and with Coach Ford and will make the decision that is best for him. Here are some other pieces of information I am sure he is already aware of. There are 60 players drafted by NBA teams each season. All first rounders get guaranteed contracts, and now most second rounders now get some money, perhaps just for one year. Europe pays well. To date, 23 players have been called up from the G League to the NBA. Some are on 10 day contracts, some are on two way deals. So you are not buried if you are sent to the G League. The average age of an NBA rookie is around 20 years old. Assuming Jordan was 18 when he entered SLU (or shortly thereafter turned 18), he would be nearing 22 now and nearing 23 a year from now. That is old by NBA standards. The average NBA career is 4.5 years.

In 2019 the NCAA implemented a new rule which basically allowed players to declare for the draft and sign with an agent but still maintain college eligibility as long as the agent came from an NCAA-approved list. I don't know specifically what agency Bones signed with so I can't confirm whether or not he has the option to return, but I believe he made it clear in his post announcing his departure that he was not considering a return. Here is the list of NCAA certified agents: https://web3.ncaa.org/AgentCertification/#/AgentDirectory It used to be that if you signed with an agent you couldn't return to college. Now, if you sign with an agent but it's approved by the NCAA you still have the option to return. Almost all of the big agencies are not NCAA approved, so it's rare to see a top draft pick sign with an NCAA-approved agent. Jordan Goodwin signed with an NCAA-approved agent, presumably because he wants to keep the option of returning open. I said the thread can be taken down because it has a misleading headline and could lead posters to think that Jordan Goodwin has decided to go pro, which is not factually accurate (though I'm confident you did not mean for it to be misleading).

Cousin

I'm putting my money on JGood making a return to Billiken hoops. At this stage, I don't see the NBA in his future. No offense meant there, just hard cold reality of today's NBA. His chances would be much improved if he was a legit deep threat, but that's not been the case.

What a great interview. Some your best work there.

Just a reminder Nine Billikens Earn A-10 Postseason Honors - Saint Louis University (slubillikens.com) 7 first team all conference players / 1 Sr / 1 Jr / 1 Soph / 4 Freshman / Conference Defender of the year Purcelli - Freshman / Midfielder of they year Miller- Soph / Offensive player of the year Freidrich -Jr SLU's breakdown of minutes played Freshman 41% / Soph 30% / Jr 15% / Sr 14% = 71% Fresh/Soph These are just amazing For comparison Washington ( who just beat them in the tourney PK's ) Freshman 7% / Soph 12 % / Jr's 39% / Sr's 42% / = 81% Jr/Sr This is not to diminish the fact Wash won the game but just to put how young we are into perspective. And they're the Power 5 school. It's usually the smaller conference team loaded with Jr's and Sr's when they have their best runs not the other way around.

Yes and no. What has changed, is that now there are some players that are considering SLU, that would not have considered SLU a few to several years ago. (Relationship building and winning have been the biggest difference) Shields and Chris Allen have been a big part of this. Bry McCarthy is helping with other areas as well. After that, it gets more complex. Let’s take a deep dive. Some years have better local recruits than others with regard to both high end, and depth. Some years, the better local recruits come from different programs than other years. Some years it’s a mix. SLU was able to get many of/more of their target recruits, in recent years, in the current Freshman and Sophomore classes. And, another aspect of recruiting includes sometimes recruiting the best or better players, and then moving them around and changing their position in college to fit the player, the team, etc...Heckel and Stram for example start on the back line as Freshmen, But they were better known as successful offensive players prior to SLU. Hannah Friedrich, over the years, has moved around from up top, out wide, and inside depending on the need. She was one of the nation’s leaders in assists this year, after being a prolific goal scorer other years. Versatility has been a key to SLU’s recruiting. SLU likes players who are and have been successful in other sports too. SLU could have a pretty good pick up hoops game with some. Transfers. Emily Groark, (Colorado) Anna Lawler, (Oklahoma St.) Hadley Cytron, (Tennessee) all were elite local area recruits that chose Power 5 schools, but later transferred to SLU. Being able to be in position as a possible landing spot in these situations has helped too. Local recruiting includes all of Metro St. Louis, the Metro East, all of Missouri, and Metro KC. SLU has four players from the Metro East. They have one from Springfield, MO, They have one from Columbia, two from KC. They have 13 others from all over the St. Louis area. Then you add other regional and national recruits. That doesn’t mean every local player has or will consider SLU. Some do and some don’t. And that’s okay. But more are considering SLU than before. SLU just needs to be competitive annually with recruiting to be an annual top 25 or better program. The players can come from anywhere. But it makes sense to build a strong foundation locally first. Ralph Richards runs the ECNL program at SLSG. Many current SLU players came through that program. Caleb McKee (SLU Men’s Soccer alum) is coaching a Lou Fusz team that is going for its 2nd straight USYS National Title this summer. Two SLU commits are on the team. Emily Gaebe is from Union, and recently transferred to the team. And Madelyn Smith is from Florissant but goes to Alton Marquette. Some players overplay their recruiting level. Some under perform, some perform at or around their expected level. It’s more about who can play and develop at the highest levels, be a good fit, and, consider/commit to SLU. There are plenty of players that go elsewhere for a variety of reasons. Some want to go away for the experience and change. Some seek a different type of school than SLU. Some seek a better soccer league. SLU seeks a good fit for both sides based on the type of play development, culture, etc...There is definitely a specific culture with SLU’s program. Some really good players go elsewhere and succeed. Kirsten Davis and Channing Foster have had great careers at Texas Tech and Ole Miss, and, were recent NWSL draft picks. There are some pretty good players with local ties throughout the NCAA Tourney and elsewhere, playing Power 5, Big East, OVC, all kinds of leagues. Ava Tankersley has had a really good Freshman season at top 10 Arkansas. Delaney Schultz at Rice, Gretchen Skoglund at Butler. Lily Farkas at Michigan. You can even find some players that play at perhaps a smaller level than SLU than are very successful and very much could play at SLU. There are misses in recruiting too. Sydney Stephens (Georgia) was very highly recuited, and is an example of just how challenging the transition to big time college soccer can be at times. At many Power 5 schools, it is common for some highly recruited first year players to ease into the lineup over time. This is a bit of a shock, and, is different from being a prep star. Some stick it out, some make a change. And some such as Davis and Foster, are good from the beginning. A few of the very highest recruited local players for 2021 and 2022 classes are headed to Power 5 schools: Wisconsin (Ashley Martinez, Rylee Howard) North Carolina (Maci Teater), Mississippi St (Rylie Combs, Alivia Buxton), South Carolina (Kinley Brown), Oklahoma St (Grace Bindbeutel), Arkansas (Annessa Shively). Some of these had U.S. National program exposure. SLU would have liked to have had any of these for next year and the year after. Many Power 5 schools recruit from National Events in the ECNL (Elite Club National League) the past decade or so. (SLU has some of these players) This is where some of the above mentioned local players headed to Power 5 schools play with their club teams. This is also where SLU is more likely to recruit more of its National players from these events. i.e. Taylor Krueger from Portland Jesuit plays in it. But, good players come from anywhere and everywhere. Some of SLU’s good players are proof of that too. A few other good ones are headed to Xavier, Marquette, Rutgers, Vandy, Clemson. Even SIUE and Missouri St. are doing a nice job with recruiting local players and are having success. SLU has a very young, very good team, most of which will return next season. They will also add a few players that had to sit out this season. And, they have a few good recruits for next year mentioned above (Gaebe, Smith) along with a keeper from KC, Lily-Anne Ellis. And, SLU already has a couple of really good ones in the 2022 class, one from St. Louis, (Ellie Paloucek), one from Portland (Taylor Krueger), (Hannah Smith) as well from Stl. There are also some other local younger prep players getting U.S. National program exposure at the younger high school age range levels 15’s and 16’s. (Autumn Jackson, Zoe Cuneio etc...) As Shields would say, the local area is very good for recruiting relative to its Metro area size. It isn’t SoCal, Metro NYC tristate, DC/MD/VA, Texas, Atl, etc...the goal is to be competitive landing a few to some of the biggest talents, knowing many will go elsewhere, while also stockpiling very good players that develop well. SLU has been able to consistently year in and year out recruit good players, who can develop well in SLU’s system.

I know this question was directed at 3star, but Strickland strikes me as a guy who could be a major player on this team. He has a blend of size, basketball genetics, and athleticism that doesn’t come around very often at SLU. I truly think he is going to blossom the next two seasons into a very good player in midtown.

SLU would have to compete with the Blues, Cards, Mizzou, Illinois, and probably the Chiefs instate.