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Margo has been the backbone of the Billiken Club for many years. She seemed to be around everywhere and was always very accessible. Thank you Margo for your many years of service to Billiken Athletics! It will be difficult to fill her shoes.

Guys routinely improve their shooting at the NBA level. When basketball becomes your sole focus and you have to shoot well to keep getting paid, there is both time and motivation to get better. I don't think that is somehow damning of our coaching staff's ability to improve Goodwin's shot. Goodwin actually did improve his 3pt % each year at SLU. Fr - 23.5%, So - 26.3%, Jr - 28.2%, Sr - 31.4%.

I watched all but 2 or 3 games of BBE's EYBL-Peach Jam run and think people are being a little hard on Miller. His decision making was poor at times, notably in that final play, he needs work on his perimeter game, and he's too inconsistent. Even so, when he's even a little bit on, he's almost impossible to stop. There were several games he put away by himself. Smith made the leap from fringe-top 50 or borderline 4-star/5-star player to more like a top-25, definite 5-star in my book. He was awesome over the past couple weeks. As for our guys, I think @3star_recruit is right. They're solid 3-stars who might never get their due in the rankings. That's fine. Kramer ended up being .342 from 3 over 15 games and 5 makes away from being over 40%. I would've liked to see a few more of those go in and some of his poorer shooting games came from him missing one early and forcing things. He really was a 3-and-D guy in this event and on this roster, whereas he's more versatile on his SLUH team, where he's the key player. So I'm interested to see him play in that setting, when he's playing big minutes, expected to do more things, drawing double teams, etc. Even with less efficiency than I'd have wanted from him, it's not hard to see how he translates - he shoots in a variety of ways (going any direction, comfortable off the dribble), he's got a big, strong frame, he defends on the ball at a high level, he's tough and fearless. I think he has work to do off the ball defensively, positioning himself for rebounds, building out his skill set offensively, but none of that stuff scares me off him as a prospect. Thames began the event way more timid than he ended up being down the stretch in the Peach Jam. He went from passing when he had uncontested layups to calling for the ball by the end. His 3-point shooting wasn't great (3-18) but in the last few games he was taking really good shots and they just weren't falling. He's a good rebounder despite his slim frame; he was 5th on the team in total rebounds despite being more like 8th in minutes. There's some rawness to his game - he looks like a guy who has grown very quickly and is continuing to grow - but he's a smart player who puts himself in good position at both ends. He's really active all over the floor. He's another guy who plays a totally different role on his HS team (where he has a better supporting cast than Kramer does) and who will be interesting to watch this season. I think because of his shooting and physical tools, Kramer is probably more college ready right now, but Thames is a really strong long-term prospect.

Given that he was kicked out of Notre Dame, it is safe to say that "the streets" were having a negative impact on him during that freshman season & could have even before that. Could he have been a one & done type talent if you put him in Tatum's situation / up-bringing? I don't know /no way to answer that. No doubt Cam was extremely talented either way. Basketball Reference has him as ranked #46 in his recruiting class. Of the 10 guys ranked 40-49, 5 of them played in the NBA. The word "easily" is too much because I don't think anyone's path to the NBA is easy, but saying Cam had a good shot at playing in an NBA game isn't hyperbole.

I agree the PAC will have a seat at the table. Just too important not too. I guess I disagree that the long-term trend of people heading to the West will continue indefinitely. To put it simply, there are currently too many people and not enough water out West. At some point the droughts, constant fires, electricity shortages, etc. will materially affect the quality of life out there and will offset the warmer weather that has attracted all those people. The Midwest isn't dead yet.

What a truly sweet person she is. Never saw her stressed or not in control. Always with a smile. Enjoy your retirement, M. mhg

Your 5 star do-everything forward has to make a better basketball play than dribbling out the clock and tossing it to your double-teamed 3 star shooting guard with under 2 seconds left. As other posters have pointed out, this isn't a one-time thing, putting his head down and forcing the issue is a feature of Miller's game. Until he can correct his tunnel vision, he'll be hard-pressed to live up to his ranking in college. Props to the BBE kids for taking the best team in the tournament down to the wire. They scrapped and clawed all game. Just came up a bit short.

I am not super high on Thames. I see him as a role player but I think his floor is higher than some of his future teammates. He has decent athleticism mixed with very good fundamentals. I don't expect an all A10 performer in year 4 but he won't be a project either like Hargrove or Strickland were/are. His basketball IQ and fundamentals are higher than those guys. If he doesn't have a role his freshman year then our team is very very good.

I think that leaves Janet Oberle as the only person still in the AD from my era, the early 00s. Margo was always really nice to deal with. She deserves a happy retirement.

He's strong. He can come in and defend college guards today, physically speaking. I'm not saying he's an all-conference defender yet or that he couldn't still improve his footwork and quickness, just that he more than held his own against many of the most talented HS guards in the country and can do it at SLU's level. He's stronger than most of the players he faced and he's a total pest in terms of how willing he is to get his body right up on the ball handler. Majerus would love him.

I recall most rankings of Cam being in the 50-70 range, yes a talented player, but certainly not a surefire NBA player. Not a McDonald's All-American type player. Hanlen is acting like he's hurt because one of his stable of talented young players didn't make the NBA. He comes across like he's viewing him as a commodity. And he's making this way too much about himself. This sentence is terrible "We tried to help him too many times & gave him far too many too many chances, but had to cut him off." It's understandable that people would take exception with that top paragraph.

Also, shooting well in a workout is different than shooting well in a game.

Sure. SLU is losing Keaton Schieffer to graduation. (Schieffer is in grad school at Parks) among a few others. And there are always going to be a few transfers both in and out, (some seeking more time and others overplaying their recruitment) as well as incoming Freshmen. SLU returns 9 players that played a lot of minutes. (Becher, Klein, Leeth, Buendia, Murana, Niece, Vaughn, Keller, Schulte) AJ Palazzolo will play often as an incoming transfer from Indiana that will help in the defensive midfield and backline. Returning Daniel Moore will compete for a lot of time in back. And there are some very good incoming MF/D players that will push for time. It will be interesting to see newcomers Parker, Anderson, Olson, Komodi, push for time upfront and the attacking midfield, along with returning players Rowan, Johnson, Bruch, Alwang, Legut. Need a bit more in the finishing 3rd. Buendia had a really good season last year after his redshirt season. Becher has had a really strong U23 summer season as has Klein. SLU didn’t score enough on the road this past season. Getting early goals finishing better in the final third is what can separate them this season. A lot returns, good depth at many positions. Schulte is as good as ever, and he has a couple of new keepers behind him for depth. Stefan Stojanovich transferred to Georgetown where they believe he can better fit their system. Expectations will be high for NCAA’s. Should be fun.

The last paragraph is reasonable and I don't see anything wrong with this tragedy being presented as a cautionary tale. But the first paragraph is awful. I wouldn't blame a friend or family member for being pissed about it. And to say he was "easily on his way to playing in the NBA" is hyperbole at best. He was not a one and done type talent - a Hughes or Jayson Tatum. He averaged 17 mpg and 6 ppg his freshman season. Sure, he could have had a very nice collegiate career, but an NBA career was unlikely.

I'll say it again: SO glad we have the best recruiting Billiken coach in my life time at the helm in this crazy time