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Despite the title, I don't think this whole thread has necessarily been about Tillett or her ability as a head coach. It feels like it's more about the reasoning given for firing Lisa Stone by Chris May as well as the statement of goals for the future of the Women's Basketball program. There is no question that Tillett's short stint at Longwood was incredibly successful and it's no question that Tillett is a good coach. However looking at May's exact quote: "Our goal is to play in the NCAA women’s basketball championship regularly. This is a great job in women’s college basketball, and our program is well positioned for sustainable, long-term success." Back to Tillett's resume. She has made the NCAA tournament one time as a HC and WNIT as an Assistant. She has only recruited to the Patriot League and the Big South. Tillett's big thing is culture, there's no denying that culture is important in long term success but nothing concrete in her resume indicates sustainable and long-term success. That's just a fact. The issue people are having with this process is the disconnect between May's stated goals for the program and the choice of head coaching hire. They don't match up. That being said, I'm behind Tillett from jump street. I'll be at her first game and as many games as my schedule allows. Let's ride.

Thanks for sharing she was impressive. Also, people put too much stock in what an AD may say at a presser. What do you want him to say - we are not very good and we don't expect to be very good. Of course he is going to say we want to be successful. I am sure he believes it but saying and doing are two different things. If she takes us to the NCAA dance in 4 years we will all be throwing roses at her. She did once so she can do it again.

This was new to me so I Googled it. It seems we all take a turn at being Old Guy.

I think there's a big gap in our perception of how things work in women's college basketball and how they really work. These are the winningest coaches in the A10 over the last five years: Shauna Green, Dayton (now Illinois). Previous head coaching experience: Loras College Beth O'Boyle, VCU. Previous head coaching experience: Stony Brook Stephanie Gaitley, Fordham. Previous head coaching experience: Monmouth. Career fixer-up at the mid-major level. Rhode Island's Tammi Reiss admittedly does come from a more high-powered background but she's the exception to the rule.

Because I have a basic understanding of elementary math, the ability to count to 11,000, and common sense - I know those things to be true. If you can’t understand the concept that the revenue generated from SLU mens basketball makes the SLU athletics engine go, there really isn’t a point on continuing that discussion. It’s just fact. Other sports aren’t important. They cost lots of money and bring in very little revenue. If you’re going to sponsor those teams, you might as well win. But if mens basketball is making runs in the tourney and every other team wins 0 games/matches annually, Chris May would be getting contract extensions You think that womens basketball having maybe 500 paid tickets a game is self sustaining? Their ticket revenue doesn’t even cover the cost of their head coaches salary. Cmon.

Javon with Frank C. Pickett roomed with Brook Ford at Missouri. Once he put his name in the portal. Three days later he started hearing from schools. Turned some down immediately. Considered TCU, Arkansas and SLU. Had lunch with Javonte and Fred. At dinner Yuri and Fred were there. He really hadn't spent time with Yuri. Liked what they had to say about the program. This will be his first time to play with a PG that can pass and score. Why his success in the SEC conference play. "Finally bought into what Coach Martin was telling him. I didn't shoot the ball that well this year, but I can shoot it better." His success is attacking the rim and not settling for a jump shot. "I like to finish through contact in the paint." Heartbroken when Martin was released. Bro Jordan Pickett is a Junior on the East Side. "It will be good to watch him and to help him." He watched a little Billiken ball. "Likes Francis as he is dominate. Jimerson can shoot very well and do more than that. Fred is aggressive around the basket and Hargrove can rebound and shoot. We all know what Javonte and Yuri can do. Good opportunity to make a run." Javon has 3 weeks left at Mizzou and will be graduating. Move into SLU end of May and start working early June. Frank: Any flack from Mizzou Fans? Javon "Not really. There have been a lot of encouraging words and thanks on what I did." Players on both Mizzou and SLU teams. Tremaine Isabell, Julian Winfield, Kevin King, Ricky Frazier, Lamont Turner, Ted Mimlitz....any more?

Aaron Hines slander should be banned from this board. Dude worked his ass off, played hard and wore the jersey loud and proud at one of the worst times in recent Billiken history.

This is a good topic. Shauna Green had 10 years assistant experience in combined, the Big East, Big 10, and A10 prior to getting hired. Her starting Dayton HC pay was $407k. Dayton had previously established a close to $400k HC pay with former HC Jim Jabir. He of course was a HC at both a Great Midwest Conference School, and Big East School prior to Dayton. Tammi Reiss just signed a deal worth $4.4 million over ten years with a base pay of $425k. This was after just 3 seasons and a WNIT appearance. As you said, Reiss has had previous experience as an assistant in the WNBA, as well as with two different ACC schools. Beth O’ Boyle has had more of a smaller school background at VCU. She was previously making $265k. She recently signed a 5 year extension. She’s done well at multiple places to establish good WNIT teams/programs thus far. Stephanie Gaitley is a former long time HC at two different A10 schools, and she played in the Big East. …………………… Of course you have to consider assistant salary pool budget, recruiting budget, travel, and several other things at various places. ………………. Regionally. Missouri State has been mentioned a few times. They have made 17 NCAA Tourneys since the 1990’s, and at least an NCAA Tourney Sweet 16 in each of those decades. More recently, Kellie Harper had some success there and she left for Tennessee where she makes $800k. Harper played at Tennessee, and, she was an assistant in the ACC and SEC, as well HC stops too. Amaka Aguagua Hamilton was making $320k as HC there and she left for UVA where Tina Thompson was making $700k before being replaced. Aguagua Hamilton was previously an assistant at VCU and two different Big 10 schools. Beth Cunningham will start at $340k. She of course played at Notre Dame, was an assistant there and Duke. And she was a long time HC at VCU. ………………. Upper tier Big East Schools not named Connecticut, are paying mid $500k to mid $600k for Head Coaches. ………………. So that is some of the peer landscape. ……………. Also, Good Luck to Coach Tillett. I hope she has great success at SLU, and, that she is given the resources to do so.

Question all you want. I imagine when Duke hired Coach K the fan base was a little underwhelmed by the resume. When Utah hired Rick M probably also a little underwhelmed. Neither had this glowing resume. I’m sure in both instances and in many, many other successful hires it wasn’t always the candidate with the best resume on paper. It was the candidate that made the decision maker believe. Just as there have been many hires that possibly underwhelmed the fan base on hire day that turned out great, there have been just as many really good resume hires that turned out bad. Bruce Weber to Illinois anyone? Drew what’s his name from Valpo? Cuonzo? I haven’t researched her entire career but she was a successful HS coach and an Asst at Navy. My understanding is she took a bad Longwood program and got them to the tourney in what 4 years? Seems to me that she’s got a very good resume. You don’t know if Jackson-Durrett would have been a better hire. You just like the way her resume looks on paper better. Btw… she has never led a team to the NCAA tourney. She may turn out great but she’s never actually lead a program anywhere. Doesn’t actually seem like her resume meets Chris Nay’s stated goals either You said Coach Tillett clearly knocked it out of the park in the interview room. Well there you go.

Weird how the people who don't care about women's sports post the most opinions about women's sports.

A truly great name. I remember him coaching at SEMO. Brother of football coach Houston Nutt.

https://omny.fm/shows/total-information-am/welcome-to-st-louis-coach-tillet Take a listen to Tom Ackerman’s interview (skip the first minute of ads). She seems to be a stud - I hope she finally brings the Billikens to the big dance.

Guys......I'm pretty sure 05 was being tongue-in-cheek.........."xxxxx slander will not be tolerated" is a common phrase that means "hey don't talk sh!t on this guy!"

Dickey Nutt at Mizzou. I know nothing about him but that’s a hilarious name that fits perfectly in como.

In my opinion he is the best AD we've had going back to Larry Albus.

I'm sure some of you know that while I am a SLU Alum and a life long Bills fan, I also root for my wife's school TN Vols. I just saw this on the Vols fan website. Tennessee is continuing to evaluate lots of transfers but the one other player in the portal we’re sure that Barnes has met with face to face is Indiana State transfer Tyreke Key, who is originally from Celina. The Vols are highly interested in Key but in talking to some people it feels like he and Murray are probably an ‘either/or’ situation. That’s not written in stone, and could depend on what happens elsewhere, but that’s what it feels like to us. One name that interested basketball fans should keep a very close eye on is St. Louis point guard Yuri Collins. On Wednesday Collins announced that he was testing the NBA Draft waters while maintaining his college eligibility. We’ve heard more than a few rumblings that Collins will end up transferring and that when he enters the portal Tennessee will be deeply and immediately in strong contention. Again, keep an eye on that one. Not sure if anyone more closely in touch with SLU outside of this fan base has heard that after Yuri gets his NBA evaluation that he plans to transfer. Seems like most fans on this website were sure he was coming back to SLU.

Good points being thrown on all sides. All I can say is she seems to talk the part, and I am hopeful for the future. I, as many here, also liked Coach Stone. She was one of the nicer coaches I've met. I did believe the program plateaued, but I honestly was comfortable with the plateau (it was better than we've ever had). I like that this hire isn't a complete shakeup. She seems to be a new age Stone, if not a better, more cerebral, eloquent, well-spoken, culture-driven, [insert positive adjective] coach like Katie Shields. Katie is the gold standard for coaching imo.

The stated goals and the resume don't match. Am I not allowed to question why Chris May stated that he was looking for regular apps in the NCAA tournament but hired a coach that's only been there once at any competition level or job level nor has she has been anywhere for sustained success? This is why people expected someone like Jackson-Durrett or a head coach that had spent a good number of years at a small program and made at 2 or 3 appearances over that span. That's all I have to go off as a fan. Nobody else was in the interview room... Clearly she knocked it out of the park in there.

we should send Yuri that prep school for off season

I thought of another wiry, son-of-a-former-NBAer who played for a now A10 team, so you aren't the only one dreaming

I wonder how much growing Hughes has potentially available. The Murray twins were my height (6'3) when they finished HS, shorter than their dad. Only W. Illinois offered them. They went to one of those prep school basketball factories in Florida and grew another 3-4 inches. That was crucial to getting scholarships at Iowa. They have only developed from there. I am hoping Larry has a similar trajectory. A man can dream, can't he?

Yeah I’m not sure even the most gullible fan ever believed that one

This ^ I have no doubts about Tillett's ability as a coach, but, as someone stated here earlier, she seems like just a younger Lisa Stone with less concrete experience in recruiting and leading a larger program. This hire isn't congruent with the expectations Chris May outlined for the program going forward, the frustration stems from this.

A lot of inside knowledge about Women’s basketball coaches here. Just as I’m always surprised to hear Coach Ford doesn’t reach out to Billikens.com MBM’s for help on how to best utilize his roster ( Seriously we’ve seen some players almost 80 min over 3 months, how does he not get that MBM’s know more than he does) I’m surprised May didn’t reach out to the board for help on making this hire. So many of you are clearly in the know. The hot name or the most money doesn’t always spell success. Do any of you actually know anything about our new Coach? I’ll help with the answer. Outside of what you can gather from google, the answer is No.

A lot of high school guys are going overlooked because of the portal and the extra covid years. Some coaches are recruiting exclusively from the portal, which I disagree with. Why take a HS senior when you could spend a year or two developing them and they can scatter for a better offer? The portal guys are a little more of a sure thing - they have some level of experience, you can call their current coach and get the scoop, they can't bolt on you again, etc. Then you have the extra covid year that is taking available scholarships that would typically go to HS seniors. It is also contributing to some HS guys going to a lower level and waiting for their chance to level up.

Rankings and offers the past 2 years can be thrown out the window with Covid. I’m a fan of recruiting/offers etc but not until things are back to normal.

This is a non troll way to spread bad news... It can be done...

It's really none of your business whether or not I'm in the Billiken club or donate enough money to enjoy the 1818 Club. Or my reasons why... I've made it clear this issue was about Chaifetz Arena and providing all fans the best experience possible and to quote Westy above: "Having a full bar right in the middle of the concourse that's limited to only a certain level of donators is incredibly stupid in my opinion. Have it somewhere else in the arena."

I get the support for Stone, but every coach's tenure at a university is subject the the momentum of the program. The women's basketball program's momentum under Stone peaked and was now on the way down. The current players saw it as evidenced by the defections. Recruits see the same thing. If you stick with a coach much longer after realizing that this is the case, you could end up with a much worse situation. As far as Tillett, I like the idea of a coach who has proven success in building a program. Let's see what she can do.

who and what was the slander? use your other moniker to post your answer so it appears you have more people on your side. i like that tactic.

May isn't infallible. No person is. But he's good at his job. I'm glad he's here.

I heard Yuri even gave him a tour of his apartment, saying "You can move right in here since I'll be in Knoxville this fall!"

I don't have an infallible view of May. He's made some good hires. Kalish, Shields, Hendricksen, Stone. He has some bad ones. And he had Crews, which frankly should have been a career killer. Is Ford a great hire? I'd say no, not bad but not great...yet. Was hiring Crews dumb luck? May said the expectation is that the Women make the NCAAs every year. Do you think hiring a little known coach from Longwood the solution to making the NCAAs every year? I expected more. It may work out. You have to admit that his grandiose declarations about the program he made 3 weeks are not backed up with the level of this hire.

Completely wrong on so many levels I have no idea where to begin.

If this is yet another Chris May hire that works out, what will we make of it? Will it continue to be just dumb luck?

I'm not going to critique thuis coach on day 1. She probably will be good. Chris May OTOH... UMKC gave their new coach (who is a native St. Louisan) a 1.035 million 3 year deal. She gets a car, she keeps 90% of the revenue from her camps, she gets 50k for radio, TV, and marketing appearances, 20k for team community work, APR bonus 20k, and a list of other possible inventives based on her success. They doubled the salary of their womens coach and their overall budget going forward. UMKC made a commitment to their program. SLU did not.

I don’t get this drive to always be local. That is a bit micro - didn’t Larry B want to move SLU from a commuter school to a University with national prominence? Why can’t our recruiting strategy be the same way? The Mid-Atlantic is a hot bed of great men’s and women's high school hoops with great programs plus you can leverage the fact their parents can see them play at Mason, VCU, Richmond, GW, etc. Let’s put the tentacles out there! Don’t we want to broaden our scope as more than a regional university? I’m sure the new coach will drive some spikes into the local coaching tracks - these relationships take time - May wouldn’t have hired her if he had any worries about her ability to network.

BTW, how often is the PA announcer gonna mess up Javonte Perkins and Javon Pickett - not to mention Sincere Parker. So many potential combinations - Javon Parker, Javonte Pickett, Sincere Perkins, Javon Perkins...

I don't think Nesbitt is in Gordon's stratosphere when it comes to problems. I got the impression the team really liked him and he's a good kid. A bit high strung but hell, I'm lucky I wasn't in the spotlight at 20 ish years old.

So the entire league lost about the same amount that Tomas Satoransky made this season. Why would the NBA pull the plug on funding something worth way more than that in good publicity, let alone gives an entire population of young players something to aspire to, strengthens the women's game at all levels, and makes the U.S. by far the global superpower in the women's game? About 25% of NBA players make more in a year than the WNBA's net loss. This is a rounding error for the NBA. The benefits far outweigh the costs here. It doesn't have to break even to be well worth it. And who knows, maybe someday it will.

Is everyone aware that St. Louis has a lower level womens pro team called the St. Louis Surge? They have been in the league title game the last 3 seasons and have won 2 league titles. They play at Wash U and average nearly 2000 fans. Former SLU womens asst Petra Jackson is HC and Former Bill Justin Tatum is Asst. Their roster is mostly made up of local players.

I liked Cheryl and Yow. May, again is not bad but not great. When he makes really ridiculous statements like he did and doesn't back them up i question his leadership. Just like i questioned Biondi's when he'd do the same thing.

your slander accusation wasnt needed as well.