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Some psycho talked sh** under the post like “he was a practice player at SLU anyway” even if you think that, don’t be that guy. Never be that guy. Especially if they were good representatives of the program like Jimmy

It's gonna be hard to remain a true fan of college sports if this is just the new reality.

Here is a Twitter thread i compiled over the weekend detailing the Craig Upchurch controversy. Upchurch is still a common topic of discussion here so I tried to clear up some parts of the story and give a reference for people who weren't around for that period of time.

I'm excited to root for Javonte Perkins, a great Billiken and SLU representative, to have an amazing senior season.

This one hurts. The man could’ve been a SLU legend and instead he’s just another guy who used to play for us. I know I won’t consider him a Billiken. If he thinks any fans of whatever P5 he goes to will even remember his name in ten years, he’s delusional. NIL and college free agency has ruined college hoops for me. How is any 18-22 year old supposed to realistically turn down six figure NIL deals? The four-year player is now a critically endangered species. I’ll still go to games and support the guys who actually want to be Billikens, but I’ll definitely be taking a step back overall. Not worth being a die hard fan in a game where loyalty no longer exists.

I think I now officially hate college basketball - I especially hate the NIL and have not been a fan at all of open free agency. This seals it. This really sucks.

i too am having a hard time seeing jimmy fit in a huggybear system. i wish him luck and i now have a reason to watch west virginia the next couple of years to see jimmy succeed. it disappoints me that he is no longer a billiken. he has done so much to get himself to this point personally and physically how can you not root for the young man?

I really don't think it's hyperbole to say that this incident altered the history of the program.

You would think from the reaction here we just lost an All-American. We didn't. We lost a good defensive PG with a propensity to turn the ball over and force us to score with 4 seconds or less on the clock. We now have the governor removed from the car. I expect the offense to be fine. I don't know who will be the driver but know Perkins will be the engine. Where there is a loss there is also a new opportunity. Let's see what Travis comes up with.

Bought it to support Yuri as a slu player. Thinking he would continue to be a slu player. The following day he decides he no longer is a slu player. I can not get my money back. I'll keep the stuff but won't wear it. It's definitely on me. No one ever said it wasn't. But he made a lot of haters by doing it this way. Could of said he was transferring from the jump and would of had no issues and just not supported his brand.

Selfishly, I care about my entertainment worth. What is evolving is non P5 teams will field a new team pretty much every year. The chances of fielding a sweet 16 team with a nearly complete roster turnover every year is not very good.

There’s ethics in any business. What he did was not right

I don't like this new college basketball world. Not too far from College basketball going the way of the NFL for me. I'm not interested in following a player for a couple of years just to have him transfer away.

They can start by boosters redirecting their money away from the coach's salary towards NIL deals for players. Is Ford really worth $2.5 million dollars for his recruiting ability when NIL has changed the recruiting game?

Any apology is not needed. I have been a fan of the Bills long before I even knew my wife who is the VFL. Heck I did not meet her until I was beyond my mid 20's. I thought because my first love was to my SLU Alma Mater it was good to give folks on this website a heads up. Frankly, the reaction after I did startled me. I've been a regular since the days when David Nark ran Billikens.com. Don't recognize many of the current folks from those days. I became a fan when John Bennington was HC back in the 50's probably before some of you were in diapers. I've seen some horrible basketball and some good basketball. I still remember very fondly driving most of the night to get to Wichita, KS with my wife and daughter to see the Bills play MD in the Big Dance. It was their first NCAA bid in what seems like decades. Never was I more proud to be a life long Bills fan that day, and I had tears in my eyes when they played the Anthem. I've seen good HC's really like Spoon and got to know him a bit. No doubt I have huge respect for the job Hall of Famer Rick Majerus did for the Bills in his brief time. Hope we can find someone close to as good as a HC as he was. It's bitter sweet for me to see Yuri make this decision, but as I stated before it is his decision and only he knows what went into his decision. Thanks Yuri of the great plays you made as a Billiken player. If the Vols played SLU I'd be rooting for SLU; however, I will root for Yuri if he does decide to attend UT. Their athletic facilities at UT that I've seen are 2nd to none. Really think their new AD White has all programs there headed in the right direction.

SLU and many program's are honestly using way too much of booster money to pay the head coach. In the current environment it makes more sense for boosters to direct much of that money to NIL instead.

Get lost dude

Shitttttt. Trying to cancel my order. Lol Feel like an idiot...

Recruiting gurus make a fundamental mistake when evaluating Vashon players. Their team defense feeds their offense. They really share the ball on offense. They do these two things better than almost every team in the state, year in and year out. By adhering to these principles, their sum is always more than their individual parts. The result is solid defensive players who get exposed offensively in college. Vashon isn't set up to build great individual offensive players. They manage to win championships without them.

I feel like the money has always been there. It's just become so much easier to take it.

Yuri will be a hike to fill no doubt. But I don’t think it’s a sky is falling hole. Yuri really struggled against guards bigger and athletic. He had several rough games to go along with his outstanding games. If he goes to a P5 conference I think his number are likely to take a big drop. He played hard here was fun to watch and was an asset for sure. I wish he was staying. But I’ll hold judgement until I see who his replacement is. It might not be a bad thing.

Seriously, it is time for programs like SLU to reevaluate what they spend for a head coach and recruiting assistants. You are better off paying a decent X and O's guy much less and having the boosters direct much of the money they used to donate to pay the coach towards NIL money.

SLU can pay kids money, in fact schools like should have an advantage in not having to compete with football for NIL money.

I'm naturally pessimistic when it comes to sports, but I actually see some opportunity here. We are definitely behind in the NIL game, no question about it. But I think the blueprint for mid-majors, especially ones located in large metro areas, isn't all that different from what it is now: Selectively target 3-4 players with solid NIL deals, try to get local guys who starred elsewhere to transfer home for their 4th or 5th year, fill in the roster with downstream transfers that are unhappy with playing time at big schools, and hire an above-average Xs and Os coach. Talent evaluation is more critical now than it's ever been. I don't think mid majors have that internal infrastructure built-out as much as the bigger programs. That's where we need to place our bets.

I agree with this take, but it feels like a pretty big 180 from your previous takes that the transfer portal will be as beneficial to mid-majors as it is helpful. I apologize if that wasn't your take in the past but it sure feels like you had a lot of posts along those lines. This just sucks and there is no way around it. The transfer portal plus NIL is going to kill the interest level for all but the absolute diehards. My fandom is definitely fading as of late...

When you look at the big picture, using the mid-majors as a farm system absolutely improves the economic situation of select players. It's horrible for fans outside of the P5. Our favorite program has been demoted to a farm team without our consent.

But you can return a shirt to the store, right?

Car wash rag

Assume Williams has beef that he transfered here and couldn't earn minutes. There's gonna be one of those on every team in the nation. Who cares about his tweet. TJ, the portal's open

What irritates me the most is that SLU was most likely the only school that could give a freshman a starting point guard position. That included offensive finishers to pad his assist stats. He honed in his game and now he is in the Portal. I will not miss all of his turnovers and dribble drives into bigs that resulted in turnovers. I will miss his great assists. The coaches quit for better money and now the players what a mess D1 basketball is.

So what you are saying is we get to watch Thames develop for 2 years just to see him bolt when he is about to become a super star? FanF***ingTastic More than losing Yuri this hurts because I'm afraid its a sign of things to come.

Went at schasz cause of the shittt he said on the Tennessee board. I didn't care he posted it here. Anybody who looks at slu as a little brother is gonna get shittt from me. But ya definitely feel like an idiot. Pretty stunned fr. Going to take a break from the billiken fandom for a minute. Right after he dropped the merch. F you Yuri lol

This just feels so....Slimy. Yuri was just bought.

Someone is paying him. Don’t blame him. This is the new norm. I’ll still rock my hoodie.. wish him luck.

I’d be canceling the charges on my CC if this is true. Yurimania goes from being Paul Revere to Benedict Arnold on Patriots day.

At least he had the courtesy of letting Bills fans buy his clothing line before dropping the hammer. I hope everyone is able to return that crap.

This transfer b.s. will be the end of college basketball as I think us Hardcores love it. It's changing for the worse and this one will prove it

Pete and Zac, you guys complement each other so well. Your conversations are like a really good Billikens.com thread, minus the trolls.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcfwMGjgwzz/ Some technical issues with the Youtube Upload. It's currently processing and will be available soon!

There are so many things in SLU history where it was very obvious, in the damn moment, that it was shooting themselves in the foot for no good reason. And a lot of them stem from this idea that SLU is some sort of Harvard on the Mighty Mississippi...

The psycho did not know Bell or the SLU program. Bell was productive his freshman year. He was a big part of beating Richmond and Rhode Island on the road. Had he came back he would have played a lot and SLU would have had 2 centers that could shoot free throws.

Royal jumpsuit joggers will match perfectly with my Yurimania T shirt.

Getting a matching pink jumpsuit plus the black zip hoodie. This stuff is pretty sweet imo

Unlimited food at the Laughlin center! (When it opens)

Haven't you changed your tune? Didn't you use to say that say that the power 5 bench players would transfer down.

cant judge coaches anymore with this. Every team other than a VERY few are losing players with the new portal.