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I'm sick of the negativity. Look at Jimerson. He's not even the best player on the team. We have two big time stars and two of the top scorers in the NCAA coming back next season. We have the best big man in the A10. We have a couple awesome two way players in Pickett and Thatch. We have the human highlight film Hargrove. We have another sniper in Sincere Parker working into the rotation. Parker scored the MOST POINTS in JUCO last season and he won't start for us. We have two nice freshman in Thames and Kramer hungry to push for PT. We have Larry Legend JR walking on!!! Most talented walk on since Jeff Leuchtefeld. We need 2 guards who can handle the ball and compete for playing time with the freshman. We need a serviceable backup big, maybe 2. You think Ford isn't going to bring in impact transfers? What year hasn't he done this? This is a team that will still contend for the A10 championship and make the NCAA tournament. We have 6 guys and counting all from the STL. The city will be behind this team. Forget about all the rest of the BS. When we win, which we will, all that will take care of itself.

I miss the good old days of recruiting with hookers and blow. That at least involved some strategy. Does he like blond hookers or brunettes? Does he like them thick or thin? Anybody can throw a bag of cash at you I want my recruiters actually doing some work.

Andrew Carr (Delaware) is on campus today. Stretch forward, rapidly developing. Cancelled his Wichita State visit to come here. Davidson and Virginia Tech were thought to be the leaders, with VCU also in the mix. More of a 4 to line up with Okoro but could also play backup as a 5 when needed. Would give us some frontcourt versatility, even if we still need some depth there.

Jimerson and Perkins unfollowing him probably says more than the highlight reel. I just took the highlight reel to be some hype for himself and a reaffirmation of his commitment to this program. Which he deserves. Get the PG situation figured out and he and Perk are going to feast this year.

Private schools with half the enrollment, but no football program NILs can compete. 90% of that money at a place like Tennessee is going to go to football where donors are desperate for a return to the glory days.

Carr is a guy I really want. He grew almost ten inches in high school. He had to adjust to being a much taller player and then worked hard to develop his perimeter shot after getting to college. He is a hard worker that not only can hit from the outside, but has the kind of foot work you want from an interior threat big man. While not a Rob Loe level passing big man at this point, he is better at finding an open man out of the post than any big we had on the roster last season. He is the kind of big we haven't had in some years and would be a nice complement to play along side Okoro. Let's get Carr locked up during this trip.

Because name 1 player that returned after entering portal? This isn't due to a coaching change and he entered while SLU found a new coach then new coach tries to bring him back. Also think about team dynamics. A basketball team is 13 guys plus coaches that is a small element. Unhappiness by influential players or hard feelings will ruin a small unit. If a walk on isn't happy and has limited influence you'll probably survive if you have good culture. If your team leader, starring PG isn't happy with the coaches, the other players aren't happy with him that spells disaster. He can't come back now if he did the team will mentally break down. Trust me on this I'm well versed in small teams of young men in pressure situations. There is a balancing act to keep the chemistry right. Perhaps Yuri leaving can galvanize the remaining players into an US vs errybody mentality. Do that and push the right buttons over the season we may get the success we want.

Several people who are usually in the know have definitively said he's gone. He informed the coaching staff by text message after reassuring them that he was returning for several weeks. Javonte and Gibson (his roommate) have both unfollowed him on Twitter. Best to just move on at this point.

I feel like we need Ford to find a point guard out of thin air. Some Aussie or something. It seems like our obsession with local area players is a little out of control. Now we think Ford will think about a CSU-Bakersfield castoff with off the court issues? Cmon now. we need a commitment from a player that surprises everyone. This ship needs to be repaired fast.

Popeye Jones?

I got it.

No comment, just like this thread and want to keep it near the top.

Having a war chest of 25 million doesn’t mean they’re spending 25 million annually. Also 75% of that will be targeted towards football. I’m not sure what else is big at TN from the baseball/softball/vb areas but sure they’ll get a small percentage too. If SLU could have a couple million in reserve for this, they’d be above 95% of schools in the country from a basketball standpoint.

Anyone who thinks private schools with less than half the enrolment of large state schools can compete with them are fooling themselves.

Good.

I wouldn't put him as the best, but I always was a big fan of Charles Newberry, think he was under appreciated on those NIT teams

Mitchell had McCall and Jett to help out with playmaking responsibilities. Yuri had Deandre Jones. That's why his usage rate was through the roof. The only player ahead of Yuri in the point guard discussion is H. Next year the baton would have been passed. Yuri would have been on the preseason Wooden Award list, he would have become the all-time A10 assists leader and we would have landed two Billikens on the conference first team. The fact that money wiped all that away just breaks your heart.

Jim Roder controlled the game and was a better point guard than Yuri

Thanks for the perspective I am in agreement. I appreciate what you do on this site and I hope you keep doing what you do with the recruits and the pod casts.

So jay Wright is coming to slu....

To get this back on track, and because there's so much speculation in this thread: Yuri isn't coming back.

You guys are the biggest snowflakes. Relax. He said a lot of stuff that sounded like Rich, his name's Rich, I guessed it was Rich. I even said "I think" not "It's definitely". It was a guess and Rich said I was wrong, so I retracted it. Rich said he was logging back out, I moved on. There's nothing more to discuss. You're in the habit of correcting yourself when you make a mistake, right?

It's not a shot, that's such a reach.

Roy, It was sarcasm. I understood 100% what you were saying

we don't need two "project" freshman. And if you ask me, Thames has higher potential.

The article was written by Dave Matter and was totally about Mizzou. I think Stu simply added a comment about a conversation he had. Nothing about it in the article.

There is a prevailing desire for a Stretch 4 on this board or at least a vocal group. I understand the desire we saw it work under Majerus. It makes sense if you have a good rebounder and/or strong rebounding guys and guys that can get to the hoop off the dribble you clear out space by having a big man on the perimeter. However, I'm not sure that jives with any system I've seen Ford run. He's recruited a few that never really saw the floor and they left. Am I wrong here? I think a stretch 4 would be good to clear space for Okoro inside and Perkins, Thatch, TJ to drive the lane. I'm just not convinced it fits in Ford's offensive scheme. I think Askew would tear up the A10 he really came on strong at the end of last season in the best conference in the land. I think Ramey would be even better. Both would be a dream.

I have just developed a man-crush on Thetorch

Do we need a score first point guard or a pass first point guard? I think that Pinson would fall into the first category. With the scoring potential we have in the rest of our roster, I think we want a passer.

There has always been an imbalance with recruiting. NIL may cause a shift in who is at the top of the food chain, but schools like SLU can do enough to maintain or improve their status in the overall landscape.

So this whole thing is a hypothetical based on whether we had a DeAndre Jones-type player available? That's how I interpreted slufan13's comment. This was throwing me off because we'd also recently talked about Christian Jones (ESL HS, Mizzou decommit), who thinks of himself as a big combo guard. DeAndre is gone and I have no idea if Christian is someone they're reaching out to for longer-term positional depth. I like Thames better than Christian Jones, but I don't think either player is ready to be handed the keys to a D-I program right now. Thames to me looks like a versatile role player who needs to add to his frame, and I like his long-term potential. I don't expect to see a lot of him this season.

Good luck to new coach Tillett. we supported coach Stone and think highly of her- the new coach may take us to a new level as men’s and woman’s programs often rise together and Travis Ford is due to have a run and has sure brought us some better talent. We like up tempo game atmosphere

Im not sure anyone is saying that today, we're a T25 team. What people keep saying is with the pieces we have and the amount of scholarships we possess, we're not far from getting that T25 look again. We don't have to get a yuri type or better, we can get a really good stretch 4 or back up big, and a very capable PG or 2 and be right where we were before Yuri left - potentially better depending on who the starting PG is.

1. No. 2. Yes. 3. His departure is a sure thing. His destination is not.

Kwamain was a 2 guard or could be called a combo. He never averaged 4 assists per game and had a career asst/to ratio under 1.5 He also never had a season with more steals than Yuri had last year. it’s really not even a discussion, the needle is pegged in Yuri!s favor. It’s not close

Yes, now that players are being basically bought money will talk and playing time comes second.

Guys, please no need to fight over this thing. What is done is done, let's move on please.

No problem. I used to like your posts back in the day.

If Tyler Coleman is saying there's news, I would think it's a local kid. Bradford, Keita, Jones all come to mind. Keita is intriguing as a long-term option if healthy. Bradford and Okoro would both want to start. I never really "got" Jones when I've seen him but I'm willing to be wrong. I doubt it's Kasubke. Shaun Williams is leaving CSU-Bakersfield. He's a local kid who's more of a 2 but could play a backup role at the PG position. Didn't put up big numbers and only played 10 games this season, but was better out there last year. Started his career at K-State. Grad transfer with 2 to play. I'm not counting on Ramey or Yuri.

Either one of those would make for a nice weekend.

I would assume it is Ramey or Yuri if good news.

Pistol said: I think that's @Billiken Rich. I am sure the guy who just lectured us on how to treat players will soon be apologizing for trashing you. So great to have a man of such high character to be our role model.

I'm just as angry if not angrier than anybody, but let's not get carried away...Yuri Collins is really fuoking good at basketball. One of the best PGs in the nation and had he stayed (**if he stays?) in St. Louis he would be (**will be?) competing for recognition as the #1 at his position. I still believe that to be true.

I sincerely hope we are NOT doing this. If SLU taught me anything, it is the importance of the Jesuit values and being "Men and Women for others." I love SLU basketball and want them to win more than I want most things. However, there is more to life than winning. I may be in the minority, but I'd rather see SLU be mediocre and ethical.

On our last tourney team, our point guard was who? Isabell 3.6 apg or Goodwin 3.4 apg? We didn't have a classical point guard at 7.9 apg, but we had four pretty darn good offensive players with Bess, Isabell, Goodwin and French. No reason we can't have a great team without Yuri. We don't need Yuri to be a great team with Perkins, Jimerson, Okoro and take your pick - Parker, Thatch, or TBD.

I advise everyone to stop the hate talk. While I understand the unsettling nature of this whole situation, this saga is not over yet. The last thing a player who’s on the fence wants to see is a fan base that is so quick to disown them.

Do we dare say it?? Yuri = tool??