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Because of his age he was never going to be able to sustain a program. He was a short term fix, and did a great job at it. Ford, if not run off by the likes of clowns on this board, has this team positioned to be at a high level for years to come.

Rick Majerus NCAA coaching record 517-215, NCAA Tourney Record 19-12 Travis Ford NCAA coaching record 390-303, NCAA Tourney Record 1-7

I hated it at the time, but Majerus came in and decided he was going to build his program from day #1 with little concern for maximizing the roster he inherited (which included some Billiken greats in Lisch and Liddell). A few years in with his guys playing beautiful ball together I realized the guy was a damn genius. Unfortunately he didn’t get to fully enjoy what he had built and play out the string with his guys and because of that his winning % at SLU is not indicative of what he built here. Ford has proven to be a quality hire, but I don’t see much need to compare him to the best coach we have ever had and one of the best to do it period. Hopefully this winter Ford has that season where it finally all clicks and we are talking about a team that accomplishes what those Majerus’ (and then Crews) teams did. Whether the program is somehow on a different level probably has less to do with Ford vs. Majerus and more to do with the facility improvements and commitment the administration and boosters have made to the program. But with the $ the power conferences are brining in that might be more keeping up with the Joneses than elevating our perceived standing in the college basketball landscape. And fortunately Ford is still young enough to make us not have to worry about his successor anytime soon.

Again this is why bad post and troll post needs to exist. Pathetic

eberhardt was a rickma signee. first one i believe. there is no question rickma is a superior game coach and player development coach than ford. rickma was nothing special as a recruiter imo. a lot of the rickma roster development came from creaming the roster. he was close to putting slu on probation for the turnover and the departing players being behind academically at the time of their departure. so he would bring in say 5 players, keep 2 and graduate a couple then bring in 4 new, keep one or two and do it again. ford is arguably the best recruiter ever to come to slu. i just wish he would be more focused on what he needs to win big. for example we have a boat load of wings right now. we have one point guard and 3 bigs. seems a little unbalanced. second it seems he is addicted to athletes. rickma on the other hand was all about who he could get to do what he saw as the path to win. rickma wins this as well as how many strong athletes never really reached their potential with ford? but as i have said a million times now, give me the strong roster. we always have a chance with talent. and just maybe in the future ford figures it out and coaches what he has instead of trying to change everyone. i think ford's potential for saint louis university is huge and as frustrated as i get with his handful of under achieved losses each year which collectively is just enough to keep us out of the tourney, i know the next year he will get the talent to give us a chance again. under previous coaches we always had a "rebuilding year" we had to be patient with. seems like those days are over we are that close. but there is no denying by the time he left imo rickma had a dam good roster. i could go on about other deficiencies of both, but the debate here seems centered on players when the rickma left and when soderberg left. i.e. who was handed the best scenario. not worth talking about both had rosters handed to them with glaring flaws.

I also liked the bad post and troll post reactions. That's why is saved this image for future use...

Of course this is a totally silly argument because Majerus has passed away and Ford is our coach. That being said, if SLU had a coaching opening right now & my options were Majerus or Ford, I'd probably take Majerus*. IMO you have a higher ceiling even if that success is likely to be short lived due to the health problems. Part of my argument would be that you should be able to hire a Ford-quality coach after Majerus (even understanding that SLU did screw this up before). I think that is why Ford is kind of polarizing. He's basically performing to expectations, but IMO he's not irreplaceable. He's not like McKillop at Davidson or Schmidt at St Bonaventure where if they left, you may have a hard time getting a similar quality coach. I don't think Ford should be on the hot seat at all right now. He's been very good & I think there is value in continuity for the program. I think / hope he is here a long time & can boost the success that extra 5% or so to get us into the NCAAs more often than not. However, Ford is the highest paid coach in the A10 & SLU has great facilities. IMO, there would be significant interest if the job where to open up & it wouldn't be like "oh no, what are we going to do without Ford". * - I do think you can make an argument that with the transfer portal, NIL, etc. the game has changed so much that a coach like Majerus may not be successful or as successful in today's game. That's probably the argument against him if you were making the hire today. I'm not really factoring that in.

This is definitely true, too. I am sure these business owners are SLU fans. But they are still paying for a service. I am sure Two Men and a Garden got a great ROI on their ad with Thatch if they paid him market rates, for example. I personally spent like 40 bucks on salsa, which I did to support Thatch and encourage more businesses to do... But it's not mutually exclusive with me enjoying the salsa too. Hope that makes sense.

What players on Ford's first roster were better than JUNIORS Lisch and Liddell?

People forget that Majerus inherited a team that had won 20 games the previous year. Soderberg wasn't the answer but he was light years better than Crews.

Did he really? Ford took over a program that was two seasons removed from three straight second round NCAA tournaments and two straight conference championships. Majerus took over a program that hadn’t been to the NCAA tournament in seven seasons and hadn’t won a conference championship in 36.

These deals aren't meant to compete with the 200k pay-for-play-masquerading-as-NIL deals. They are local businesses paying student athletes their worth on the free market for a service. The service in this case is posting an ad to a targeted audience, the same as any Instagram influencer. This isn't meant to sound snarky, but ask your grandkids about it.

Javon Bess - Tindastoll - Iceland Subway League Javon was one of the best players in the top league in Iceland this past season. Averaging over 19 points, 6 boards, 2 assists & 1.5 steals with a season high of 37 points in the playoffs. Tindastoll lost in the league finals to Valur 3 games to 2. Cody Ellis - Warwick Senators - NBL1 Cody is leading the Warwick Senators to a 6-2 start to the season, good for 2nd in the west division. Ellis is averaging 20 points, 6 boards on a whopping 71% FG and 43% from 3. This is his 4th season playing for Warwick in the Aussie State League Rob Loe - Auckland Tuatara - NBL Loe struggled in the Aussie NBL this season with limited PT with the last place New Zealand Breakers. He fared much better in other competition. In February Loe represented NZ in World Cup action helping lead NZ to 2 victories while averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds. Currently for Tuatara in the NZ league through 6 games Loe is averaging 17 points, 10 boards & 4 assists while shooting 47% from 3 and 68% overall. Dwayne Evans - Ryukyu Kings - Japan B1 League Evans led his team to an historic record in the top Japanese league. Evans put up 16 ppg, 7 boards, 3 assists and a steal with season highs of 30 points & 14 rebounds. Evans shot 37% from 3 and 58% from the field. He currently has Ryukyu in the league finals after leading them to a 48-7 regular season with the best record in the league. Kwamain Mitchell - Fribourg - Swiss Basketball League Mitchell is a champion as Fribourg defended their Swiss title and swept the league finals yesterday. Mitchell has been a steady contributor for his 26-1 Fribourg team. He averaged 10 ppg, 4 assists, 2 steals, while shooting 66% from 2. Willie Reed - Buducnost - ABA & Eurocup Willie’s season was cut short with injuries but he still performed at a high level in upper tier competition. Buducnost competed in the ABA, a league comprised of Baltic State champions, & Eurocup. They went 19-7 in ABA and 10-8 in Eurocup play. In 11 games in Eurocup play Reed averaged 11 & 6. In 19 games in ABA play, Reed averaged 13 & 7. Brian Conklin - Yalova (Turkey) - BSL Conklin left this team in December and did not resign with another team. He played 11 games and averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 48%. Conklin recently expressed interest in coaching in the college ranks. Hasahn French - KRKA - Slovenia Liga & ABA French left his team early as well in late February. French also suffered some injuries and was out of action for several weeks. KRKA fared well in Slovenia LIga and French averaged 10 points, 7 boards, 1.5 blocks, & 1.5 steals. In ABA play, a step up in competition, French played sparingly in 12 games averaging 4 points and 5 boards. Tramaine Isabell - Artland Dragons - Germany ProA Isabell signed with the Dragons in late January. Artland plays in German ProA league which is below Bundesliga. Through 9 games Isabell is averaging 13 points, 3 assist for the 12-20 Dragons Reggie Agbeko - Zornotza - Spain LEB Silver Agbeko continues his run in the Silver 3rd tier Spanish Pro League. He is averaging 9 points and 6 rebounds as the starting center for 17-9 Zornotza. D.J. Foreman - Fjolnir - Iceland D1 Foreman is the Shaq of Iceland minor league basketball. Averaged 28 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals while shooting over 60% from 2. Season high of 40/20 in one game, Foreman led Fjolnir to a 15-12 record and a berth in the league semifinals. Mike McCall - Kouchin - Iranian Superleague McCall joined Kouchin in December and was able to play 15 games for the team which finished 10-11 in pool play. McCall averaged 13 points & 6 assists and notched his career best game in the final game of the season scoring 26 points and dishing out 9 assists. Ian Vougioukas It appears Ian has ended his pro career. Over 15 years he represented Greece twice in the World Cup, was a Greek league All Star 3 times, A Euroleague Champion, and won championships in Greece, Russian Superleague & Lithuania. He also had a stint as team captain for Panathanaikos. Congrats Ian hope to see you return to SLU soon.

Some dude named Eamonn Brennan from The Atlantic

Rick didn’t work the transfer or JUCO market here. He went after under valued HS kids. If he was here, I think he might have enjoyed getting HS kids that were recruited over by players from the portal.

I bought a little of everything for the exact same reasons. I'm really digging the Bread & Butter Kickers. A little sweet at first but the spice kicks in after. Really good stuff!

I liked bad post/troll too. I have probably used them < 5 times total but overall I think the reactions were good for people like me who don't post quite as much. Actually I think more, not less reactions, would be good. Part of the problem as some people have pointed out...Just because you disagree with a post that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Like/Agree/Disagree/Haha/Uncalled for/Troll would be what I would do, I think.

End of last week I just put in an order for salsa with Two Men and a Garden. Prior to the Thatch ad I never heard of them. So the ad scored with me. Hopefully it arrives soon and the salsa is good

We keep losing focus here. It’s not about who is the better lifetime coach...obvious it’s Majerus. That said, I would take a Travis Ford in the prime of his coaching career for a 10-15 year run than a 60 year old Majerus, with health problems.

Since I’ve been called a clown a few times by CB Fan (with no response from you by the way) I assumed it was entirely permissible and appropriate...right CB Fan????

Majerus may have inherited a better roster but Ford inherited a better program by a mile

Exactly - Sodie is the one who squandered KL and TL, NOT RM which is a narrative that has been spread on this board. It's the reason Sodie lost his job.

Ford’s era has run into some difficulties beyond his control. We really can’t judge his record until he gets a full season situation and Covid free.

It really didn't matter. Majerus could've had almost any roster and sucked until he got guys who understood and could flourish in his system. Brad and even Jimmy C could've coached a Lisch and Liddell team to score more than 20 points against freaking GW.......

People forget that the last two recruiting classes Brad signed included only one D1 basketball talent. With the exception of Relphorde there wasn't a D1 talent in the six. Anthony Mitchell, Obi, Knollmeyer, Maguire, and Horace Dixon. Ford actually inherited a better roster top to bottom than Majerus.

Calling other posters clowns is uncalled for. Everyone can have his/her own opinion. You have made yours known and that is fine. Anyone else is free to have a different opinion than yours. After all, NO ONE knows the one absolute and complete truth about anything.

I thought slufan13 left the board some time back. Oh well. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. This is my medium in which to express my thoughts, my questions, my observations. You don't like them, start a blog. Or a webcast. Place me on ignore. Whatever. Put a hat on backwards and scare off the adults. @rgbilliken I actually didn't think it was snarky. My grandkids are seven, five and one. I won't be getting any help from them so I turn to the savants on this board. Again, if this is the SLU game plan for its athletes, by accepting businesses that want to do business with Billiken athletes for NIL opportunities, I'm okay with that. That seems to fit the spirit of the law. But if the going rate remains in place, we and about 250 other schools will face a harsh reality in terms of competitiveness for future recruits and keeping our players who warrant a look-see from these P5 monsters lurkign under our beds at night.

Ian made some money over the years.

I don’t know how we can say Majerus didn’t build a program. The two seasons after his departure we went to the second round of the NCAA. May made an awful hire and the success wasn’t sustained.

Mix in a water once in awhile. Nothing says self importance like your reactions from a couch in wherever you are diatribes. I explained it, he posts on social media and pasta house cuts a check. Its really not complicated enough to warrant more than a simple sentence. Not every post has to be 5 paragraphs

I agree that we all want better results but calling this past year underachieving, with Perkins going down before the start of the season is not fair. Ford lovers can find all sorts of excuses, things beyond his control, that account for his record. I don't know if I am a Ford lover anymore but I think been dealt a crappy hand often during his tenure. Ultimately he is responsible to get us to the dance and make some noise there. If he can't pull that off this year, with Yuri and Perkins back his seat should warm up a bit....

Other posters have explained this to you before. It is clear you aren’t arguing in good faith.

MBM logic: If a coach wins 23 games a year by bringing in 3 and 4 star players, we should start looking for a new coach. If a coach wins 23 games a year by bringing in 2 and 3 star players, the coach should get a lifetime appointment.

based on many recent postings, i assume the billikens only won single digit games last year and ford is on the hot seat. What did i miss?

I could only imagine how many dunks Hargrove would have if we played Iran…

I take it the Iron bowl is some sort of pregame entertainment for the basketball game. Pretty cool they do that.

Auburn date is set for Sunday, 11/27. Thanksgiving weekend, day after the Iron Bowl. What an incredible 11 days of sports we have waiting for us in November.

I've always found New Yorkers to be some of the nicest and most knowledgeable people I know. Angelenos? Not so much. When I lived in LA, I can't tell you how many times people responded with "I've never been to Louisiana" when I told them I was from St. Louis. It was odd. Many Chicagoans i've encountered come off as overly defensive d bags. Not sure if it's just insecurity or bitterness for playing second fiddle to the coastal giants. Of course there are also some great Chicagoans, many on this board in fact. Chicago is a fun (and convenient) city to visit but it doesn't come close to touching New York. Not in terms of history, not in terms of culture. New York truly has been the "world's laboratory" since the early 17th century. Massachusetts had the Puritans, Pennsylvania had the Quakers, Virginia had the Anglicans, New York had entrepreneurial spirit as its foundation. Taking the kids to NYC 3 weeks from today in fact and cannot wait. Taking the Amtrak up from DC. By the way, one of the best documentaries i've ever watched. Written and directed by Ric Burns, the brother of Ken Burns: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/new-york/ Well worth the 14+ hours.

True for non-Chicago natives. There’s many fans living here who’d surely go after work on a Wednesday. If A10 was smart they’d schedule us every year for Saturday afternoon. Loyola/SLU would be the biggest weekend event in all of Chicago considering the brutal weather

Every time this gets bumped I secretly hope it’s a Grandy Glaze update. #midtownmadnessinterview!!

Intent doesn't matter only the letter of the law. There's no law. Athletes now can make money off their NIL just like anyone else in the US. I hope Caleb Williams goes to EMU. 1 time transfer is probably here to stay, NIL cat is out of the bag. This is the new world we live in. I'm hoping SLU supporters get something going. If we can get in front of other like programs on NIL deals then we can get some momentum going. Our likely recruits are big time local recruits that go to High Major programs and maybe don't get the minutes they're expecting. Who are local businesses that support the program that a college athlete could represent? Lou Fusz, Pasta House who else? Could also crowd source as I brought up before. Texas fans set up a deal with a 501C "Horns with Heart" "Pancake Factory" $50k/year to offensive line men and all they do is make appearances for charitable events. Genius as donations to the 501c are tax deductible. What's up Cardinal Glennon supporters/Billikens fans? Athletic department donations are no longer tax deductible but this could be. I wish I had the time to organize this for SLU a deep tourney run is something we all need.