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Anyone not wanting to fire Ford and hire a new coach because they might be so successful at SLU that they will be plucked by a high major has a Travis Ford tattoo on their lower back. Same with the "what if our next coach isn't successful" people.

Weak. If we have a coach who is wildly successful and gets grabbed by Louisville for 10 million a year, GOOD I will gladly take that Final Four or Elite Eight appearance. That would kick ass. They have to buyout the contract and we will have some serious success to spring us to another successful hire. The only danger is what we have now, a coach with a fat contract who noone wants and we can't win with.

If Margot Robbie wants to date you, you say YES instead of worrying that she'll dump you in a few weeks.

This is actually a good thing. Look at VCU. 4 coaches in 8 years. Yet they keep winning at a solid clip. Get a high buyout , use that to make more money to get better coaches as ours get poached.

My personal choice would be a younger guy over someone older that is probably more set in their ways. Being a head coach today is completely different than it was even a couple of years ago, especially at a place like SLU. The programs at SLU's level that think outside the box now, will be the one's most successful going forward. I really think going forward you really need a head coach and something similar to a GM. You can't expect your coach to run the team and to do everything else that needs to be done in a NIL world. You need someone who can budget your NIL money, evaluate talent, put a market price on that talent and try to find the categories of players that are being undervalued by the power programs that are driving the market costs. That is way too much to put on the plate of a coach and to expect that coach to be successful. All that said, I took the history of the program and the history of the regions leaders into account when making my list. Nothing in that history screams outside the box thinking and big risk taking. It is all about betting on known commodities. In my lifetime the only hire that SLU has made that didn't fit that mold was Romar. That hire was made when the program was in a solid place and a strong conference. Those two things aren't true right now and because of that I think SLU will hire someone they think is lower risk. My preferred list would start with (again in no particular order): Mitch Henderson Darian DeVries Josh Schertz Ben McCollum Steve Lutz Blake Ahearn - This isn't just specific to Blake. Consider it more a placeholder for younger NBA assistants. I would be open to a lot of guys with NBA experience who are use to coaching in a professional sports environment where talent budgets exist with the head coach not necessarily having final say on talent evaluation and roster construction. It is a new world in college basketball. The mid major programs that adapt to that reality by operating completely differently will benefit the the most from the new reality.

Guys, @brianstl ended the thread. it's done. Nothing more needs to be said.

Yeah as much as I'd LOVE to pile on his Mr. Potter lookin' a$$, I don't think he really dropped the ball. It seems like it's some sort amalgamation of Biondi not making it happen or BEAST presidents not wanting Biondi.

Schertz is making $338,000/yr just extended through 2028. When I see these types of numbers it really makes me more frustrated about SLU's complete mismanagement. Unforced error. Now if it was a certain booster that pushed this salary no wonder they ended up with a Pickleball team and not a NBA franchise. https://www.tribstar.com/sports/indiana-state-basketball-locks-up-schertz-through-2028/article_f858a836-6958-11ee-944e-5f7cc8414268.html

AD CM lost the bronze boot to my SIUE Cougars and y'all want to keep him? My how the mighty have fallen. He lost the bronze boot. Fire Chris May.

I don't think enough has been made about not having a game for two weeks. No, this is not an "excuse" it's a bad decision. In the first 15 minutes we looked like a team that hadn't played a game in 2 weeks, then we competed for the next 20 minutes, but it was two big of a hill to climb. A lot of teams played between Christmas and New Years. At least schedule a cupcake to knock off some of the rest. Loyola played on Dec. 30 and they looked like a MUCH sharper team to start the game.

Travis couldn’t carry Rick or Spoon’s jock when it comes to coaching or teaching the game.

I've been calling for Ford's head for over a year. Even the diehard Ford backers have jumped off the wagon as it falls 100 MPH off a cliff. This season was over before it started. It is obvious Ford won't be back next year, he can't be back. Hopefully Chris May is gone as well and the AD's office entirely restructured. Who do we want as our next Head Coach? An active D-1 coach, a retired legend, a high major Asst, a fired or scandal plagued former HC or a hot shot from the D-2 ranks? My Wishlist 1. Chris Mack 2. Ben McCollum - https://theathletic.com/2798730/2021/09/01/meet-ben-mccollum-the-division-ii-coach-winning-titles-and-turning-heads-across-college-basketball/ 3. Nevada Smith - https://painttouches.com/2024/01/04/the-architect-nevada-smith-and-a-journey-of-basketball-innovation-marquette/ 4. Mitch Henderson 5. Josh Schertz 6. Darian Devries 7. Mark Byington 8. Mike Morell 9. Dustin Kerns 10. Will Wade Honorable Mention - Bob Huggins

Live from Humphrey’s, Monday, Jan 8, 6pm on KMOX Radio (1120 am, 98.7 fm) stream on smart speakers “play KMOX radio” or thru Audacy app.

May wasn’t AD when Rick got hired. Levick was and then she quit PO’d because we dumped Brad after a 20 w season. Am I wrong? If so, I will say Mea Culpa, but I’m pretty sure Cheryl was the AD when Rick was hired.

Diener is sporting a sweet silver beard now. Still pretty trim and can probably hit a 3 if he's wide open and has 1.5 minutes to shoot.

SLU's MBB preview for tomorrow's game says this in red below: This is SLU's 19th season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Billikens have a 163-136 mark in A-10 regular-season games. SLU has won two A-10 regular-season crowns (2013 and 2014) and two A-10 tournament titles (2013 and 2019). SLU head coach Travis Ford is 98-69 in A-10 regular-season games – 31-17 in three years at UMass (2005-08) and 67-52 in eight years at SLU (2016-24). Why would any Billiken fan care what his record was 15+ years ago in the A10 while coaching UMass? That record is totally irrelevant to me.

Big wish! Another rick majerus miracle hire and get jay wright

I know I'm just making fun of the sentiment. Reality is that there are very few programs in the country that can hold onto a coach if bigger program comes calling. I agree with you, it's good. Some schools are better about hiring better coaches as per your VCU example. Bottom line there's no "one way" re-tread, up and comer, big assistant, DII, DIII they all could work or fail.

I really believe we need immediate turnaround right now to generate new excitement and interest. I think the team is the least relevant it's been since Uncle Brad was out there. During Crews' last two years a lot of the media types in the area were talking about the need to can him and we still had some goodwill and excitement left over from Majerus. It's been crickets since then as the program circles the drain with CTF. The MWC is an extremely strong conference that may get 4+ bids this year. Utah St is in position to do that, with less than half of our coaching budget. That's pathetic on the SLU administration. Laughingstock.

Fire Ford NOW!

I've always been of the opinion that the best situation for SLU is a good coach who tried to climb to the top, but got blocked by bad circumstances at a big state school. I say this, because a coach in this position will have the perspective to see SLU as a nice landing spot with great facilities that he can try to turn into the next Gonzaga. Ford seemed to fit that bill, but we all know how that is currently going. A young coach may still see SLU as a spring board to a power conference job. In that regard, Chris Holtman at Ohio St. and Bobby Hurley at Arizona State are both on the hot seat this season. The consensus on Hurley is that Arizona State is too far away from his recruiting zone and recruiting connections. We may be closer. There is also Mike Brey, although he is 64.

It's also a good opportunity for Patrick's Olympic hopes, as the U23 Head Coach Marko Mitrovic, is on staff at January National Team Camp. And there are no other U23 keepers on the roster. Patrick had to miss the previous U23 call up in November as he was busy winning MLS Cup. They only took 2 keepers at that camp. There will be 2 more U23 camps before the Olympics. 13 of the players are eligible for the Olympic team. Slonina (only 19), Brady, and Pulskamp have been the other keepers in contention. Nice little few years for Patrick on top of all of his past prior successful experience. 2021 NCAA Quarterfinalist at SLU. 2022 MLS Next Pro Champion. 2023 MLS Cup Champion. 2023 U.S. U23 National Camp 2024 U.S. National Team Camp 2024 U.S. Olympic Team (expected) …………… Patrick is also being targeted by a high profile Premier League team as well.

Parker and Perkins.

It sounds like you have source that can be trusted. Next question though. Is that $500K+ that is in there now, or $500K+ for each year, meaning we expect to have $2M+ over the next four years?

Larry Bird? Certainly you don't mean Hughes.

-this board never fails to amaze and the current is seeing Huggins in this thread......unless I'm missing the joke

-took the words right off of my keyboard

Patrick Schulte called up to USMNT 8 day winter training camp in Orlando.

I was at a Division II Tournament on Sunday and came across a great entry in my all -time college basketball names team from Montana State-Billings. Unfortunately, he did not play but he appeared to shoot right-handed in the shootaround???

SLU alum Schulte called into the Jan 8-16 USMNT Camp.

I think they would say he was at the helm when that all went down so he had to have a hand in the bungling of it. In some respect there may very well be some blame to go to him whether you think he is soley responsible or just partially. Truth be all failures have many fathers so to speak. The money people who let the mediocrity continue, the AD who fiddle while SLU's chances were burning, the President of the University who never really valued athletics or cared to truly support it properly both financially and politically except for a couple of isolated times, the BOT who simply rubber stamped all the missteps, and finally those fans who made excuses for the mediocrity. I do know for a fact and I have stated this before and who my source was that the Jesuits Presidents in the BE simply could not stand Biondi and had no interest unless there was a big dollar reason to deal with him. You can't keep pissing on people before they get an umbrella to wall you off. It was this no affinity to Biondi that played a big part.

Please tell me the K is NOT silent.

Why is this board so unable to quit talking about Blake Ahearn. He keeps coming back like herpes around here. (to be clear Blake Ahearn is a great guy. his prevalence as a topic here over now decades is getting weird.) Also: Hire Matt Dickey

He's just friends with all the local kids who come back to visit him from not committing to SLU.

@thetorch I like the list a few from the Shaka coaching tree. I don't know enough about Smith to have an opinion. I'm unimpressed by Morrell's overall record but that's just after a cursory glance. Mack for sure #1, Devries if we could get him and Wade is intriguing. @brianstl I haven't thought about Turgeon he has some NCAA wins for sure over 24 years. But maybe I'm jaded, with all the change I'd prefer someone not as experienced that perhaps isn't so set in the past. Now Turgeon might not be that but it's just a general feeling. If I'm interviewing the coach I'm asking about their vision, plan to leverage NIL. What's their recruiting strategy regarding transfers/HS to construct a roster. How do they plan to coach essentially a new team every season to get offensively and defensively. I think Mack is a name that can energize boosters to donate. He's had success at a Catholic school in the Midwest and he should be rested. Add Kelsey CoC as a good name. Despite the AD not being the one to hire the coach. They have impact. We need the new AD because we need organizational changes. We need marketing, scheduling, fan interaction, alignment between coach and BVF. All those things are essential to a winning program.

Those Defense grades for SLU make me sick to my stomach. We could always defend. Even when we were undersized, we could always defend. Grawer, Spoon, Romar....we could always defend.

I'm not at all absolving him of blame, like I said.. shoulda scheduled a cupcake.

Wha..?

Tate puts together most of the schedule. They talked about this long break preseason. It was a huge error. Should have made put our D-2 glorified exhibition game during this layoff.

Kind of. I think he'd make a good talking head from his 20+ years experience at various level, his playing days at UK, and his folksy banter. I think it would be hard for a guy to go from OkSt to SLU to a low major level or assistant for anyone else at any level.

"Big EZ" did his best Kareem impression in the first half last night. He was yanked for not running back on defense, twice. He's been a pleasant surprise, dropping weight has really helped his play but he stews on the court by himself, doesn't join huddles, gives up on plays, and maintains a distance from his teammates. There is a reason why he has transferred so much.

Why is this in blue?

At this point, TJ Hargrove should be the "go to guy". Run some pick n pops, run some plays to get him going down hill at the rim, maybe it opens up Jimerson more.

Chris May and Travis Ford have not pushed the national profile of the Saint Louis Billikens forward under his tenure. That’s all that needs to be said.

You keep bringing this up and I keep telling you it's not going to happen, but I figured I might as well try to explain why we can't pay high coaching salaries (or NIL) out of the endowment. 1. The endowment is not a single fund. An endowment the size of SLU's is likely thousands of individual donor fund accounts that generate spendable interest in perpetuity. Endowments exist to provide guaranteed sources of funding, not as a rainy day fund. 2. Fundraising campaigns generally fall into 4 categories: 1. student support (scholarships, fellowships, etc.), 2. academic program support, 3. faculty support, and 4. capital projects. Category 1 is generally the largest, and the most important as college becomes increasingly unaffordable. Growth in the endowment fund needs to keep up with tuition increases to ensure that scholarships are as valuable in the future as they are today. 3. Many funds within the endowment are restricted. However, even unrestricted endowment funds represent donations from individual donors and if they see them getting used in ways that could be seen as irresponsible - how many would see buying out a bad coaching contract, for example - it's going to create discontent among the last group of people a university wants to alienate. 4. In most states, there are laws that protect donor intent and ensure prudent use of gifts given to institutions to be available through investment and investment income. In other words, if the school were to use endowment funds/income for buying out a contact or paying an exorbitant salary, it would open itself up to possible (let's be honest, probable) litigation. 4a. In fact, there are legal terms established when funds are accepted into the endowment that say that the funds must be invested according to the school's investment policies, only a certain percentage of annual earnings may be spent, earnings over the allowable spend amount must be reinvested, and funds can't be disbursed if the investment loses money until it is back above water. 5. A lot of funds are not paid out in full to the university at the time they are announced. Someone may make a $10 million gift that pays out over 10-20 years, for example. I'll sum this up with an example that I find helpful from Inside Higher Ed: "Let’s say an institution invests its $50 million endowment, and the spending policy allows the institution to spend 4 percent of annual earnings. If 8 percent was earned (or $4 million) in a particular year, then $2 million can be spent, and $2 million will be added to the $50 million endowment. As a result, there is $52 million to invest the following year, and if the return is equal to the previous year, then there will be $2,080,000 to spend, and the endowment grows to $54 million, and so on. OK. So now you understand that an endowment of $50 million may only add $2 million to the annual budget. You think, “Hey, $2 million is nothing to sneeze at. I can think of a lot we could do with $2 million.” But one must remember that the original $50 million endowment is made from a bunch of smaller endowments. Most of these smaller endowments have restrictions about what the money can be used to fund. Theoretically, the breakdown could look like this: 50 percent is restricted to scholarships, 25 percent to programmatic support, 15 percent to athletics, 8 percent to specific positions and 2 percent to unrestricted general purposes. In this scenario, that would mean there is only about $40,000 that is unrestricted (can be used for any purpose)." tl;dr - We can't use the endowment to buy out Ford's contract. Your line "so get that out of our heads" is accurate. I hope this helps.

Ford's recruiting recruiting results have not been acceptable since the the Yuri/Jimerson/Hargrove class in 2019. The bad recruiting results actually started before NIL. That said, Ford's recruiting in retrospect has been overrated all along. We all just bought into the hype because as fans we wanted to believe. He only had one great recruiting class. The class with French and Goodwin. Even that class was marred by taking risk with questionable character transfers that almost destroyed the Ford era before it even really got started. The "best recruiter ever at SLU" has actually recruited less talent to SLU over his time period than Grawer, Spoon and Majerus. Just stack up the names they brought into the program and compare them to those Ford did. It really isn't close.

I agree - it looks better on merch and it shows up WAY better on the graphics that are used online, for TV highlights, etc. And just anecdotally, kids seem to like it - I've seen way more kids wearing SLU gear in the last few years.

After last nights game I walked through Champion’s Center, while very nice, it’s just a building. I wondered how in the world did Chris May not prepare for NIL world over building this place? I get a good program can and should do both. But SLU can’t seem to do more than one thing good at a time. How you don’t prioritize NIL esp if you are the AD and attend all those NCAA meetings is beyond me. If anyone thinks just firing Ford and not May is the answer, then get ready for more of what we have now. The guy might be the greatest person in the world, however he is not a serious or strategic/smart AD. It’s almost like he genuinely believed if I build this champions center, people will be so happy and want to just dump money into the program. Backwards and short sighted, which describes Chris May perfectly. Hard to defend keeping him and firing Ford. Kind of like cutting off a leg bc of diabetes but not addressing the person whose lifestyle choices caused the diabetes and just giving him another candy bar and saying it’s not your fault, still have one leg left, we are so lucky!

I just wanted to stop by this thread on the 2023-2024 season to say that I am not enjoying the 2023-2024 season. Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.