Leaderboard

This is in reference to the April national recruiting rankings update: https://x.com/sluwsoccer/status/1922320937279779295?s=46 26 of the top 30 are P4 programs. 33 of the top 40 are P4 programs. Non P4 programs include: Big East 2, Ivy 2, WCC 2, A10 1. For reference, roughly half of the top 100 programs are P4. The 2025 SLU class has 11 players. The 2026 class has 6 commits so far. SLU is currently at the proposed 28 roster limit for 2025. (Men’s team is 1 over). Roster limits are expected to happen but to be phased in over time. There will be some slight movement after the Spring portal. Rankings include incoming Freshmen, and, incoming transfers of the same year. Recruiting rankings are a sales and marketing tool for programs. They are not an exact science. It has taken several years for SLU to get to this level. And there is plenty of growth opportunity to improve. SLU won a lot of games over the years with very few nationally ranked players. None of SLU’s recent All American players were nationally ranked recruits. But in order to be successful long term, recruiting has to continue to improve and evolve. It can’t only be about landing good but under the radar players, develop and retain. Winning a lot of games over time also helps future rankings. This is another thing for SLU to sell. Recruiting is local, regional, national, international. The level of target and the level of commit continues to improve. Recruiting is extremely competitive. SLU recruits against the best programs nationally for players. They win some. They lose some. SLU’s goal is to win the national title. This is despite being at a resource disadvantage vs some others trying to do the same. SLU will not be building a roster through the portal any time soon. And they will not be International player heavy. But those are additional growth categories where others are ahead of SLU as programs. You have to at least dabble and be competitive for complementary player pieces. Another example: SLU has yet to incorporate international trips as a program, something common with its competitors. Plenty of things to add. Example: National power Penn State, whom SLU will face for the 3rd straight season, has a program budget roughly 5 times larger than SLU. In order to be successful. SLU had to do a lot more with less resources. As success has arrived, resources have improved, and, resources have become more competitive. But the above example explains the current distance between even some top 25 level programs. The key take away is that in order to be successful, SLU had to do more with less first, or we wouldn’t be here. Now the opportunity is there to take the next step as long as the support level continues, and increases. The 2027 grind begins next month. SLU has roughly 125 targets. That will get narrowed down to one third of the more serious targets. And, roughly a third of that will be commits. (The 2027 grind actually began years ago at club games, high school games. showcases, tourneys across the country) *as always, disclaimer that I am a consultant with Top Drawer Soccer

I spoke with him at the Billiken Golf Classic. He told me that he is done with basketball, despite the fact that he would definitely have opportunities if he want to keep playing. He plans on staying in the St. Louis area and its interviewing with companies now.

It was a shot at SLU. Journalists do this all the time. They will use someone else's words to convey a message that the journalist wants to make so that they can say that were just reporting facts. This was an article about a new business going into a building and the writer of the article interjected someone else's quote to make the point the writer wanted to make. Whether we agree or disagree about the sentiment, or not, it was an intentional shot at SLU by the writer.

I was kind of surprised he didn't get an invite to one of the upperclassmen pre draft camps like Portsmouth.

A lot was made about SLU's initial plans to demo the buildings a couple of years ago. It's certainly germane to this story.

Bring back Bullfeathers!

That is great news about the burger bar, though I see no reason why the author needed to take a shot at SLU. The University should not be in the business of preserving historic buildings.

New sports bar/burger joint concept coming to the old Dante's/Firehouse space on Olive, a short walk from Chaifetz: https://www.stlmag.com/news/the-key-burger-bar-boogie-midtown/

We most certainly do not!

This is the content I open this thread for!!! Now we need a Grandy Glaze update!