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Roster bits: Avila is 99% a Billiken Expect 3-4 of ISU’s starters to be Billiken locks, with potential for more Strong mutual desire for Gibson and Larry to stay and be strong parts of the rotation, with heavy playcalling revolving around Gibson Strong interest in Turnbull (appears mutual) Christian Nitu out of Canada looking very positive

If Josh Schertz is a man of his word, which all signs indicate he is, everyone here will be pleased. Further, there’’s no sense in rooting against this ISU team this week. The more post-season experience this team has, the better.

I was there. About what I expected. Probably 60-70 people in total, wide age range. I'm 28 and was older than ~15% of the room. Schertz accidentally went to the downtown MAC and didn't get to the Des Peres location until about 6. Troy spoke a bit, Chris May spoke a bit, then Schertz took the wheel. Good speech, dude is very funny, then he took a Q&A. Most of the questions were pretty worthless but he did drop a couple of noteworthy things: 1) Last year's ISU team was paid a combined 80k in NIL. Their market value today is as much as 2 mill. 2) One of the recent recruits on campus brought their 12YO sister who made a fat joke towards Schertz - he found it very funny (as did I). 3) Gibby was scheduled for a visit to UConn this coming weekend before recommitting to SLU. We beat the two-time reigning national champion out for a transfer portal player, and arguably more importantly the two-time reigning national champion was interested in our shooting guard. Think about that next time anyone wants to talk down on Gibby. 4) Coach is still VERY confident that we get commitments from RA and IS this week. I'm very confident that those commitments will open the floodgates. 5) I asked coach 1 on 1 afterwards what he thought of the Billiken vs. "Team Blue" and it sounds like we can finally but that bullshite boring @$$ moniker to rest. 6) Charlie Gitto's is his favorite restaurant so far. Had it during the MVC tournament.

Tomorrow

Pictured: a legend, and also LeBron James

We need whatever Coach Schertz thinks we need.

Jesus Christ. It's an event at MAC West. Quit complaining about everything, grab your checkbook and f'ing go. I bet they let you in and take your money. It's not rocket science.

From Trilly: Indiana State Transfers Avila and Swope are locked in to go with Schertz Kent more than likely going Waiting for more info on Larry Conwell has the biggest market and will likely test it before deciding

He got the start which was awesome! I wasn't there but this 10 year old had a blast!

I agree. A few weeks back , I responded to the question ...How would ISU do in the A-10? (and conversely , how would SLU do in the MVC). In the simulations, it showed SLU finishing 2nd to Day. In those simulations where we played Day twice, we split with Day and tied for the conference championship. (and SLU finished 2nd from the bottom in the MVC) To the uncertainty question, there is always uncertainty BUT there are 2 things that are clear...Successful coaches have 2 qualities...they win games and they have a system. That is Schertz. Will we get 1 ISU player or 5? It doesn't matter. This was the guy that recruited and put "the five" together. Whatever he brings over, he will be able to fill in the pieces and make it work. With better facilities , more NIL money and a higher profile, he should be able to make it work even better. And yes... there are no guarantees. In Schertz's first season, where he truly started from scratch, he was 11-20. For the fans, that didn't throw in the towel, he rallied the next year with a 23-13 record. And finally for the ..."yeah but" fans he finished this year at 32-7. Of course, to those who say this is different...this is SLU....all we have to do is look back a decade and remember the hiring of HOF Coach Majerus...a coach who had never had a losing season. First season...12-19. Of course the naysayers were there with the..."I told you so". I remember early in the next season the computer started flashing red(as in big change) and I posted the highly controversial statement...we are a top 20 team. The naysayers said that I was way off...80 or 90 at best. And as the season went on the doubters would bend a little and say 60 or maybe 50 and when we finally made it 20 and below those posters disappeared (as they always do). I am sure that if we hired UConn Coach Hurley, there would be posters that would say....so he has back to back National Championships... "yeah but" can he win in the A-10. Bottom line...Doubters gonna doubt. Winners gonna win. Schertz is a winner....and he is gonna win.

I choose my wife because she has a nice rack. It’s worked out so far. I do know one thing, if I turned down a job paying 2.5 million for a job paying 800,000 I’d have to find a new wife.

Trilly just gave an Avila prediction.. Trilly Donovan — Today at 7:49 PM COMMITMENT PREDICTION: Robbie Avila @Portal

Mike “fan” is Billikenbooster.

I love 6’11 guys who can run, shoot, and pass. We are so back. (I saw the posts in the recruiting thread but Commits get their own thread, let’s not get lazy)

Can you'll just stop. Do you all not see this isn't the thread for this sh!t. Both sides are equally annoying and it is old now. Everyone just move on. It really is pathetic behavior from all sides. Grow up!!

Just signed up for Trilly's Discord. Trying to figure out WTF Discord is and how to navigate it has single handedly made me feel @billiken_roy levels old... We are so incredibly lucky Steve has made this website so easy to navigate and use!

For today let's forget our hatred of the Dayton Flyers and their fans and instead mourn the loss of their greatest coach, Don Donoher. Donoher was a 3 year letter winner for Dayton Basketball in the early 50s. He is the all time winningest Dayton HC with 437 wins. His 67 team lost to UCLA in the National title game. He went to 2 elite eights, 5 Sweet Sixteens, 9 NCAA tournaments & seven trips to the NIT. His record in the Arch Baron Cup 1-0 as a player. 6-6 as a coach. Donoher was a mentor to a generation of midwestern coaches and has a prolific coaching tree. He was a mentor and dear friend to Rick Majerus and his advice was instrumental in Coach Majerus coming to Saint Louis.

Roll bills

This reply by WestPineBills made me LOL. I'm imagining Mr. Murkens at Pappy's. Of course he's clad in his polo shirt with too many buttons undone and no undershirt, gold necklace resting across the top of white tufts of chest hair that no one wants to see, and his signature St Louis Cardinals cowboy hat sits askance on his head. He strolls up to the counter with the self-assuredness that only a Boomer can have. "I'll take a full slab of ribs, bean, and slaw" Tony boasts. "Sure. Anything else?" inquires an unknowing Pappy's employee. "What's the latest on the Billiken's coaching search?" "..." "..." "Uh...I...I don't know what you're talking about. Your total is $31.09." "Did Fred Pestello put you up this this? You know Yuri Collings should've gone to Texas. No heart." "..." Both parties glance down to see Frank Cusamano stroll over. "Tony! How you doing! Let's talk about Blake Ahern!" -scene-

No way I'm clicking on this.

I feel like there is maybe a little creative over-emphasizing on the uncertainty he had regarding SLU at the beginning and the value that he got out of him and May talking every day for the next few weeks. It's a smart thing to do because it makes him look like there was a larger chance he was going back to ISU and it makes Chris May look good. It's a win/win for him to cast it this way and all coaches are good salesmen. I'm more inclined to believe that when Trilly and all the national media guys said it was close to a done deal shortly after they didn't make the dance, it was really done at that point.

With last night's performance, Jordan Goodwin passed Willie Reed on the SLU alumni NBA all-time scoring list...a rather short list but an interesting one nonetheless Ed Macauley 11234 Larry Hughes 10242 Bob Ferry 5780 Anthony Bonner 5594 Jordan Goodwin 767 Willie Reed 751 Bevo Nordmann 571 Robin Jones 370 Barry Orms 181 Marv Schatzman 115 Rich Nieman 113 DC Wilcutt 77 David Burns 23 NOTE: these are strictly NBA regular season numbers, no playoffs, no ABA, no BAA

Goodwin another monster game tonight vs the Lakers. 23 points, 17 rebounds, 4 steals Pay The Man

Does this mean Ahearn didn’t get the gig?

It depends. Frank is very tight with Corey Tate and has been a very good source of recruiting news - often breaking it. If Tate is no longer in the picture, who knows if he'll be able to develop other good sources. The Ahearn stuff is silly, but it's really more editorializing on his radio show, rather than providing "news." He's probably connected with the Ahearn family and got wrapped up in that nonsense. He is a media member who actually gives SLU a lot of coverage and catches a lot of crap from fans of other teams for giving us too much coverage. I expect he'll provide a lot of positive coverage on the Schertz hire.

Sounds like Ahearn is the guy. 23 year contract, $7.2M per year. $1M per year NIL and $2M per year to DeSmet endowment. This per my group chat and people I go to away games with and 7 figure boosters.

Fwiw Trilly insists both sides continue to affirm SLU/Schertz

This might be helpful as things are changing every day or so. Here are the players we have to this point: Gibson Jimerson 6’5” Sr, 215, Guard Wing, 36 Min, 16 Pts, 2.9 RB, 3Pt% 36, FT% 86 Billikens Robbie Avila 6’10”240 Jr, Center, 31 Min, 17 Pts, 7 RB, 3Pt% 39m FT% 81 Indiana State Isaiah Swope 5’10” 170, SR, Guard, 33 Min, 16 Pts, 3 RB, 3Pt% 36, FT% 74 Indiana State Larry Hughes II 6’4” 185 Jr, Guard, 23 Min, 7 Pts, 2.7 RB, 3 Pt% 35, FT% 77 Billikens Kellen Thames 6’5” 205, SO, Guard, 19 Min, 6 Pts, 3.7 RB, 3 Pt% 36, FT% 55 Billikens Josiah Dotzler 6’3” 185, SO, Guard, 4Min, 1 Pts, 0 RB, 3Pt% 18, FT% 60, Creighton Freshman: Max Pikaar 6’11” 205, FR, Power Forward, Double/Double, 3Pt% 40, FT% ? Netherlands - Sunrise Christian Acaademy (Kansas) Amari McCottry 6’6” 180, FR, Guard Wing, 22 Pts, 9 RB, St. Thomas More, 247 3*

Let’s get this Tuesday started off right. Former top 100 recruit, Whitney Young in Chicago grad.

colleges should always be in the business of education first and foremost. they have no business running a professional sports franchise and giving the athletes (notice i didnt say student athletes) money with no emphisis on education. if the athletes want to play their sport for a career, fine go to a minor league otherwise get in the classroom and earn a diploma.

I stated elsewhere that hiring Corey Tate was the best decision Coach Ford made during his tenure. Tate has good relationships with the top local high school players and top juco players in the region. I'm pleased that Coach Schertz recognized his value and retained him.

The end of team blue is better than any recruit

Why are you comparing us to Indiana State? We were paying our coach more than they spent on their entire basketball program. We are not the same. Our soon to be all-time leading scorer is going to start his SIXTH year in a row at SLU. He isn't playing for free. We kept the nation's leader in assists on our roster for four years - he wasn't playing for free either. We won't keep everyone, but no one is keeping everyone. College sports are different now, but we're a lot higher on the totem pole (and spend like it) than some people are making it seem

A few thoughts on ISU and the internet: - I haven't gone over to the ISU message boards. I'm sure some of it has been nasty but it's to be expected. - Fan bases don't speak as one unified voice and definitionally anyone that posts a lot on a message board is going to be an outlier. Taken further, if all you do is read the loudest, most obnoxious voices in a group that is already loud an obnoxious (i.e. internet posters) you are going to get a bad view of that fanbase/group. - I've seen a lot of people on this board and twitter over the past few weeks say something along the lines "I/we won't react poorly if this happens to us in a few years because it means we will have had a great couple of years." I think that's complete B.S. If the same thing was happening to us that is happening to them, people would be naturally pissed and it only takes 5% of the posters to make an entire fanbase look crazy. Is Billikens.com and Billiken twitter really so unified in thought that 5% of this board couldn't make us look stupid and unreasonable???

The good doctor has weighed in. We’re so lucky to have him and other boosters SLU as benefactors!

You are right ...computers use past data to make forecasts. And people tend to do the same things over and over hoping for different results. After awhile the changes become predictable too....Let's keep the weave going a little longer and see if we can generate some more offense. As the computer gathers more data on players and coaches, games become more predictable. Once I have 8 games under my belt, I can start to zero in on outcomes. As for the "people" part, that will become less important as Artificial Intelligence reaches singularity and the machines become smarter than us. Machines may be the Coaches of the future. But even before that happens , AI will take over the message boards. There will be an AI Old Guy. It will study the thought patterns and writing style of Old Guy and then produce OG posts ...nonstop... causing all AI MBMs to put AI OG on ignore. Of course, there could be an AI Wiz ...or has that already happened.....HAL is that you??

HE'S still typing

Another coach that has a body resemblance to the Billiken, the last 2 (Spoon, Majerus) did well. We’re so back!

Best day for SLU athletics in the last 10 years by far! Congrats ladies!

Is it too soon for Tillet to give Schertz sh*t for NOT winning the NIT?

Well?? We're waiting!! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

https://sycamorepride.com/threads/lebro-hcjs-the-decision-saint-louis-or-run-it-back.45870/page-50#post-377859 Open message to Sycamore fans...... I am still rooting for the Sycamores tonight. You need to enjoy the ride and appreciate that Schertz will be leaving the program much better than he found it. If it wasn't us, it would be someone else. I expect in a few years we will be experiencing what it is happening to your program right now. Good luck tonight and stay classy.

SLU reached out to Chris Mack and we were rebuffed. Vanderbilt was also told no. Mack wants a low pressure gig where he can win. He wasn't looking for a high major team or a team that wants to be high major. Floyd and Tony despise SLU. It would be a shame if we missed out on a lot of players that come out of the V except none really do. Irons prepares his teams to win at the HS level. Once they leave Vashon they all flame out. Any present and future SLU coaches should just stay away. Floyd went on several local media campaigns. After Melvin left SLU he did an interview with Irons on Sports Plus explaining his side of the story, assault charges, taking cash to play, etc etc. The one with McKinney's father was with the player Romar recruited that was ineligible, that Irons convinced to play on his semi pro team instead of sitting out a year and playing in college and then got shot shortly thereafter ending his career. There was also a big media campaign to get Joel Shelton to get an offer from SLU, if you get a second read up on Shelton fascinating story. It eats at Floyd and Tony that Bonner is the best player to come out of Vashon and the credit for his development, rightfully so, goes to Grawer. In the 40 years since with all their great teams they haven't produced a player even close to him.