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So I was able to attend practice today and wanted to share what I saw and heard from the coaches, staff, and players... First, as noted in some other threads, Welmer and Hankton spent practice icing their feet. Hankton is apparently alright and could potentially play on Saturday. Coach seemed more optimistic on Welmer than Stu's phrasing would imply. Ford also said he's been one of the best players in practice, so hopefully this really is a short-term setback and not a relapse. Jacobs hung out in street clothes - the highlight of his practice was standing under the hoop and 'rebounding' for Phil Forte as the latter made like 8-10 consecutive threes. Gordon was out sick today as well, but that was sort of brushed off. Ran a lot of 4v4 drills, although I don't know if that was because we only had eight healthy scholarship players, or if that is the norm. Due to who all was missing, Bess played the 4 pretty much the whole time and coach alluded to the fact that some of the guys are playing in spots they haven't practiced in ever before. So, caveats out of the way, here's what I saw: Goodwin was the vocal leader out there and ran the point for whichever group he was a part of. His outside shot looked improved and he shot it with confidence. Got out in transition well, and seemed fine playing with his new mask on. Nothing crazy to report here, although the outside shot could be a major addition. French looked like a beast. He really stands out physically, especially with Gordon not there. He'll be more of the same from last year, and he passed really well out of the post which should be a nice way to combat double teams this year. A lot of the guys who were spectating with me commented on how impressive he looked. Bess was a bit outside his comfort zone playing out of position, but he also looked more confident and smooth from deep. Hopefully this is borne out in games, but we shall see. He was also a leader out there and has respect from all of the other players and even the coaches. Everyone on the team calls him JB btw. Foreman looked like himself, aggressively cutting to the basket and finishing strong. He has a lot of enthusiasm and dove on the floor several times, tried to draw some tough charges. His energy is a plus for this group. Isabell is going to be fun. He made several of those old-man moves, but also can stop on a dime and lose his man. Shot very well, too. He can make things happen, and I'd be surprised if he didn't start. Still trying to figure out what coach wants from him at times, but ideally he can find a way to both fit-in and stand-out. Wiley really has a quick release and made the majority (yes, >50%) of his threes. Still getting up to speed, but Van Macon encouraged him quite a bit and he looked like a contributor. His shot does seem to lack rotation, but otherwise he has flawless form. Ingvi kept pace with the rest of the guys and even had a nice move to beat Isabell off the dribble in one of the drills (after Isabell was kind of bullying him earlier). His shot is a bit flat, but he still hit a good percentage. He'll be fine if we need him to play minutes this year. Thatch was the guy who caught everyone's eye. He played with the most intensity on the floor, and frequently picked off lazy 'practice passes' on defense. He also really hit the boards hard and his ups garnered a few wows. His stroke from deep was effortless and accurate. Someone asked if he was a starter and I said he probably wouldn't be a starter right away, to which they replied, "Well, he sure is trying to be!" He'll be a fun one to watch develop all season and across four years. All in all, it was really cool to watch practice, and afterwards all of the guys came over to say hi and were quite nice. Chris May and the coaching staff were also really kind and generous with their time, and excited about the team. If you have any questions, I'll answer as best I can. Looking forward to Saturday even more than I had been!

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

There aren't many NBA fans on the site so I figured I'd write something up about the Wizards and Goodwin's chances of making the NBA Goodwin signed an exhibit 10 contract with the Washington Wizards. What is an Exhibit 10 Contract? An Exhibit 10 contract is a one year non guaranteed minimum contract which gives an NBA team 2 options. They can turn the contract into a 2 way contract, or they can release the player but designate him an affiliate player for their G league team. The player would be then awarded a bonus up to 50k if he stays with the G League affiliate for 60 days. So an Exhibit 10 contract allows teams to build their G League teams and entice players to stay in the G league with bonus money instead of going overseas for a higher salary. Salary in the G League is about 26k, so a 50k bonus is pretty lucrative to a player who doesn’t want to go overseas. What is a 2 Way Contract? Teams can have 2 players on their roster signed to 2 way contracts, and are granted extra roster spots for them, so a team can have 17 roster positions instead of 15. Player on 2 way contracts receive 75k per year while on the G League roster and can spend up to 45 days a season with an NBA team. While with the NBA team the player is paid the NBA minimum salary by the day, so if the player spends the max amount with an NBA team they can make around 200k per year. While not an ideal situation for all athletes this is the next step for players on an Exhibit 10 Contract. Wizards Roster Composition PG Aaron Holiday SG Brad Beal SF Kyle Kuzma PF Rui Hachimura C Thomas Bryant Bench SG/SF Kentavius Caldwell Pope SF Davis Bertans C Montrezl Harrell SF Deni Avidja SG/SF Corey Kispert SF Chandler Hutchison PF/C Daniel Gafford PF Anthony Gill SG Caleb Homesly PF Isaiah Todd Free Agents Robin Lopez, C UFA Ish Smith, PG: UFA Raul Neto, PG: UFA Alex Len, C UFA Isaac Bonga, SF: RFA Cassius Winston, PG: RFA 2 Way Player Garrison Mathews, SG: RFA 2 Way Player Roster Outlook The Wizards roster is very much in flux. Their plans obviously center around Beal. Question remains if he will he stay with the team. So they are trying to gain more payroll flexibility, while acquiring more tradable assets, and preparing to possibly acquire another star piece to pair with Beal or dismantle the whole team if Beal chooses to leave. There are many trade scenarios out right now involving the Wizards, acquiring among others Pascal Siakam, Spencer Dinwiddie, or even Damian Lillard. They have plenty of options to trade, Harrell, Pope, Bryant & Hutchison are all on expiring deals. They have a logjam of similar players at the wing and the 4. Bertans has a large contract and will be expendable with Avidija & now Kispert at the wings. Kuzma could also be a trade piece as the Wizards will be hard pressed to play both he and Hachimura at the same time, even in a small ball lineup. Hutchison’s role on the roster seems in doubt since they have drafted players at his positions in the first round the last 2 seasons. Of their UFAs only Raul Neto & Alex Len really played well for them last year. They are somewhat thin at C so resigning Len at a minimum price might be a good idea but he has probably played his way into a multi year deal. Neto has a ceiling as a backup PG and the Wizards have a need for depth there as well but really need a starting PG. THeir restricted FAs only Garrison Matthews is possibility for a resign. He’s a sharpshooting wing who the Wizards have developed as an undrafted FA the past two seasons. Winston and Bonga were underwhelming last season and will most likely be let go. Their other 2 way player, Caleb Homsely never made it to Wizards last year and faces a logjam of players at his position on the roster. The Wizards glaring deficiencies are rebounding and defense. Their roster is now filled with wings & small ball 4s and 5s. Of their new additions I would only expect Pope to stay, because he is now their strongest perimeter defender by far. The other will be moved to acquire a starting PG, and a rebounder who can space the floor. So Holiday, Beal, Hachimura, Bryant, Pope, Avidja, Kispert and Gafford are now the core of the team with the remaining roster being expendable or deep bench players. Goodwin’s Fit While I have doubted Goodwin’s ability to make an NBA roster, his agent has made all the right moves thus far and put him in about the best position he could be in signing with the Wizards. The Wizards have no PG depth, so Goodwin will get plenty of reps as a ballhandler in Summer League and training camp. While the Wizards have tons of wings, they all play the same. Good to great 3 point shooters who play little defense and can be secondary ballhandlers. As a wing Goodwin fills an entirely different role as a defender and rebounder who never needs the ball in his hands. Finally Goodwin’s two best assets, rebounding and defense, are what the Wizards sorely lack. Even their bigs can’t rebound well. Hachimura is more of a combo forward, Bryant is soft on the boards and Gafford is more of an athletic shot blocking big who gets outmuscled at the rim. Goodwin has a couple other huge things going for him. Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard has shown he gives opportunities to undrafted FAs and will readily shake up his roster during the season so even if Goodwin doesn’t make the team out of training camp he may get a shot down the road. Also it doesn’t look like any of the 2 way players will be returning so Goodwin, Isaiah Todd, Jay Huff will be competing for those spots against no returners. You can’t discount the relationship he has with the Wizards star Brad Beal either. New Head coach Wes Unseld Jr not only has already professed to being a defense first coach but also has a SLU connection, he is Earl Austin Jr’s cousin. It looks like Goodwin is all in on his NBA dream and won’t consider overseas for awhile. I predict he earns a 2 way contract with the Wizards and will make his NBA debut sometime this season on a rebuilding Wizard’s squad.

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.

No team EARNED THEIR WAY here more than you. You paid the iron price. Action must be taken- we don't need the key, we'll break in! You guys are the face of SLU. You are Team Blue. Make us proud. 4 games in 4 days. Gotdamn CHECK. 2 games in 3 days, no problem. To win: Defend and Rebound. LETTT'S GOOOOOO!!!!

My 6 year old son, who may be slightly Billiken obsessed and holds Javon Bess in the same regard as Michael Jordan, got a picture with Javon last season. We got it blown up and printed out. Yesterday afternoon I sent Michael Wilson a message asking if I could get the picture to them and have Javon sign it for my son. Not only did he immediately respond in the affirmative, but he says to drop by today at 10. I show up and Michael says Javon is downstairs and can just sign it now. Needless to say this will be a Dad present... sorry Santa. I've won Christmas. I freaking love this team and the staff. #TeamBlue Forever!

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.

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 want to let everyone know that for the second year the billiken staff were very gracious host to my son. He is a First Class petty officer stationed in Norfolk, Va and a lifelong billiken fan. He rarely gets to a game, but he got to attend practice last night and was given premium seating for the game. I cant say enough good things about the billiken staff. Then a win on the road cant be better than that

This will be unpopular and frowned upon but like I’m done with this Yuri insanity. He’s completely scuffed his Billiken legacy. The numbers are great and all but he d*cked around the program last spring essentially holding it hostage for NIL money allowing this B*g G*ard d0ucher to be his business manager, or so it appears. He withdraws from the portal as if he never planned on exploring other options, BS. He comes back, and can’t lead this team to the tournament(you wanna blame Ford too, fine but we played our best game at GW without Yuri. Mid season his “manager” goes after Rich Chaifetz on Twitter saying that they haven’t paid him the NIL that was promised, which is a complete lie. This behavior continued throughout the season with BG continuously saying SLU was shorting Yuri on $$. Then he enters the draft saying he wouldn’t want to wear any other jersey in college, now he’s apparently going to enter the portal again, and wear another jersey. Numbers are great, he’s a great passer, incredibly fun to watch. But man I have trouble believing anything the dude says. Players asked to be paid, asked for NIL, well now you get the criticism for acting a fool. When you were just on scholarship, fine you don’t get the heavy criticism. However you start bringing cash into the equation, now you’re a full blown adult pro worthy of whatever scrutiny comes your way.

Rammer and Coach tonight on 101.1: First summer coming up that June is a recruiting month due to the new NCAA rules. Coach would like some mandatory time off for staffs (he doesn't like this new June recruiting rule). Going forward he wants to concentrate more on high school players. He had to get transfers and GT's to fill in immediate needs in these first three years. On non-conference schedule, 'we did okay'. Said SIUC was the worst games they have played this year. Said that some of the OOC opponents haven't played as well as they anticipated. Doesn't like the ratings systems as the systems aren't consistent. He doesn't like the NET system in particular and doesn't understand it. Two road wins saw the team drop from lower 60's to upper 60's. The offensive and defensive efficiency rates are influenced by whom you play. But he likes the 14-4 record, and would have taken it in a heartbeat if offered during pre-season. Coach said they are looking at a 3 game tourney next year, with maybe one at home. Ford talking to Joe Lunardi after the STJ game, Joe said SLU is one of the few A10 teams that could get an At Large. Joe said we need to play a tougher schedule. Coach said playing tourney's where the North Alabama's are part of the tourney (and therefore required games), should be taken into account and consider them differently than a scheduled buy game. (Very good point.) Coach really likes Jordan's play at PG. Likes the pace he brings. Asked about the change from Isabell, Coach said a lot of thought was put into it preseason. Goodwin had his triple double as shooting guard last year. Coach thought it would remove some pressure on Goodwin if he didn't have to run the team. Then at Christmas he changed, felt Tremaine had too much pressure on the ball. It was a lot to ask Tremaine. Both guys have accepted their new roles. Since the change, the ball moves better. Assists are up for both. Not sure how long Jacobs will be out. (Might play Wednesday....Coach isn't sure of his status.) Jacobs is the backup point when he returns but will use Isabell as needed. Terrance Hargrove is at every game he can get to. "He feels he is already a Billiken." He is extremely vocal in the stands. Coach always tells his shooters to shoot. He very seldom will take a player out due to a bad shot. Never seen a 23-0 run before. Complements for Isabell's save of the ball tipping it to Goodwin. Coach gave Earl Austin some static "I'm glad Earl saw that play. I was afraid he might be doing another EarlTimeUpdate'" Wiley's injuries have been strange. He said Dion has remained very positive through his downtime. Shows his experience in the locker room. He has no agenda. Great knowledge of the game and guys listen to him. Wiley's legs are coming back. Coach was surprised about how good he is defensively. He's not going to guard the opponents best player, but he does all the right things on defense. All five league games opponents have played 90% zone in order to stop French, and none of the teams are 'zone teams'. Dion will make them re-think the zone. Team took Saturday and Sunday off due to the heavy schedule they have been on. Today they looked at the film of STJ game. Thought the ball movement was pretty good with the ball not 'getting stuck'. This lead to the open three's for Wiley and Bess. Recruiting - Rammer met Hargrove at a summer camp, and says he is a great person. He is 'a freak', a great athlete. He can handle the ball and shoot. He can play multiple positions. Collins - a true point guard. Plays with a lot of energy and bounce. Great vision. A point guard like we haven't had. Game comes easy to him. Perkins - Top 5 JUCO in country. He plays all 5 position at SWIIC. Can hit from everyplace on the floor. Great FT shooter. Excited to be a Billiken just like Hargrove. Jimmerson - we got very fortunate getting him. Coach saw him while he was watching another player. Great size for a shooter. Gibson had 25 yesterday at a big tourney in Springfield MA. Someone on the staff was there. Rammer "are we getting any big guys?' Coach, yes it is high on our priority. We have a good list of big guys we are recruiting. Duquesne is a tough place to play. Told the team they are the surprise team of the league so far. Maybe the best freshman in the league, PG Carry. One of the top steal teams in the country. They have a big that scores inside. Had back to back road wins, so they are coming home with a lot of confidence. Trying to manage the injuries. KC is getting better day by day. No word if he will play Wed.

Board founder David Narkiewicz has been named General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer for Nestle Purina. Just hope that doesn’t interfere with his real job as board moderator.

Once a year would it kill you to wear the shirt that gives the game more atmosphere? i know some of you think to wear blue at a game is just not good. but tonight you dont even have to wear blue. just put on the damn shirt that SLU is gifting you. come on make chaifetz a sea of white. the effect is marvelous and you can be a part of it.

I talked to Fred and he said he was cramping at the end of practice--which went for 2+ hours from 3:30 until about 5:45--and he said the trainers wanted him to rest and get fluids because the next practice was the following morning. I was able to attend that practice, the first official one of the year, and for those of you who are concerned about our defense based on the Billiken Maddness scrimmage I can assure you that nothing in that scrimmage was real. In the practice they went hard for 2 hours working ferociously on various defensive plays and set ups. Everyone was playing hard and the coach was on them if they made a mistake in footwork or effort. Overall, they looked like they can play hard for 40 minutes of defense with the depth they have. In several recent practices that I attended the team has been shooting better than I have seen in years. JImerson leads the way--the best freshman shooter I have ever seen on the Billikens in practice- but Jacobs has been hot from the 3 as has KC Hankton. Weaver has a nice stroke as does Perkins and Fred has looked good as well.Yuri can get hot but his strength is his ability to drive and score or drive and dish--he is a very clever passer. When they do scrimmage full court--a very rare occurrence so far--they are attempting to fast break on almost every play and we have some players who can fly down the court. The most surprising player on the break might be Jimerson because he can flare out and hit threes like no one we have had in years. Obviously, Yuri in perfect for that style but JGood has actually been playing very well on the break and at times he will take it in over all of the bigs and score like Jordair Jett used to do and Fred and Jacobs are high fliers who can score over defenders as well. And all of our bigs have been told to run hard and try to beat opposing bigs down the court. Hasan is fast and tough and can finish. Bell and Diarra are working hard and may surprise some folks. Clearly, the best 3 on the team are JGood, Fred and Hasan but then it becomes an interesting dynamic in terms of playing time. Jimerson shoots so well it may be hard to keep him off the court. Yuri and Weaver are very good point guards with Yuri as the better passer and Weaver slightly ahead on defense. Bell is big and tough and will help in the middle, particularly against big teams where Hasan will be needed at the 4 spot. Jacobs at times looks like one of the better players on the floor and he has a nice touch from 3. Hankton is bigger and stronger and he is also shooting well from 3. Perkins is smooth and clever on offense. He will be taking a crash course in practice on the defensive end. I think it is impossible for any of us to conclude who will play a certain amount of minutes past the Big 3--but the competition is fierce and that should make us a better team by January after a tough non con schedule.

Season 2 of the Midtown Madness has more or less come to an end. As we enter the Summer Peter and I would like to first thank @SluSignGuyfor allowing us to pimp our show on this platform and being incredibly supportive of our show and content. Second, this would not be possible without the posters, readers and lurkers of this message board. Billiken Twitter is growing by the day but this is still the major gathering place for die-hard Billiken fans and I would assume ground zero of our listener base. We would probably put out Billiken content regardless of how many listens or views we get, but not only does it make it easier on the psyche to know people appreciate your work but also it helps us attract financial support of sponsor(s) and isn't donated by listeners. Barring a magical decade run of multiple final fours, I don't think our show will ever be a source of steady income to either of us but running it in the black is a lot more sustainable than the red. Looking back to the past of the "relationship" Peter and I have had over the last 18+ years, I still have to stop and laugh that he's become my podcast partner and one of my closest friends. He has brought so much more to this little show than he gives himself credit for from his obsessive research of recruiting, to his knowledge of CBB from the inside out, general knowledge of the game, an incredibly patient on air sounding board board for my dumb references, humor and most importantly being able to reign me in on air and social media. @slufan13, I love you but I don't think you and I together would be having this much success. This next season has the potential to be one of the biggest in Billiken history and by virtue of the fact that we do better numbers when the Billikens are putting up Ws I cannot wait to see if our little show can ride that wave to a wider audience. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US YOU MESSAGE BOARD MORONS. Personal and shameless section: I will always be 126% committed(inside joke of sorts) to this show as long as I have 90 minutes a week to devote to recording, but I can't overlook that I'm decent at talking on audio/video and would love to at least explore the possibility of a long term transition into more media with broader audiences as a career. So if anyone has any connections within St. Louis media I would absolutely appreciate linking me with them. Finally, I would be dumb not to at least post our social links to this (DMs are always open, welcome and appreciated): https://twitter.com/MidtownMadPod https://www.instagram.com/midtownmadpod/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjKU0PHmMCH70XutSS9NUAA Please drop us an Apple Review https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/midtown-madness-podcast/id1552953967 https://open.spotify.com/show/1p2II1i9LLMcyysnF9jfkg

Instead of reusing the old thread, I started a new one for 2018-2019 interviews. Today Mike Kelly (yes the Mizzou play by play man) interviewed Coach Ford on KMOX. It may have been the best interview I have heard in some time. Really good questions by Mike Kelly and Coach Ford provided some different information. Kelly "Anymore broken backboards" Ford "No just one so far, but I am anticipating more. Now everyone is trying to break one. Once a guy breaks one, eveyone else feels like they need to do it as well." Kelly "As you watch Bess and Gordon, what grabs your attention about them. Ford" Leadership. Bess leads by example. He is not a rah rah guy. Goodwin is more of a rah rah guy. Even French is showing leadership. We expected him too because he saw so many minutes. I told him he is like a junior with his minutes he played last year. And we need all the leaders desperately because we have so many new guys. We have four guys that were in uniform with us last year. We are having to teach so much, and it is unusual for a team with so much expectation that our practices are so slow. We are having to teach everyone all the plays, all the techniques, all the terminology....how we like to feed the post, how we use a screen." Kelly" Goodwin had a terrific assist to turnover ratio" Ford" Yes he had a great season, played a great point, played the two guard in the second half of the season when we moved Roby to point. He understands his strengths and weaknesses and can effect the game in so many ways. He worked hard on his shooting in the off-season and should be a better out side shooter. Kelly" How has Goodwin grown through the adversity he had last season?" Ford "Interesting, he has grown up a lot. He sat back and learned and appreciates the opportunity to play basketball. He's not afraid to talk about it either. You can't live in the past, you can learn from it but you use the past to help you move forward.' Kelly "Isabell, a guy I watched in Missouri, what does he bring to your roster?' Ford " Brings experience and is a proven scorer. For a 5'11" guard he averaged 8 rebounds. We're not going to ask him to do that. I think we have rebounding covered. His points we can use. He can create his own shot. We have to find that combination where he is making his teammates better, where he is playing in the concepts of the offense, to play with other guys. He is so used to controlling the game on his own, and shooting any shot he wants to, he has to find that fine line of finding his shots in the offense. It has been a long time since he has played with good players. It is a two way street. He has to figure these guys out and our players have to figure him out. It is a work in progress. Ford "Isabell has been very coachable. He came here to learn more about being a point guard and become more of a leader and be known as more than a scorer. He has been asked to adapt to what we are doing. It is going to take time. He has missed three weeks with a hamstring and has hurt his wrist. Once he gets healthy, once he gets to watch film, he will be a big difference maker. Kelly "What is the biggest adjustment Gordon will have to make from playing in HS to playing in the A10?" Ford "As with any freshman, the physicality of the game. He won't be able to dominate simply because he is bigger and more physical than his opponent. He and Thatch have played hard every second. He is playing against Foreman, French and Welmer every day in practice, and they are making each other better." Kelly "I think this team has a shot at the NCAA Tourney" Ford "I don't get people picking us first in the league. We only have four returning players. I don't get that. We have a long way to go to be that type of tourney team. Do I think we have the ability to be that time of team. I think we have that. We put together a very difficult OOC, particularly on the road. We will be tested, but maybe it is time to start talking about making the NCAA tourney. We didn't talk about that with the other two teams."

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.

Getting ready to watch from the hospital- baby Ben born yesterday. hospital TV doesn’t have CBSSports but I’m thankful that I can stream YouTube TV from my iPad.

Something that can bring the board together. Let's all wish Mama Hargrove a speedy recovery!!!

Javon Bess is in town for 30 days before he goes to camp with the Pelicans and I had an opportunity to talk to him for a while at practice. He is in great spirits and very excited to have a potential opportunity. He is working out hard and looks to be in great shape. He plays open gym with the guys and he said that Perkins was playing outstanding basketball and can score from almost anywhere on the court. As soon as school starts Perkins can join the team at practice. It is difficult to know how all the distinct new players will mesh but I have been watching early practice for about 40 years and this is the most athletic and potentially best scoring team I have ever seen from top to bottom. With all the leapers we have it will be hugely entertaining! Go Bills!

Haven't we generally had an unwritten rule not to speculate on transfers out? Just out of respect for the players that chose to be here.

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the Fetz Nothing was stirring, not even the nets; The banners were hung from the rafters with care, In hopes that The Wiz would soon be there; The fans were nestled all snug in their seats; With visions of Bills wins, while they munched on their treats. And Mama in her sweatshirt, and I in Bills blue Had just settled in to watch a rebound or two. When on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash And then flung open the door, in a very mad dash The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below; When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,, But a basketball team as quick as reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and all biz, I knew in a moment it must be The Wiz. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled and shouted and called them by name: Now! Goodwin, now! Yuri, now! Has, oh my lord, On! Perkins, on! Jacobs, on! Jimerson, and Ford; To the top of Gate A ! To the top of the wall ! " Now dash away ! Dash away ! Dash away all !" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the arena top the coursers they flew, With a sleigh load of stats and The Wiz too: And then in a twinkling I heard on the floor The bouncing of b-balls making baskets galore. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down Section 103 The Wiz came with a bound: He was dressed all in Bills gear, from his head to his toe, And his clothes were all blue, he was ready to go; A bundle of spreads was flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack: His eyes- how they twinkled ! His dimples: how merry, His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face, and a little round belly That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly: He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know that The Wiz had a spread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And calculated point spreads, ; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose And giving a nod,… BAM …up the concourse he rose. He sprang in the Chaifetz , to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle: But I heard him exclaim, as he shouted out clear-- BILLIKENS WILL WIN, it is better this year. To all that follow the Billiken Biz Merry Christmas to all , best wishes from The Wiz

Tomorrow

My son David was raised on Billiken basketball and we had many great moments going to games. He enlisted in the US Navy and with deployments and other factors we have not seen a game together in many years. He is scheduled for another deployment next month and we decided that we must take this opportunity and see a game. David initially contacted Olivia Vetere asked if she could help make this a memorable experience. She was eager to help and put us in contact with Ford Stuen. Prior to the game we were invited the morning shootaround where we welcome by Coach Tate and Coach Ford. They allowed us to get right on the floor and at the end of practiced David got to shoot some threes. I was most pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the entire staff and the players as they each came and shook our hands. As we were about to leave we were offered a seat upgrade and got to sit behind the bench. I cant thank enough all of the Billiken staff and players for making the day memorable.

Slu has secured both a new Big East and a new ACC opponent for this upcoming season. One to be on a neutral site and one to be a home-and-home.

Former Billikens Pro Updates Dwayne Evans - Ryukyu Golden Kings - Japan B1 League Japanese basketball was able to use the pandemic to upgrade the talent in their league. Japan can now rival most European leagues in talent. Evans continued his ascendance as a top world pro. He led the Kings to the top record in the Western division, as they ended their regular season 40-17 and are now starting the playoffs. Evans led the Kings in scoring with 18 ppg and was 2nd in rebounds with over 8 per game. League wide he finished in the top 20 in both categories. The B1 league has many former NBA vets like Nick Fazekas, James McAdoo & Jordan Hamilton, along with multiple high level euro vets like Rayvonte Rice, Leo Lyons, Deshaun Thomas. Evans recorded season highs of 37 points and 15 rebounds in single games this year. Reggie Agbeko - Agricola Villarrobledo CBV - LEB Silver Reggie continued his 2nd season in the lower minor league in Spain. He played last season for Albacete, this year played in the same province but for Villarrobledo. Villarrobledo is located about 120 miles SE of Madrid. They played a 26 game season with multiple stops and starts. Villarrobledo finished 9th in a 14 team division with a record of 12-14. Agbeko averaged 8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 21 games. He led the team in rebounding and FG% at 65%. Javon Bess - N/A After appearing in 35 games for the Erie BayHawks in 19-20 Bess has not been on any pro rosters. He did make an appearance in the TBT playing for Big X which played in 2 games in the tournament last year. No word on whether he is slated to appear again this season. Jermaine Bishop - Phoenix Hagen - Germany ProA After leaving Norfolk St, Bishop signed with Phoenix Hagen. Hagen is a former Bundesliga squad that was relegated back down to ProA a few years back. Hagen is located in Central West Germany. The Phoenix finished their season in April, finishing 9-17 and 11th out of 14 teams. Bishop was a consistent starter averaging 11 points, 3.5 assists, 3 rebounds, shooting 40% from the field and 36% from 3. Brian Conklin - JSF Nanterre - France-Jeep Elite ProA Conklin is playing in his 4th season in the French ProA league and his 2nd season for Nanterre. Nanterre finished 6-10 in their Eurocup pool, failing to advance. Currently they are sitting in 11th lace at 10-13 on the season in ProA play, 2.5 games out of a playoff spot with 6 games left to play in the season. Conklin has had possibly his worst pro season. He has been spot starting only and playing the fewest minutes of his career. He has averages of 10 points, 4 rebounds while shooting 52% from the field. Cody Ellis - Warwick Senators - Australian State League Ellis is back on the hardwood after the Australian State League resumed play after taking a year off. The ASL season is only a couple weeks old and Warwick sits 3-0 atop the Western division. Ellis has averages of 17 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 23% from 3 and 65% overall. Adonys Henriquez - Ibereolica Renovables Ourense - Spain LEB Gold Henriquez made the move to a higher league this year after playing in Argentina his first two pro seasons. He plays in the 2nd tier of La Liga in Spain, one rung higher than Agbeko does. Some of the foreign leagues with all the stops and starts this year are trying different formats. It appears Ourense is 10-14 overall and competing in a relegated section of their league. Henriquez is their leading scorer at over 11 points a game with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal a game. Tramaine Isabell - KK Dubrava Furnir Zagreb - Croatian Premier League Isabell was well traveled this year but put up good numbers at every stop. He started off in Macedonia but left there after 4 games. He next signed with a team in the Kosovo league which lasted 5 games. He finally caught on with Furnir in Zagreb, Croatia. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia and they have several pro teams in each district in the city. Furnir had a record of 7-26 and finished 11th in a 12 team league. They are currently participating in a relegation playoff to remain in the Premier league. Isabell joined the team for the final 20 games of the regular season. He averaged 18 points, and 6 assists, both good for 3rd overall in the league. Rob Loe - New Zealand Breakers - Australian Basketball League Rob played in Japan’s B league for a portion of the pandemic. He then came back to the Breakers when the season started. The Breakers were playing out of Tasmania to begin the season. Loe nad his wife had their first child in December and the travel constraints caused Loe to leave the team and return to New Zealand. Loe rejoined the Breakers last month. The Breakers are 9-20 with 7 games remaining in the regular season and are out of playoff contention. Loe has been getting back in playing shape since his long layoff and has been coming off the bench to average 6 points, 4 boards, while shooting 35% and 56% from the field. Mike McCall - Cheshire Phoenix - British Basketball League McCall started the year in Luxembourg but only lasted there for 4 games before returning for his 2nd stint in the BBL. Mike was a starter for 22 of 33 games while averaging 13 points and 4 assists. Cheshire lost in the first round of the BBL playoffs, getting swept 2-0 by the London Lions. Kwamain Mitchell - KK Mladost Admiral Zemun - Serbian KLS Kwamain continues his success abroad this time in Serbia. His team, Mladost, finished regular season champions with a 28-2 record and will compete in the playoffs at the end of this month. Mitchell is one of the top all around performers in the league averaging 14 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals while shooting 40% from 3 and 62% overall from the field, Zeke Moore - N/A Zeke managed to play a half season with Pardinyes in the Spanish LEB Silver league before leaving the team in late January. He played in the same league that Agbeko does and did square off against him one time during the season. In 14 games Moore averaged 16 points and 4 rebounds while shooting 40% from the field and 30% from 3. Moore has not signed wit any other teams. Matt Neufeld - Etoile De Sohel - Tunisia ProA First time seeing Neufeld as a pro. Know nothing about this Tunisian league. There are no stats available but they list Neufeld in the starting lineup. His team is in last place in the standings at 0-10. Willie Reed - KK Buducnost - ABA Willie has stuck with an international team for a full season for the first time. Buducnost plays in 3 leagues, a Montenegro league which Reed doesn’t play in, the Eurocup which they have advanced past pool play in, and the ABA which is a collection of the best leagues in the Baltic states. Buducnost is well funded and is known as a top franchise in the Balkans. Reed is currently playing in the ABA finals. His team lost the first game of a best of 3 but Reed performed well with a 26/10 game going 11-15 from the field. For the season Reed is carrying averages of 13 and 6 across the board but he appears to be playing much better lately. Davell Roby - N/A Roby started his 2nd season with BRNO in the Czech Republic but only stayed for 4 games. He is not currently on a pro roster. Ian Vougioukas - Panathinaikos - Greek A1 League, Euroleague Ian is playing in his 13th pro season, rarefied air for anyone. He’s only appeared in 11 games for Panathinaikos this year, averaging 3 points & 2 boards. Panathinaikos is leading the A1 league with a 20-2 record but struggling in Euroleague play at just 11-23.

Review from the interview: Francis Okoro: Coach and the staff knew Okoro from AAU with BBE. He was pumping up their program over and over. He obviously knows it is a very important relationship. He noted how these transfer decisions have really sped up compared to prior years as there are no official visits really going on right now. A lot of the decisions are being made in a matter of days compared to a matter of weeks in the past. He said Okoro's stats are no where near indicative of him as a player. He almost NEVER touched the ball or had any plays as Oregon was primarily a perimeter oriented team. He talked about his competitiveness and that it is on the same level as Goodwin and Yuri's. He will do anything to help the team win and is big time academic and how school is a major factor. Moving forward the plan is for him to sit out next year, but if something were to change they would address it going forward. Andre Lorentsson: He is an elite shooter and will rival Jimerson on Day 1. He handles the ball well, great passer, but is not an inside guy. The game that Ford saw him play in person on the east coast, Lorentsson hit 7 straight 3's in the game on the way to 37 points. Martin Linssen: He is eligible to play immediately. A low post bruising type of player that will provide depth down low. He did speak about potentially redshirting a couple guys, but they'd discuss it more down the road. Obviously Okoro fits in here, not sure who else he'd be talking about potentially? He did mention both Goodwin and French as seniors, so that is a good sign for those of you who are still freaking about them not coming back. The staff supported both of them exploring their options and getting feedback. Obviously with everything going on the process is nowhere near what it would be normally as it's tough to get feedback. Frank asked about potential budget cuts. Coach understands the situation and everyone will do their part. He was very complimentary of Pestello and May throughout this process and their leadership has been amazing.

Was he shooting a free throw?

Start the season with a comfortable win over SEMO after a tight first half, but the board panics about French's free throw shooting. After two blowout wins over Troy and North Alabama, we have a 200 post thread on whether a win over Seton Hall will get us into the top 25. SLU beats Seton Hall and then tops Pitt but we spend our Thanksgiving weekend wondering if any of the freshmen will transfer after not getting a lot of early playing time. The board starts arguing and SLU sneaks out a 1 point win over Central Arkansas. The board is hyped for the big game against Butler and SLU has a performance like they did against Washington and they win big. The athletic dept organizes a bus trip to SIUC and skip gets ejected for telling the ref to blow the whistle. SLU loses a sloppy game and 05 misses the bus home because he wanted another beer. He is stuck in Carbondale. SLU bounces back with a win over Oregon St and then gets a huge road win in Houston to stop the newly created thread titled "Will our tournament resume be good enough?". We get an easy win over NC Central and everyone skips their family Christmas party to watch SLU lose to Florida St. The board panics a bit until Steve puts up the Christmas wreath on the homepage of the site and everyone calms down by predicting an 18-0 conference season. SLU crushes App St to head into A10 play on a solid note. We get a mid-season transfer over Christmas break and we wonder which player will transfer again. A few board members start tracking all flights out of St Louis and into Iceland as they are worried about Thor. A heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss to Rhode Island brings out the true anger in Billiken fans, but they all turn their anger on brownindians annual appearance to remind us when we are going to Olean. Wins over UMass, La Salle, and Fordham cheer us all up and the team blows out St Joes on a Friday night on ESPN. Somebody then creates a thread pointing out that we haven't seen 05 since he got left in Carbondale. Everyone is too happy about the big win over St Joes to create a search party. After beating Duquesne and Davidson, glorydays asks if anyone still believes Grady is better than Isabell or Goodwin. We all say yes. SLU beats Richmond and gets a big road win before beating Dayton at home. The old fans ask why the game is at 8 pm on a school night. SLU loses to St Joes and then beats GW by 1 and we all wonder again if we can make the tournament. SLU beats La Salle but loses to Dayton sending the board into chaos before the VCU game. SLU wins that game and beats an overrated, underachieving George Mason. SLU tops Duquesne and beats Bona to finish the regular season. SLU heads to the A10 tourney as the top seed but all the experts say we're overrated. SLU loses in the A10 championship to Davidson after giving up 22 3's in a blowout loss. We all discuss how to fix out 3 point defense but HoosierPal reminds us that Welmer's presence and French's free throw shooting are more important. SLU gets a 6 seed in the tournament against a sleeper, mid-major 11 seed. We all book our flights and hotels and half the people in the billikens.com bracket contest pick SLU to win it all. After a comfortable win that shuts up the doubters, we face a 3 seed from a power conference. Those fans try to overrun our board but oldguy sends them into mass confusion when he explains how the board is comparable to a chimpanzee's ligaments. SLU is down 13 with 3 minutes to play but a wild comeback forces overtime where a grizzled, bearded, billikenfan05 emerges from the concourse and explains to all of us how he fell asleep on a bench in Carbondale and woke up in Bentonville, Arkansas 8 days later. After migrating further south with the birds for the winter, he hits the jackpot with his last $5 at a Florida casino and makes enough money to catch a last second flight to the SLU 2nd round tournament game. While listening to this story, we all miss SLU falling just short in overtime and the season ends.

I think because there's been such a long period since his verbal commitment (October 2016) and there has been so much noise in terms of rumors and media and whatnot since then, we've mostly forgotten what a HUGE F-ING DEAL it is that Carte'Are Gordon is at SLU. His boy Tyler is right. All he's done is win. He's arguably the most talented player we've landed since Larry Hughes, and I think only Goodwin is the other one with a potential claim in there. Even the most rabid SLU fans seem to put a caveat before every half-positive statement about CG these days. "Well, that highlight video only showed dunks. Kinda one dimensional." "That two-week suspension has me a little nervous." "There's a lot of noise on Twitter, I'm not so sure about this." And then Frank's statement yesterday. Come on. He's on campus and he's already working out. A guy he's close enough with to be featured next to him in his Twitter profile picture just said he's finna turn SLU up, and I tend to agree with him. CG is the real deal. I'm going to set aside any apprehensions or perpetually beaten down SLU fan nervousness and go all in on this one.

At SLU, our biggest rival is our own administration. I have nothing but pure hatred for them.

Trilly is reporting on his discord that the deal is done with Schertz.

Loyola H&H confirmed

Recruiting news imminent…

Wow wow Wow You have to credit Ford here. He was able to land a replacement PG as good as Collins

Looks like Stuen was put on life support. Hesitant to share this but if his wife made it public then I think we can do our part by sending thoughts and prayers. https://www.instagram.com/p/CNn6mToD__P/?igshid=1p9h6ckagh7jh

Yeah, let's lose the little brother act already. Terrence Hargrove is a stud. He destroyed a 30-win team in the state championship and took it for his damn self. He did what Darius Miles couldn't. He brought East Side basketball back to the glory days of...over a decade before he was born. Yuri Collins is a stud. He came within 6 points of singlehandedly dismantling an entire state while he was on 1.5 legs. He went through the class 4 playoffs like he put NBA Live on Easy mode and he had a cheat code. His offensive usage rate was 100%. All baskets go through Yuri. Let Mizzou fans play the "Coulda had Ahearn" game with SLU players and ignore the mouth breathers over at Tigerboard. We have the Tournament to worry about.

Since the season started there have been instances of CG missing practice, sometimes without communication or warning to the team (this is the reason there have been inconsistencies of CG starting over DJ and vice versa). He’s struggled to mesh with some of the players. He’s struggled with class and attendance. It can be very, very tough to take a kid out of a rough neighborhood and expect him to fit into a program with lots of structure and academic expectations. Remember, CG grew up in a tough area and a cruel scene - his best friend was murdered, his father absent, and his mother mentally lost. The drug scene is prominent where he grew up. It’s hard for some kids to leave the streets behind, and this decision (whichever way it goes) is not 100% basketball related. No one wants to see the Billikens lose the basketball talent that CG is, but I believe whatever happens will ultimately be best for the team. No official decision has been made and/or announced, but the picture should become clearer in the next 24 hours.

Happened to be at practice when Jacobs was told the news. Great to see the reaction by the coaches and the team as he ran to the locker room to get ready. Lots of offense / defense transition drills with top 7 players rotating as the white team and the blue team held it's own. Thatch is SO strong and has a motor that does not stop. Tramaine and Dion both great shooters Chemistry of the team still a work in progress but will definitely be there soon Gordon is talented but still learning how to play at this level. His effort is there though which is encouraging. French and DJ both ready for a big year Goodwin and Tramaine have not figured out their roles as both of them like having the ball. Since they will both be playing lots of minutes together still a work in progress. Once the season rolls and Travis gets into a 8 man rotation may not see the freshman alot but they are a solid core of talent for the future and definitely push the starters in practice. No matter how this all plays out Travis has turned the team around very quickly after the disaster that Crews left. It is a great time to be a Billiken fan again.

I was at school of ed graduation ceremony today and walked in behind Rashed. He stood the entire time on the side of the church (seemed to be by himself), applauded when Davell got called, and celebrated with him after the ceremony was over. Shows what kind of teammate he must have been this past year. Great support.

Apologies if this has been brought up in another thread, but SLU really needs to do it's senior night activities before the game next Tuesday. A few reasons: - It's an 8'oclock start which means there is plenty of time to do it before the game. And it's kind of late for most Billiken fans after the game. Even in the best of times, I don't want my kids out till 10:30 or later. - We are playing Dayton and will almost certainly lose and probably get blown out. After the game is never fun when you lose and if it's like last night, 2/3 of the fans that show up will have already left. It's a safe bet that there will be more Dayton fans in Chaifetz at the end of the game than Billiken ones. - As angry as we all are with the coaching, players such as T.J., Gibson, etc. deserve a good send-off.

Latest from Trilly. Travis Ford out at SLU - announcement sunday

My grandfather scouted for SLU in the 40s, 50s and 60s and Richie Parks was one of his favorite STL players he ever saw. While SLU had some black players before Parks, Parks was the first black star at SLU, some of that was that he was allowed to play, instead of just being token black guy on the bench but he was a powerful PF. Musclebound in the mold of the late 70s and early 80s NBA enforcer types. Inside the paint he was unstoppable and was the best Billiken rebounder until Bonner. Bennington recruited him to SLU. His reputation among blacks in the area was not great but Parks wanted to stay home and he and his HS coach, James Price, wanted him to become the first hometown black star. As was the custom with many private schools at the time, Bennington didn't let Parks star. He was relegated to rebounding and setting screens so the white guys could shoot. I don't know if Bennington was really racist or just going with what was accepted at the time. Bennington recruited a big man right after Parks from Maplewood, Matthew Aitch. When he flunked out of SLU Bennington sent him to Moberly and then took him with him to Michigan St where he was all Big 10 performer. Hard to believe he'd do that if he was really a big racist. My father told me he remembers he was 14 or 15 and the Billikens played Bobby Knight and Coach K in the NIT Park's Jr year. The announcers talked up Parks as the real threat on SLU, even though he was just a role player. My father didn't think Parks was good at all. My grandfather quickly informed him the announcers were right and were probably fed their talking points by Coach Knight. Parks senior year Brehmer became coach and let Parks off the leash. He had one of the best single seasons in Billikens history going for an 18 and 12 year. The MVC was a powerhouse, Cincy went to the elite 8 and 5 of the 8 teams including SLU were ranked at some point in the season. People piss on Buddy Brehmer but SLU played 26 games that season, 16 opponents were ranked during the season. A juggernaut of a schedule. Parks was the 2nd best big in the conference, only bested by somebody named Wes Unseld. Parks went toe to toe with Unseld at Kiel and beat him, SLU also knocked off Cincy when they were top 5 that year. Parks was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals in the NBA draft but they cut him and he played for a semi pro company team. The year after he made the Pittsburgh Pipers, playing in a reserve role behind Connie Hawkins, and won an ABA title. The Pipers brought him back the next year but while Parks was back home he got into a car wreck at Grand and MLK. His knees were destroyed. He came back to play but team doctors said his career was over. Parks life took a downward spiral after that. Multiple jobs, divorce, and alcoholism. He moved back in with his mother in his childhood home. By the time of his death he had become the neighborhood drunk. The 49er bar was home to him and the regulars knew to put up with the huge man's drunken antics. The night of his death a couple who didn't know Parks came into the bar. Parks hit on the woman and physically assaulted her. The couple fled the bar with Parks in pursuit. A fight between the man and Parks ended in Parks being shot 5 times. A tragic ending but Parks was one of the all-time greats and a true trailblazer at SLU, succeeding as a Billiken despite the many obstacles in his way.

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the Fetz Nothing was stirring, not even the nets; The banners were hung from the rafters with care, In hopes that The Wiz would soon be there; The fans were nestled all snug in their seats; With visions of Bills wins, while they munched on their treats. And Mama in her sweatshirt, and I in Bills blue Had just settled in to watch a basket or two. When on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash And then flung open the door, in a very mad dash The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below; When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,, But a basketball team as quick as reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and all biz, I knew in a moment it must be The Wiz. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled and shouted and called them by name: Now! Goodwin, now! Yuri, now! Has, oh my lord, On! Perkins, on! Jacobs, on! Jimerson, and Ford; To the top of Gate A ! To the top of the wall ! " Now dash away ! Dash away ! Dash away all !" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the arena top the coursers they flew, With a sleigh load of stats and The Wiz too: And then in a twinkling I heard on the floor The bouncing of b-balls making baskets galore. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down Section 103 The Wiz came with a bound: He was dressed all in Bills gear, from his head to his toe, And his clothes were all blue, he was ready to go; A bundle of spreads was flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack: His eyes- how they twinkled ! His dimples: how merry, His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face, and a little round belly That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly: He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know that The Wiz had a spread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And calculated point spreads, ; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose And giving a nod,… BAM …up the concourse he rose. He sprang in the Chaifetz , to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle: But I heard him exclaim, as he shouted out clear-- BILLIKENS WILL WIN, THIS IS OUR YEAR To all that follow the Billiken Biz Merry Christmas to all , best wishes from The Wiz

Nesbitt taking next step This recruitment doesn’t appear to have too much drama, but Jordan Nesbitt is set to take the next step in his decision making process. He is narrowing down his list to three this week, and then he will make his commitment on October 1. While Nesbit is definitely in the process of narrowing things down, the reality is, he wants to stay close to home, and Saint Louis is the big favorite here to keep him as close to home as possible. Travis Ford and his staff have done a fantastic job of recruiting Nesbitt, and they are definitely the leader. Some other schools such as Memphis, Illinois, Iowa State and Alabama are all involved and could make his final three, but it would take a major sea change for Nesbitt to end up anywhere other than Saint. Louis. -- Snow

Hey guys! I know, I know...long time and all. Some of you that were on the board a few years ago during the NCAA run may remember West Pine Jim. He was a fairly regular poster who would usually attend watch parties and road trip games. He even went to a few OBC lunches. (Oops, we're not supposed to talk about OBC. My bad.) Well, over the past couple of seasons, his health has taken an unfortunate downturn and he's now confined to a wheelchair. But despite his poor health, he still makes sure to attend Billikens games. For those who've met Jim and/or engaged with him on the board, I think he'd really appreciate it if you stopped by and said hi this season. Typically, he has been watching from the the accessible area in Section 122 this year. Again, I'm sure that small gesture would be appreciated by an extremely dedicated Bills fan and one of the nicest posters this board has ever seen.

-CFord was on 101.1 FastLane, here are some notes I took - CFord things going well, undefeated -I don't know the guys on the show other than Randy Karraker and someone asked about the shattered backboard and CFord said got a lot of publicity over that and we have backups in case it happens again -was asked about having freak athletes – CFord said we have improved athleticism but also have players with skill and can play aggressive style (CFord might have said aggressive more than any other word in this interview) -was asked how long to find out what you have? CFord this will take a while as don’t know roles; 8,9,10 new guys to bring in, need to get to a common mentality on how hard and how aggressive we want to play, let’s play aggressive, still thinking about what to do and need to get to playing -was asked about HF and said he looks terrific, leading rebounder, scoring well, improves every day, expanding his game as he has help with CAG, DJF and EW, HF will take guys 1 on 1 from perimeter -about jump from frosh to soph and CFord said it is hard but jump to frosh is too as compete level versus high school so much higher in D1, might only have to go at 70% in high school as bigger or better than the rest and that won't do it now in D1 -was told predicted to win a lot and how to focus on process? CFord said have had to address this, says done nothing to prove we deserve to be picked first as last season didn’t warrant this, understands team has improved with new players, mindset must be we must earn everything -asked about CAG and his role with LS gone and CFord said doing great, very coachable, plays with high motor and aggressive all the time, role not changed with LS gone, always expected to make a big impact, roller coaster as a frosh with new experience,will play a lot of minutes, repeated expects CAG to make a big impact -RK asked about $99 season ticket deal and CFord said unbelievable price, good teams coming to play us, CFord knew the ph# for tickets -asked about schedule and teams that will be a good test and CFord said have a challenging schedule, SIU best team for them in 15-20 yrs, FSU top 10, will be tested in every single manner, with so many new guys going slow in practice, non-con has to prepare us for A10, we must be better at the end of season than at beginning -asked about A10 and CFord said top to bottom best it has been in his 3 yrs, last year was top heavy with RI and StB, not as top heavy this season, mentioned SLU, StJ is great, Davidson returns all but one, Mason returns all 5 starters plus UVA transfer, mentioned VCU and SVU, RI good recruits, very balanced league, teams 1 thru 10 very balanced where in past had different levels -asked who has impressed in practice? CFord said EW doing a terrific job, get him to stay healthy, KCH shooting well, DJ doing well and getting better but EW played a lot in CF’s first yr and we expect a lot out of him this season