willie

I attended a SLU function over the weekend. An individual from the development office was there and he gave a pitch for contributing to the arena brick program. He stated that they had recently crossed the 20 million dollar threshold. I know some of had speculated on that number but that is the first time I had heard it officially announced.The matching grant is still in place. I am sticking by my prediction that ground will be broken in 2005.

You may see a bridge loan from Us Bank but the plan has always been to issue Muni Bonds. Previous SLU paper has been rated AAA. Based on current markets that will cost the university about 4.5% for the next 30 years or 1.57 mil. per year. That number seems managable.

During the NBA game last night Hubie Brown[i think} said there was something like 33 left handed players in the entire league.

Rich I think your post is right on. Danny showed a lot of promise. If these new guys put him deep on the bench then we're going to have some damn good guards.

Roy it is possible that you can use the name of Vouyoukas without using terms such as underachieving. A lot of us would disagree with your opinion of him/ I know he was with Jason Edwin when they ran over your dog but give the kid a chance.

I have always argued that we didn't need to leave Savis but needed a state of the art practice facility/basketball offices/medical training facility. Would it make sense to build such a building for 25 million that would produce no revenue vs. a 70 million dollar building that produces revenue or saves rent? Bottom line is that West Pine must be replaced.

I agree that somebody will be left out of the main rotation. As much as I would like it to be Dreja that probably won't happen unless he just doesn't do anything this summer to stay in shape or work on his game. As I stated earlier Polk is your point. Liddel and Lisch will play if for no other reason then they are freshman and must play to develop. That leaves Brown vs. Meyers. Let the competition begin.

I disagree with everyone who thinks that Polk won't be our main point guard. Last year was a growth year for Dwayne. I look for tremendous upside in him. I think Brad will give him the ball and make this his team. IMO there are 2 people with guaranteed starting jobs. Ian and Dwayne, everything else is up for grabs.

Billiken Roy tells us that schools like SLU can't compete at a high level because out tuition is too high relative to state schools. While this argument makes some sense how do you explain a school like Tulane. Tulane which I believe is the number one ranked team is one of the most expensive universities in the country. Somehow they are getting players to pay for part of their tuition bill. Bad coaching and lack of attention are the main reasons were so bad. Lets hope Cheryl can at least get them to mediocrity.

I think Bryce can be a decent back up if Brad uses him properly. He can't have him chasing smaller guys out on the floor.[same for Ian] Stick him in the middle and let him alter shots. I'm probably whistling in the dark but Brad should show some Zone especially when Bryce is in the game.

Good Post.

I'don't agree that Larry should test the water except to maybe drive up his price tag. I think this is a pretty good team for him to play on. He has a lot of freedom. Gets to handle the ball a lot as Arenas is not your typical point guard. They need to acquire a big man to replace K Brown and they should be an upper division team. If Larry can continue to improve his outside shot there is no reason he can't be an all star. I think the Wiz are very close. They just need an inside player. I do agree that Larry's defense was good but the bigs couldn't stop the pick and roll.

The talk all spring was that we would probably sign or take a transfer. I don't know if Price may have been that guy or there is someone else out there. There have also been rumors of a foreign player. Anyone know if thats dead?

The Shoe Dome has a nice ring to it. I keep buying my lottery tickets.

I think tying Mississippi to Jessie is a real stretch. As far as I know Jessie never went home after graduation.

I am sure your right. Brad was trying to sell bricks.

Brad was trying to make a point[sell bricks] but he blamed west pine gym on not getting this guy. Cheryl did say that the last million dollar gift she announced at the tip off meeting will be matched by the annonomous donor. There was a hard push to sell bricks. I have a feeling that we're not all that far away from getting this arena done.

Kshoe must have deep pockets if he's willing to take on all the doom and gloomers on this board.

I agree with the statement that I will trust Brads judgement on players he wants to bring in as long as he gets results. This is a bottom line business. If 2 years from now this thing isn't turned around then brad's situation needs to be evaluated.

Rumor has it that we are going to play North Carolina next year with a trip to Savis the following year. If this is true it might be a good time to play the defending champ with all of their players defecting to the NBA. If May goes Ian might match up with Hansborough. Very interesting'''''''

A Junior College transfer who is elligable to play is not the type of transfer{who has to sit} that I believe Beane was talking about. The Price mention did not come from Beane but from a lot of sources. We know that Price was on campus and supposedly wants to come home. Why not Price???? I don't believe there is a high school senior out there that would not be a reach{prep player excluded}. I would be surprised if we signed a high school player.

I doubt if the donation becomes 2. I think the matching grant is aimed at smaller donations.

I was hoping somebody else would do this but I quess I'm out of luck. There really isn't that much to say as we didn't learn anything that new. Cheryl started the program by introducung Shimmy the new womens coach .Shimmy was articulate saying all the right things. She didn't get the message that she shouldn't wear black as that was Jill's color. Cheryl did announce that she had received a new million dollar arena gift. The golf tournament was plugged, they need players,sponsors and auction items. If you have never played it really is a fun day. Anthony Beane was next. No names. He did say we are looking to sign two players with at least one being a power forward. Brad was on the road at a home visit and Anthony was ready to go out. He gave me the feeling that they will have something and are not just scrambling around. Look for one of the 2 to be a transfer. {Price}. Tommy is doing well at Hargrove and is on tract to qualify. Kevin hopes to be cleared to start running in 3 weeks. Ian is working very hard and figures to be one of our main players next year. Beane thinks JJ is one of next years keys. Does he have the desire to totally committ himself to basketball? Scott Highmark was the cleanup speaker. Message was keep the faith. He reminded everyone that his first 2 teams won 5 and 12 games before going to the NCAA's. Really likes our young players. He told a story of how Ryan Robertson felt that Kevin Lisch was often the best player on the court when they played in open gym last summer. In summary no names but the feeling they have thing under control

Whats with all of you Sigma Chi's? Are all of you guys in love with buildings? Is that part of your initiation?

I was also at the banquet and thought it also went well. Brad snag the praises of his returning 8 core players. He promised that these players were good enough to produce a good season without talking about new recruits. He was very candid about the difficulties of the past year and how poorly he handled his first losing season. He sort of apologised to his seniors for being so hard on them and praised them for never giving up. I'll say one thing for Brad, he will never take losing easily. I'm looking for a much better year,maybe a very good year. This is for you Roy. Brad said that Ian worked so hard last year that he lost 30 lbs,and has 6 pact abs.