3star_recruit

I was flipping through some old Hughes articles in the Post Dispatch archives when I ran across this gem. I didn't know that Watson and Young were SLU leans at one time! ------------------------------ May 20, 1996 EAGLES LOSE IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Author: By Kevin E. Boone Of The Post-Dispatch Staff "Complementing the impressive duo of Rush and Young was CMH guard Earl Watson. He put on a passing clinic, and finished with 14 points to go with a bundle of assists. The 6-foot Watson said he was leaning toward St. Louis University, although he's also being recruited by several other NCAA Division I schools, including Iowa, Nebraska and Stanford. Last season, Watson averaged 23 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 4.3 assists for Washington High of Kansas City, Kan. He created a host of opportunities for Rush and Young with steals and pinpoint passes. By late in third quarter, CMH had opened a 56-38 lead. Young added: SLU is "my top choice right now. If Larry Hughes goes there, it's 100 percent I'll be going there." Hughes, a 6-5 guard who will play in the Nike High School All-American Camp in July, also is being recruited by the Billikens."

"Maybe time will prove me wrong but as I said above" Hey, we've got nothing but time :-)

The one good thing about moving to the A-10 is we won't have to face them on a regular basis after next year. They made Marquette look like a high school team.

We played three really bad teams. Eastern Kentucky is 11-13 and has an RPI of 226, which is perfectly acceptable for a buy game. They play number 96 Austin Peay today so their RPI ranking will improve even more, win or lose. Again, replacing two of the 300 rpi patsies with 200 rpi wins would bolster our RPI ranking a few slots, but it wouldn't put us in the top 40. We still would have needed 1) two more quality wins out of the UAB/Memphis/Cinci group or 2) one win out of that group and a season sweep against Charlotte.

We've shown that we can beat good RPI teams at home, we just can't beat them on the road. If we had two more quality wins on the road, our RPI would be top 40 now. Missouri enjoyed the luxury of playing their highest ranked RPI opponent at home. Our games against UAB, Cinci and Memphis were on the road so the challenge for our Billikens was to take two out of three from that group. We didn't get it done.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=..._id=33070&rfi=6

Our strength of schedule is now 59, which is better than Memphis, Cincinnati or Illinois. However, those teams at least three quality road wins and we do not. Wins over Arkansas-Little Rock and Tennesse Tech instead of NC St. and Grambling would improve our RPI (currently 69) a few spots but we still wouldn't be in the top 40.

Telep might want to update his database. Lisch hasn't been 6'0 in about 18 months.

"I'm not saying these guys are Luol Deng, Kris Humphries, Sean Banks or others .... what about a Justin Cage or a Justin Doellman, a Dameon Mason, a Colin Falls" Dameon Mason is a top 75 guy. We offered Falls in his junior season -he went elsewhere. The only reason that Doellman and Cage are playing so many minutes is because the upperclassmen at their position have played so poorly. If Drejaj and Varner weren't on the roster, coach would have no choice but to play Clarke and JJ the minutes you suggest. But that isn't the case.

It's way too early in their careers to make any sort of projection on JJ's and DC's eventual contribution to the program. Wisconsin's Freddie Owens and Dayton's Sean Finn were unheralded recruits who played similar minutes to our freshmen in their first year on the job. As juniors they blossomed into key players on their respective teams. That's how a lot of programs without blue chip talent build their programs.

I think I got you beat. I picked 18-12.

Frericks and a Jeff Harris type PF would be the best Billiken frontline in 15 years.

Chaminade's Vaughn West, who has been invited to several Billiken games in the past, is in the Jeff Harris mold and is a better leaper. Still, asking a 6'6 true freshman to come in and contribute would be asking a lot. That's probably why the more seasoned Newborne kid at Chipola has been offered instead.

The reason we haven't gotten any undersized athletic sleepers who can do the job is because our staff hasn't really recruited them. We've been bringing in 6'9+ guys who are limited athletically -- Chris Braun, John Seyfert, even Vouyoukas. I like Vouyoukas but he has to play center -- he's too slow to play power forward.

A legit PF would be great but if the guy is 6'6/6'7, can pull down 7 boards a game and defend the post, that would be perfectly acceptable to me. Roger Powell, Luke Whitehead and Odartey Blankson are all very effective inside at 6'6/6'7.

That has been the trend. On that note, Grimes will probably get 1st team over Price.

Throw in Lisch and Price and that's your first team.

You answered your own question - if Maryland finishes 6-10 in the conference, that ain't gonna cut it.

I give East Side credit for playing well but they had nothing to do with Vashon's fifteen missed free throws, at least five which were the front ends of one-and-ones.

Jeff Gordon = learning impaired

The 4 buy games were a one time phenomenon. With Reggie and Frericks at full strength at the beginning of the season, there won't be any reason to load up on Savannah St. and NC A&T. We should be shooting for Valparaiso, Murray St. and Wisconsin Green Bay to kick off the schedule.

The problem is, if we would have faced an Austin Peay or an Arkansas Little Rock in the first three games, we probably would have lost. We were very fragile offensively without Reggie, Vouyoukas wasn't eligible and Frericks was commiting a foul every 3 minutes.

West lost to Carbondale, who has no beef on the inside.

Obviously, we define reaching one's full potential on the court differently. Paul Pressey, a great player that Tommie Liddell closely resembles, never averaged 20 ppg in college or the NBA. But I never remember anyone insinuating that Pressey was an underachiever.

Well remember, 40 is just a ranking. If we continue to win, teams like Rice and UTEP fall behind us because of the RPI dogs they have left on their conference schedule. Teams, like Missouri, Georgia, and Colorado could eliminate themselves by losing multiple games down the stretch against tough opponents. Of course, the same could be said for us.