bauman

Another Big East school enters the top 144 list. This time it is Providence at # 46, which leaves only 4 Big East schools out of their 11 as higher than # 46. The 7 teams that have already been ranked are some traditionally solid programs; Nova (likely top 5 in the country); Creighton, UCONN and Seton Hall. Nice to come in higher than school like X, Butler, Georgetown, Marquette and Providence. Of course, then there is DePaul, the Fordham of the Big East

Was this a new crystal ball or was it a change?

Skip, I agree with you that it would be good to get a big in this year's class. My only point is I think the most important thing in the next class is to get the "big 2" as you have termed them.

Just a thought, I don't care at this point about Russell getting a scholly or giving it to a "big" That's the 3rd scholarship. I want the 1st and 2nd scholarships filled by J Nesbitt and N Kern. I say let's worry about the 3rd scholarship after we hear from JN and NK, hopefully this week.

You are right. A few posts back I wrote about some of the best recruiting year duo's and that was what I was following up on. I guess I could have been clearer.

J Nesbitt and N Kern, we want you at your hometown team helping to continue the upward path Coach Ford along with Corey Tate and Ford Stuen have SLU on! You could be one of the very best duo's to ever come to SLU ranking right at the top with two guys leaving to make room for you--- J Goodwin and H French.

I just listened to Frank and what he said was that he had gotten a text recently about SLU feeling good about Nesbitt, so the question is what is the definition of "recently?" That could be the text he mentioned a week ago. He was also very high on N Kern's abilities.

Radio Boy, thanks for the heads up on Frank's show when he talks about the Bills. I'm not able to listen to much of his show but when you mention it, I always go the the 590 website and listen to it in the evening.

So after "blowing up" Clark picks a school rated # 78 in the top 144 and picked to finish 2nd from the bottom in the Big East, finishing ahead of only DePaul. At least it's a very good academic school. Memphis - in a Conference comparable to SLU; 500 mile round trip to see games; and not even in the ballpark with SLU for academics. Possibly already over their limit on number of scholarships. Actually, not much going for it.

Come on Jordan. Help make your hometown team continue advancing as a top-level program. You are a KEY recruit and needed to replace another great Jordan! I would love to add Nick Kern at the same time-what a great duo they could become.

Taj, Sorry, I thought sarcasm was pretty obvious, but I should have used blue font or included a winking smiley face

And don't forget that annual powerhouse, 120 miles due west of St. Louis which came in at # 95.

One minor correction, Goodwin will likely finish top 5 all time in 3 categories, but the correct three are rebounds, assists and steals, not points by either total pts or average pts. I like your definition of the 8 year period as"the Jordan years." Let's hope it happens and we wouldn't need to wait 20 years to appreciate what those two Jordans would have accomplished as Billikens and the impact they would have had on the Program!

I certainly don't want this to come across as anything negative with regard to J Goodwin, in my opinion he is likely a member of the last 50 years of Billiken BB's Mt Rushmore---a great all-around player and leader. However, I don't think there is any question about who is the greatest Billiken in that 50 year timeframe. Anthony Bonner is the all-time SLU leader in Points, Rebounds and , as of today, Steals. Jordan will pass him in the Steals category early this year, but still for a 6'8" player to be the current Steals leader is pretty incredible. Both AB and JG were also great representatives of the school and basketball program. While I agree with Roy's post about JG being a hard worker, always working to become better, I think he and AB might also be tied for first (thanks Tony LaRussa). I remember watching practices at the old West Pine gym with AB working for hours after practice with Coach Grawer on improving his skills. Many forget that Bonner came to SLU with only one other D 1 scholarship offer---from SIU-C. To go from an under recruited Freshman to a 1st Round NBA draft choice is a pretty good indication of how hard he worked during his 4 years at SLU. In looking at the SLU Record Book, it hit me that we have had a number of really good 2-man recruiting classes. I'm not sure how to rank them, but the following duo's were all big contributors to SLU BB.: HF and JG; Scott Highmark and Erwin Claggett; Monroe Douglass and Roland Gray; and Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch. There might be others but those are the ones who standout in my mind.

S D St is also playing in the Orlando bubble so I wonder if a game against them might still be a possibility? So is Mizzou. This might be a good time to kick the $h!t out of them on a neutral court without incurring any requirement for future games.