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The Billikens go on a incredible run in the A-10 tournament winning 4 in a row to make the Tournament AND the Blues win the Stanley Cup for the first time ever! This has to top any other year for STL natives/sports fans.

I have not seen any reference to Perkins being on campus. Anyone have any info on him?

Some Board members (not me) have been critical about signing Gordon with his troubled background even with his high ceiling. Especially after S-2 and then we had Santos last year along with CAG. I think we need to avoid these potential issues especially when Mack's ceiling is much lower than Gordon's. If you say he's a 4, not a 3/4, then give all the "4" minutes to Perkins/Hargrove and French (when one of our FR bigs is in the 5 spot). After all the character issues TF has endured, can you imagine the grief he would endure if a recruit with these prior issues flames out. I have given him a pass on all the previous problems but not on this one if it would happen.

56 % FT shooter who was suspended twice at TX. No thanks, I can't imagine what TF is thinking. Haven't we had enough guys with trouble in their resumes?. I know he would be a GT and not take up room from future scholarship but I'd rather we give the "6'6" player" minutes to Jimerson, Perkins and Hargrove.

Taj, I'm as big of an optimist regarding the Billikens as anyone else on this Board, BUT don't put your "first real measure of (sustainability or anything else) in the Ford regime" eggs all in the 2019-20 season basket. Especially if your test requires a Tournament* bid next year. Basically we have 3 players coming back. Based on playing time I do not consider Jacobs or Hankton as returning vets. To that group add in 6 new guys with 2 of the 6 not expected to be significant contributors next year. With the top 3-4 A-10 teams coming back loaded, I think a Tournament* bid is a pipe dream next year. To me the test is can TF keep all of these guys on the roster for the 2020-21 year when I am seeing us as having a chance to finish at the top of the A-10. I will be more than satisfied next year with 20 wins and a 5th-6th place finish in the league since I view it as a rebuilding year. * Old Guy, References to the Tournament mean the NCAA Tournament. If I, and others on this Board, talk about getting to a tournament (small t) that should include the NIT / CBI or whatever other post-season money losers are out there! (Except for R & G's post, above.

Odds on your events happening: Blues win Stanley Cup--------------------------------80% Signing 2 GT's--------------------------------------------10% (Signing 1 GT------------50%) Cards winning the WS--------------------------------.00001% (So I'm saying there's a chance!)

A backup guard turning pro? I hope he has a fallback job. He really must not have wanted to go to school and get a degree.

Good post but I think that Thatch could be a 2/3 not just a 2.

Thanks for your comments. I have often said that schools like X, Nova and Gonzaga should be the models for SLU and given our resources we should be able to reach that level. However, I do not expect us to reach the Tournament this coming year. We lost too much and will be too inexperienced to contend for a berth in the NCAAs. I do think we will be in the top third of the A-10 in 2019-20 and if we can retain our key players should be a Tournament team in 2020-21. While others worry about losing Coach Ford, I think SLU in the Big East would be another reason for him to stay. He and his family love St. Louis so I don't think he would leave for many other schools (except of course UK and I don't see that in the immediate future). I think we offer some positives that other schools cannot match as for as the Big East would be concerned. Adding another Midwestern school to go along with Butler, X, DePaul, Marquette and Creighton seems to be a positive as does adding another strong sports media market. Additionally, while I know MBB drives the Big East bus, SLU has strong academics and overall strong non-MBB programs. Our outstanding basketball facility is also a plus-thanks to Dr. C. Again, thanks for your support and I hope we can get our rivalry going again, this time in the BE.

We already knew he had great hops. No need to show it any further in T & F. Now I just want him to concentrate on basketball and be a great Billiken!

If we could go, this is the year to do it with all the new players.

6'6"-6'7" and yes he is, size wise, able to guard A10 #4s. In a crunch and for at least a few minutes he could likely guard many, but not all, A10 #5s. Let's remember, HEIGHT wise, he is about the same as French.

Even with Lewis only playing next year, I agree with Kshoe that we should only add a GT or sit on the 13th scholarship, which would give us 2 sure openings for the 2020 class. If someone leaves then that would add to the 2 openings, which would be fine, from a numbers standpoint. I think we need 3 at a minimum for 2020, if for no other reason than class balance. As excited as I am with the incoming recruiting class, that excitement is tempered by the realization of how difficult it is to incorporate 5 Freshmen, along with two upperclassmen, into a cohesive team. Remember the old truism, the best thing about Freshmen is that they become Sophomores.

OG, I thought you were too smart to misspell GJ's name! It all over the Board including in the 2019 recruits thread.

Van probably did the initial work on finding Diarra and having some preliminary discussions