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Agree for the most part. Getting a top-100 4-star from California shows a little national recruiting ability. Next year's class will be very important for him. There's a lot of talent in Illinois, and he needs to grab his share. He already has a verbal from a national top-5 recruit from the class of 2010.

It's great that Chicago is local for him. The problem is that every other top school in the country swoops in to lure kids away. As a prime example, Deandre Liggins just verballed to Kentucky. And both Kentucky and Kansas (along with several other heavy hitters) are going all-out to get Humphrey and Dunnigan. When every team in the Big 10 along with teams like Duke/Kentucky/Marquette/Kansas and on and on ad infinitum consider Chicago to be their territory, it's difficult to keep all the top talent in state. Not even Self or Kruger were able to pull that off. Bottom line is can Weber recruit well enough to win. Thus far the answer is yes.

That severely lacking talent was good enough to win 23 games in the Big 10(11). And the two or three players who will be seriously looked at by the NBA aren't too shabby. I'm not saying that Weber recruits like Self, Gillispie or Calipari, but to say "Weber can't recruit" simply doesn't pass the sniff test. His class this year is rated in the top half of all Big 10 classes.

How do you explain the two 4-star top-100 kids and the three three-stars that have signed with Illinois for this year? Seems to me as though he's done a nice job of putting together an excellent class, especially after being blind-sided and left at the altar by Gordon. I suppose it's all perspective. We're all raving about what Majerus has done thus far (rightfully so!), but even if he's able to get Suggs and Perry, the class will not be rated as highly as Weber's 2007 class. But, perception is reality, so I guess you're correct in saying "Weber can't recruit", but there's no denying that he can coach.

I didn't know whether or not he had sf skills or not--haven't seen him yet. I'm looking forward to getting to know him and seeing him play here at MAC for the next two years. Just thought that with the limited # of schollies RM has remaining and with the number of quality recruits still out there, maybe it might be prudent to look for the sf in the following class.

Nate, Do you have a name or two to go along with that hypothesis, or are you just throwing it out there? Perhaps, Felton or Swopshire?

Agree with you except I'll be happy with 8 and 5 from Bryce to go along with his interior defense. BTW, Most of us agree that Brad has not left the cupboard bare for Majerus. If the Billikens make the tournament next year, will all the people who said that "Weber won with Self's players" be saying similar things about RM?

turn on your sarcasm meter.

Isn't KU a basketball only school, too?

North Carolina is listed for about 150 of those top 100 prospects. I'm doubting that Roy is really after most of those kids.

You'll enjoy having John Fowler on your team. A good basketball player and a great kid.

The vast majority of us appreciate your posts, and take them for what they are--an honest opinion by someone who is dialed into the StL prep scene. And not intending to change the subject, I'll say the same for VTime's posts.

I find it strange that when I visit both the Mizzou and Illini boards, neither of them seem to think that Majerus will have much effect on their recruiting. I think they're wrong. We'll find out soon enough with the quality of the '08 class in the StL area.

.....RM is putting the contract signing on delay to give himself additional time to speak with Spring recruits. As long as he's unsigned, he's not bound by NCAA contact restrictions. Just a possibility I'm throwing out since we don't really have much else to talk about right now.

I don't think Pettigrew has committed, either.

Horn, from Western Kentucky.

Corey Tate? Plugged into the StL high school scene. Knows midwest CC basketball. Has proven that he can get high D1 recruits (signed Jeremy Felton this week). Disciple of Norm, so hard-core MU fans would get riled.

TDELL, can you confirm this info?

Plenty of blame for both sides if it doesn't pan out. Rarely (if ever) does a failed negotiation involve only one side.

I'm under the impression that Prep Schools can give scholarships. If one were to investigate who endows those scholarships, methinks some slime would be exposed.

The band can play a rousing rendition of Steely Dan's "The Fez".

Can't really answer that one. Each individual has different ideas about what they want after high school. I would guess that many decide against the prep school route because they don't want an additional five years of school after H.S. Remember, for the most part these are kids that haven't exactly embraced the academic side of attending school--their primary goal is to either play in the NBA or to play for (relatively) large bucks overseas.

No other reason. I see and work with these kids every day. They're great kids (most of them), but they've never been challenged in a classroom. They've had coaches telling them what to do every step of the way, and they have minimal critical thinking skills. On rare occassions, kids will go JC in an attempt to improve their list of suitors. But primarily, it's because they have no choice other than taking the JC route. I assume that most JCs have programs to try to help these kids "learn how to learn", but it's a daunting task. And it's a task that's too often unsuccessful.

Australian, if I recall correctly.

VTime, you probably care more about this than anyone else....... Mineral Area College will announce at a press conference tomorrow the signings of: Ryan Lawrence (Desoto), Jeremy Felton (Belleville West), and Eric McCrary (transfer from SWIC/Belleville East)