slu72

Took the words out of my mouth. I recall the practice before the UL game was a meat grinder. He ran them ragged and the tank was empty come game time. Admittedly May was in a tough spot after the COY award, but he could have found a justification and just thanked him for his effort. Thank God the portal was not in place at the time of Rick’s passing otherwise we very well may not have had those 2 extra dance invites. If we had brought back Moser, it makes you wonder if we might finally have got that long dreamed about seeet 16 bid or better.

No one promised us a rose garden. It’s why our motto is It’s hard being a Billiken fan. After 22’-23’ season I’ve tempered my expectations for any season and hoping for sunshine and lemon drops in March. I don’t get ‘em but am still hoping.

Added to the financial issues is the fact that the Trump admin is taking a hard look at the $$’s being doled out to Universities. Also. looking at foreign students who pay full boat in tuition. Even when I was at SLU we had a fair # of foreign students. Not sure what the foreign situation is today. A lousy situation all around. And I don’t expect the Beast to be in expanding mode unless their broadcast masters come up with increased $$’s.

Take him back in a NY minute. Swope hiit some huge clutch baskets for us last year. When u need a guy at the end to step up it was Swope.

Is there some question as to whether he’s coming? From his IG post it looks like he’s already here.

Tx for the effort and rundown. Can’t recall if it’s Torch or 3Star who tout the portal as working with good nods moving up and P5 subs moving down, but it does seem we got our fair share of P5’s dropping down for a chance at getting more minutes. Dunlap is intriguing as he was a Pitino recruit, and Slick Rick knows talent. Hope he stays healthy. Go Bills. Hope springs eternal every June.

68 to 72/76 is nothing. As TajMahal79 said, it’s a chance for P4 or P5 to get a few additional spots. It would need to expand to 98 or so to get in more mids. In all likelihood it’s irrelevant as once the biggies get FB sorted out they’ll turn their sights on how to make hoops more biggie friendly, ie how to get more $’s for themselves. In the long run, mids are toast.

Sorry about the above repeat post. I think the top 70 or so programs will survive and do quite well. As we all know the fan bases for the big state schools and well known programs, eg Notre Dame in FB , Duke in Bb, are large and loyal. They’re a step or two above pro minor league or feeder leagues. The biggies will do well. It’s those outside the top 70 that are going to have find a new niche in the sports world.

As time rolls on today’s college sports fans, except for us senior fans, will come to accept the current state of affairs. Back in the early 70s fans worried that pro sports would die because of Free Agency. They believed fans were more tied to their favorite players than the uniforms. Eventually we came to accept the inevitable, ie FA was here to stay. The same will happen in college sports. The big change will come when the major power conferences drive out the mids from competing for national championships. See FB and the BCS for proof. I don’t know the exact number but I think only around 100 schools are eligible to compete for the national title in FB. The only way for SLU to be one of those is for the very top mid major hoops schools get together and form a 16-20 team national conference. I think Zaga sees this change coming and is the reason they jumped to the PAC 12. Granted acceptance into the Beast might save the day, but I’m skeptical they’re ever going to expand.

As time rolls on today’s college sports fans, except for us senior fans, will come to accept the current state of affairs. Back in the early 70s fans worried that pro sports would die because of Free Agency. They believed fans were more tied to their favorite players than the uniforms. Eventually we came to accept the inevitable, ie FA was here to stay. The same will happen in college sports. The big change will come when the major power conferences drive out the mids from competing for national championships. See FB and the BCS for proof. I don’t know the exact number but I think only around 100 schools are eligible to compete for the national title in FB. The only way for SLU to be one of those is for the very top mid major hoops schools get together and form a 16-20 team national conference. I think Zaga sees this change coming and is the reason they jumped to the PAC 12. Granted acceptance into the Beast might save the day, but I’m skeptical they’re ever going to expand.

I agree with Chosen. Academics for a lot of these guys is a joke. Fine if you get guys like Jimmerson, Thatch, and others who see the value in getting a degree that you actually worked for. Not all college athletes are in it just for the chance to play a sport they love. I’d guess the majority are in it to actually earn a marketable degree. That said, there’s also a fair number of athletes in it solely to play the games. For those players the school should remove the requirement of working towards a degree. The schools should, however, require they complete some basic life skill courses, basic math, reading, communication et al. We’ve all read and heard stories about grads that couldn’t read or multiply 2*2. They wouldn’t be courses geared toward a degree, but how to keep a checkbook and read a job application. Give them a certificate and let them concentrate on their athletic endeavors. This is especially true for BB players who have numerous opportunities to play overseas. Those players can earn a pretty good paycheck playing for the Helsinki Icebergs or the Sao Palo Speedos. In today’s environment it’s time for schools and the NCAA to stop kidding themselves with the student first athlete second nonsense. Fans know it’s a myth. It’s time the schools realized it as well.

I forget the program’s name that was supposed to measure a college teams academic standing. I guess that it’s no longer practiced or been scrapped entirely in light of all the $’s being spread around. Some of these kids are getting life securing money if they don’t go crazy with it. Why do they need an education beyond their sport?

The only pro element missing is trading players. Now it may be said the portal serves as a traders market but not really. The portal is more like the stock market; highest bid wins. Why not give trades a try? Your team needs a 5 and another needs a PG. Let’s trade. Or even do a straight cash deal between schools. Hey, SLU, UK wants Avila here’s a million. The whole college sports world is a mess so why not go all the way with it. I’m not sure Congress could pass a law that would pass the constitution test and turn back the pages to college sports original premise.

Pittsburgh is a good choice as it’s kind of in the center of the A10 locations.

Is the A10 finished at Barclay?

A good warmup schedule so far. But for the next 7-8 games let’s get games from the best mid major conferences. I agree that our likely only way to a dance invite is to win it all in Brooklyn, but we need to provide the fans with some better OOC games just to generate interest in the program.

Oh boy, UNH. Why not Vermont? They’re good.

Who’s gonna know? No company is gonna say we tried but it failed? If it does work they’ll be all over it, ie we saved his career.

Praying that’s all it is.

Good to hear Kellen’s making strides. Good thinking on an NIL deal w/ a hydration company. He’d be the poster boy for a drink that works.

Or for our Point Center to shrink to the more normal size for a PG.

That’s bugged me as well. Something in the water? Our ice cubes?

In this day and age of advancements in medical science it seems strange the MDs can’t come up with a diagnosis. Also, with the multitude of ways to find out if there are similar cases around the world and what the medical community believes is the cause I find it hard to believe Kellen’s affliction is a one off. All that said, I completely agree with the Thames family asking for privacy. Medical info is highly personal and should be respected as such. We don’t need to know the causes. We just want to see the young man cured and fully recovered.

If suddenly a mysterious SLU billionaire donor showed up and laid $25 mil on the table and said go out and buy the best team//players you can, and he sustained that level every year then yes we, any school, would have a legit shot. That guy doesn’t exist at SLU. Sadly, that’s the state of college sports these days. You can buy a winner.

Amari starts. Over who…no idea. Is Kellen’s health still unresolved? That seems strange given today’s medical science where there are few mysteries. But if it’s chronic and can’t be cured entirely that’s heartbreaking. He was showing some signs of stardom last season. Here’s hoping he’s well enough or can be treated to contribute off the bench.