slu72

I wouldn't call KM ad MM diminutive even at 5'10". 5'7" and below in Div one is diminutive. The guy does seem to think highly of RM, however.

One would like to see OSU take it on the chin from the NCAA, but highly unlikely. They are like the big banks on Wall Street.... too big to fail. The fact that Tressel's gone wll appease the investigators and all will be well in Buckeye nation.

Wouldn't UVA be prohibited from signing him away from MD? I'm not so sure ESPN considers A-10 teams as true mids. He might just want another trip to the WC paid for by the Dons.

Hadn't he committed to MD by Feb? If not, my bad.

Hey, this is simple. Tell him we have a home and home w/ UW. So he'll get to see them twice! That ought to convince him SLU's the place to be for the next 4 years. Plus, you're gonna get a whole lot more playing time here, Herr Bruenig!

Weren't we in on him pretty strong? Big bodies are needed, but I'll guess PM will be all over him as well.

Weren't we in on him pretty strong? Big bodies are needed, but I'll guess PM will be all over him as well.

I think we're being a little too harsh in judging Spring recruiting. If we don't sign anyone, no big deal. First, last fall all we could sign was one player. And we didn't realize until probably late Jan early Feb we'd probably have one open due to WR's failing in the classroom. That's when the Chievous talk started as I recall. Yeah, Chievous might have been nice to bring on board to round out the classes a little more but when the BCS boys come calling to fill in their rosters we have little chance of competing with them. Also, Chievous may also have looked at our roster and said I ain't getting many minutes there next year. The Wisc kid clearly loved the Badgers. So he's jumping at his dream to play in Madison and the B-10. Can't compete against that mind set. As for Bruenig, he was lost once. It would be a gift to get back in his mix and it appears he'd help next year on the inside. But then even if he's lost to us, he wasn't someone we thought we had the inside track on like Chievous. Going forward my concern is next fall. RM would only be here for one year of the '12 class and 0 years for the '13 class. Basically, a lame duck. That's going to work against us. And I have no idea what kind of recruiter Whitesell is and whether or not he's allowed to sell himself as RM's replacement, which I rather doubt he will be. Of course, who knows if that's how PM sold himself to recruits. One guy who definitely has a wide open opportunity in all this is Jensen. He's young, a fomer big time player, an RM devotee. I'm hoping he steps forward and starts making connections with not only the up and coming locals but in other areas of the country as well. If he could put some notches on his belt, who knows he could find himself our HC in two years or at least somewhere else.

Hard to generalize about the reasons since each kid is different. Your list covers just about everything but the, I've always dreamt about playing at ol' state U and how the kid feels about his future teammates. But there is one general factor that I think rules the roost and that's Status, which is the sum total of all the other factors. If a 5 star selects SLU he's going to be looked down on by his peers. We have a coach w/ status but we have a program with none of it. This is what's killing us with a lot of the locals. Granted the Beals will most always choose a FL even if we were at X's level, but the next tier kids just might want to stay at home and play in front of family and friends if we were winners. I'm not real excited about Whitesell, although he sounds like a hard worker and a decent man. I'll wager Broy is happy with the hire since he almost sounds like a Brad clone. At this point I hope he's not our future coach unless he really turns on the recruiting spigots. I'll take recruiting skills over X's and O's any day of the week. I too was hoping for a guy who appeared to be the next in line type, like a Biancardi, as I fear Biondi may be so upset if we don't start filling the arena soon, he may go on the cheap for our next HC which would just set us back another 4-5 years.

Absolutely true. However, Fr. B's mistakes have come from lack of commitment and follow thru. He never should have ticked of Spoon about the ice cream. He never should have reneged on the air charters w/ RM. My advice to Fr. B would be to take a look around at just about every D1 college hoops program and he will see either the highest paid or second highest paid (behind the FB coach) staff member is the men's BB coach. The reason-EXPOSURE. Not many people read medical journals, law reviews, or even business mags, but sports is coming at us 24/7 these days and one very quick way to make a national splash for your school is to excel in them. I wonder how much applications are up at Butler over the last two years. Look what hoops did for tiny Zaga. Same at X, MU, and on and on and on. But for some reason Fr. B doesn't see how having a good hoops program can be more beneficial to the school than nude statues and stone porpoises who are a long way from any ocean.

The Rapture happened this weekend.... who's missing?

Hey, at least he knows we have a bb program. If true, shame on the good father. This ought to serve as great motivation for RM and the team.

I'd be very surprised, make that shocked, if this was true. If there's dirty laundry you certainly don't make it part of a graduation address.

Chicago's pretty fetile ground for recruiting. Of course you've got a ton of competition. Big time competition. Pleased with the kids we've got from there so far.

When you see a post by pdddy you just automatically click. Tx Pdiddy. I don't know anything about Whitesell. What's the opinion? Good hire. So so hire. Not good hire. Kind of ironic we traded w/ Loyola isn't it?

C'mon, this is so far out there, I can't believe even you posted it. Romar and UB going to a few HS games or being the grillmaster at a Church picnic was going to bring long term success to the program? When? The day after The Rapture? Romar blew it here. His recruiting strategy was so flawed it was laughable. And let's look at the stellar student athletes he did recruit. Pulley, Edwin, Kern (never qualified), McClain. Zo won with Spoon's players and other than 2000 not all that much. When he left so did most of his stellar recruits who couldn't even spell Student.

Sadly, Broy, you're not in touch with the rest of the world when it comes to W's. Putting up billboards claiming, Billiken Ball is Moral Ball, isn't going to put arses in the seats, get TV time, or carry the day on Selection Sunday. W's will do all that and more. So, according to you, we have a coach who motivates by denigration, and that's why players leave? Thank God none of these kids joined the military. I'd guess RM's tactics are no worse than most college coaches these days. Take Harrelson's case for example. Made to sit in a bathroom stall at halftime and then ride the equipment truck home. Now that's humiliation, but he didn't quit even when he never expected to play more than 2-3 minutes per game. I don't know why CS departed SLU but figured it was over playing time. But, if as you suggest, he quit because he was told he was the worst player in the world then he better take some self esteem courses at MO So. Why? He knows he's not the worst player in the world. He should have taken that comment with a big grain of salt and a grin. Sometimes, Broy, your high horse is so high you must need an extension ladder to get on it.

Draft Express doesn't show him in the top 100. D league or apply for a passport, Willie. Again, too bad he just couldn't hit the books. Bad for us and doubly bad for him as he could have had a shot to prove to scouts he was draft material.

As to CS' leaving, my guess is that was his choice/decision. And I said guess because I have no facts to back it up. But look at the circumstances. With KM and JB coming on board CS had to see his minutes spinning down the toilet. He wants to play and he will now. Probably play like Dustin McGuire did. He'll be happier than if he was riding the pine and only here for practice. I applaud RM for releasing him. He could have been totally selfish and lied, telling him he was still a vital part of the team. RM probably figured we were going to sign Chievous as well. It didn't happen. Yes, being 2 short is not good, but there are valid reasons why we're in this situation. I'd still like to see us fill one and have three to offer next fall. I just hope the injury bug is avoided and there are no other surprises awaiting us between now and October. But we are the Billikens and have learned to live with fear.

I have no idea why this year's recruiting class is so weak. Weak in terms of quantity as I know nothing of Manning's ability or potential. At this point we have 2 unfilled scholies and it doesn't appear as though they will be filled. We lost our top target to TN, a school facing potential probabtion, and now a guy we offer turns down a full free ride to go to Wisconsin as a walk on because he's dreamed of playing in the B10 tourney. A JUCO to a big 12 program, although who knows if he had the academics to get into SLU. As for the German kid, that can't be considered a loss as he already chose MD and will now probably go to Zo at UW. Also, we didn't know we would have 2 scholies to fill last fall as WR and CS were in those spots. Which explains why only one fall signee. We know we are at a real disadvantage going up against the BCS'ers. No TV, no brand name recognition when compared to the X's and Butler's of the world, and a lineup that's pretty much set for the next 2 years. Furthermore, the top local talent all seem to have their hearts set on going to top ranked programs which has been the case for the last 15-20 years in St. Louis save for the Legend, and we all know why he chose us over the likes of Syracuse. Did RM imporve our recruiting when compared to UB? By leaps and bounds. We don't plug holes anymore with the Obi's and Dixon's of the world. But still I think we expected a little more talent would flow our way under RM's regime. I for one thought we'd land a few more disgruntled BCS transfers than we have. But as Billikan says even w/o signing anyone this Spring we should still be OK for the next 2 years at least. The litmus test comes this fall when we will have 4 open slots to fill. However, the problem will be kids questioning who they are committing to in terms of the coach. This may be the reason we are taking so long in hiring an AC. Many of us assumed PM was a HC in waiting, although this was never made official and maybe why PM goes to Loyola. This AC hire may in fact be RM's replacement and since he'll be the lead guy on recruiting this summer, kids can feel comfortable knowing this is who they'll be playing for over the next 4 years. Still, the bottom line here is we've got to do something over the next two years in regards to becoming a relevant winning program. Our trend line was up after the 09-10 season, but it dropped off the chart this year. Winning will bring in the kids who are the marginal BCS'ers and may even help land us a few highly ranked locals if they think they'll play before large enthusiastic crowds and have a legit shot at making the dance every year. SLU's program is once again at a tipping point. Aren't we always? But hiring the right AC may just be the solution to getting us over the hump.

Please define "good things"?

Are we in the market for a PM replacement, or is Jensen the new PM? One would have thought that by now we'd have at least heard who's being considered.

And coeds that will knock your socks off!

Hmmm, I didn't see SLU mentioned in that grouping.