slu72

This guy sounds too good to be true. A real PF. C'mon UB close the frigging deal with him.

Drew, I heard from a friend of mine in Ohio that X landing this guy was all about the chili. This Frease kid loves skyline chili it seems, and X has franchise on campus. So this is really Biondi's fault. See, if Fr. Biondi would allow more fast food franchises on campus, Brad would be on equal footing when it comes to recruiting. Just another example of how tight Biondi's got his hands around Brad's throat. Oh, and forget Frease's comment about how he fell in love with Miller and his staff. That was a press release from X's SID. We all know that a coach's personality and that of his staff have very little to do with landing recruits.

Great news for X and the conference overall. Wonder if kids fall in love with our HC and staff right off the bat?

Crean is a front runner fo UK, as Donovan will not leave FL. He also has Altman going to Iowa. Lowry to AK. And Kruger to Michigan. MVC schools could be scrambling. Going to be an interesting off season.

It was well done. Amazing team in '64. Not a guy over 6'6" undefeated and national champs....amazing coach. The rest of the Dynasty years, he pretty much had the best players in the nation.

or big name coach will come to SLU. That said, there are future good coaches out there. Every year a crop of Gillespies, Behliens, and Theuss' pop up. UB's will get 6, maybe even 7, years to get this program on track. Say we're still stuck in neutral after next year. Do we stay the course because we don't believe there is anyone better out there, which is wrong, or because if someone new comes in there are going to be growing pains, ie a bad year or two? If we do, UB becomes the men's version of Pizzoti. Patience is a virtue, and good things come to those who wait, but while we are waiting, it would be nice to at least see some baby steps being made toward getting better.

We know one thing abaout his decision to hold off, it wasn't Iowa's coach. So, our vaunted leader could not have been that convincing either. I'm pretty sure after Correia committed to UMass, young Mr. Peterson thought, "heck they don't have a backup pg, I might as well wait it out. See who the Hawkeyes hire." And Broy you are painting a pretty defeatist attitude about Billiken hoops both in the present and for the future. Your argument seems to be UB is better than any new guy we could hire, and in five years will be beating our chest all over again. I can't agree. You see too many programs that are a lot less than ours being raised up by bringing in a new coach. Why would you think SLU couldn't do the same. Look at the excitement Shimmy's creating with the women, and hell we were the bottom of the women's barrel under Pizzotti.

Oh but if it were true....the answer to all our prayers...who knows maybe they do want him...for Kramer? Maybe it's also why Peterson is still committed to Iowa; UB told him he's in line for the job. Hey, a fellow can dream can't he?

If UB's hands are tied so tight by this supposed underfunding of the AD, and that is the major reason why he can't attract one decent D1 player to this program, why doesn't he just quit and go somewhere where conditions are more favorable? God knows, there's gonna be a lot of openings in the next 4 weeks once all the moving around starts. But I think you already know the answer to this one, don't you?

You are pretty much right on in your assessment. It just means we've got to select and evaluate who we are going after a little more carefully. I cannot buy into the fact that our competitors in the A-10 have that much more to offer than SLU, so we should stay competitive in our conference. Chances are good we lose 9 out of 10 times to a BCS school, so don't go after them. But when you see SIU kick out butts every year and go dancing for 6 straight years you've got to wonder why is this? I keep coming up with one answer, the coach.

Villanova hasn't been a wreck either, Courtside. In fact maybe even more recent success than Marquette. No matter what you argue about these schools, it always comes down to "why not SLU?".

If my constant whining it bugging you, don't read my posts is the best advice I can give you. But it's not my constant whining that's killing the program. It's Brad Soderberg's constant pathetic recruiting. We will land 2 players no one has ever heard of to fill out his spring recruiting period.

This will be the case for all the remaining Spring recruits. They will all be surprises to us (Spin: We think we've found some real gems in the rough here). They will all have 0 offers from any one of note, (Spin: he was starting to generate interest so we had to offer quick). They will all possess more athletic ability than anyone currently on the roster. (Spin: Am anxious to get him with the AC's so they can teach him how to dribble and do warmup drills). And they will all be able to help the program take that next step starting next year. (Since JJ's departure we needed some help with passing out towels and water bottles.)

It's the stability, Drew, the stability. When are you gonna get it? Say it slowly, Sttaaabillliiitttyyy. And, oh yeah, don't forget all those great recruits from the area class of '08 he's got in his back pocket. It's sad when you can't convince a kid and his dad that he's holding out for an unknown at Iowa, he'll play 3 years in a new arena, and he'll probably jump right into the starting lineup next year. Who knows what happened here. Maybe UB couldn't afford to pickup the tab on his ice cream cone.

off your list....

Another stellar sales job by the car guy from Lou Fusz. Can he sell anyone decent who plays this game to come to SLU? I can't wait to see what he comes up with for Spring recruits. Peterson stays with Iowa and their new coach sight unseen....

if you haven't figured it out by now, and trust me it would be obvious to the most casual observer, I'm not about to start defending UB. I wasn't pointing out problems in the program. I was pointing out a big big positive. That building going up on I40. I'm not one of the types that excuses UB's failure on lack of resources. He's had more to work with than any coach at SLU in the last 30-40 years. A beautiful urban campus, increased academic recognition, the Scott center comapred to the Arena and the old Kiel, and now Cheifits. It was up to him to make the program more attractive to local TV station, so they knew they had an audience in order to sell ads, so that TV excuse doesn't work either.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think AK had all that much success prior to NRichardson showing up on campus. The Razorbacks were a football school first and foremost. Hoops kind of filled in until they got back on their cleated feet, so to say. Anyone on this board would chomp of their right arm for the success Villanova, Marquette, Zaga, and Georgetown have had. Which I think is more sustained than AK. You are right we are never going to be a BCS power. We don't need to be, nor do I think we want to be. But we sure wouldn't mind joining the ranks of those Catholic schools you mentioned.

Given our woes at the 4 this past season, one would have thought UB had nothing to lose by giving him more time. He didn't, which leads one to wonder is AK another of UB's project players that will shine one game and then ride the pine for the next 10?

That's a pretty depressing scenario/forecast, Taj Mahal '79. First, Zo didn't end up on the "dung heap" of college basketball, neither did Spoon. The supposedly biggest obstacle to SLU hoops will be removed in another year, and I really don't think the fact that SLU's coaches have to pay their own cell phone bills or buy their own ice cream cones will impede recruits from coming here. UB's current test has started. Does he land the needed help in the next 45-60 days to move this team forward in 07-08'? Pretty dicey situation, but he's the one that landed himself in it. What will CL think if he brings in another group of HD's and Obi's this spring? One has to wonder if he hasn't already been told no more "risky project types"? If you were his boss, wouldn't you be telling him that, since it's a waste of resources, both academic, and in Obi's case, medical, we can't afford them. There are good coaches out there, whether they be BCS assistants, mid major HC's, or NBA assistants looking to make their mark. As sure as the sun comes up tomorrow, you will read about them next year in SI. In the event UB gets the pink slip, it's CL's job to find one of them and convince him he can win here. No, we're not going to land a high profile BCS guy like UK or UM will, but to think we can't have a coach who can recruit and then coach and develop his recruits is a line of thinking I'm not buying. If you do, you might as well pick a successful program in your local neighborhood to cheer on. You have two of the best in GU and MD. Scrap your Billiken stuff and head on down to Dick's for your new hats and tee shirts. But, I'm not giving up my Billiken head cover....it looks too good in the bag.

this year is going to be as interesting as the final 4. Some biggies out there have openings: KY, AK, MI, IA....AK should have been a little more patient. Heath's leaving them a good young team, some lucky guy's going to get an early XMAS present. Also, Heath had to coach his way out of the shadow of Nolan Richardson. These schools will be going after top of the line coaches, which of course will set off more openings at the bigs, eg what if Gillespie goes to AK, with their recent success on the court are they going to promote an AC or look to hire some HC away? Very interesting to see where the dust settles on all this. Hey, Brad, offer Heath an AC job. And before everyone jumps all over me for this being ridiculous...I know it is, but don't we all agree promoting from within is a good thing and maintains a program's stability?

Agreed, he's here for at least another year, Footes. Doesn't mean you have to like it and just clam up. It's frustrating to see other programs, with less resources than this guy has at his disposal, to move forward while we stay stuck in neutral. But being anti Brad is not being anti SLU. In fact, it's the other way around, or at the least shows there's a lot of fan's who could give a whoop about SLU hoops.

Am continually amazed at how many posters still hold UB unaccountable for his record at SLU. Biondi, TV, the A-10, cell phone bills, West Pine, loss of the school jet, blah ...blah... blah...blah. Meanwhile, we are looking back at two years of dismal recruiting and not enough player development that have resulted in 3 years of mediocrity. When is enough enough?

Hey, how can you deny your mother? C'mon, Jeff, sign up with SLU.

UB has to surround TL, KL, and LM with a legit PF and a PG for starters. Our bench is still not deep enough with DP, DB, and the two untried frosh DM and AK. Is BH any kind of an answer at the 5? To my way of thinking, too many question marks exist to predict post season play for next year. '08-'09 who knows? Yes, TL and KL are seniors, but as of today we have a roster full of unknowns. Since UB has taken over, SLU enters every year with a bunch of question marks or "if this happens or if this player develops". With this type of outlook, how can you justify a forecast for post season play?