slu72

Cripes, how many 6'4" wings do we need?

He's should be given one more year...then bought out. As for a new coach, they're out there waiting to be discovered. They always are. Some examples: Ryan at UW, Behlein at WVU, the guy at Air Force, Theus at New Mexico, the list could go on. Even if the new guy's no better, he's going to be given 5 years. Let's say he succeeds beyond our wildest dreams, and he gets us dancing in 3 years. He leaves for a BCS'er. The stipulation should be he bring in a really good AC, who can continue the trend. HC's can't do it alone, they need good AC's. I don't think anyone would feel real comfortable if Jamal took over right now. This is how you get it done in the world of mid major hoops. A comment on Brad for his supporters. I find it interesting, actually perplexing, that he doesn't get renewed at UW after he's the head AC on a final 4 team, and the interim HC on a team that makes the dance in what could have been a wipeout year for UW, ie Bennet leaving in midseason. Not deemed to be the man at UW, you would have thought other schools, not necessarily BCS'ers, but at least a high mid major program would have given him a look. Nothing, except Romar's offer to be an AC. What the hell did other schools know that we didn't?

That's definitely one recruiting advantage the big statey's have over us and other's like us....When a kid's in his driveway going for the winning shot in the national championship it's usually for Illinois, Mizzery, and not SLU.

The successful BCS programs recruiting these kids are first going to say, "SLU? What the hell have they done lately. Mediocre." Then probably lay something like UB's gone after this year.

3 star as usual you are right on...these next 2 or 3 signings in the Spring are gonna tell the tale on UB's future at SLU. He owes it to TL and KL to give them a decent supporting cast.

Why would Stemler want that? he's dancing...we're not. Did Stemler lose his starting spot? I haven't been following IU that closely, so don't know.

They aren't the immediate answer, but they're always out there every year, and other than RB and H Waldman, I can't think of any we've landed. UMass, Duquense, and a lot of other schools seem to do pretty well with transfers. I know we lost that one from UW to someone, but there's got to be more unhappy hoopsters out there at the biggies who could help.

If UB hasn't made an impression on Kramer's ex team mates and their parents by now, then he's never going to do it. The decision for the best of '08 is going to come down to the following factors in my opinion: Do they feel comfortable with the guy selling them, the coach. Do they want to go to a prestige or favorite type school over SLU, ie Kansas, or they've cheered for Mizzery since they were five years old. I think it was Brandenberg who said he dreamed of playing for UNC since he was a little kid. Do they want to play close to home or go away? Do they see any benefit in being part of the new arena and hopefully start a new era in SLU basketball. Am also sure they and their parents are going to take a hard look at who else these top schools are bringing in and what are their chances of getting playing time. Now, that's where UB has a huge benefit to offer. I don't know if any of these kids have the status of Tyus, who kind of teased us last year. But then when it came right down to it, he signed on for the bright lights and knock out coeds of Florida. Who knows though, maybe he doesn't cut it there, and all of a sudden SLU looks good to him.

UB's recruiting problems are obvious even to the most casual observer. We knew even befored this season we needed a legit PF and a legit PG. UB said as much in September when he said, "if LM is our 4 we're going to struggle." But what I found interesting was Gordo's last sentence, "SLU's leadership isn't going to accept ordinary much longer." You think he know's something? Or just speculating?

Hey, I'm not complaining, Roy, just pointing out that no one of any note was recruiting these guys. I'm content to wait and see them turn into a Brooks, Tatum, or even an Ahern. We need to find the gems in the rough, because we sure don't seem to be attracting any known players, ie those in the 100-200 range.

Guess Georgetown went Methodist, huh? Florida is my pick. They were very impressive in beating Ohio State back in February I believe. Easily could be the same two schools who battled for the national championship in football, will do it in basketball, with the same type of result, a beating. All my friends in Ohio, suddenly hate Florida more than Michigan.

Roy, I'm not defending GOP on this one. I tend to believe he just made it up to get people going on an another anti-Brad rant. But really, who else did Mitchell have offers from?

Drew, you have to add , "and it takes time for a team adding two new starters, young Mssrs. Juco Pf and Juco Pg, for everyone to get used to one another. But we are really looking forward to next year with 4 starters returning and playing in the new arena. And,Brad has some exciting and talented prospects lined up for visits this spring, so I'm not real concerned that Kramer Soderberg is our only fall recruit." Prrrroooooggrrreeessssss is soooo much fun to watch.

Our road in the A-10 is not getting easier. Some teams made big strides this year and others will next year. Really don't know what kind of recruiting year the rest of the league had, but there are a lot of good players returning. Yes, we have TL, KL, and LM (who hopefully will not have to play the 4)beyond that a whole of question marks, such as the still unknown JUCO PF and his little brother JUCO PG.

But a catchy headline just the same. This can't be true, because UB was saying 3 years ago TL had the stuff to make the NBA. I don't think he would have told him, "Oh sure, kid, you could play in the NBA, but if you come to SLU we're going to prevent you from showing off your skills." Even I don't think UB's that idiotic.

No doubt she kind of boxed her self in when her first order of business was to give him an extension her first day on the job. Still I think she's got 3 things to evaluate for him to stay beyond next year. 1.) The spring signing period. We have two lightly recruited frosh inked. Now who knows, they may be diamonds in the rough, but the odds are against them providing significant help next year, see DM and AK. So the real signees have to come in the next 45 days. If he doesn't find some "real" help for next year with the last 2 or 3 scholies, that is not going to bode well for next year. See Timmerman's article today on how the A-10 may be on the upswing. If the next 45 days come up empty, we could find ourselves in St. B territory next year. 2.) The fall period is the real critical mass to SLU's and UB's future. My guess would be the objective is to sign in addition to Kramer and John (whose reluctance to commit is discouraging) would be Sugga and Brandenberg, or at a minimum two others out of the areas top 10, or some promising talent from other places. If this doesn't happen, the bell is tolling for UB. 3.) Next year's record and results. One would hope when CL and UB sit down every year for a review the top objective on their list is making the dance. Right now, that is a highly unlikely result unless Spring signings comes up smelling like a rose. Opportunity 3 depends greatly on opportunity 1. We have to trust that CL will be able to judge better than the average fan if UB lands two players who will, on the surface, be able to contribute next year. If she deems that didn't happen, I'm thinking next year is his last barring some miracle kind of season. A possible tipoff to UB's status maybe how Kramer signs. Does he sign a LOI, or does he come on as a walkon? I'm not really sure how coaches at other schools treat their sons...as walkons or give them a scholie? My guess would be as a walk on, as this would open up another scholie, and if the coach is canned, the kid's not considered a transfer if he leaves as well.

I think the writer was right on, this season was a historic failure.

And SIU gets no mention with it's crappy old facilities, and a location that would be attractive only to those two hilljacks in Deliverance. How'd they ever make it to 6 straight dances, out recruit us in our own neighborhood, and get ranked #11 in the country? They must have some great looking coeds in Carbondale is the only reason I can see for going there. Quit giving UB a pass. SLU should not be that hard to recruit to. As for Marquette after Al M. left they went into a bit of a funk. Kids today probably don't even know who Al was or that they won a championship way back in '77. They went through a series of coaches, found the right one, and are doing everything to keep him there. Now they're in the Big East and the road gets smoother. Let's say for example we built on Spoon's success and kept going to dances for 5, 6 years in a row. Made a couple of runs to the sweet 16. The crowds average stayed at 17-18,000. Do you think DePaul would have been invited in over us. Five years ago they couldn't get 1,000 people at Rosemont. And those who came walked out with bags over their heads.

SIU- 6 straight NCAA appearances Creighton-Seems more able than us to make it. Gonzaga-8 or 9 straight appearances Xavier- Seem to go about 3 out of every 4 years Marquette- Granted they have the Big East now, but they are similar institution w/ no big time football team. Same could be said for Villanova and Georgetown. Look at some of the schools that dominate smaller conferences: The point w/ these schools is they are in conferences w/ similar type schools with no greater resources but they out perform them every year. Winthrop-seem to see them every year G. Mason-all of a sudden they've become a power Davidson-more than us, a lot more. Air Force-go figure a service academy. Granted they didn't make it this year, but they were right there and now in the NIT. We've got to build a team that is capable of being a dominating force in the A-10 year in and year out. Should this be so difficult? We'll have better facilities than just about anyone save for X and Dayton. In fact, they'll be on par. We need someone to come here and start a little winning tradition and create a little excitement about the program. Also, when he leaves after doing this, he leaves us with an able assistant who keeps it alive. You're saying there's little chance of finding someone like this. I say they are out there and if we don't get one of them, I guarantee you'll be reading about them in 2-3 years. Did any of following HC's start as a HC at a BCS school? Pitino, Matta, Crean, Weber, Gillespie. No they built programs at small schools by being smart, aggressive, and resourceful. We need one of these types. I keep telling you there was a reason UW let Brad go. They didn't see him as a HC at this level, and he was one year removed as head AC on a final four team. When given the job he took them to the dance, but still they released him. There had to be something about him to remove him from a fairly successful run.

Ya' know if he had taken the Ill State job, he'd have been gone two years ago...The gall of Illinois State wanting a coach who can take them dancing.

I'm tired of five years of mediocrity. We've got a lot of posters here who think he's the guy. After Sunday, I want to know why he's the guy...Something beyond he's clean cut and goes to Church every Sunday?

There's no buts for a guy being paid $400,000+. Everything to do with the program is his responsibility. It's why it's so frustrating when he says, "I don't know how..." "We're at wits end trying to figure it out"....Winners find solutions. Losers aren't solutions.

I hope Brad's backers respond. Assume you're CL for a minute. You bring in UB, and say, "Brad, I'm sorry but I'm seriously thinking of replacing you. However, out of fairness for all the hard work you've put in over the last five years, I'm going to give you a chance to convince me why I should let you finish out your contract with SLU? Please, go ahead."

In line with the cleaning up of the language for the youngsters reading the board, I don't like GOP's post. I share his feelings however. To go into the GW game with a clear shot at making the dance with big bad X out of the way, and lay an egg is unforgiveable in my opinion. I didn't see the game or even read about it. But from what I understand we got physically beat up and the ref's allowed it. This ain't croquet we're playing here and those are not excuses for losing. There is no crying in College hoops these days. BS has had five years to do something. Two NIT's with Zo's players ain't cutting it to my way of thinking. That's 3 years with his players and nothing to show for them. People on here say it's progress to win 20 games (19 really). It's progress if I wax my 59 MGA, but it still runs like ##### and won't get me to the supermarket. The biggest mistake CL made when she came to SLU was to immediately extend UB's contract. That was probably due to his signing of KL and TL and the two NIT's. Easy to think at that time better days were right around the corner. They aren't. And unless he pulls a damn rabbit out of his magic hat this spring, next year's going to be worse. The trend line is clearly not up, no matter how much Kool Aid you drink. Anyone else in America would be fired for five years of averaging a C- in their job. I don't care if UB is JC's half or full brother, ie nice guy, religious, hard working, etc. He has done nothing to show he is an A-10 D1 level coach. We should show him the door and eat the money to get ready for the new arena and hopefully with a guy who will give us a legit shot at the NCAA in '08-'09, but sadly it ain't gonna happen. For those who argue that progress is being made, it just takes time, give me examples of this progress. Be specific, like we've got this tremendous class coming in next year, not that he's good buddies with the Suggs' family, or that he's got some mysterious JUCO PF and PG signing in April. You are kidding yourselves. You're right on GOP, you just said it in terrible fashion.

You sound very unhappy GOP? Better watch the language...you'll be sorry.