Nate Latsch

NM

I posted this on another thread, but a source told me yesterday that Anthony Mitchell, the 6-foot-3/6-4 senior guard/forward at East St. Louis, may already have a scholarship offer from the Billikens. - Nate

Brandon Harold didn't play the first half of the season because he was concentrating on his academics, or something like that. I agree with you on the Mitchell assessment. I've compared him to Sanijay Watts, as an undersized post player, but I was told Mitchell has a better perimeter game than Watts. At the very least SLU would add some athleticism and toughness to its roster. The Billikens need to bring in as many players as they can in this recruiting class. - Nate

I heard today that East St. Louis senior Anthony Mitchell might have a scholarship offer from SLU. I don't know if anyone on this board can confirm or deny that info. I like the Harrold kid. Big body. Skilled. Like pdiddy said, he may be a football guy. - Nate

>SIUC has one St. Louis player on the roster right now >(Falker) and most considered him a reach/project at the time >he was recruited. Now Lowery did get the two players from >McCluer recently, but that makes three St. Louis area >players on his roster. Am I missing something here? The Salukis have TWO players from the St. Louis area currently on the roster. This is the other one: http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl...yle_tony00.html - Nate

This guy sounds like he can play. I went back and looked at the boxscore from when Homewood-Flossmoor played Webster Groves at the Shootout and Relphorde had zero points and one turnover. But I don't know what year Relphorde would have been then. This part of the Tribune story is interesting: "Relphorde, whose circuitous route had taken him from H-F to a military academy near Lexington, Ky., then to Hales Franciscan (where he was ruled ineligible by the IHSA) and onto Boys To Men for a semester before finally landing at American Christian." - Nate

>According to reports from a Billiken Club meeting, Earl >Austin Jr. confirmed that the Bills have offered him. If SLU was still interested in Powell, wouldn't it make sense for Soderberg to watch him play last night while the coach was already at Normandy to watch Jesse Perry? - Nate

Brian, I've heard Soderberg isn't going to offer Eckerle a scholarship. I would guess that if SLU offered Eckerle a basketball scholarship, he would take it. It means a lot to high school athletes to receive athletic scholarships, even the kids who are smart enough to garner academic scholarships. An athletic scholarship shows a kid that a school wants him and is committed to him — to playing him and to want him as a contributor. By telling a kid, we'd like to have you walk on but we're not going to offer you a scholarship, you're basically telling that kid you don't think he's good enough to play there. If you add up the best skills of all of SLU's walk-ons to make one better, you still don't have a player as good as Eckerle. Paul Eckerle is not a walk-on caliber player. Mike Jones averaged 13.1 points per game as a senior at Trinity. Jeff Coffey averaged 13 points per game as a senior at St. Charles West. They were probably Division 3 prospects coming out of high school. Paul Eckerle helped Borgia win a state championship last season and averaged 24.7 points per game as a senior this season. He's being recruited by Division I and Division 2 schools to play basketball. - Nate

>Have you found their information to be unreliable in the >past? It is part of the rivals family, is it not? Drew, It is part of the Rivals family, but its not the same type of rankings system that Rivals uses. When Rivals comes out with a set of rankings, say the top 100 or whatever, that list is usually compiled by a group of recruiting experts from different areas who have seen most of the kids who need to be looked at. The mosports.com rankings are more like the opinions of one or two people. Consider that No. 30 on that list, Vashon's Alburey Doss, averages 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds a game. Stats don't always tell the story, but in the games I've seen, some of the biggest games on the team's schedule, the guy hasn't contributed much, if at all. - Nate

>Also, for your consideration, rivals has him ranked as the 41st best player in the state of >Missouri. We need 1st team all state players, not 8th team all state. Drew, Where is this rivals ranking you are quoting? I'd like to see it. I looked for it but couldn't find anything. I guess you could be talking about the mosports.com list, but that thing is just funny. I like Eckerle's potential. I think SLU should offer him. It wouldn't hurt to bring in a player who could back up at the point guard spot for a couple years and contribute and actually is interested in going to SLU. But I've heard the Billikens aren't going to offer. I guess we'll see how many Horace Dixons and Obi Ikeakors the team can land this spring. - Nate

davidlee, Other people may disagree, but I don't think he is a legitimate candidate to play at SLU. He's a nice player and a good athlete, but he's a 6-foot-3/6-4 power forward. He's averaging 14.5 points and 11.1 rebounds, but has made 23 percent of his 3-point attempts (11 of 46). There are a lot of cases when people want to say those kind of players can be effective guards at the next level (see Watts, Sanijay), but usually those guys are just good high school players who are able to dominate against smaller players. - Nate

SLU coach Brad Soderberg was at Normandy last night to watch Gateway Tech junior Jesse Perry play against Beaumont, which features 6-foot-7 sophomore Richard Anderson. Soderberg was definitely focused on Perry and not Anderson (sorry, VTime). After the boys semifinal, there was a girls game before Vashon played Normandy. I don't think Soderberg stayed around to see Vashon (Leon Powell) play Normandy. - Nate

>There seems to be some shorud of secrecy around this kid. Is >he holding out for Mizzou? Some have said he will be in the >Valley. Is SLU even an option he is considering? Thanks I have no idea what Leon Powell is thinking. The only thing I've heard, from a source close to the Vashon team, is that Powell will probably end up in the Missouri Valley Conference somewhere. An interesting sidenote to last night's district semifinal games at Normandy... SLU coach Brad Soderberg was in the house to watch Gateway Tech junior Jesse Perry play against Beaumont, but I think he left before Vashon played. - Nate

James had 19 points in the first half, 26 points in three quarters and then hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to get to 29 points. He made 12 of 25 shots. Vashon won the game when it switched to a box-and-one defense on James late in the first half. The Wolverines had a couple different defenders on him, and then would switch and almost double-team to deny entry passes on the wing. James took 18 shots in the first half, and could only manage seven in the second half when his team needed him to shoot. Normandy led after each of the first three quarters, but couldn't handle Vashon's size and strength inside. A lot of times, Vashon guys were just tossing the ball up near the rim and then two or three guys would attack the offensive board and get the putback. Even when Normandy was leading by five at the beginning of the fourth quarter, things looked bad for the Vikings. Normandy was working very hard to get each of its baskets, while Vashon wasn't having as much trouble. Normandy needed someone else, besides James, to step up and make a difference in the fourth quarter and it never happened. It was a great effort, but the Vikings just didn't have enough left at the end. I don't know about James being a mid-to-high major prospect. He can definitely shoot and score, but he's small (6-foot, 6-1ish) and needs to add weight and strength. I'd like to see him create scoring opportunities for other people, but he seemed more inclined to try to take every shot himself. There were times last night that he had to take shots, but there were also moments when he would have been better off getting his teammates involved. It is good to see VTime's head didn't explode last night, with James, Leon Powell and Cornelius Walker all playing on the same court. - Nate

>Are we recruiting Richard Rose of Troy ? I have only seen him play once but he looks like >a Luke Meyer/Chris Sloan type player. Can stroke the 3 but also go >strong to the hoop and dunk. Lists at 6'3"/185 but looks and plays bigger. I was just talking to someone about Richard Rose the other day and the thinking from this guy was that Rose is probably a Division 2 player somewhere. Rose is a good high school player, but he doesn't seem to stand out in any one particular area (shooting, passing, athleticism, defense, etc). If Rose were 6-foot-5 or 6-6, closer in physical stature to Meyer and Sloan, he'd be a much better prospect. But as a 6-3/6-3 shooting guard his prospects are limited to lower level Division I and Division 2 schools. Richard Anderson is a Division I prospect. I've said on here before he'd be a good fit for the Missouri Valley Conference if he stays at his current size, but could go high-major if he grows (and gets his attitude in order). I've heard really good things about Sean Duff. If he continues to get bigger and stronger and better, he could be a D-1 guy somewhere. There are some good sophs around the area, starting with Tyler Griffey and Anderson and Gavin Wiss. I haven't seen Patterson play. I'll try to check him out this summer. - Nate

>Nate, What is the latest you have heard on Chris Stokes? I >know I read somewhere he would probably go JUCO either >Mineral Area or Vincennes. Is that what you have heard or >has that changed? I heard a while back that some schools were backing off of him because of his size or grades. He's a kid who could do some nice things at a JUCO and position himself well to move to a D-1 school in a couple years. - Nate

I doubt Williams has an offer from Mizzou. The Tigers have one scholarship to give and have gone after a few other kids. If the Tigers have extended several scholarship offers, thinking that they will lose a couple guys in the offseason, then I wouldn't be as surprised. But it could be a situation where the school offers, knowing that a kid won't make grades, and will have a recruiting advantage in a couple years after he goes to a JUCO. - Nate

>Let me start by saying I have not seen Williams play this >year, but from what I have heard from people who have you >have him rated way too high. They all say his skill set is >way behind Husak at the same stage. He is a big time >project. Terrance Williams is all potential right now, but he does have a chance to be a nice player for somebody in a couple years. I don't know what his academic situation is, but I'd take Williams over Husak. Guys like Williams and Husak aren't bad to have on the roster. Yes, they are projects, but the payoff can be much higher for true 7-footers like that. Williams can run and jump, which probably makes him more athletic than you're average 7-footer. >I also like Eckerle a little more than Ford. I know Ford >has a big time height advantage. There is just something >about Eckerle's game when you see him play that leaves me >very impressed. I like Eckerle. He's played in a lot of big games over the years and had success. He's also a good kid and a great student and would be a good addition to any team. Ford has potential, but he needs to put in work to get better. If he goes JUCO, he could get some good D-1 looks in a couple years. - Nate

>I didnt put Hanlen high because he's 5'10 or 5'11 and I >thought there were bigger prospects, because they play >off-guard and are a few inches taller. You make a good >point though. It also bothers me that he doesnt play pg on >his own team. Most of the time Wrickerson runs the show and >former Trinity pg Devon Dace runs the show. I see Hanlen >getting away from the pg he used to be and taking a lot >shots. Who offered him. Dace played at DuBourg for two years. Hanlen has offers from Western Illinois, Southeast Missouri and another school that I am forgetting right now — like Illinois State or Eastern Illinois or something like that. I think Hanlen showed enough as a point guard early in his career. He played with poise as a freshman and seemed to handle whatever pressure teams threw at him. If I remember correctly, he wasn't rattled at the Shootout against Homewood-Flossmoor, Julian Wright's team that also had a few other D-1 guys on it. Hanlen is like a smaller version of Blake Ahearn. The kid just works incredibly hard and makes shots. The height thing will keep him from getting many more scholarship offers, but he's a tough kid who will contribute to a Division I program somewhere. I don't think he would be a bad fit at SLU, except that Kramer Soderberg is a similar player. - Nate

>Perry projects as a 1,2,3 in college. If he put some serious work in the weight room, he >could be a poor man's Julian Wright because of his guard abilities. Perry doesn't have a consistent jump shot, which doesn't make him much of a point guard. I've heard people say that if he had a jump shot, Perry would be a high-major prospect. The Wright comparisons are close, though. I don't know if Wright can shoot from the perimeter either, but they both have nice all-around games. Perry definitely is versatile enough to play almost any position on the floor. I'd like to see him get stronger and work more at the four where he could use his quickness to get past big guys and get to the rim. Roundtree, Booker and Perry would be a nice trio because of their versatile skill sets. - Nate

Peterson played at the Shootout here in December. Does anyone here remember him? - Nate

I see Booker as a Randal Falker type of player, though I don't remember what Falker was like as a junior in high school. This is Booker's first year of getting a lot of minutes for McCluer North, so he's still kind of raw and figuring things out. He'll be a good fit in Carbondale, especially if they can redshirt him and build him up. I agree with Torch on John's situation. I mentioned a couple days ago that Roundtree going to SIUC could help push John to SLU. But I don't know what other options John has at this point or who he is interested in. - Nate

Sean Rakers of Wesclin is a strong 6-6/6-7 post player. I believe he has offers for basketball, but he may be a better football prospect. Drew Hanlen should be up higher on the list, considering he's got three D-1 offers and some of the other guys on this list don't have any yet (that I know of). - Nate

>Knocking down the three.....isn't that a little overstated >for a guy who has take 10 3 pt all year and hit 2....... Have you seen him shoot? He can make shots on the perimeter, though it's not something he has to do on this team. - Nate

>just curious if you have any idea why tommie and kevin were >at scw friday night? I would guess it's because they are basketball fans. Like a lot of people there that night, they probably wanted to watch Kramer vs. Scott Suggs. I saw Dwayne Polk last night at the Berkeley-Gateway Tech game. These are just kids who love basketball. - Nate