Nate Latsch

> I think if he had stayed with the Eagles after his >freshman season or stayed with Gateway after his sophomore >season, he would've gone division 1. Were the St. Louis Eagles' or Gateway Basketball Club's people going to pass Watts' tests and classes for him? There were probably Division I schools that wanted him anyway, without playing for one of the big clubs, but the kid didn't have the grades. He was a good player for several years at Jennings, so if he wanted to play Division I college basketball he should have worked harder on his grades. That's the bottom line with this kid. Starting a thread every few months about whether or not SLU should offer him a scholarship is worthless unless the kid is going to do what he needs to do off the court. - Nate

>Nate- > >I have gotten to see Scheer play a couple of times. He plays >in the middle for a small borgia team he is defintely a wing >or a guard at the college level. Is he for real? He is >filling up the stat sheet rather nicely for borgia. A lot of people consider Nathan Scheer the top freshman in the St. Louis area. He's definitely playing out of position for Borgia, but he doesn't have much choice. He'll be a wing in college. - Nate

>Nate, I respect your opinion and I haven't seen him play for >about 5 months but has he really improved that much? Looking >at his stats I wasn't all that impressed and based off what >I saw a couple of months ago I wasn't under the impression >he would start his freshman year, much less be right behind >Ian. You can't judge Brandenburg on his stats, because he doesn't touch the ball very much in the post or in a position where he can score. After watching DeSmet's last two games, I think John has gotten more touches than I've seen in the past, but he still didn't crack 15 points in either game. Brandenburg will be a much better player in college than he is now. He's got all the skills to be successful at that level and he's still young (I think he's 16) and getting bigger, stronger and better. When you see him play now, when he posts up strong and doesn't get the ball thrown to him, you wouldn't think he's very good. But I think you have to consider the system as having a big impact on his play. I said John could be the second best option for SLU right now because the Bills don't have anyone with his combination of size, skills and strength. - Nate

If SLU hasn't already, I think the Billikens should offer Eckerle a scholarship. I don't know if they're waiting to get him as a walk on, but I doubt that will happen. The way Eckerle is playing, he'll have some few options when he makes his decision this spring. With four scholarships to give now that the greatest athlete of all time has left the program, the Bills should have the flexibility to offer a kid like Eckerle who 1) is a great kid, 2) can help the team at a position of need (backup point guard), 3) is a great student, 4) has ties to the program, 5) is another local product, 6) can stay in school for four years and be a great representative of the program, 7) might actually accept an offer from SLU (unlike recent misses) and 8) can help recruit Nathan Scheer in a couple years. I could probably list a few more reasons, but I've got some stuff to do. - Nate

>V, how many times have you see him play? > >John Brandeburg is a top 100 recruit and there is no way in >hell he would start for SLU as a freshman. John Brandenburg can start at SLU as a freshman. He'd probably be SLU's second best option in the post right now — as a 16 year old. Grunk was at Meramec last night to watch John, as was Mizzou coach Mike Anderson. - Nate

>It is strange, VTime. BTW, Ty's dad posted earlier, so you >need to be somewhat correct in your pronouncements. I've written this before, but Tyler Griffey was offered a scholarship by St. Louis U. before he played a game in his freshman year at Lafayette. There was actually some talk that Griffey might receive the offer while he was still in eighth grade. - Nate

Marquise Hill was an impact player on the Trinity football team this fall. He put up very good numbers as a running back and safety. He's got a nice future ahead of him. - Nate

As bad as the Knicks are, they have a nice young nucleus with Eddy Curry, Jared Jefferies, Channing Frye, David Lee and Nate Robinson. If all the older headcases on that roster ever agreed to play together and play hard every night, the Knicks could be very successful and very deep. There is a lot of talent there, just not enough balls to go around — and no one smart enough in the front office or on the bench to make the most of it. I always liked David Lee's pro potential because he was an unselfish guy who could go out and score, rebound and pass. He's kind of one of those glue guys a team needs to have out there to do the dirty work and defer to the players who need the ball in their hands to be effective. - Nate

Ealy and Scheer are definitely two guys to watch. I think they will be playing together with the St. Lous Eagles next summer. Scheer is having a nice freshman season at Borgia. He's playing center for them because they don't have much size. - Nate

>Nate, I take it you were at the Desmet game. What was the >deal with John Brandenburg, I saw he only had 5 pts, did he >grab any boards? It is only the first game so maybe he was >just getting adjusted The DeSmet offense didn't do a very good job of getting the ball to Brandenburg. Actually, that's probably being too generous. They just didn't get him the ball. I'm surprised when I watch that team play because I don't understand what they're doing on offense. They have some good players but it's like they don't try to get the ball to their best player inside where he can be more effective. I'd like to know what all the Division I coaches were thinking about watching that. - Nate

I bought a copy of Earl's basketball book yesterday. It is very good and worth the money ($9 online and $6 if you buy it from Earl). Check out his website (www.earlaustinjr.com) for more info. - Nate

Saw Brad Soderberg at Whitfield last night. He was watching DeSmet (John Brandenburg) against Gateway Tech (Jesse Perry). I don't know if he stayed to watch Cardinal Ritter vs. Whitfield. There were a couple coaches there, including Chris Lowey (SIU), Derek Thomas (W. Illinois) and others that I did not recognize. There was a group of coaches at Pattonville as well, including SLU assistant Angres Thorpe. Someone in another thread mentioned AT as the only D-1 coach at Pattonville, but that is incorrect. There were a couple there, including Thomas. - Nate

Taj, In another thread I said I have not heard Earl say anything about a Leon offer. People on this board have said that's what Earl said. Hope that clears up the confusion. - Nate

FutureBill, Sorry, but I wasn't there. I think OJ was, but I was in St. Louis covering the Class 5 football championship game. - Nate

I don't write about scholarship offers to Vashon players because it's too difficult to tell who really has offers and who doesn't. Some people (not VTime) will tell you that certain Vashon kids have offers from BCS schools all over the country. Then they end up at SEMO or Western Illinois. As for Leon Powell's situation, I have no idea if he has an offer from SLU. He should by now, after all of the Billikens other targets turned them down. In the past I've heard some people say he has an offer and some people say he doesn't have an offer. If Earl Austin Jr. says Powell has an offer, and I've never heard him say one way or the other, then I would believe Leon has an offer. As for Femi John, I've heard that one reason he has an offer (as opposed to some other local juniors) is that John has good grades and shouldn't have a problem qualifying. - Nate

VTime, Please stop the Anthony James campaign. This is like your obsession with Leon Powell all over again. Going on a message board and hyping up a kid is not going to get him a Division I scholarship. If you feel so strongly about him, e-mail every Division I coach in America with your comments. I've seen James play and I wasn't impressed. I'm sure he's a better player now, but he's not worthy of all this hype. - Nate

>>There's definitely some talent here year after year, with a >>high-major McDonald's All-American type of player every >>couple years (Larry Hughes and David Lee are the last two) >>who have gone on to play in the NBA. > >You forgot Darius Miles, who was probaby the best prospect >of the three. > >At one point in the mid-90's Cardinal Ritter had three NBA >prospects on the same team in Loren Woods, Jahidi White, and >Chris Carawell. Nark, Good call on Miles. I forget about him because he finished his HS career before I moved here. - Nate

This senior class is definitely down in terms of overall talent, while the junior class should be one of the better groups in some time. There's definitely some talent here year after year, with a high-major McDonald's All-American type of player every couple years (Larry Hughes and David Lee are the last two) who have gone on to play in the NBA. If Scott Suggs or John Brandenburg (or both) turn out to be that kind of player next year, then it will kind of continue that cycle. The junior class includes many D-1 kids: Suggs, Brandenburg, Ron Waller (W. Kentucky), Gateway Tech's Jesse Perry, McCluer North's Torres Roundtree, Femi John and Anthony Booker, Webster Groves' Drew Hanlen, St. Charles West's Kramer Soderberg, Wesclin's Sean Rakers and Zumwalt South's Josh McCoy. I think all of those guys already have D-1 offers. There's another group of guys I'm not sure about who may or may not be D-1: O'Fallon's Kenny Leverette, Normandy's Anthony Jones, Collinsville's Dez Hickman, Gateway Tech's Courtney Belger and Kenny Harris and one or two kids from Vashon. I'm sure I'm leaving out a couple names, but you get the point. - Nate

I looked for some information on this, but I couldn't find anything. Sorry. - Nate

Josh Harrellson (St. Charles) signed with Western Illinois. Zack Plackemeier (Duchesne) signed with Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne Lucas O'Rear (Nashville) signed with Northern Iowa. - Nate

>"Always said, he was a big time scorer in HS" > >Where does this perception come from? Except for a handful >of games, Polk was never a big scorer in high school. >That's why the 38 point outburst in the championship game >was so surprising. Polk had a couple good scoring games in high school, when his perimeter shot was falling. Otherwise the scoring was usually spread around. - Nate

Femi John is a junior. Paul Eckerle is a senior. My sources tell me Femi has been offered by several schools, including many in the Missouri Valley Conference. He's a nice player, about 6-foot-3 or maybe 6-4. Two of his McCluer North classmates, Torres Roundtree and Anthony Booker, are also D-1 prospects. So those three kind of take turns stepping up for the Stars, rather than one player standing out all the time. - Nate

Lawrence didn't have to go to a Division I school on an academic scholarship. He chose to, but when other recruits didn't make it, he was rewarded with a scholarship before his freshman year. As a junior at Lafayette, the Lancers had some big men who allowed Lawrence to play more away from the basket and I thought he had a good season. As a senior, after Paul Banister and Jared Kreienkamp graduated, Lawrence had to play more inside and I thought he didn't have as good of a season. (And point guard Landon Shipley had a great year.) Dustin Maguire was never in a position in high school to really play away from the basket. When Maguire transferred to Edwardsville, it looked like he might get to play more on the perimeter, but it didn't really work out that way. I saw Lawrence play a lot more in high school than I did Maguire. I think I first saw Lawrence play as an eighth grader on the Gators summer-league team. Lawrence improved a lot between his sophomore and junior seasons, and also got a couple inches taller. If I had to choose between recruiting Lawrence or Maguire, I would have chosen Lawrence. I like Lawrence's shot more — Maguire has that kind of funky release — and Lawrence has a couple inches on Maguire. After his junior season, I said I didn't know if Lawrence would be a mid-major type D-1 player, but I was obviously wrong about that. Credit Quin Snyder for seeing something special in the kid — Quin told Lawrence he reminded him of himself — and taking a chance on him. - Nate

Missouri sophomore Matt Lawrence (Lafayette) made seven of 11 3-point attempts and scored 27 points in the Tigers' season opening win. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...B1?OpenDocument Not bad for a kid who got little recruiting attention. I watched some of Mizzou's second exhibition game and Lawrence's jumper was amazing. - Nate

This is the capsule from when Luke was an All-Metro first-team selection: Luke Meyer, 6-5, sr., forward, Borgia A four-year starter, Meyer played on loaded Borgia teams for his first three seasons, but he was asked to do a lot more this year as a senior and he responded. With a young supporting cast around him and defenses keyed to his every move, the versatile lefthander averaged 28.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.97 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game in helping Borgia to a 24-5 record and a trip to the Class 4 quarterfinals. Despite facing double- and triple-teams routinely, Meyer used his smooth mid-range pull-up jumper to score 829 points in 29 games this season. He finished his tremendous career with 2,192 points, becoming the first player in Borgia history to hit the 2,000-point plateau. Meyer signed with St. Louis University. - Nate