Nate Latsch

>And if I'm not mistaken, his recent sterling recruiting classes have come from the N.West >and with kids he may have established contacts with when he was here. UW's >still not in the UNC or Duke class. Romar has done a great job recruiting at Washington. He has taken advantage of a really strong pocket of basketball talent in the northwest. He's still competing against Gonzaga, which has also done a good job recruiting, but Romar has gotten some big-time kids and will probably continue to do so. - Nate

I've heard the same thing, though I may have been listening to the same streets as p diddy. - Nate

>Lucas O'Rear is a name that's been tossed around on here for >a couple years now. Does anybody know our status with him? >Have we offered? Does he have any other offers? I don't think O'Rear has an offer from SLU. He's a nice high school player, but I don't know if he can do much as a 6-foot-5/6-6 power forward in college. There are questions about whether or not he can score against bigger players. - Nate

> I ageree ... if we win, good players will come. If we don't >it is of course much harder. > This is what it comes down to. Like I've said before, I think SLU has a decent chance to land Suggs, Brandenberg and Griffey. But I wouldn't be too surprised if Suggs and Griffey ended up at North Carolina and Brandenburg goes to Duke. (My point is they will all have plenty of options.) - Nate

Rivals.com has another story on Washington's Scott Suggs. http://mosports.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=551734 The article says Suggs now has a scholarship offer from Kansas, to go along with his previous offers from Missouri, St. Louis U. and Washington. According to the story, Suggs does not have an offer from Illinois but could get one soon. - Nate

According to a PrepStars.com story, KC Paseo's 5-foot-9 lefty point guard Rahmon Fletcher has been contacted by SLU: "Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Tennessee, Ball State, and I heard from SLU because Jamal Walker (former Ball State assistant) is there now, so I like Saint Louis too," Fletcher told PrepStars.com. "Southern Illinois and Missouri State have offered." http://www.prepstars.com/recruiting_news/2...tcher060606.jsp - Nate

You sent me an article you wrote about you winning a tennis match and you want me to critique it? Here's my critique: Don't write about yourself. You're writing for an audience of one. Most of the stories you've e-mailed me have been stories where you were writing about yourself. I get it, you play tennis at Harris-Stowe. Congrats. I get the feeling that you don't care about writing, but you just want to write about yourself. That's perfectly normally and is actually a trend these days. Have you heard of blogs? People write blogs about themselves all the time, but that kind of stuff doesn't fit into the world of newspapers and magazines. Writers have to realize they are not the story, it is their job to tell other peoples' stories. Would you rather read about the Cardinals or have me write about how I performed in my YMCA slow-pitch softball league? I was 100 percent serious when I advised you to finish your business degree and look for something in that field. I've given several college students the same advice. You'll probably be much happier. The journalism industry stinks. I'm trying to get out of it now too. I wish I would have double-majored in college, so I could do something more productive with my life. I would tell your brother the same thing. He's a smart kid with a lot of options. - Nate

>Its been a LONG time since you replied to one of my emails. >Initially you did. I can't remember and have no record of >getting one in the year 2006. I think the last I got from >you was maybe december. I didn't return your e-mails when you wrote to me about your brother late in the basketball season? Yes, I did. That would have been in Feb. or March during the playoffs. So if I don't respond to your e-mails, most of which you post on here and are about your tennis season, you come on here and try to bash me?

>Billiphan, thanks for the support. Even though NAte >constantly tries to embarrass me all the time and make me >look imcompetent, I email him all the time, he just rarely >gets back to me. I sent him the article in the paper about >me winnning the match almost two months ago and asked for >some feedback and never got it. His disdain for me hasnt >lost me any respect for him as a journalist. He writes >articles as specials not only to the Post Dispatch, but to >MLB.com as well, which I think is huge. I'm not going to >give up my dream of being a journalist. I can do a lot of >things with a degree in business and I can always submit for >my literary works to magazines,newspapers, and internet >sites while pursuing my entrepreneurial endeavors. I'm not >going to let anyone discourage me from achieving my dreams. >NO ONE! > Saying I am constantly trying to embarrass you and make you look imcompetent is probably stretching it a little bit. Besides this thread, I haven't commented on many of your posts in a while. I used to try to correct when you'd write false statements and try to pass them off as facts, now I don't care. You know I e-mailed you back some writing tips. Did you use any of them? I think you'd be smart to work in business and try to do other stuff on the side. The job market for newspapers/magazines is terrible, with more and more college graduates trying to find jobs with less and less jobs available. - Nate

>Way to go V! You shoe em! You're only a $25 check away from >equalling Nate's journalistic career anyways. I think bigger >things are in store for you though than covering the Dubourg >JV softball game like Nate does. Keep up the good work. >Don't let the haters bring you down. Billiphan, Chill out. I've given VTime the best advice I can about trying to be a "journalist." Don't do it. Go do something more productive and rewarding with your life. If he continues on into the business world, instead of trying to become a sportswriter, he'll thank me in a couple years. If not, well, I tried to help him. - Nate

>Our budding journalist whiffs again..... I cringe every time anyone refers to VTime as a journalist. Please, please, please stop that. - Nate

> >so who are the teams?? > George Mason last four years: 82-43 (went to third round of NIT and NCAA tourney final four) Indiana last four years: 68-54 (first round of NIT, second round of NCAA tourney, third round of NCAA tourney) Penn State last five years: 59-90 (third round of NCAA tourney) St. Louis University last five years: 75-77 (first round of NIT, second round of NIT) Missouri State last five years: 94-63 (second round of NIT, third round of NIT) Missouri last five years: 90-70 (first round of NIT - twice, second round of NCAA tourney and fourth round of NCAA tourney) Bradley last four years: 62-60 (third round of NCAA tourney) I just think it's interesting to look at the numbers without the names associated with them. - Nate

Here is a comparison of a few college hoops programs over the last few years: Team 1 16-12 in 02-03 23-10 in 03-04 (third round of NIT) 16-13 in 04-05 27-8 in 05-06 (NCAA tourney final four) last four years: 82-43 (went to third round of NIT and NCAA tourney final four) Team 2 20-13 in 02-03 (third round of NCAA tourney) 14-15 in 03-04 15-14 in 04-05 (first round of NIT) 19-12 in 05-06 (second round of NCAA tourney) last four years: 68-54 (first round of NIT, second round of NCAA tourney, third round of NCAA tourney) Team 3 21-12 in 01-02 (third round of NCAA tourney) 7-21 in 02-03 9-19 in 03-04 7-23 in 04-05 15-15 in 05-06 last five years: 59-90 Team 4 15-16 in 01-02 16-14 in 02-03 (first round of NIT) 19-13 in 03-04 (second round of NIT) 9-21 in 04-05 16-13 in 05-06 last five years: 75-77 (first round of NIT, second round of NIT) Team 5 17-15 in 01-02 17-12 in 02-03 19-14 in 03-04 19-13 in 04-05 (second round of NIT) 22-9 in 05-06 (third round of NIT) last five years: 94-63 (second round of NIT, third round of NIT) Team 6 24-12 in 01-02 (fourth round of NCAA tourney) 22-11 in 02-03 (second round of NCAA tourney) 16-14 in 03-04 (first round of NIT) 16-17 in 04-05 (first round of NIT) 12-16 in 05-06 last five years: 90-70 (first round of NIT - twice, second round of NCAA tourney and fourth round of NCAA tourney) Team 7 12-18 in 02-03 15-16 in 03-04 13-15 in 04-05 22-11 in 05-06 (third round of NCAA tourney) last four years: 62-60 (third round of NCAA tourney) - Nate

I wouldn't be too surprised to see Danny Brown and Adam Knollmeyer in the starting lineup, along with Ian, Tommie and Kevin. If Knollmeyer comes in and plays hard, he could be a nice addition to the lineup next to Ian. He brings a lot more to the table at the four than Luke Meyer does. Meyer could start at the three (next to Knollmeyer or J.J. at the four) instead of Brown. - Nate

> >On the other hand, I do not believe the George Masons and >Bradleys and Wichita States had too many 4-star recruits. >We are more in their league than we are the UNCs, Kentuckys, >Dukes, Indianas of the universe. I hope we can climb but >some posters are sort of in denial about where SLU really is >currently in the big scheme of things. > Doctor-Doctor, I think I have a long way to go before joining VTime's company. Maybe if I start making posts like "Vashon's Ben Adams is the next Shaq. He's got 27 stars on vtime.com. SLU needs to offer him a scholarship now, before UNC and Duke see him play." Anyway ... With respect to the board's own 3star_recruit, the star system and national rankings are, for the most part, a joke. Especially when you have websites like Rivals and Scout always trying to outdo each other. One of the things I like about PrepStars.com is the site isn't based so much on the star system like Scout and Rivals are. They have rankings, and will alter those rankings a couple times a year (pre-summer, post-summer, end of year). I place a lot more stock in the kids who are McDonald's All-Americans. Even though that selection process is messed up — Brandon Rush wasn't a McDonald's All-American because he went to Mount Zion; Travon Bryant was a McD's AA and never did anything at Mizzou — you still have a group of kids who are basically considered the top 20 prospects in the senior class. Most years you have a couple kids who probably should be on the team or shouldn't have been picked, but it's usually the best of the best. After that, the rest of the senior class rankings don't mean much. Being a top 100 recruit really means nothing. You're absolutely correctly about SLU being closer to George Mason, Bradley and Wichita State than UNC, Kentucky and Duke. SLU isn't yet on the level of a George Mason, Bradley or Wichita State. The Billikens should string together several winning seasons first. The biggest part of recruiting is talent evaluation. The coaching staff has to find kids who can play and make an impact on their team — then find a way to get them to sign a letter of intent. - Nate

Rivals.com included this in a story recently: "John Brandenburg, the 6-foot-10, 235-pound power forward/center from DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, Mo., has scholarship offers from St. Louis, Southern Illinois and Missouri-State. Brandenburg, who has always been a big fan of North Carolina, recently received a call from the Tar Heels. Wake Forest and Florida have also contacted the Missouri big man." - Nate

How anyone thinks Anthony Drejaj should be linked to Steve Nash, Nate Archibald and other established NBA players is beyond me. Here's a list for you: What do Nate Latsch, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Joe Crispin, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Larry Hughes and LaVar Arrington all have in common? All have dribbled a basketball at least once. - Nate

>I dont understand what it is Beinert can do that Anthony James can't do. Maybe because this Beinert kid is a 6-foot-2 junior guard and Anthony James is a spindly 5-10/5-11 sophomore shooting guard. James wasn't good enough to make the St. Louis Eagles, and there are several kids on the Eagles U-16 team that I would take at St. Louis U. before James. - Nate

>I believe former Vashon standout Kenny Daniels has >transferred to Cowley County. If so, that would be one >connection. Yes, that's one of the reasons Watts chose Cowley. He wanted to play with his friend. - Nate

I was at Harris-Stowe for the STL Eagles U-16 team's game at 9 p.m. on Saturday night. - Nate

Good description of my school at No. 5. I would guess that Penn State has some of the best basketball facilities in the country and plays in one of the better conferences, but most good in-state and regional recruits don't give any thought to playing for the Nittany Lions. There have been some very good players from the state, including Kobe Bryant, Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton. When Bryant was a high school senior, I asked him if he considered Penn State at all. He gave a good politically correct answer — but you could tell he had absolutely no interest in the school. - Nate

I forget what radio show it was, but Brad Soderberg was on and talking about recruiting. He said something about being careful in recruiting because if you make a mistake (taking the wrong kid) it turns into a four-year mistake (before the player leaves). - Nate

>My point is Ahern is not a program changer. I do not think >it is the end of the world that he is not a Billiken. If we >settled for Ahern caliber players we would be an NIT team >every year. If that is all you want out of this program then >I guess he is the player for you. Ahearn was a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a junior and a legitimate player of the year candidate in the league. So if you're talking about "Ahearn-caliber players" I'd think St. Louis University could use several of them. Of course, maybe not, if you want to strive to be a mid-level team in the Atlantic 10 and make the NIT once every few years. Ahearn has made two trips to the NIT in three seasons, while SLU has made one during that time. - Nate

>The reality is that we'll ***** and moan, Barry will be the >new home run king, I'll care a little bit less about >baseball, and hopefully the testing will catch the cheats >from now on. Rich, You think Bonds will catch Aaron's record? Bonds looks less and less likely to stick around another year or two. The guy's age is finally catching up with him and his body is breaking down like Mark McGwire's did late in his career. I think the 755 mark is safe for a while, unless someone like Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols can keep performing at a high level and stay injury-free for the next however many years. Now that the home run levels have decreased the last few years — guys aren't hitting 50, 60 a season with regularity — it's going to take this next group of players longer to get up around 500, 600 and 700 homers. - Nate

Here's a story I wrote on Scott Suggs, Tyler Griffey and John Brandenburg as part of the Post-Dispatch high school basketball preview section: http://prepsports.stltoday.com/ssi/prep/st...In+search+of+... - Nate