Nate Latsch
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Posts posted by Nate Latsch
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With the exception of Kenny Harris and the D-1 kids in the Metro East, this isn't a bad list.
- Nate
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>I don't have a problem with the coaching change, but I do
>have a problem with the timing.
The timing is terrible.
Not only will it be more difficult to identify and attract a top candidate, but it will be harder for the SLU assistants to find new jobs at other schools. I feel bad for Brad, but I can't feel too bad because he'll get a couple hundred thousand dollars out of it. His assistants, who weren't making much to begin with, aren't so lucky.
The timing would indicate that someone was already in place to get the job, but right now that doesn't seem like the case.
Everyone has to just wait and see what happens.
- Nate
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>I think 16 is about right. This team is not as good as last
>year as it stands right now, but it is not horrible.
Brian,
Without a coaching change, the team was probably not going to be as good next year as it was this year.
Tommie and Kevin will be better, but losing the big man will hurt.
- Nate
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I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I wonder if Mike Montgomery's name will come up for this job.
I've been told he applied for the Illinois State job.
He has to have some sort of connection to Levick.
Just throwing it out there.
- Nate
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i thought soderberg said we had made six offers and
>were just waiting. who is the sixth? disappointing, but
>not surprising. somebody better sign soon.
I've heard Johnnie Harris, a JUCO pf, would be making an official visit to SLU.
- Nate
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Anybody know what Kentucky's scholarship situation is like for next year?
I believe the Wildcats are still in the running for the two unsigned McDonald's All-Americans, Jai Lucas and Patrick Patterson, but I wouldn't be surprised if those two ended up at Florida.
- Nate
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Ron Waller already committed to Western Kentucky, where his father played football, but he's one of the top players in the area.
He's 6-3, very strong and athletic and has a better feel for the game than nearly everyone else in the area.
He reminds me a little bit of Tommie Liddell.
Both have a great feel for the game and can score but aren't good jump shooters.
Liddell fixed his shot last summer. Once Waller does that, he can really be something.
Waller isn't at the level of Scott Suggs or John Brandenburg in terms of being a top prospect in the junior class, but he isn't far behind. I think you'll see him in the NCAA tournament in a couple years and be impressed with his game.
- Nate
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Drew Hanlen already has Division I offers, and that's not just based on potential.
Kramer Soderberg will play Division I basketball.
Tillman has work to do to get to the level of those other two. He's a great defensive player, but unless you are 6-10 to 7-2, you can't get away with only being a defensive player inside at the next level.
He needs to get stronger, add weight and work on his offensive game. I know he doesn't touch the ball as much as he should for Berkeley, but when he does he needs to be able to do more than throw down alley-oops.
I'd take Gavin Wiss in a heartbeat over Tillman, even though Wiss is a year younger. Wiss is taller, has a better body and can be a factor on both ends of the floor. I don't know if Wiss has any offers at this point, but he should.
Doug Wallace is a nice player, but he's not worthy of a scholarship at this time. He has a ways to go to get to the level of a Hanlen or Soderberg, who were much better as sophomores than Wallace was.
I watched Chatt's playoff game against Breese Central and kept waiting to see him take over and lead his team to victory. Instead, he was passive and committed some dumb fouls and fouled out of the game as his team blew a big lead and lost. Despite what some people on the east side say, I don't see him as a D-1 player.
I do like Cornbread Walker, but if he's going to be a D-1 guy he has to bring it every night and work to get shots and actually shoot the ball. He only took one or two 3-pointers in the game against Parkway South. If he decided to be more of a factor, Vashon would have made it back to state for the fourth straight year.
- Nate
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I think Kramer will be fine as a back-up point guard in college to start his career.
He shoots it well from deep, has good body control, deceptive speed and quickness.
A lot of high school fans say he's not a point guard because he plays more shooting guard at height-challenged St. Charles West, but he handles the ball well enough to play point.
Would I expect him to start from day one at SLU? No.
But I do think he could contribute off the bench for a couple years before taking over as a starter as a junior or senior.
- Nate
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Drew Hanlen and Kramer Soderberg aren't bubble kids in the 2008 class, but Cornelius Chatt, Abel Tillman and Cornelius Walker are.
Gavin Wiss is the third-best sophomore, ahead of Doug Wallace. In terms of potential, Wiss is one of the top prospects in the St. Louis area — not far behind Suggs, Brandenburg and Griffey.
- Nate
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Scott was awesome that night.
I was there. Earl was there. Angres Thorpe and Jamall Walker were there. Mike Anderson was there. Gene Bartow was there.
A lot of people were impressed with Suggs that night.
- Nate
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>I understand why coaches are not allowed to comment about
>recruits, but why can't they mention whether a recruit made
>an official visit? The NCAA has a record of the visit, and
>for most decent sized programs word of the visit is leaked
>anyway.
People find out about visits easily enough.
I heard yesterday that Johnnie (sp?) Harris is supposed to make a visit to SLU soon.
- Nate
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>i'll see you in 4 years to collect that milkshake bet.
OK.
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>the point is, mitchell agreed isnt kevin lisch, but i sure
>as hell would take him in a second over langdon shipley.
I doubt Mitchell will be as successful in college as Shipley has been.
- Nate
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>I agree with about not getting a alot from Mitchell right
>away. His game is raw and he really needs to work on his shot.
But when I say the exact same thing I'm spewing negative BS and ripping the program?
Funny how that works.
Maybe I should be like some of the local sports people (who collect paychecks from the university) and try to convince people that Anthony Mitchell is the next Larry Hughes.
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>Nate was is your deal lately on here? You have seen
>Mitchell play and you know Mitchell is not a ##### player.
>You know Mitchell did not get a lot of the attention he
>deserves because he did not play AAU and the fact he didn't
>blossom as a player truly till his senior year. You know
>that not playing AAU can cause a player to fly under the
>radar or have you already forgot about KL?
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>I am not saying the kid is a five star player, but he has
>some game and will eventually be a contributor.
You can't compare Anthony Mitchell with Kevin Lisch. There's no comparison.
Mitchell can definitely be a contributor at SLU — I like the signing — but I don't seen him contributing much until he's a junior or senior.
Only time will tell.
- Nate
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I don't have an agenda here.
I was trying to give my honest opinion of what I've seen from the kid.
I saw him play a couple times and I wasn't impressed. I was more impressed with the potential of Brandon Harold and Darian Sain.
Frank C is going to try to make the guy look like the next Dwayne Wade.
I like Mitchell's athleticism and toughness. I covered East Side's game at Edwardsville when Mitchell dunked over Joe Allaria in the open court. That was one of the best dunks I saw all year — maybe the best.
He was also four-of-13 shooting in that game, with 19 rebounds. (Terrance Williams had 19 points, on eight-of-nine shooting, to go along with 11 rebounds and seven blocks in that game).
I also saw Mitchell against Vashon, when he had 12 points on four-of-12 shooting and 14 rebounds.
Mitchell is a good high school player, but I don't know how that's going to translate at SLU.
I don't see him contributing much next year.
- Nate
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You can say the lack of hype on Mitchell is because he didn't play AAU ball, which is what I heard Brad Soderberg say on Channel 5 yesterday.
It could also be that he's not that good.
Does Mitchell have the potential to be a contributor in a few years? Yes.
I don't know that Mitchell had any other D-1 scholarship offers. He may have. SLU only offered the kid after several other players turned the Billikens down. He was Plan C or D or E.
I'm guessing a lot of college coaches looked at him and saw a 6-foot-3 power forward. If Mitchell was 6-8 he'd have many scholarship offers to choose from. He's not just a natural wing player so he's going to have to put in a lot of work.
I think Mitchell will help make the Billikens tougher and more athletic, but I'm guessing it will be more of pushing other guys in practice for a couple years rather than playing significant minutes.
- Nate
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One of your Normandy athletes is in some trouble:
http://www.startribune.com/512/story/1112833.html
- Nate
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If you google search Hassell, you'll find that he turned down a couple D-1 offers as a high school senior (SEMO, Arkansas State and somebody else) to try to go to Missouri. When that didn't work out, he went the JUCO route.
I don't remember him from that all-star game a few years ago.
- Nate
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I'm still writing some for the P-D covering high school baseball.
- Nate
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V,
Do you like Hassell more than you like Dwayne Polk?
- Nate
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Nathan,
Great job with the interview.
A couple years down the road you'll look back at this stuff and laugh at how nervous you were and struggled with some "uh's" or questions or whatever.
But you'll be so advanced at 18 years old that you will be light years ahead of your peers.
One of my first paid sports journalism assignments was like in January of my senior year of high school when I covered a basketball game and interviewed Kobe Bryant. I was very sick that day, went from playing in some rec league basketball game right to covering this other game and probably did an awful job.
But every experience I had early on helped later in my career. It's a shame I still can't write.
At least I'm better at selling real estate.
Feel free to e-mail me anytime (natelatsch(at)aol.com) and I'll try to help you out however I can. Keep working hard.
- Nate
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The infrastructure argument is the next excuse in a long line of excuses.
You can blame the infrastructure but it doesn't hold much weight when you consider a new on-campus building is under construction. That was one of the big excuses for many years.
The success of the program comes down to recruiting.
The Portsmouth Invitational event had one SLU player and THREE players in it who could have been Billikens: Jamal Tatum, Blake Ahearn and Brian Cusworth.
- Nate
Billiken Blog
in Billikens.com Main Board
Posted
The blog is great.
Nice job, Dave.
- Nate