cheeseman

Taj - was the 3 pt shot in when Douglas and Gray were here?

Good points - but unless Brad really screws up, I can not help but to think that we can not be better.

Grawer can say what he wants to fans - pr spin - but when Clags was thinking about leaving when Spoon was hired, he said he was looking to go to Northen Iowa - not a high major - so what happened to IL? Also, Norm was not looking seriously at Highmark - he could have gotten him if he wanted him. Thankfully both came to SLU and stayed.

Taj - sorry if I misread any of your post. The point still is that in my opinion we are better off than at the start of Highmark and Clags second year. Also, you can not expect 3 freshmen by themselves to turn a team around when the coach won't play them. Had Brad played them more and earlier, the record might have been as good as the second year of Highmark and Clags. I do agree that H was a key component.

All I know is that when the Bills were on KTRS a few years ago, it was very hard to pick them up in your car in West County.

Lets look at this from a practical position - Avg. 10 pts a game by a freshman is not an impossible task - given that DP and Ian will be getting a lot of attention from the defense, why would it be so un heard of for KL and TL to avg. 10 pts? Just because they are freshmen - nonsense. Will they avg 10 pts - who knows but I would not rule it out - all you have to do is hit one three and couple of other baskets a game along with 3-4 FTs a game - would only require a 4 of 10 shooting night and that is not something that would be considered unheard of.

Taj - I disagree that we are now at the same point as when Highmark and Claggett were here. We are better off - here is why: 1. KL and TL are better players coming out of h.s. then where Highmark and Claggett - this is not a diss on those two just a statement of facts. Highmark was not being recruited by any D1 major school and Claggett was basically a mid major recruit. They both were great players for SLU but not at the same level of KL and TL when they came into the program. 2. Spoon - and I am generally a supporter of him - never put two consecutive years of good recruiting together. Brad has done that already - DP, LM, and DB along with KL and TL the next year. If he can get another good recruit or two then he will have 3 good years in a row - only something Spoon could dream of. 3. We won more games last year and were more competitive than Highmark and Clags first year at SLU. We have more to build on and with. Now all that being said, I am anxiously awaiting to see how this coming year turns out. As far as Brad on the hot seat - any coach who has a losing record after 3 years and only won 9 games is going to be considered on the hot seat by those not close to the program. After all, some of the posters have said he is in trouble. I think he would have to really screw up again for him to be let go this year - I did not think it would happen last year but it did so I guess anything is possible.

We did not win with him so it is a moot point - we simply need to find other ways to score if someone can not provide type of scoring for us.

Clearly, they are not only a second tier league member but stupid. They have no understanding of the big picture - another reason not to be a part of them.

Has anyone thought that the the NIT could be looking for some type of compromise - maybe expanding the NCAA tourney by 16 more teams and have the 16 teams play in NY with the winner advancing to semifinal bracket - just a thought. Not sure how that would work but usually in a deal like this something is better than nonthing.

DP is the starting PG - but as some have said once the game starts, any of 3-4 guards could end up running the point at sometime during the game.

I tried emailing the link given for the Billiken Club contact on SLU's AD website and it came back undelivered - does someone else have a better email address?

If you are not certain that you want the kid then why offer - sounds like all you are doing is shopping around figuring you can retun what ever you bought before if you find something else. Sorry, if you thought enough of a kid to offer than be a man and stand by it. By calling, at least you show some respect for the kid and are treating him more than just a commodity but as a person.

3Star - so what you are saying is that we should start hearing about verbal committments in August and early Sept. That will be great because we really are running out of stuff to talk about during these dog days of college bb.

I still think SIUC will show a decline - only time will tell. If you are correct then I will admit as so but lets wait 2-3 years and see where they are. Weber got lucky with some of his recruits panning out big time for him. It is really hard to continue having all the breaks go your way.

Skip - I agree with you 100%

Pdiddy - interesting story about Tatum - I would agree that once Brad left the schollie on the table for Tatum he should have followed through. In defense of any new coach coming to a school - they should honor those that have been offered unless they immediately retract them upon being hired. Thanks for clarifying the Ahern thing - everyone has just talked blanketly about how Brad retracted the offer but if he was never offered then the whole scenerio makes more sense. Skip, I do think you have somewhat of a point but it seems to me that what the coach should do is call the recruit that he has offered and say - I need to know right now if you are going to accept, if so then great - if not then let me know now because I have another opportunity available to me who has said if I offer he will accept. This approach seems fair to everybody.

Season tickets sure seem cheap there. I guess in Little Rock they are the only game in town.

I imagine you can retract an offer anytime but really, what kid or parent is going to fall for such a silly approach - offering a kid a schollie who is freshman or sophomore to be is just idiotic.

Would depend on which team in the MVC was interested. To say Indiana State or SMS wants him then probably not. SIU-C - take another look but I still think their program will start showing a decline.

Roy, all the school has to do is apply for the waiver and make their case for why. If they have a weak case and clearly the switch from public to private was made only for athletic reasons than I agree even in IL they will have to sit. You just can not say for a better education but specifics must be shown. An example of how this might work is a kid comes from a public school that does not offer AP/college credit courses - the kid then wants to transfer to the private school that does offer these courses, the AD at the private school should be able if he/she is worth their salt and the parent should be able to make a strong case for a waiver. Of course, the kid will have to take all those AP/college credit courses and not just sign up and then drop them.

In MO - no unless they moved their residence 50 or more miles. IL has a much more lenient transfer policy. In MO if the transfer goes from public to private then the one year sitting out rule applies. Going from private to public only requires the family and school to apply for a special waiver and showing that the transfer was not for athletic reasons such as saving tuition money, transportation problems - whatever. Now just to make sure the entire situation is explained fully - in MO, the rule only says the student has to sit for one year from playing varisity. If the student plays freshman, JV then no restriction is in effect - it only applies to varisty level.

Comparing KL's dad to Slaten is like comparing a speeder to a Attila the Hun. Slaten was out of control - he had to be removed from games and threatened with physcial removal if he did not cooperate. He was also suspended from games as punishment for his behavior - did that ever happen with KL's father? Finally, to expect a high school student to tell his father to knock it off is asking too much. In college, a player has much more freedom to tell a parent to cool it - those of us who have had college aged sons know the relationship changes to more of an adult level. I agree - taking a cheap shot at KL's father's football career is uncalled for. I think all this worry is much to do about nothing and is at best counterproductive. You can really tell it is the dog days of college BB - people are starved to talk about anything.

Good idea - you come up with the 10 million bucks for all of us.

I have been thinking that since Roy posted about the financial institution not moving ahead with buying the naming rights for the arena - it seems to me that maybe only at the pro level is this approach working now. I assume there will be the occassional school who has a big benefactor whose company steps up or it is like Ohio State Football looking to sell their field's naming rights, I am not sure how easy it is to sell the naming rights for a school like SLU. The Family Arena was suppose to be named after a local health care group but they backed out at the last minute so that is why it is called the Family Arena. Maybe the naming rights mania has passed and we have simply missed it - a day late and dollar short. What are your thoughts and maybe some of you can convince me that my thought process is wrong.