Quality Is Job 1

>>Clarke could be a great find--or the addition of another overhyped swing man. I hope 3star is right about him. Earl Austin Jr. told me back in December that Darren Clarke can really shoot and he's very athletic. Furthermore, he hasn't gotten enough hype to be overhyped. I'm thinking we may have a sort of poor-man's Dwayne Wade (or, at worst, another version of Jason Edwin -- hopefully one who'll play all out). In a month, I believe we'll all know more.

Please keep in mind, folks, that SLU's coach, Brad Soderberg, got his degree in Physical Education.

Thanks to Billiken of C-USA Talk and based on information from Earl Austin Jr. of the St. Louis American, I'm pleased to pass along that the annual Demetrius Johnson Charitable Foundation high school all-star basketball game will be played on Saturday, June 28, at Fontbonne. The game consists of top area players against a team of top players from around the country. Johnson typically invites SLU, Mizzou, and Illinois recruits. I think Darren Clarke and Bryce Husak will probably be there.

The problem with that thinking is that Brad Soderberg now coaches in Conference USA, not the Big 10, and has said that he will recruit athletes who can win in C-USA. I believe he (SLU) will need more lean, long, slashing leapers at the four and five spots than lumbering giants.

Marquette has never been a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. It was a member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1990 and 1991 (I don't remember that, but that's what my Inside Sports College Basketball (1998) says.

...I do think I remember reading something like that. Thanks; good looking out.

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Has the NCAA changed its rules so that high school graduates who have not enrolled in a member institution can declare for the draft and retain their college eligibility? This has not been the case in the past.

If Kendrick Perkins doesn't go to Memphis, then they should lose those nine points (I think it's an asinine rating system) and drop to 14, which would put SLU ahead of the Tigers.

...is a wonderful thing if you're a student. In the real world, though, improvisation is important. If you have anything to add, I'd love to read your comments.

>So Thicks, in your opinion a major has nothing to do with a >team, or a program, but the conference to which it belongs? It's not a matter of being my opinion; it is the definition. >Cincy is not a major program in Bball? Cincinnati is definitely a high-major athletics program. Conference USA has Div. 1-A football. >What got me thinking about this was the post below about >someone stating that Butler would have to be thought of as >more than a mid major, due to their recent success. Should >Butler continue its string of NCAA appearances, and get to a >sweet sixteen or two, I would have to think of that program >as a major in bball. Especially if the coach decides to >stay and not move on to another program, to continue to >build what he started years earlier. As a member of the Horizon, Butler can't be considered anything above a mid-major. The level of success they've had doesn't change that. The same thing applies to Gonzaga. Nor does the lack of success that Northwestern has had in basketball make them a mid-major as opposed to a high-major. I think many fans try to use the terms "high-major" (or just "major") and "mid-major" synonymously with "top-notch" and "mediocre," respectively. Technically, that's incorrect. There are mediocre high-major programs, and there are top-notch mid-major programs.

Billiken wrote: Ritter's Kenny Burke announced, at least tenatively, that he will join Carbondale's Maurice Gibbs at Moberly JC next year. He is still holding out hope of a mid level D-1 offer. Currently he has offers in hand from Evansville and Western Illinois. He will visit Northern Arizona after this month's graduation. [Earlier this year someone posted that Arizona was interested in Burke. Guess they forgot the N.] You may be referring to me. I posted that, while at the Normandy Tournament, I'd talked to a spectator who is the father of a Ritter player (JV last season, though). He told me that Kenny Burke was going to Arizona and that Terry Evans would be going to Oklahoma. If anyone forgot the "N.," it was he, not I. Also, we'll see how correct he was about Evans. If Burke (wasn't he the Post-Dispatch POY?) has an offer from Evansville, why is he holding out for "a mid-level D-1 offer"?

>Gonzaga. Xavier. Dayton. Villanova. Notre Dame. Yes. >Depaul. Saint Louis. Seton Hall. Georgetown. St. John's. No. Taj, what do you mean by the above statement?

>Then by definition an all-basketball merger with the Big >East Catholic schools would be mid-major. Maybe this isn't >such a great idea after all . . . I've thought about that, too, but I'm not worried. Perhaps the definition of "high-major" and "mid-major" would change in the eyes of the journalists, but even if it doesn't the NCAA would respect the proposed new conference (assuming it ever comes to fruition) like a high-major. It's because of the tradition and history of the conference's members. Also, I may have provided a slightly incorrect definition in my haste to respond. While it's still dependent upon conference membership and may currently be tied to level of football competition, what it really comes down to is legislative representation. The high-major conferences each get multiple representation on some influential governing committee that I don't know the name of right now, and the mid-major conferences each get one representative. Votes is the bottom line. With prominent members in major cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, the proposed new conference would definitely have clout and multiple representation. You can be sure that the conference would annually get four to six NCAA Tournament invitations.

>Was thinking about this in the shower this morning. What >makes a team a major? A mid-major? Etc. > >Here is a starter. A major is a school that has been to the >NCAA Tournament three out of the past five years, or five >out of the past ten. A mid-major would be 2/5, or 4/10, >with two NIT's equalling one NCAA. Half credit for one NIT >doesn't count. Can someone come up with a computer program >to come up with the schools that would qualify under those >criteria? Absolutely wrong. The terms "high-major," "mid-major," and "low-major" have nothing to do with level of success over any given period of time. Instead, they pertain to (1) conference affiliation and (2) the level of competition at which the majority of the football teams in the given conference compete. High-majors are schools in conferences which compete in football at the 1-A level. Mid-majors are schools in conferences which compete in football at the 1-AA level.