A hello to all. I have been a lurker here for over a year or more, and finally thought it was time to add my 2 cents.
I am a tenured professor at SLU, have been here 7 years, previously taught at Michigan State, and went to grad school at Indiana. I grew up in Indianapolis and was a gym-rat for many years -- still am, despite my age, running up and down the court at Simon on occasion, though not much jump left in these old legs. Sometimes when some young guy gives me grief, I say, "You should have seen me ten years before you were born!" Have done some coaching and some reffing in the past, too. Used to watch the old Pacers in the ABA days -- some great teams -- and of course was passionate about Indiana in the Knight era. Even met him a few times, and got to know his son Pat, and managed to play some pick-up basketball with lots of the old Hoosiers--those were the days, for sure.
We appear to have good times ahead and I am pretty excited about the potential for SLU's basketball program. I have had players in class before and hope to get to know some of these new guys. In my view, we will still need a couple of more Division I type bodies to be competitive immediately. Competitive as in March madness invites. The next big hurdle will be attracting one or two potential NBA-type players. Some of you speak of Liddell as one of those, but I cannot tell, and will have to see him up close, beginning this summer. A couple more with his kind of athletic talent are needed, especially of the frontcourt type. I have a good feeling that we can get some of those to add to the mix, over the next couple of years. Okeakor and Maguire sound like good catches. Can anyone else imagine us with not one but 2 or 3 players at a time, all bound for the NBA? Few programs can do that consistently--but there is a lot in our favor for aiming at that kind of talent.
Most faculty care very little for the athletics program at SLU. Students also seem, by and large, apathetic. I recently did a semester for Gonzaga-in-Florence, and they are absolutely bonkers over their team. I think it is realistic to aspire to such heights as Gonzaga, St. Joe's, and a few other Catholic schools have attained. That would infuse the school and students with some much-needed energy. I personally think we are a bit farther away from that as a goal than many on this list, however 2-3 years from now I envision real big things. Our academic and social strengths are very alluring for certain kinds of athletes--but not everyone. I knew some of the players at both Michigan State and Indiana--and I doubt if many of them would either like being a student at SLU, or could even make it through the coursework. SLU has become better and better academically, since I have been here. It may not be Harvard or Yale, but it is pretty tough--yet look at Duke, Stanford, and Boston College--all very stong basketball powers. The trick is putting the athletic talent together with the right kind of kid. We may have a great advantage in terms of actually hanging onto those kids for 4 years. I am a great believer in seniors and experience. Chris Sloan is a wonderful example of that-- he was a good defender at first, but hard work and physical maturity turned him into a terrific team player. So let's not overrate the need for "NBA bodies" so to speak.
Well. That is enough for now. Maybe I will see some of you guys lurking about the gym this summer, watching the new recruits. I have lots of opinions, of course, but unless something really important comes up, I now return to lurking . . . . Doctor B
Hello--a SLU insider predicts the future
in Billikens.com Main Board
Posted
Folks;
A hello to all. I have been a lurker here for over a year or more, and finally thought it was time to add my 2 cents.
I am a tenured professor at SLU, have been here 7 years, previously taught at Michigan State, and went to grad school at Indiana. I grew up in Indianapolis and was a gym-rat for many years -- still am, despite my age, running up and down the court at Simon on occasion, though not much jump left in these old legs. Sometimes when some young guy gives me grief, I say, "You should have seen me ten years before you were born!" Have done some coaching and some reffing in the past, too. Used to watch the old Pacers in the ABA days -- some great teams -- and of course was passionate about Indiana in the Knight era. Even met him a few times, and got to know his son Pat, and managed to play some pick-up basketball with lots of the old Hoosiers--those were the days, for sure.
We appear to have good times ahead and I am pretty excited about the potential for SLU's basketball program. I have had players in class before and hope to get to know some of these new guys. In my view, we will still need a couple of more Division I type bodies to be competitive immediately. Competitive as in March madness invites. The next big hurdle will be attracting one or two potential NBA-type players. Some of you speak of Liddell as one of those, but I cannot tell, and will have to see him up close, beginning this summer. A couple more with his kind of athletic talent are needed, especially of the frontcourt type. I have a good feeling that we can get some of those to add to the mix, over the next couple of years. Okeakor and Maguire sound like good catches. Can anyone else imagine us with not one but 2 or 3 players at a time, all bound for the NBA? Few programs can do that consistently--but there is a lot in our favor for aiming at that kind of talent.
Most faculty care very little for the athletics program at SLU. Students also seem, by and large, apathetic. I recently did a semester for Gonzaga-in-Florence, and they are absolutely bonkers over their team. I think it is realistic to aspire to such heights as Gonzaga, St. Joe's, and a few other Catholic schools have attained. That would infuse the school and students with some much-needed energy. I personally think we are a bit farther away from that as a goal than many on this list, however 2-3 years from now I envision real big things. Our academic and social strengths are very alluring for certain kinds of athletes--but not everyone. I knew some of the players at both Michigan State and Indiana--and I doubt if many of them would either like being a student at SLU, or could even make it through the coursework. SLU has become better and better academically, since I have been here. It may not be Harvard or Yale, but it is pretty tough--yet look at Duke, Stanford, and Boston College--all very stong basketball powers. The trick is putting the athletic talent together with the right kind of kid. We may have a great advantage in terms of actually hanging onto those kids for 4 years. I am a great believer in seniors and experience. Chris Sloan is a wonderful example of that-- he was a good defender at first, but hard work and physical maturity turned him into a terrific team player. So let's not overrate the need for "NBA bodies" so to speak.
Well. That is enough for now. Maybe I will see some of you guys lurking about the gym this summer, watching the new recruits. I have lots of opinions, of course, but unless something really important comes up, I now return to lurking . . . . Doctor B