Orange Julius

I don't think Southern Illinois spends a lot of money on recruiting and they seem to do just fine. Everytime I talk to one of the SLU coaches when they are on a recruiting trip they are on the East Coast or Down South recruiting some one. And SIU just walks into our backyard and takes what they want. Brad didn't even go to the state championship game to watch a kid he offered a scholarship to play for a state title.

Kramer is not playing with the Eagles because he wants to work on his own game. He is not too old to play with the Eagles he just chose not to play with the Eagles. Personally I think that puts a dagger in SLU's recruiting of those guys. A couple of college coach's have told me how happy they are that Brad doesn't get that "unfair advantage." He can't sit in the stands with parents, he can't go to practices and he can't talk to the players when everyone goes to dinner on trips. Losing all of that extra contact makes it a little easier for a kid to say no to Brad and SLU. Furthermore Brandenburg is going to be fine. He has been invited to the NBA 100 Camp, which is a skills camp run by the NBAPA. All of the college coaches that I have talked to still love him and still want him on campus. He has offers from Stanford, Wisconsin, Purdue, and many other schools. Florida and UNC are still pretty interested in him and he will receive a lot more offers as the spring and summer goes on. If you watch him play with the Eagles he is an entirely different player than he is with De Smet. He is more aggressive and he playes more comfortable. I really don't know what the future of SLU is. I don't know what they are recruiting or how they are recruiting. It seems like most of the posters think the only recruiters out there are the dirty illeagle recruiters. There are a ton of good ones out there too. The biggest problem SLU has is they are playing catch up in the recruiting game. They are trying to get late verbals for next season, while trying to recruit '08 kids, and a lot of other programs are starting to slot and evaluate '09 kids and SLU is nowhere close to that. So they are playing catch up and from the past recruiting performance it looks like they will always be playing catch up.

HEAD CASE. I don't know if you remember seeing the MTV Show the Battlegrounds where he wasn't hustling or trying and then he got mad when he didn't make the team. There is a reason he didn't stay around Purdue.

Bruce Weber and company are making a strong push for Scott Suggs. They want him to play for the Illini and Suggs likes what he sees. Scott Suggs is from Washington (MO) and a four-star recruit from the Class of 2008. Suggs is a 6-5 PG/SG with great scoring, rebounding and defending abilities. “I’m having a pretty good year so far. I’m averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game. We’re about to start districts so I’m really looking forward to that,†said Suggs. Sunday when the Illini played the Northwestern Wildcats they had plenty of visitors, and rumor was that Suggs was one of them. Not true. “I’ve been down there four or five times. I like Coach Weber and Price; they both are really cool guys. I like the type of players they bring in. They have a good system and they get into the NCAA tournament each year, so I take that into consideration,†Suggs added. According to Suggs, the Illini have offered him a scholarship. He’s currently carrying a 3.4 GPA and scored a 22 on his ACT. Reports were a week ago that Illinois was the clear leader for his services, but as of right now there is no “listâ€. “I don’t have a list of schools that I’m about to narrow down to. I’m going to take some time before I put together a short list of schools, but Illinois is up there.†In an interview by National Recruiting Director, Dave Telep, Suggs has been offered by: Florida, Indiana State, Missouri, St. Louis, Southern Illinois, Virginia, Washington, Clemson, Wisconsin, Purdue and Bradley. Kansas, UNC and Wake Forest are interested. Before it’s all said and done, Suggs will be an attractive guard for one of those programs. The interesting situation for the Illini is that Suggs has been there a number of times and really feels good about the staff at Illinois.

First of all Torres isn't leaving our program. We look forward to Torres being a vital part of our spring and summer. Who else is allegedly leaving the team, because this would be news to all of us.

Between Matt Baniak, Corey Frazier and John Redden.

>> Just curious, why did Roundtree want Booker and Perry to come >with him to SIU and not Femi? Here is a simple answer: Carbondale didn't offer Femi John a scholarship. They have three verbals for '08 and they are pursuing another athletic big wing. They have shooters and bigs coming in '07. They are recruiting to fit the pieces of their winning puzzle. Femi just didn't fit into what they need right now.

I honestly think there is just a problem of getting quality kids to verbal. Why give a schollie to an inferior kid when you can sit back and wait for someone like David Johnson to become available.

I just confirmation and that is the truth. Chris Lowery is rolling and now he is focused on the 09 class. Which means he is coming to Maplewood this week to watch Bryant Allen for the third time this year.

Well bro I can tell you for a fact that his choices are not down to those schools. So you are saying two top 5 schools, Wisconsin and Florida, are out of the mix. Whomever your sources are are dead wrong. Scott has not limited his list and furthermore he does not have a list. So all of you can stop your speculating and hoping and wishing because there is no list and that is that.

>Tell him to ask Tatum where the closes watering hole is and >where all the high school girls hangout. Just because SLU didn't want him you are going to hate on the kid. I guess that is why Carbondale is a top 25 program and SLU hopes it can get to the tournament. You better check yourself.

For those of you who don't frequent www.coachshimmy.com here is her last blog entry. A coach with peronality who is not afraid to use it, now that is a wish I have. 2007: A COACH CAN WISH CAN'T SHE? I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I think they are asinine. Why wait for a particular date to resolve yourself to doing something that if it were important enough to you, you should’ve have been doing all along? However, I do believe in New Year Wish Lists. So I made one of my own. Well, I didn’t. But my alter ego, Shim Shady did. I’d like to share it. Shim Shady’s 2007 Wish List: ¨ I wish that Bobby Knight would practice the same discipline & restraint that he is so phenomenal at instilling in his players. ¨ I wish that Donald Trump would get a new hairstyle. Better yet, just cut it off. ¨ I wish that more women’s basketball coaches would get million dollar contracts. (You can start with me.) ¨ I wish that the Billikens would reach all their team goals this year. ¨ I wish that people would stop asking me what a Billiken is. ¨ I wish that I had $1 for every time someone asked me what a Billiken is. ¨ I wish that my mom would actually use the running socks, walking shoes, & Mp3 player with the play lists, “workout jamsâ€, “songs to get in shape toâ€, and “she’s a bad mama jama†that I bought her for Christmas two years ago. ¨ I wish that we would be able to keep our practice players. ¨ I wish that Eminem and Kim would get remarried. ¨ I wish that Brittany and Kevin would not. ¨ I wish that Tom Cruise would slowly go away. No, make that quickly go away. ¨ I wish that my players would stay healthy. ¨ I wish that my butt would stop growing. ¨ I wish that Pat Riley would make up his mind. ¨ I wish that my dog would learn how to do housework & start earning his keep. ¨ I wish that each of my players experience the emotion of cutting down a net. ¨ I wish that I’d make more time to play my guitar. ¨ I wish that parachute pants would come back in style. ¨ I wish I were a desperate housewife. ¨ I wish the WNBA would thrive. ¨ I wish someone would explain to me what a Buckeye is and why it’s a college mascot? ¨ I wish for upsets and parity and increased visibility for women’s basketball. ¨ I wish that movie theaters would have a frequent visitor’s punchcard. ¨ I wish that Vanilla Ice would make a comeback. Word to your mother. Last but not least, I wish for health & happiness in 2007. Have a great year everyone!.

I think you would rather them read the board than know that the last two games took place and know that we have 5 scholarships for this year and 4 for next year, or vice versa if they want to save one for '08. This board shows there is a contingent of people who support the Billikens no matter what is going on with record, recruits or anything else.

and Kramer Soderberg

Richard Rose NO AJ Hawkings lives in Atlanta and he is being recruited by some schools out there.

Coach Soderberg has offered Moore of Truman, and he really likes SLU's style and he thinks that would be the perfect system for him. I could see Moore blowing up but SLU still being there at the end because of his relationship with the staff and the fit his game has to SLU's game. Swopshire is sitting on a handful of offers including K-State, SLU, Mizzou and Carbondale to name a few.

Scott and John could be immediate starters for SLU. To get a better idea of these guys you need to go watch them play in the summer or you might get lucky and see a good first quarter like John put out last night. These kids are skilled, tough and they have a desire to win. Like I said they would start from day one at SLU!

Think about this from a recruiting standpoint. First of all we have three scholarships for '07 that we have available and 5 for '08. Now we have 5 for each class, even if my math is wrong it is not by much but that still leaves us with 5 for '07, and I will tell you that spring recruits don't normally pan out and the closer you get to the school year the lower the chances of those players panning out are. This puts SLU in a huge hole. Let's just hope they can get out of it. We have no bigs coming in and we are still looking for a big to start right away and that is something that is going to hurt us. Yes I am one of the few in the minority that thinks we should have offered Harrelson. He is a player and his upside is tremendous and he wanted to go to SLU. I know the staff is working hard to get it done, I just wish we could get some light at the end of the tunnell long before we get to the end of the tunnell.

Brett's game is similar to Ian's but he has better range than Ian and Ian is more athletic than Brett. SLU is the perfect situation for Brett. He would be relatively close to his family and he could get a great education. He fits into SLU's system perfectly, he is a smart post player who can run the team from the block. I honestly think SLU is most definitely the frontrunner for him and I think SLU has an excellent chance at getting an early verbal from him, too.

There were recuits at the game last night and there will be plenty in the house on Friday.

What is that supposed to mean?

How about maybe he needs to grow and mature. He is only a freshman so what does that make him 14 or 15? He is still young it is a rare and very special kid that can demand leadership that young.

He has a grown man's body and a passion for basketball. He has an excellent high school coach who is going to do a good job of teaching him the basics as well as making sure he excels. He can step out and hit the three, no mid range game, and he can work people over inside the paint.

Martin coached the Gators which was a really good team. They went to like 5 AAU Final Fours and he had a McDonald's All American in Ryan Robertson.

Thank you Roy.