Hardball

Under this theory we shouldn't have recruited Larry Hughes? I believe it was a foregone conclusion that Larry probably could have had a scholarship anywhere he wanted but chose SLU. Why is it so hard to believe that you can win some (not all) of these recruiting battles. And all it takes is one Larry Hughes to right the ship and SLU will be on their way........BUT You can't win the battle if you are not willing to fight!

42, We have to speed up our game like it or not. We can't be content with scoring in the 30,40 or 50's. However, you may have misunderstood my point a little bit. I am not calling for full court traps or 40 minutes of hell either. There are other ways to speed the game up that could include Ian. You could include him as a trailer on the fast break and then give him a back screen to post him up on the block. I feel every half court possession should go through Ian without exception. No one should shoot the ball (unlees there is a lay up) until Ian touches the ball at least once. Ian is such a great passer out of the post that open shots would be readily available. If the first pass is out of the post is KL then he should shoot the ball everytime. And if we throw the ball into the post and the opponant elects not to double down let Ian go one on one all night long. Most of the teams towards the end of the year were doubling Ian and SLU would not even try to get the ball in to him. This has to change and when it does it will speed up the game.

I actually see both sides of this issue. First Ian has to be more acceptable of critism when you are one of the best players on the team. In addition, if he wants to play in the NBA a tougue lashing may be coming on a nitely basis. Ian better understand that and get used to it. If Ian has ill feelings towards BS for his comments after the St. Joe game he should understand his place on the team and get mentally tougher. Secondly, I also understand the reluctance of IAN to come back to SLU. If his ultimate goal is to play in the NBA who do you think will provide the better skill developement, the Greek National team or a college team that plays slow down basketball in the 30's, 40's and 50's. With the influx of European players in the last several years this answer appears obvious. While some are ok with these low scoring numbers it is very hard for Ian (or anyone for that matter)to look good when we score like we did in the St. Joe's game. However with those two points being stated the only responsibility BS has in this issue is changing the style of play not the treatment of one of his best players.

Nostatic, If you say we can't beat the big boys how do we loose to the little guys like SIU? Over the last four years look at the schools we beat out for recruits. Who did we beat out for Husak,Browm,Polk,Meyer,Newbourne, Drejia,MQ,Ian? With the exception of two recruits it is not a group we should be exited about being a part of.

Your statement regarding finding the right guy is accurate. Everyone keeps mentioning the Gonzaga's and XU's which is great but getting the right guy is easier than it appears. Gonzaga had Munson and then Few, XU had Gillen then Matta so it can be done. We had Romar. The question is has BS improved, sustained or backtracked Romar's work? BS was a memeber on the staff for a year prior to Romar leaving so he had to know the closet skeletons. I think more along the lines of Collier from Butler who went to Nebraska. He hasn't done great at Nebraska but he was excellent at Butler. Pearl came from an Iowa assistant with Davis, then won a DII National Championship at South Indiana as a head coach and left for Wisc/Milwaukee. I think he would have worked well at SLU. Weber form SIU would have been a great fit. He had deomonstrated an ability to get talent and win against Major programs. Weber had more than one (I believe three) NCAA appearences in his first five years. Then SIU had Painter who went to the NCAA and then to Purdue. Now they have Lowry who got to the tournmant last year. If SIU can do it why can't SLU? I do not understand!!! Please someone explain how it is easier to recruit to Carbondale than St. Louis Would you rather coach at SIU or SLU? AT Wisc/Milwaukee or SLU? AT Butler or SLU? If I am serious about coaching I know the answer to every question. Are you telling me Collier would have gone to Butler before SLU; or would Weber have gone to SIU before SLU; or would Pearl have left S. Indiana for Wisc/Milwaukee or SLU? It is all about finding the right guy and it really is not that hard!

The defenders of the status quo will never understand that SLU can be included for players that are going to Memphis. Why do all the Kool-Ais drinkers believe we can not be part of this process. This is the attitude that makes me mad about the posters who believe SLU can not do better than we are doing today. Somehow I believe if Romar was still here we would be involved in the Tyrus lottery. Who said Larry Brown a cheater? We should be going after the same players as Memphis and with the right coach we would.

Pistol, You one of the few who speak the truth when you talk about Romar. Why are there SLU supporters taking shots at him and the state he left the program? Romar did have everyone wanting to play for SLU and thats where SLU needs to get back too. In my opinion the SLU coach has to be a recruiter first and a coach second. I will agree with some people SLU is not the easiet place to recruit to but it can be done. But it will not matter how good a coach you have if you can't get the players. The whole SWIC coaching reference is a troubling reference. SWIC has had their share of players over the last several years and it should be in this staffs best interest to "work" those relationships to benefit SLU. Not saying they don't but if the negativity towards SLU still exists after four years someone is not doing their job.

Pass the Kool-aid Mr Soderberg. Who wants to talk about Ahearn? I am on record as saying Ahearn would have been nothing more than a good role player for SLU. Just a piece of the pie not the whole pie. My comments that you did not respond to were on Galen Grimes. The only time I have even written about Ahearn was in the context of the recruiting errors over the last four years. This board as defended the current staff and maintained that SLU could not possibly beat out the "big" time schools for players. Then I named a player that Romar had locked up if he had stayed and he beat out Mizzou and Kansas. Now rather than responding to my Grimes reference you want to label me a Ahearn fanatic. How predictable. All I hear on here from the defenders of the status quo is how bad Romar was and what terribble shape he left the program in. Which is a outright fabrication. Romar had an NCAA appearance and committments from KERN and HOLLINS. Does this sound like a progrm in decline. Romars years were better than Soderbergs have been year to date. So why bash Romar? This is the staff that hadn't secured a four until this year and we had to have coach fired to get him. Where is the accountability? My comments have little to do with SLU passing on Ahearn. I have been equally vocal regarding the Stemler and Shaw situation. Now if you want to send up the smokescreen and label me a Ahearn fanatic that is fine with me. I like some on this board, am just trying to hold this staff accountable and will no longer accept the current state of affairs. Your group would rather wash away the Ahearn/Clarke debacle, accept the Shaw mistake, put your heads in the sand regarding the inability to lock up Stemler when he was in your own back yard and then make false claims that SLU can't beat out big time schools for recruits. The Stemler situation illustates a problem. For a team that needs shooting in the worse way, why any D1 coach would need seven evaluation periods to comphrehend the importance of a player of Stemlers caliber is inexcusable. Should anyone be held accountable for this mistake? If so, who?

Not to mention if you believe what you here Galen Grimes would have been a Billiken. Romar would have beat out Mizzou and Kansas for a recruit. So I say to the Kool-Aid drinkers, I guess SLU can beat out the big time schools with the right coach.

Billiken Roy your posts would be a good place for someone to start.

"unca, you must have missed the official word......signing KL doesn't count because he just fell into SLU's lap!" I guess what your telling me is that the sarcasism posts are reserved for the Kool Aid drinkers. You can be happy spending your money watching 30,40 point games and I will make sure Brad continues to listen to the people on this board that know basketball. Nice offer to Brandeberg Brad keep up the good work. Now the hard part starts.

It seems as though all us naysayers should bow and kiss the ground that BS walks on because he finally is doing his job. Great job Brad in offering a 6'11 kid in your own backyard a schollie. Keep up the good work Brad. Now see if you can get this kid to commit.

Jal, I love TL and KL but shouldn't we have more to talk about that 2 recruits over a four year period. As for Ian he has gone back to Greece every year to play ball so it is hard for me to give the staff total credit for his improved play especially since nother player has shown similar improvement. What concerns me the most with BS is his total lack of flexibility. Whether it be his recruiting philosopy,game management or willingness to let players play. All this has seen relatively no change in 4 years. I guess I would fell better about the situation if we made the NIT last year but we didn't. SLU should have had a better year based on the A10 vs Conference USA but we didn't. And finally there is no rational excuse for either St. Joe game.

Cheese/Drew, I agree 100% with what you are saying. BS can not have the attitude that we can't compete with Indiana and Marquette (I don't buy that attitude anyway). Would he have been hired if he claimed this in his interview? There are ways around competing head to head with the big boys. One way is to offer early and try to get an early committment. Many of Mark Few's recruits were offered as sophmores. This is how he started to crack the PAC 10 influence out west. And remember when he started he did not have the facilities he has today. No one said it was going to be easy but Brad was the one who said "why not SLU for a National Championship". I think that was the guy we were all excited about hiring four years ago. You can't have this National Championship attitude and not be prepared to go up against the big time programs. You can compete with Indiana and Marqutte you just have to be smarter. If that means you are offering early to get it done then do it. Undersatnd you don't have the luxury of taking seven evaluation periods to make a decision. Make an adjustment. I just want a coach who beleives he can find a way to get any kid he he go's after. If BS doesn't believe he can find a way then get a coach who thinks he can.

Please, please, please don't tell me he used all five? Didn't he keep at least one open for a transfer?

Why should we give BS a "that a boy" for doing his job? Should an offer to a legit D1 propspect be met with applause. The upside of this news is that BS offered a player. Jobs are not kept by offers but committments.

"They might also tell you that they are trying as hard as they can to recruit the best players willing to commit to SLU." This is why there are good recruiters and not so good recruiters. It is the job of the Head Coach and his staff to convince kids why St. Louis University is a great place to play. I can't really think of any reason why SLU should ever loose a recruit to Creighton. St. Louis vs.Omaha, NFL football, Major League Baseball, both play in an off site Arena, better education. Why would anyone choose Omaha over St. Louis? How does Altman get players from all over the US and we can't? It all comes down to the coach and how convincing he states his case. Most are probably choosing Altman over Soderberg. City-wise and our education reputation should be enough to beat Omaha going away. So what is the difference? There are more ways to skin a cat though. If you can't win the recruiting wars you better be one great talent evaluator. Here is were we find ourselves full circle. If BS can't win the recruiting wars and can't evaluate talent now what are our options?

He is a scorer? Then he has way too much offense for us. If he didn't like the way his former team played I am sure he will not be happy playing in the 30's and 40's. How is his defense?

Thick, I am not suggesting you are bashing Ahearn but others certainly are. I'm tired of the Soderberg Apologists on this board attaching players that for some reason or another did not make it to SLU. I have read the comments: why Stemler would not have been the right fit, why he really wasn't going to make a difference anyway, why Tatum is a bad character guy, Shaw was too small to play the four...on and on and on. When are we going to start holding this coaching staff accountable? If you have read any of my previous posts you would know I have been just as vocal about Shaw not being a Billiken. Why can't people just leave it at BS didn't think Ahearn could play here, period. They can't because then BS's ability to recognize talent comes into question. Which is the basis for this whole discussion and the scholarship offer that should/or should not be extended to Brandenberg. Or the fact that BS needed seven evaluation periods to recognize a Juco All American in his own backyard. I have no clue if Ahearn would have panned out or not at SLU but I think I'm pretty safe in saying he would have turned out better than Clarke who only lasted two years.

Posters on this board never cease to amaze me regarding the bashing of Ahearn. Pistol is claiming the real reason we didn't offer BA was because of his father. Gee where have we heard this before? This is the same rehashing of the original propaganda that was used to protect this staff. If crazy fathers were the concern how did we managed to recruit KL? Pistol, does this mean the attendance, speeches, demonstations, banquet references, freethrows, 3PT shooting, MSU NCAA snubs do not apply any longer? Or are we still slinging mud in order to rationalize BS not recruiting Ahearn? If Ahearn's rep was so bad why did MSU and Southern Illinois offer? I have no knowledge regarding your claim that Ahearn was held back for basketball reasons however I do know Rich Grawer held his son Brian (Pattonville) back. Does this mean Coach Grawer is a jerk who doesn't care about education? What was his motivation? Finally you seem to care what the parents at DeSmet think of Ahearn. I could care less what the parents thought of Ahearn at DeSmet. If they are like most private school parents they are upset their little Johnny isn't playing as many minutes like they did at St. Whatever. I think BS made a huge mistake (forget the fact that he would help us on the BB floor)by the mere fact that we are still talking about it three years later. This whole discussion is not about BA and the fact that he may not be a team player. Or what size ego the parents at DeSmet may think he had but rather could Ahearn have helped us at SLU. You can keep bashing the kid and insinuating personality traits but the information I have is so far contrary to your claims that it leads me to believe you have an axe to grind. And if that's the case, I will give you the same advice I tell my children "do not talk about other people unless your willing to share those same comments with that person". Therefore, I am sure if you ask the DeSmet coach how you can get you in touch with the Ahearn kid he could help you out.

Sounds to me that maybe Ahearn beat your kid out of some playing time. There seems to be a lot of hard feelings in your post. Settle down, take a deep breath, everything is going to be OK. The DeSmet coach has to put the best face forward when players are at DeSmet but after they leave he is under no obligation to have them return. I have no clue what the relationship is between Ahearn and Steiner however if the DeSmet coach had the pereption of Ahearn as you say why would he bring him back and trot him out infront of his campers? Would he do this if Ahearn wasn't a good role model for DeSmet? Your theory that all coaches have former players come back and give a speech and run a few drills is false they do not. Especially if the former coach has the perception of a player you say he does. I have no idea what a banquet has to do with recruiting Ahearn but if you say it does I will believe you. Now let me get this straight, you are blaming DeSmets attendace fiqures on Ahearn? When was the last time you attended a game at DeSmet? How were DeSmet's attendance fiqures last year? Now it is all making sense to me....maybe DeSmet's attendance fiqures are the reason we are not offering Brandenberg. "People are still complaining that SLU didn't give this kid an offer, but there's a lot more that goes into it than free throws and three point shooting." Like what? Defense? I would have given him a scholarship just to shot freethrows and be a zone buster. Sure haven't needed those things the last couple years. I like playing in the 30's don't you? Finally, are you saying the other kids on MSU deserve the NCAA snub because Ahearn played poorly in the MVC Tournament? Now it is all coming together, speeches, demonstrations, banquets, attendance, free throws, 3PT shooting, NCAA Snubs. Your right,Pistol, maybe we should have passed on the leading scorer in the MVC and the kid that has led the nation in freethrows.

Skip, My point is simple. Did this staff build on the recruiting year they had last year? In other words were their recruits this year as good or better than last years recruits? The answer is no. Every year you have to get better IMO this year we have not. The better question may be how will next years recruits compare to this year? As for naming the best local seniors who cares our staff probably won't offer them (see Brandeberg). I want better players no matter where they come from. There are a lot of players from KC that could have helped us the last several years and we didn't get them either. It is a easy philospy but one every coach can't do and that is get better players every year.

I love the theory of bash the player to make BS look competant. Blake is "not a team player" and has "a huge ego." Silliness really. For the record, I have heard the exact opposite of your comments regarding Ahearn. Doesn't mean I am right and you are wrong just that I have heard a different story regading Ahearn and his time at DeSmet. To support my knowledge I would only say that my son went to a DeSmet BBall camp last year and Ahearn was speaking about and demonstrating the importance of freethrows. Can't really imagine Steiner asking Ahearn back to speak if what you say is true, unless Steiner is that kind of two faced guy. And if he is that type of guy maybe that explains why he didn't promote the use of a scholarship on Ahearn.

Guest Ahearn was not going to be a difference maker for SLU but the leading scorer in the MVC would have contributed. I would like our team a whole lot better the last 2 years with Ahearn and Shaw rather than Clarke/No Clarke and Newbourne. Regardless the idea is to get better players each year a theory this staff has yet to grasp.

I can think of many times BS either didn't offer or offered too late in Ahearn,Shaw,Stemler,Knollmeyer(first time around),Hill BS makes a major recruiting mistake every year so why don't we just chalk Brandeberg up as the the mistake for his year. As for him being good enough, if Missouri State and Southern Illinois have already offered he is good enough to play for SLU.