JMM28

There are a lot of grants right now for facilities like Chaifetz to convert to LED lightning. I am totally assuming that is what kind of lighting they are installing there. Depending on the type of system, there is an opportunity to do some cool stuff with those kind of lights.

I am on board with improvement and such of on campus facilities, but tennis is pretty far down the list - like last. Get baseball, softball, and soccer upgraded first. Tennis could ideally combine with another sport on a year round 'dome' type facility.

I saw that and now dislike Paul George.

What May said makes sense and I can't believe he'd BS for the sake of BSing. The most similar thing I can think of would be the Femi John scenario. Femi "retired" from basketball but maintained a full ride offered by the University. He couldn't play basketball anymore, but was able to stay and get a degree. Saadiq could have done the same thing, sans injury and any sort of NCAA rule around that, but would not have been able to play soccer. I know the guy probably loves soccer, but not sure why he wouldn't have stuck around for a full ride and played club soccer.

I can state with 100% certainty and confirmation that Bradley would not have taken him if there were any sort of academic or disciplinary issues.

This story makes SLU look bad, of course. SLU is great at looking bad because they never get out in front of anyyything. However here is the reality of the situation - soccer isn't a headcount sport for scholarships. Every D1 soccer team in the country has 9.9 scholarship equivalencies to give out for a 28-30 man roster. That means that you have to make those almost 10 scholarships cover quite a bit of ground. Giving 1 guy a full ride isn't unheard of by any stretch, but it better be a really damn good player. The other kicker is that if anyone is on scholarship, they have to be at 25% so you can't just throw $2000 at a bunch of guys. Then there is another total layer where any other financial aid could count against your limit if the right grades aren't hit, the right paperwork doesn't dot the lower case J's. People reading the story will think "SLU is a bunch of nickel dicks why wouldn't they just give the guy a normal full ride" because the general common thought is that if you are on scholarship for a sport at a D1 university, you're getting everything paid for. The reality is that only football, mens/womens basketball, womens volleyball, and I think another minor womens sport are headcount sports where they have to give 100% scholarships. Every other sport is equivalencies where it is going to be an exception rather than rule that someone is on a full ride. I love the super parents of mildly talented kids who are talking full rides for their 6th grade soccer star. Always fun bursting their bubble. But still, SLU is dumb and won't stop stepping on their own dicks.

Creighton was a more obvious choice than Butler, in my opinion. They have some of the finest facilities in the country. Their programs across the board are well funded. They are a fairly decent sized metro area of probably close to a million people. Their basketball program had sustained success for many years across two coaches. They pack the house every game and have great fundraising abilities. The only thing that SLU compared to and/or beat was the metro area being much larger. The basketball program has been the definition of mediocre for 20 years minus the 3 or 4 years of Majerus. It continues to be mediocre currently, an April weekend hot streak lifting it to that mediocre mark. It is the constant 1 step forward, 2 steps back with everything. The Big East dream was cute for awhile, but May and Biondi (and previous ADs) blew it not just in 2012-2013, but many years before that. The lack of commitment to any program, including basketball, for many years from a financial or capital standpoint. The lack of any sustained success in any sport. There isn't a crown jewel program in the athletic department - basketball is it by default of being a D1 program in a decent conference in the 2nd most popular NCAA sport. If SLU was ever serious about athletics, they could be a powerhouse. The potential is there by the barrel. Their actions speak otherwise - they desire an athletic department that is just good enough to not be embarrassing. From an outsider perspective, they go through the motions saying "well this is how we've always done it" and not really trying to be ahead of any curve. Maybe the ennui has set in for me a little too much. It has been hard getting excited about the basketball program when it seems the rug just keeps getting pulled from under it every few years. But if I feel this way as a SLU fan and alum, why would the Big East feel better about things?

Yeah the AAC could add VCU as a nice fit, probably even better than the Wichita State fit. That leaves SLU in an even more weakened A10 losing another premier program. In my opinion it would behoove SLU and Dayton to try to get together and figure out a better situation. I don’t know what that would be.

Congrats to Javon. Guessing his deal is 100% unguaranteed but wouldn’t be surprised to see him stick around the league for a bit. Might take him a few stints in the d-league, but he is a big enough guy that can defend. There’s room for that as a 10-13th man.

it’s the worst damn thread of the yeeeeeeeaaaarrrrr.

5 officials with his first one a long weekend in Hawaii.

Boston College...meh. I guess if you want an ACC school on the schedule, great. I'd rather have a better program on the schedule personally.

Should have won that game. Draymonds non-called flagrant on Ellis looks even more flagranty knowing what we know about how dirty Draymond is.

a 91 NBA2K rating!

SLU is building a nice big safe space where they can groom a bunch of folks incapable of handling their own affairs. It isn't unique to SLU either. Dealing with recent college grads lately has become....something.