Star Wisher

Mr. Tk, I have been reading your "National Enquirer" like rumors about Ian and Coach Soderberg for a few weeks now. To be honest, one can't help but be intrigued by your insistance you know the real story and Ian Voyoukas is not long for Saint Louis University. However, you offer very little in the way of details for us to understand your vague claim. We know for a fact: 1. Ian does not necessarily need the money immediately. It is not like Ian's home life back in Greece is something out of a New York City Ghetto and by all expert accounts we have read, it will cost him more to go pro now then to wait an additional year. 2. We know that the Saint Louis University fan base now loves Ian and despartly wants him back as his return makes the Billikens an Atlantic 10 pre-season favorite. Without Ian, the Billikens might be lucky to finish with a 500 record overall. 3. We know that Coach Soderberg, who you claim has an unknown problem with Ian, has been steadfastly telling the fan base for almost 4 years now that Ian is the second coming of Vlade Divac and will leave Saint Louis University accepted as the greatest center ever (that title currently held by Billiken legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Easy Ed MacCauley). Extremely high praise from a man that in the past has played his cards and comments very close to his vest at all times. 4. We know from interviews that Ian loves playing with Kevin Lisch and Tommie Liddell. Two supplements to Ian's drive for fame and fortune. Yet you claim he will not come back due to a personal disagreement with Coach Soderberg. I think if you want to be credible, you should share a little more of your supposed story. Otherwise, you should bury this unfounded claim. Unless of course your agenda is not about the truth, but more about the cause to disrupt the Billiken fan base, help the ABC assault on Coach Soderberg, and further the destruction of www.billikens.com. You are doing a great job of those three things.

There is nothing illegal about anyone calling or contacting a college coach about a prospective recruit. Now if the alum/booster is contacting the prospective recruit (let's say an alum in peoria contacting a high school player), that would not be kosher per the NCAA even if the college knew nothing about the Alum/Booster's effort.

Why don't you ask "Coach" (and i think "Coach" is generous in Campo's case who washes cars in his day job) Campo why Stemler turned against SLU? It is my understanding that Campo was the SWIC assistant that did all he could to campaign against SLU and Coach Soderberg from day one. When your assistant coach is telling you all the reasons not to go to a school, that is one tough obstacle for the recruiting school to overcome. Nevertheless, I am sure Camps will have a long list of what happened. At the very least though, maybe SLU should have just made more phone calls.

Coincidence? We are recruiting at least a power forward and a point guard from Chicago.

Gonzaga had a long climb to get where Monson and Few took over. And both Monson and Few were assistants for the coach that got them there. Xavier just didnt screw up when they got to the top and each new coach since Gillen has stayed the course. Did you know that Altman's record his first four years at Creighton was 54-59 with TWO losing seasons! He would never have gotten to a fifth year on this message board. I believe SLU will become the equal of all three. But to expect we just automatically go to that level and accept nothing less is difficult and in my opinion very dangerous. Especially considering the escalating level of competition in all of Division 1 basketball. I have no doubt it can be achieved, but I also think there needs to be a long range realistic approach or else we are forever starting over.

>Star, I respect what you are saying, but let me ask you >this; In your opinion do you keep Soderberg after the 06-07 >season regardless of the outcome? Let's say we have a very >similar season to this past year, and a recruiting class on >par with this year's. Do you stay the course and hope things >get better? Of course I would not say nothing happens regardless of the outcome. If the team regresses, then it needs to be addressed. However, what i do not understand is the apparent belief that the team will regress or stay the same with all the returning experience. If next year at this time we are sitting here debating and the billikens are coming off of a 14-16 season, then the level of discussion we are having now makes sense. However, we are having that discussion after a good season. The season just completed is one where there was a complete turnaround of the won loss record from the previous season. One where almost all the players will be returning next season and the three players being added to the mix seem to easily offset the departing two players and then some. Yet it seems like the majority of the posters on the board as of late want to crucify our coach, junk his program and start over again. I followed this board a long time before registering to participate. and I do not think the negative attitude has ever been greater on this board. Considered some of the previous seasons, that is a lot to take in! And for the record, I think adding Adam Knollmeyer, Dustin Maguire and Obi Ikeakor is a good supplemental recruiting class. It addresses our two key weaknesses, power forward and outside shooting. I am content to wait and see before questioning.

>Amen! I think it is laughable that guys like cheese, Nark >and myself are considered "negative" when we are the ones >who seem to think SLU actually has the potential to rise >above its current status. Couldn't we just as easily say to >all the "SLU is what it is" fans that you are in fact >negative? I have not read where anyone is advocating staying where the billikens are at now or in the near past. I think it is a matter of those that expect a high level of success immediately if not sooner and those that are willing to build long term and take the positive as it comes in an effort to build a program that can sustain itself. As long as the arrow continues to go up, enjoy the ride and the success level all want will eventually come. I am in the camp that does not want to start over again.

>I am sorry, this supposed pragmatic approach to recruiting - >we can not compete with the likes of ... - is just self >defeating. Some of you who think this way need to take a >Dale Carneige class to realize that your kind of attitude is >what keeps us small. Nobody expects Brad to land everybody >but I do expect him to pull all the tricks out of the bag so >to speak to stay in the hunt and land his share. If locking >a kid up early is what you have to do then do it, if taking >a calculated chance on a kid is what you need then do it, if >changing your coaching philosophy is needed then do it, if >being more flexible is necessary then do it. I accept he >has not been dealt a hand of 4 aces but that does not mean >he can not win some hands. He has. See Lisch (beat out Illinois) and Liddell (beat out UNLV).

So in summary, you are advocating signing reach recruits and then running off them off as soon as possible when they do not work out? That is a great reputation to establish for future recruiting. Do you think that maybe other programs would use that persona against us in future recruiting battles? Plus, one would think a coach would be creating a team chemistry problem by the efforts of chasing a player away. Last, even if your theory is correct, then explain why Justin Johnson is still here?

>Matt Lawrence did have a basketball scholarship for this >past year, his freshman year, at Missouri. > >He could be a good fit at SLU. He'd have to sit for a year, >but he's a good perimeter shooter with size. Kind of like a >taller Dustin Maguire with a nicer-looking shot. > >Depending on what SLU's other options are, I would think the >Billikens would be interested. > >But if you bring in Lawrence, when he is eligible as a >sophomore he'll be competing for playing time at the 2-3 >with Maguire (who will be a sophomore or a redshirt >freshman), Luke Meyer (who will be a senior), Danny Brown >(senior), Kevin Lisch (junior), Tommie Liddell (junior) and >whoever the Bills bring in next year. > >- Nate Nate, I agree Matt Lawrence is a nice player and a very good shooter, but I disagree that his shot is any "nicer-looking" than Dustin Maguire's shot. Maguire is about as fundamentally sound of a shooter as it comes. Shooting is the one thing I do not think anyone will be able to fault Dustin with. That said, Matt Lawrence would be awesome on the Billiken Roster as he does a lot of other stuff "nicer" than Maguire does for now.

I see no problem with offering multiple players assuming the players are relatively equal in what they will bring to the program. But what if the first two or three are prospects that are head and shoulders better and Coach feels there is a real good chance that they will eventually come? This is the dilemna that has plagued the Billikens for years and we have continuously gotten burned which ever way we have approached it. Offer only the top guy and get burned when we get strung out till the end, or offer first come first serve and later hear from the better player he would have came had the Billikens waited.

exactly thicks. no i am not asking for the tommie timmie opinion column, but it would be nice to know what the hell is going on with the billikens on a more frequent basis. i dont have a post dispatch for today, but tell me if the billiken bs siu baseball game last nite at the grizzlies stadium is covered by more than two sentences (if that). the fact is, it was a nice game that went down to the last inning and carried local recruiting interest for area baseball players. however i am sure there are what6 or 7 articles about the nfl draft in there today? god i hope we get the middle nova scotia university cornerback with the 8th round pick this weekend. and like someone else commented in a different string, it will be interesting to see the post dispatch's reaction to the stemler choice. i tend to agree, if we win, page 4. if we lose out to marquette, at least one of the columnists and tommmie timmie both will hammer the billikens with the front of the sports page with the news. i would love larry starks to prove us wrong though.

Wouldn't "middle of the pack" mean finishing like seventh or ninth? One game out of second in third place does not sound like "middle of the pack" to me.

Please go get a SLU media guide and tell me how many of the all time largeste attendance games are versus SIU or Missouri State. (hint: none) Since we have played one or the other or both almost every year, one would think that if you are right, they would be amongst that list?

If after this past season you do not believe that Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch are indeed top 100 freshmen, then you are crazy and your post is worthless.

Last year, both Soderberg and Shimmy Gray were on the Arena Campaign tour extensively. Many weeks they would speak along with Cheryl Levick numerous times per week. Add to that, Kramer's games, as well as trips to Belleville to see Stemler, a number of reported trips to Vashon games, his weekly radio show, as well as known out of town trips to view recruits, I would hardly call Soderberg a homebody. I think Coach Soderberg's tastes in local high school games just does not coincide with Nate's. I too remember Billiken Roy stating that Soderberg and the staff were on the Belleville side watching Lisch, Liddell and others in the past few years.

In years past, Soderberg was out and about quite a bit. Maybe it is a matter he is watching St Charles games now when not coaching the Billikens? However, keep in mind, St Charles plays an opponent and Soderberg is going to see those players by default. I have also seen Thorpe and Grunkenmeyer at area high school games many times over the last four years.