Pistol

I wouldn't mind it as much if she weren't also playing her daughter over Mya Glanton, Rita Nazario, etc. etc. Also, her comment must apply to the entire roster because there are just 4 players left - her daughter, Hannah Wallace, Mia Bergstrom, and Marilena Triantafylli. So it's one person who played a little and probably shouldn't have, a promising freshman who played her way into the starting lineup, a promising freshman who played her way into minutes and then lost those minutes inexplicably, and a sophomore transfer who didn't play at all this season. Those are the only players worth keeping? (I would definitely keep Wallace and Bergstrom, FWIW. Jury's still out on Triantafylli.) Hopefully she's not bluffing and we see her put her money where her mouth is and upgrade this roster.

Yeah, this is where I'm at, too. Absolutely no reason to move now. Not worth eating the contract years. She deserves a chance to rebuild the roster and put a winner on the floor. But yeah - eyes wide open.

And now they've salvaged things and signed him to a 6-year deal as of today. Good! I don't know what Fordham's next move would be if he walked.

This is the first.

Sounds like talks have already broken down. Fordham is just whiffing on everyone this round.

https://x.com/247HSHoops/status/1905085416241274982

If I'm looking for a positive spin, maybe Tillett got a good amount of NIL for WBB and a mandate to make a serious upgrade to the talent level.

Are there examples of athletes being given academic scholarships in lieu of athletic scholarships to free up roster spots? Other than, say, a coach's kid being classified as a walk-on? What's the advantage of rostering more than 15 scholarship players? Coaches can't even keep 13 guys happy, let alone more than 15. If you don't want to give a player a scholarship, you have to let him go altogether. That's not the case with Thames, though. They want him to stay.

It would probably be Tillett because the only other option is Zhykera Brown, an incoming freshman. I'd take my chances on Brown over Tillett, though. Tillett is a preferred walk-on at best at any other program. This team's style of play is just sloppiness. It's to force the opponent out of their comfort zone, create turnovers, and hope for the best. The offensive scheme is impossible to figure out. The defense is suspect if they aren't forcing turnovers. It's complete slop, and I'm honestly tired of watching it against programs that have no business being so much better than SLU. You're correct. They have no identity to the way they play.

In WBB, the NIL is way smaller (to nonexistent) albeit increasing quickly, so the incentives are not as great to jump if you aren't able to go get some power conference money. I'd agree with @Lord Elrond - this is a high amount of departures without a coaching change.

70.6 returning MPG (35.0%) and 17.0 returning PPG (25.7%). Tierra Simon is almost half of those figures. If this team needs Bel Tillett to come back, then this staff is in trouble. I'll reserve judgment until they put a roster together. There's always the possibility they get the support they need NIL-wise and that they build a cohesive roster.

With just 5 returners, that means that Tillett has fewer players coming back than she had when she came to SLU. She inherited 6 existing players from Stone, including Flowers, Martinez, and Kennedy. Pretty sure the 3 incoming freshmen originally committed to Stone, too, although none of them ended up staying at SLU after that year. So yeah, this is a complete reset and we might not even be done seeing portal exits.

Nazario is in the portal. That leaves 7+ available spots. Current roster: Tierra Simon, Bel Tillett, Mia Bergstrom, Marilena Triantafylli, Hannah Wallace, Zhykera Brown, Alyssa Koerkenmeier, Jasaiyah Wallace. 2 seniors, 1 junior, 2 sophomores, 3 freshmen.

It feels unusual to me, too. I think it's pure panic everywhere. Jumping at the biggest possible offer. Everyone sees what's happening in the CBB landscape. Hard to blame them - think of Ben McCollum, who won 30 games and might not have even gotten in without winning the MVC Tournament.

It's possible if you have the budget. Not sure what that budget has to be for a top-tier A10 WBB program, but it's definitely more affordable than what we need on the men's side.

Mack seems to be the leader for Xavier. Pretty funny.

Oh boy, Malachi Smith is in the portal.

Yeah, as much as I hate to say it, that's not the step up you want to take from a Mountain West school anymore.

That stood out to me this morning, as did the 5 leaving St. Bonaventure so far.

That's what didn't add up for me, either. Glanton, Calhoun, Johns, Haidara, and Kennedy are out of eligibility. Anumele, Gray, and Shavers are in the portal. Simon and Tillett could opt to use one final year of eligibility. That leaves Nazario, Bergstrom, Triantafylli, and Wallace as underclassmen - 6 scholarship players returning if Simon and Tillett decide to stay, plus 3 signed freshmen. So that's 6 remaining scholarships, possibly more.

We knew it'd be active but good grief, it is out of control.

We go pretty in-depth on our concerns around the WBB program in the latest @Midtown Madness episode. Hope you give it a listen. In short: 3 transfers announced before the portal opens = not great, especially when this roster is wide open with opportunities. Team seemed to be lacking an identity/style all season. SLU continues to be outclassed in talent by schools that should be peers or lower-level programs. Size, athleticism, shooting, skill - all of it. Year 4 and 5 is where Lisa Stone's team took off. Yes, they came back down to earth in the back half of her tenure and yes, Tillett's starting point was higher by going to the first Tournament ever. But we're entering year 4 and it looks like a total rebuild, not the next step. We get into a lot more than that, too.

New interest: Ethan Johnston - SG, 6-6, 185 - Pottstown, PA (The Hill School) - AAU: NY Renaissance (Nike EYBL) - Twitter: @ejtakeover Offers: Davidson, Fordham, Villanova, Marquette, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia Tech, California, Penn. Interest: Saint Louis, Xavier, Butler, Penn State, Northwestern, Virginia, Miami, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Stanford, Boston College, Kansas, Colorado, Temple, Florida International, Rice, Harvard, Murray State, Delaware, Towson, Albany. Latest News: Johnston said he's been in contact recently with SLU, Stanford, Marquette, Davidson, Penn State, Cal, and Virginia Tech. (3/19/25) Scouting Report: Johnston is a long, athletic, playmaking guard with high-level finishing ability. He can stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting. He's versatile at both ends and can guard multiple positions. He has a great feel for the game with strong passing skills, and he makes his teammates better. Rankings: Rivals -146, On3 - 125, On3 Industry -141, 247Sports - 142, 247Sports Composite - 116.

There's always the possibility a bigger job opportunity opens up for one of our guys. If not, name Putz the GM and an assistant job opens up. We can make it work.

That's no reason not to make the best hire possible. Retention can be needlessly expensive, a lesson we just learned the hard way. If you're La Salle, you want to be paid out for coaches leaving, not having to pay guys to leave before their contracts are up. GMU appears to have made a very good hire to replace a guy who moved on for a higher-level job. VCU has made at least 6 straight hires that have left for higher-level jobs. They keep hiring the best available coach and they keep winning. "At the first sign of success" means there was success. Embrace it.