TheChosenOne

I have watched Tatum a number of times this year and a few times last year. He is a really impressive talent. I have to remind myself that he is just a sophomore. His skill set for someone of his height and length is impressive. As far as weaknesses, he lacks the strength to really dominate in the paint and take advantage of his height advantage and I would not call him an elite athlete at this point. Those two weaknesses can be improved as he continues to grow and develop and spends some time in the weight room. So the fact that he has such a well rounded skill set at his height as just a sophomore is what is so special. It is more impressive for me to see a kid dominate at his age and length because of his skills over purely based on being the biggest kid on the court which is often the case for these top rated kids. You just don't see kids with that kind of size and skills. I have actually caught a couple of his very few down games and his struggles were due to him relying too much on high difficulty deep perimeter shots (Durantesque fade away jumpers and such) and not attacking enough taking advantage of his length advantage. It is going to be fun to watch him develop the next couple of years. Beal was an elite scoring guard, the most impressive scorer I have seen at the high school level because he could score from all levels. Tatum is not that kind of shooter. I watched Beal so much as a senior that I kind of forget what he was like as a sophomore. When he was a senior it was definitely watching a NBA player on a high school basketball court, had added the strength and athleticism to go along with the remarkable scoring ability. Beal was probably 6'3 in high school while Tatum is 6'7 or 6'8 as a sophomore with the possibility of adding a few inches, so that would make me say he has the higher upside. The kid plays on the perimeter and at times plays almost as the point and that same kid may grow to 6'10, that is crazy. Chaminade keeps putting out the talent. Paul Stastny playing for his country in Sochi, David Lee and Brad Beal starring in the NBA, Stastny, Ben Bishop and Chris Butler in the NHL, and Brad Davis in the MLS. And don't forget Pistol killing it on billikens.com.

Thanks for the info, real interesting. It seems like mom is calling the shots over dad (they do not appear to have any relationship at all based on what I have seen from when they were both at his game, don't even acknowledge each others presence despite walking past), so that is huge. Did she go to SLU?Here is another worthless observation from me, I noticed when Haith and Roy went to the Chaminade/CBC game back in December she did not give much attention to Haith despite him sitting a few people from her, but actually approached Roy to talk to him,

You are actually more right. Tatum could have played that final season at SLU, but Romar and the coaches decided it was time for him to move along.

If he is truly a one and done lottery pick type whether he plays his one season at Kansas, Kentucky, or SLU may not matter a whole lot. It may actually benefit him to play at SLU where he would be the featured player as opposed to Kentucky or Kansas who likely have two other similarly ranked kids just in his class.

What are you hearing and who is the person, I am kind of assuming it would be his mom since she would appear to call the shots. Most of the recruiting pundits have Kentucky and Kansas as the leaders for him.

I don't think Justin is doing much of the advising, otherwise there is no chance he would be coaching against his son. Brad Beal would be a much better mentor for Jayson to turn to since he went through the same process recently. I just found it strange that Justin would be so disinterested in the game when he played for SLU.

I saw Justin and Jayson sitting behind the bench. Neither appeared interested in the game, kind of surprising considering Justin played at SLU, but I guess they looked real tough and cool. Does anyone know what other recruits were at the game? You could not ask for a better atmosphere to showcase to recruits.

What other recruits will be at the game tomorrow? It will be an awesome game day experience.

Will Jayson be at the game tomorrow afternoon?

I stand corrected then, my apologies if I offended anyone that lives in the Cherokee neighborhood. From my visits which are fairly regular, it is certainly not an area I would choose to live and certainly would not be if I had a family. Although I do take my out of town coworkers to Cherokee Street for lunch and it always draws an interesting reaction. Assuming this is the case, my perception was flawed and it looks like it was because I found this which is pretty cool: http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2013/11/12/next-great-neighborhood-cherokee-street-in-st-louis/

Why? Nice place to visit for Mexican food, coffee, etc., but not a place I would ever want to live. The Mud House is a good place to grab breakfast and a coffee and I am a big fan of La Vallesana, I really like their tortas. My wife and I are big fans of the Firecracker Press and had our wedding invitations and save the dates made there. They have been selling Cherokee Street as the up and coming neighborhood since I was in college back in 2005, not sure it has really become what many hoped it would.

And that is surprising to you? SLU is #12 in the country playing the best basketball in program history while Mizzou is near the bottom of a mediocre and boring basketball conference, I would hope there is more interest for the SLU/VCU game.

How is that prediction holding up Matt Norlander?!?!

Xavier Bishop might be a name to add to the list. He is a point guard that plays with Larry Austin Jr. at Springfield Lanphier as well as AAU with the Eagles. http://cihoops.com/?page_id=534 Recruiting (offers marked with “*”): Bradley, DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, Northern Kentucky, Oklahoma State, SIU-Edwardsville*, St. Louis Scouting Report: A high level competitor that plays the game with great energy. Xavier displays great confidence with the ball in his hands. He’s a skilled ball handler that is very efficient using the pick and roll. He understands how and when to attack secondary defenders and has an array of crafty finishes from the midrange area and at the rim. He also has the ability to instincts to find cutters when attacking the rim. Bishop is a also high level shooter with deep range. Defensively, he is active and applies relentless pressure to ball handlers. He’s an elite level point guard that controls the pace of the game and scores the ball with ease.

I think he said it that way since the MVC is hosting the opening rounds in St. Louis.

I think this site has been linked before, but it compiles all of the various bracket projections. Averaging all of the projections puts SLU as a 5 seed as of yesterday evening, high of 3 and low of 7. http://www.bracketmatrix.com/ UMass - #6 seed VCU - #8 seed George Washington - #8 seed St. Joseph's - first four out Richmond - next four out Dayton - other's receiving votes

I am not sure what his concern is, I can't imagine there is anything wrong with a recruit attending a game. Tyler Cook is probably about 6'7 with a massive lower body. He had a really nice game against CBC on Friday night which included a number of impressive back to the basket post moves that resulted in layups at the rim. The one move had the crowd stunned and drew a reaction from Calipari. It was by far the best I have seen him play. He is more of the typical young big that is still growing into his body; real heavy on his feet, slow to react, etc.

SLU appears to be recruiting Chaminade big man Tyler Cook: Ben Weixlmann ‏@BWeixScout Feb 1 2016 forward Tyler Cook (@KingCook_25) was in attendance today for #SLU's win. The #Billikens are putting in a lot of work with him.

I am looking more at his skill set rather than his production and was agreeing with DoctorB. Dwight Evans is a fantastic player, but his role on offense seems replaceable. Didn't Conklin play a fairly similar role? It would be easier to talk about than post about since it probably comes across as me minimizing Evans. I will just drop it.

Evans is a great player and one of the best in the league, but is his skill set that difficult to replace?

He dislocated his knee cap this summer at the KU team camp and was out 6-8 weeks. I am not sure what his current injury is, but it appears to definitely be a major knee injury.The game last night was great. Jayson Tatum was fantastic and led Chaminade to the 70-59 victory with 33 points. CBC could not handle him. Jordan Barnett had two monster dunks that brought the house down, but had an epic miss that came off the rim to half court. He had a real nice game for CBC leading them with 22 points. Tatum was called for his 4th foul early in the 4th quarter and went to the bench. The game was tied at that point, but Chaminade went on a run with him sitting and he came back in and really closed it out. Sophomore big Tyler Cook was a big reason they were able to gain a lead with Jayson on the bench. I had not been overly impressed by him when I have seen him prior to last night, but that changed for me in the 2nd half. The kid had about three really nice back to the basket moves and finishes, one of which shocked everyone in attendance including Coach Cal. He was key for Chaminade and had 15 points capping it off with a big dunk. Really showed some impressive post moves. Sophomore guard Mike Lewis had a really nice 1st quarter for Chaminade and hit a big 3 the possession after Tatum went to the bench. He can really score the ball, but needs to add some strength and grow a few inches. He had 10 points. CBC sophomore point guard Jordan Barnes was solid, but did not stand out like the last time they played. He did throw the ball off the backboard to Barnett for a monster dunk early in the game on a break which was the play of the night. He had a few nice moves and finishes offensively that I can remember finishing with 9 points and he really pressures the ball defensively. Their other sophomore guard Christian Willis had 10 points, but I did not remember him playing much in the 1st half and really only remember him having a stretch in the 4th quarter where he was attacking and either finishing lay ups or getting fouled, but he was quiet beyond that stretch and may have been on the bench a lot. It was a packed house and apparently they were turning people away an hour before the start. Kentucky was represented by assistant coach Orlando Antigua and later Calipari which had the crowds attention when he entered. Jim Crews was in attendance and sat behind the CBC bench.

Don't worry, Jimmy Crews was there to watch his future star!

I will be heading over to CBC this evening to check out the Chaminade/CBC game featuring 2016 studs Jayson Tatum, Jordan Barnes, Christian Willis, Tyler Cook, and Mike Lewis. Unfortunately Chaminade's other big sophomore, 6'7 forward Will Gladson, was injured for the season earlier in the year.

Has anyone seen Althoff play at all this year? Freshman Jordan Goodwin is having an extremely impressive season putting up 19.5 points a game and looking like a high major prospect, but I have heard his teammate Brendon Gooch is also a quality talent. He is a sophomore averaging 15.4 points a game. From what I can find he has an offer from SIU-Edwardsville and has heard from SLU, Illinois, Purdue, SIU-C, Missouri State, and Indiana State. I was curious if anyone had any thoughts on this Gooch kid and whether he is more of a mid-major talent or if he is a kid SLU should really target.

It will be fun to hear his commentary when SLU blasts VCU twice this year.