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New recruits bolster roster Derrick Neuner Issue date: 4/30/09 When Rick Majerus came to Saint Louis University almost two years ago, he was handed a team he didn't recruit, a team that hadn't seen the NCAA tournament in eight years: a team that didn't have a facility of its own. All that is changing. Head Coach Majerus has already added six new players to the SLU roster. But next year, he will have a team that must play without Kevin Lisch, Tommie Liddell III and Barry Eberhardt. "It's going to be tough without them here next year," Majerus said. "Kevin was our best scorer and defender. Tommie was a good rebounder. Barry gave us some experience … there's a void we need to fill." Majerus, who is currently traveling the country scouting recruits, said the Billikens had a "great year last year," but admitted that the team will have to mature, both physically and emotionally. Next season looms large with a major setback - Saint Louis will have the youngest team in the United States. "It's going to be a bumpy ride. … I'll have the youngest team period," Majerus said. "We didn't want that, but, in this academic environment, we can't bring in junior college guys and we had a situation where we let some guys go [from the Sodernberg era] and couldn't fill all the scholarships." Despite the age factor, SLU could be a contender as they add five new recruits in the fall. Cody Ellis (6'8" forward; Institute of Sport, Australia), Jeff Reid (6'5" forward; Topeka, Kan.), Cory Remekun (6'8" post; Mesquite, Texas), Jon Smith (6'7" forward; Grove City, Ohio), and Christian Salechich (6'4" forward; Institute of Sport, Australia) have all signed their National Letter of Intent. Majerus said, "Cody is a tough kid. He's a smart player; the game makes sense to him. … Cory may redshirt. He has a nice touch with the ball, but will have to make the adjustment from center to forward. … Christian is a very good defender, a good passer, and a good shooter. He's a cerebral player. … Jon Smith is a good athlete. He's a good competitor, but he'll also have to make an adjustment to a 3-man forward." Femi John, who redshirted his freshman year, will also make the start for the Billikens. Majerus said the coaches are "excited about him" and think he'll bring stability to the game on the court. "I think it'll be fun for the students to see us grow and develop," Majerus said. "I think next year will give a good glimpse to the future." The Billikens will need to grow-and fast. They will face Notre Dame, Nebraska and Iowa State, among others, as part of their non-conference play. "People think we're going to be good," Majerus said. "I feel good about this team. Give me any BCS school and I'll play them."

Staff writer Derrick Neuner talked with Athletic Director Chris May a year after May's arrival at SLU. The following discussion touched on the highlights of last year as well as what to look forward to in the future for Billiken athletics. How has your first year at Saint Louis University gone? Athletic Director Chris May: The first year has been an absolutelye great experience, both for me and for the programs. When we start the first few months opening up one of the best facilities in the nation, it puts you on a good trajectory. Do you have a "best Billiken moment" of 2008-2009? CM: There are so many for me. Opening Chaifetz Arena, volleyball beating Stanford, men and women's soccer, women basketball competing with Oklahoma and Xavier, huge wins for men's basketball against Boston College and Dayton, Baseball beating Illinois and playing at Busch Stadium, I could go on and on. It's been a special year for the Billikens all around. What's it like working alongside the likes of Rick Majerus and rising stars like Anne Kordes? CM: The great part about being at SLU is the culture about being successful. We've got some very exceptional coaches who, from Majerus, a Hall of Fame basketball coach, to Anne Kordes, Dan Donigan, we have some veryspecial people leading us. Working with coaches who try to be the best every day is all I could hope for. It's a good time to be at SLU. What are your short term or long term goals here at SLU? CM: We're working hard to be competitive in all areas. helping coaches execute their plans to be successful while at the same time helping the students ... to compete at the high levels, succeed in the classroom, and be part of the community. It's definitely something to be proud of. I'm thrilled for what future holds for us. It's exciting to be in this role. You get to talk to other ADs and coaches, and everybody knows something special is happening at SLU. Is the economic downturn affecting your job and the ability to compete at high athletic levels? CM: You know, finances are always a challenge. We're working daily on how to maximize the resources we have and how we can put the Billikens in the best position to compete. It's a challenge. We spend a lot of time working on expenses and cutting spending where it's not needed. I think the whole institution, because of its value and strength, will get this. How will you spend your summer? CM: There's nothing quiet about the summer. We will lay out plans for fall and start executing them. We're already planning a huge event with volleyball, who will be hosting two-time reigning NCAA champions Penn State. We are working hard towards focusing on selling out Chaifetz on the 29th of August. The game is going to be a big deal, so we're working hard to fill the arena. We want to try to kick of the year right. How do you enhance the national exposure to SLU? CM: That's a bi-product of having successful programs. You know, the more successful you are program-to-program, the more the nation will take attention. People in the basketball world know that Majerus is here and we're going to be good real soon … same for soccer, volleyball, they all know about SLU sports. I think we as continue to build … the facilities here have greatly enhanced … we are going to compete at a higher level and we'll gain the higher notoriety. We're working with the Atlantic 10 Conference to get better TV deals, and there are other things in the works that will continue to help the prominence of the Billikens. We just need to stay the course. There are great days to experience ahead of us.

I tried and have gotten no where. Maybe now that basketball season is over, it would be worth trying again.

Just a quick question for anyone who may know the answer: is SLU's athletic department self-funded or does it receive monies from the University? I know that UK's athletic booster club pays for everything in their athletic department; I find it surprising that a public school is able to pull that off, but it is UK. So I'm wondering if SLU, of course being private means they don't have to disclose this, funds their athletics the same way. And as a further question, does anyone know what the annual budget is? Thanks in advance!

haha well if you're referring to her making comments about Coach Shimmy, etc, she did not say anything negative about Shimmy. And I'm going to try to steer clear of controversy anyway.. this is a 'farewell' article, not so much a news-maker article.

There's a lot more to this story that I don't want to go into right now. I had a lengthy talk with T and K Lisch yesterday for an big piece I'm putting together for the U News. For the sake of not getting information wrong, I don't want to post specifics until I pull direct quotes from the tape.. I'll also post the whole article here some time Thursday.

So does this mean the campus will finally be able to actually watch the away games?

Really?! That's news to me. Interesting though, because Blue Crew even stopped counting games because they were going to use the swipers count.. I wonder if she uses a different door? Thanks for the tidbit!

Ah yes, but, the swiper hasn't worked since the game against BC, and they've been giving students hard tickets to use instead.. or they just show the ID depending on who's at the door.

I bet you could find about 500 students with season tickets that would sell.

That doesn't answer whether every game is in New Jersey -- but I concur. It's stupid to argue about something like this. I've learned to think before I talk, I've proved my friend wrong, and life goes on. Back to the discussion - listening to Timmermann's assessment, and assuming we beat La Salle on Saturday, we either face Charlotte or Bonnie in the first round, which isn't a bad situation for us. Tom also thinks that, if we lose, we play Richmond. I don't like that prospect as much as I do playing Charlotte, but then again, playing on the road, you just never know. We all should be thankful we don't play Xavier the first round. That would be hopeless.

Majerus has great faith in Cassity, but I agree with your opinion that he really hasn't found "it" yet on the floor. But, on the flip side, if it's development that he needs, there is no better in the business than Majerus, so maybe next year will be the epiphany that we're looking for. Otherwise, I agree, the Bills will have a problem getting points of the bench. Eckerle's role is ever-decreasing with the team, and we lose Barry this year. I would think that Thompson and Reed won't start at the same time, so that might be one answer, though Thompson hasn't shown much this year either (albeit he also hasn't played all that much). So that will leave the incoming freshmen to back up the starters -- but who knows, as you pointed out, it does work and it could work here.

38 seconds huh? Well first off I have better things to do than fly around the net trying to appease people who I've never met. Second, I went to the A10 website, which didn't give me the answer.. so then I went to Ticketmaster which did have the answer... so it took more than 38 seconds... but excuse me for being an idiot.

Thank you for proving my correct. I got into an argument with a friend yesterday who tried to tell me that the tournament started at regional locations and moved to Atlantic City.. he said only the top 4 start in NJ.. I thought he was crazy, but had nothing to back it up. So I thought I'd ask here to see who was right. Obviously next time I'll avoid asking questions and just yell at other idiots like you guys must enjoy doing.

I believe they had discussed making Chaifetz big enough for an ice rink and then cooling the floor, but I believe that plan was scrapped in favor of the more intimate arena. Chaifetz, after all, would have just been Scottrade v2. I highly doubt they will build an ice rink for SLU Hockey here solely because the focus in the athletic department is elsewhere (for the better).

I'm a student at SLU, and the writer for the University News, so I sit at a scorer's table in front of Blue Crew, next to Art, if you know who Art is.. I can't spell his last name, but it's something like Villanger..

If we get the #5 seed, do we get to host the first round here in St. Louis?

I think they are just using the tickers.. which leads me to ask.. are the students counted? Last I knew the swiper for student season tickets was not working and surely they aren't counting the flashing IDs. Now, I'm sure there were enough students there to fill the section up, but is the 10,603 excluding students? Next time I see Chuck or Kosha, I'll ask.