cgeldmacher

I don't really care what May said in different articles about what he wanted. Way too much is being made of that. Just get us the best coach. My list: 1. Drew 2. Stallings 3. Stansbury 4. Inglesby Beyond that I don't have a real preference. As I've said, I'm not as down on Ford as some others, but him vs. guys l like Rice, Terry, Grant, etc. all seem about the same to me.

When you're an also ran in the Big 12 or SEC, it doesn't matter what resources you have, you will always suffer from not being Kansas or not being Kentucky. How many coaches graduated from success at a mid major only to not be able to get teams like Texas Tech or Auburn over the hump. Does it make them bad coaches? Was their success at the smaller school just an accident? If Drew, Stallings and Stansbury are off the table, I would be fine with Ford, and I truly believe he could be successful here.

I'm not as down on Ford as everyone else. I think he's the kind of guy that will do better in the A-10 than at a BCS school. Some BCS jobs just have a ceiling (Vanderbilt, Oklahoma St., Mississippi St). That's why I would have taken or would take Stallings, Stansbury, or Ford. I agree that Drew is the first choice, but if we're not his choice, I'd be happy with Ford.

On the flip side, maybe the NBA money that provided him with a certain comfortable lifestyle is starting to dry up. Maybe turning down Iowa State was fine last year, but the wife is starting to look at the bank account this year and wonder if the $300,000 salary is enough.

Continue three years of high level success? I assume that is what our program/coach "could have done" to make Tatum come here. We did what we needed to do recruiting wise (showed up at the right times and contacted them in the right ways), but not all that we could have done (continued success).

I don't disagree. I just meant that Brad didn't elevate the program like others had. Also, while we might agree that his era and the Crews era need to be categorized differently, I still don't think that our hiring of him was a success.

Let's look at the past hires: Rich Grawer - Saved the program Charlie Spoonhauer - Can't argue that was a good hire Lorenzo Romar - Several have called getting him back now a home run. His initial hire was a good one. Brad Sodeberg - Miss Rick Majerus - Home Run Jim Crews - Miss, but extenuating circumstances lead to it being very difficult not to hire him So, how exactly are we predisposed to SLU making a mess of this. Of the last six hires, four have to be considered to be handled very well and were successes. I get that two of the last three were bad hires, but I would assume when you make a comment like we "are predisposed to assuming SLU will make a mess of this," that there is more history behind it.

Well, then, I like your theory. If it's true, then either way, we get Stallings eventually.

I've been on the Stansbury bandwagon since early on. He would be my plan B to Drew and Stallings.

One possible scenario: Vandy wants to dump Stallings, they were about to, and then someone in their athletic dept. says wait a minute "he's going to SLU either way, we can save money on his buyout if we leverage his wanting to go home to St. Louis." A game of chicken ensues where both sides try to wait each other out to save money.

If we don't already have a deal with Drew, I say get Stalling signed now. I will be very happy with that outcome.

Unless neither ever wanted to truly come here. If that's true, how is that the AD's failure.

That conversation should be happening right now? You mean the one that is 100% based upon speculation from guys on this board and may not have any basis in reality. Right now, I'm 1 and 1a on Drew or Stallings. I think either would be an excellent hire. However, it is possible that neither has any intention of coming here. Not saying that's the case, just saying its possible. If so, I would feel a little weird about demanding that a conversation should be happening about a fictitious scenario.

Also would mean we are in for a long wait before naming the coach.

That might finally be the job Archie jumps at if they offer enough money. Very near his recruiting base.

It speaks to our "lackluster AD" that he's not soliciting a $20M donation to build an ice rink for a sports team we don't even have? Really! There are a lot on this board that may be upset if that is what he was spending his time doing rather than working to improve the sports we already have at the university. I wouldn't mind having hockey at SLU, but it would have to start more grassroots, eventually working its way to games at Scottrade and then years later, after a great deal of success, maybe then a donor decides to sink disposable money that no one else is stepping up to donate toward an on-campus hockey arena. So, now the athletic department is negligent in its duties because it's not soliciting money for a new hockey arena. That's crazy.

On a strictly basketball note: Last night's game was about as much fun as you can have watching basketball. Tied after first quarter. Bills lead by one at half. Bills down at the end of three. Bills pull out the win. If you are not doing anything Friday night, come down to the game. It will get your basketball mojo back in line for when our new men's team coach turns us back around. No back to the other talk: The Billiken is clearly a dude. Many people call him simply "Bill." Not a chick. I remember times in the 80's and 90's when they used to dress up one of the alternate billiken costumes as the Billiken's mom. Let's not back off of the idea that Bill is a very manly guy and should be feared by opposing team's mascots.

Jacobsen's contact situation is not the problem. Come back to reality. He's not going from a successful program at a mid major conference to a rebuild situation at another (only slightly better)mid major. This is what drives me crazy about this board. We will make the best hire we can make, but this kind of talk will make some people say "really that's all we could do?" Stop talking about guys we can't get.

Anyone know what the attendance was for the 1st game?

I assume the third is Rankin-Jordan

Hiring a coach of a high school program is rare. That coach would have to have some reason why we would hire him rather than someone with college coaching experience. Let me think. Is there anything he could bring to the table that would convince us to overlook his lack of experience? No . . . I'm rather sure that there is nothing that he could presently provide as an ace in the hole to convince us to bring him on board.

Here's an article with the audio. It's crazy. Unless the announcer was giving the ref the finger, there is no reason for his ejection. By this standard, Rammer would miss part of a lot of our games. http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/green-bay-announcer-temporarily-ejected-from-horizon-league-semifinal.html

Ref ejects play by play announcer during Valpraiso/Green Bay game. http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2016/03/08/video-official-pat-adams-ejects-a-play-by-play-announcer-during-a-game/

Agree. These are the names that get tossed around where we have no chance. I'm not talking about his buyout. Jacobson is in the MO Valley. SLU is in the A-10. The A-10 is better than the Valley, but it's not BCS. Why would a successful Valley coach who is going to the tournament decide to come to SLU and start from square one. Please don't talk about our facilities or how we are going to pay him $2M. We have great facilities. We are not going to pay him $2M. Whether we think so or not, a coach is going to consider this almost a lateral move. Again, why go from a place where you are having success to a place where you have to completely rebuild a program, thus putting your long term career in jeopardy. Only reason to do that is to move to a BCS program. Please get back to realistic candidates.

Of all the (potentially) returning players, who is the most valuable for any possible success next year? Who is the guy that would cause the most sting if he transferred? Ash is graduating. I'm talking about the Juniors, Sophs, and Freshmen. I'm picking Reggie. He's our only inside presence right now. His rebounding is better than above average. He is the only guy with a the chance to post up, make a move, and score.