HoosierPal

Both Kobe Johnson and Isaiah Swope walked on graduation day. Both received BA's in African American Studies. And as we all know, Jimerson received his BS in International Business in 2022, his MBA in 2024 and his Certificate of Organizational Leadership this past weekend. Congratulations to all three. While academic progress and graduation rates have disappeared from college sports discussions, I for one am proud that academics is stressed at SLU.

We all know that Isaiah Swope entered the portal on the chance that former DII players would be granted an additional year. The first case, College of Charleston's Ante Brzovic, was denied yesterday by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina (4th Circuit) who found that the NCAA Eligibility Rule does not include any mention of business or commercial transactions and thus it is not commercial in nature and purpose. The opinion noted that there is no "binding legal authority" to show that the Rule is subject to antitrust law. The article mentions the JUCO ruling by a TN court that allowed a Vanderbilt QB an extra year due to NIL issues. However, it seems the SC 4th Circuit Court does not agree that the waiver should apply to ALL non-D-I levels. The article mentions that there are nearly 140 players hoping to gain an extra season having played at least one season in DII. This includes Swope. While this recent ruling is not the end of the line, any quick resolution on the 140 players is likely out the window. An appeal will plod through the courts, making a quick decision unlikely. The NCAA could rule on a system wide eligibility rule sooner than the courts can decide. Below is the free article from the Field of 68 Daily. 1. Did Ante Brzovic ruling end extended eligibility? Ante Brzovic spent the last three years starring at the College of Charleston, which followed twos season at D-II Southeastern Oklahoma State. That’s five years of college hoops, which normally means a player must move on to the professional ranks. But recent court decisions — most notably with college football player Diego Pavia — opened the door for an extended amount of time at the D-I level. A court ruled that Pavia’s time in junior college should not count toward D-I. That meant a blanket waiver was applied to all former JUCO players. However, it seems the court does not agree that the waiver should apply to ALL non-D-I levels. Brzovic, through his lawyers Mark Peper and Darren Heitner, argued that he should have additional eligibility because he wasn’t able to profit off his name, image and likeness rights. On Monday, a judge denied Brzovic’s request for a preliminary injunction to be eligible. “Very high burden when you’re trying to win a two year case and you’re trying go win it in three weeks. It’s a much higher burden than one would think,” Peper said Monday. “And at the end of the day this judge, like a few around the country decided eligibility rules are not commercial in nature in other words they don’t affect the marketplace.” Still, Heitner posted on X.com that there likely would not be a uniform binding precedent for extended eligibility, and more could be decided by appellate courts, or even the Supreme Court. And when you have nearly 140 players hoping to snag an extra season, that’s no small thing. As The Athletic noted in a recent article, there’s momentum for the NCAA to permanently give athletes five years of eligibility. That wouldn’t necessarily clear the way for loads of sixth-year seniors next season, but it could be seen as a compromise if more guys like Chad Baker-Mazara (who turns 26 in January) are still playing. Fewer one-off decisions, more uniformly applied rules. Sounds like five years will be here soon enough.

NCAA Attorney's have responded to Judge Wilken's concerns over roster limits in the NCAA v House settlement. Judge Wilken has suggested that schools grandfather currently rostered players until they graduate, regardless of new roster limits proposed in the Settlement. The NCAA filed a brief yesterday whereby schools will be allowed — but not required — to reinstate players who were cut from rosters during the 2024-25 academic year without those players counting against new roster limits set to be implemented July 1. Purged players exempt from roster limits can also transfer to new schools. The key language in the brief, however, is that roster-limit exceptions are to be made at a school's discretion. The next move is up to Judge Wilken. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2-8-billion-house-v-ncaa-settlement-hangs-in-balance-as-attorneys-file-brief-to-address-roster-limit-concern/

The ACC is reducing the number of conference games to 18, down from 20. The move is apparently a reaction to the downward trend of ACC bids to the NCAA tourney. Some upper-echelon programs for some time have wanted to drop two games from the league schedule in an effort to avoid dead weight in the conference dragging down NCAA Tournament resumes. The Big 10 and the Big East remain at 20 conference games, while the ACC joins the SEC and Big 12 at 18. Will this reduction present opportunities for Mid Majors (read SLU) to schedule games with the ACC? Perhaps, but the ACC won't be looking at Q3 or Q4 replacements. https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/acc-to-reduce-number-of-games-in-mens-basketball-conference-schedule-from-20-to-18-after-multiple-down-years/ Perhaps one schedule impact already? Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein NEWS: NC State and VCU are finalizing an agreement to begin a home-and-home series next season in Raleigh, according to multiple sources. Return game at VCU during the 2026-27 season. NC State's Will Wade was VCU's head coach from 2015-17.

Great shot of most of our returning crew. https://x.com/JoshSchertzSLU/status/1919573450965778704/photo/1

Hey little A_Robbie. Where you been? I missed your cute little bad post reactions. I know they give your ego a big boast when you give one out. What do you do next, chest bump your frat brothers? Do you read your posts before you hit submit? It certainly doesn't look like it. The adults are having a serious discussion here about medical issues and privacy. But you obviously want this to be about you believing you are the funniest poster on the board. You should stick to your hilarious management templates. Now those are funny!

This is 100% what this board should follow. Let's end the speculation on what is causing his condition.

News on Thames. https://x.com/RoccSTL/status/1918411235487367191

Stef redshirted last season. He has 3 seasons available.

Related to Portal. Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress Only 106 players entered the 2025 NBA Draft, per the NBA. That's the lowest number of early-entrants since 2015, down from a peak of 363 in 2021, just before the NCAA's NIL era officially started. Incredible boon for college basketball to retain so much talent.

Coach on the Press Box with Frank, 4/28. Coach feels he has addressed his concerns with the portal class. We won't know until they get here, but we needed an infusion of playmaking, shooting, speed and physicality inside. You recruit People first and Players second. Tougher aspect to know players in the portal. HS recruits, you spend a year + with them. They now talk to as many players and/or former teammates with portal players. How many opinions can you get on the player. You have to get this right. You have to get the Person right. If you get the person wrong, it won't work. What wins is the team that is the most connected and that wants to be bigger than themself. On NIL $, it is like shopping with a budget. He sat with AD May and came up with the budget. Money has moved in-house. Expects the House settlement to go through. Studied all the NBA teams and how they distributed the salary cap: how much best player and starters were paid, how much are players 6-9 paid. Created a model and figured out %. Started with the SLU returners. What to allocate to them first. Then freshmen, how much. Remaining money for portal players. How much % for each in the portal. Can go up and down %, but if you do go up, have to cut $ from another player. School has been very supportive with funds, plus May has committed $ outside of the school funds. $ Number will go up each year. No scholarship players next year will play for free. Freshmen get pretty much a fixed amount. "Many times The Best Get is the one you already have." Q Jones: NIU team wasn't great. Will play with and without the ball. Hurt his finger last game, and lost the scoring MAC title. P Otieno: Looking for O Rebounds and shot blocking. Can guard inside, and can play with Avila. Brown: At UMBC, lead league in scoring. Started at BC. Terrific on O glass. Good cutter. Can make 3's. Green: Has been recruiting him since HS. Wired to score. Good defender. Terrific with the ball. A Playmaker. Dunlap: 6'8" (still growing), can really shoot. Hurt early last season. He was playing 17 mpg for St. John's before getting hurt. Doesn't look like it, but he really guards well. A great catch and shoot. Sharma: 6'6" Has a chance to make 100 3's. Avila: never worried he would leave. He lead the nation in made 3's and assists for Bigs. Bigs have the highest value on the portal market. He will admit the past season wasn't what he wanted. Thames: so far all good. Nothing "scary" where he can't play. The docs think there is a pathway for him to play. Will be trying some things this summer. He is back doing workouts. When he was right he was 15/7 guy. He could be a game changer for us.

So is this a schedule thread or a roster thread?

Here is a different spin....minutes played per game last season by the 11 upperclassmen. The returning players total 235 minutes for a 200 minute game. And there are no minutes in that total for freshmen. Yes, there are some inaccuracies in simply adding up mpg, such as games played, injuries, etc. But, there will be some unhappy bench warmers next season. The first absolute is that a healthy Avila will play 30+ minutes per game. It is common knowledge (for most posters) that Schertz likes a tight rotation. He settled in at 7 last season, once all the issues came through. Look back at his history over the past 8 seasons and you will see that an 8 man rotation his the norm. "Oh but this will be the deepest team he ever had!" Will it be? mpg Anya 27.9 Avila 33.9 Brown 25.8 Dunlap 16.5 Green 10.8 Jones 35.4 McCottry 14.5 Otieno 31.0 Sharma 12.8 Thames 16.3 Warlick 10.1 Total Min. 235.0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14bGmbJ_XG2wLM2If-1K3l8uP_tF84rfeeWK6bByc-a4/edit?gid=0#gid=0 This website shows Billiken Walk On Nick Patton moving on from SLU (left column). This is the only resource where I have seen this information. He of course didn’t have any playing time last season but was in street clothes with the team.