Final Thoughts for now

[courtside]

I will be getting back to the season etc...in posts...

For SLU to build something, imo they need one of two things, a proven elite bench coach, to start something...or aan exceptional recruiter, up and comer etc...and imo that latter is what is easier to do.

SLU needs a coach who can recruit well with little. Easy? Nope. Can be done, yep. Has been done, yep. If it were easy, everyone would have done it. Someone would likely need to recruit the state well, and the region, and hire assistants, a veteran who can help, and recruiting studs hungry. They do not need to get a David Lee, or TH, etc...get a TL, KL every other year...and build. And be better at finding under the radar kids....someone who can sell and hopefully, coach a little bit.

There are other ways...but this seems most plausible...

Brad was an inexperienced D-1 Head Coach, without a lot of contacts in recruiting outside of his Wisconsin home, and not a strong recruiter. Wisconsin and Marquette gobble up most of those kids now, with an occasional Michigan St....and it therefore has taken BS longer to develop local ties in recruiting...and it has taken him longer to develop as a head coach.

How long will people wait? We shall see.

[Billikan]

I was talking to a bunch of fans last night and we were talking about the recruiting issue. One common thought was that at most schools that recruit well--and they are often big name schools that have very highly paid assistants--there is one highly paid assistant who is the star recruiter. Someone posted the gentleman from LSU--he would be a good example.

Right now we know that Brad has had some success with Tommie, Kevin, Luke and Ian and Dwayne. All but one are local kids who had a lot of contact with Brad before they signed. The jury is out on AK and Dustin but they too are basically local kids who had relationships with Brad. We hear that Brad has made a nice connection with some other kids in the junior and senior classes of this years high school crop but we will not know until at least late next fall whether any of those kids sign with the Billikens. Our assistants are somewhat new to the game and are surely not that sort of star assistant we often hear about. My view is that we need to see what they can do over the next nine months. If they can sign some good players then we will be on our way in the new building. If they cannot, and gosh I hope none of the potential recruits ever read this website!!!!!! because the comments here cannot help--but if this group has not signed some players by the close of recruiting for next year then it may be that we need an "ace" recruiter. But as we all know we had one of those in Romar and he could not close the deal and at other schools like Indiana and Missouri the ace recruiter as head coach could not win enough games even with a bench full of high school all americans.

[TheRaginCajun]

What makes you think that Tommie, Kevin, Luke, Ian, and Dwayne chose SLU because of their relationships with Brad Soderberg? I specifically remember hearing TKBilliken say that Ian has no respect for Brad.

[Billikan]

Why would you believe anything he has to say? All I have seen from him is unsubstantiated garbage. Is he saying that Ian had no respect for Brad before he was signed? Then why did he sign? Ridiculous.

I know from what they have said in the past that the others signed in great part because of their respect for Brad. What is your source for a claim that they signed with the Bills but disliked Brad? That would be interesting.

[BillikenTX]

I guess the hiring of Angres Thorpe and Walker aren't steps from Brad to find assistants who have local or area connections? Everyone also seems to forget his son is one of the top juniors who plays with some highly skilled players on his AAU team and Brad has constant access and his son selling SLU to kids.

Cajun I guess we should all give respect to TK for correctly posting Ian was as good as gone? How many posts as TK had since he looked like a fool back in the summer, but he shows up when they lose two conference games and now we are to respect his "insider information"?

[TheRaginCajun]

I personally could care less. I just find it interesting that someone is going to say that 4 kids from the area and Ian signed with SLU because of their great relationship with Brad Soderberg. I am not going to argue, I just question the validity of that statement. I see us with 6 legitimate Division I recruits and only two of those are not from the area. I see us with three open scholarships and guys on the bench who are a joke and never should or do see the court. Brad is an absolute fraud. He came in with guys like Marque Perry, Kenny Brown, Josh Fisher, and Chris Sloan and said that they were the foundation and the program would take off once he was able to bring in legitimate athletes and his recruits. Well, three years later I am asking where the influx of talent is. We can't even fill a roster and will be going into the spring period once again looking to fill our scholarships. What a phony. Soderberg should be thanking Marque, Kenny, Josh, and Chris for getting him that extension. He has been bailed out long enough, your time is up.

[moytoy12]

FYI, LSU's basketball budget for 2005 was 2.2 million (as compared to 1.9 million for SLU). The men's sports recruiting budget was about $550,000, but there was no indication of how much the bball recruiting budget was. I'm assuming the lion's share of the recruiting budget went to football.

[courtside]

>I was talking to a bunch of fans last night and we were

>talking about the recruiting issue. One common thought was

>that at most schools that recruit well--and they are often

>big name schools that have very highly paid

>assistants--there is one highly paid assistant who is the

>star recruiter. Someone posted the gentleman from LSU--he

>would be a good example.

>

>Right now we know that Brad has had some success with

>Tommie, Kevin, Luke and Ian and Dwayne. All but one are

>local kids who had a lot of contact with Brad before they

>signed. The jury is out on AK and Dustin but they too are

>basically local kids who had relationships with Brad. We

>hear that Brad has made a nice connection with some other

>kids in the junior and senior classes of this years high

>school crop but we will not know until at least late next

>fall whether any of those kids sign with the Billikens. Our

>assistants are somewhat new to the game and are surely not

>that sort of star assistant we often hear about. My view is

>that we need to see what they can do over the next nine

>months. If they can sign some good players then we will be

>on our way in the new building. If they cannot, and gosh I

>hope none of the potential recruits ever read this

>website!!!!!! because the comments here cannot help--but if

>this group has not signed some players by the close of

>recruiting for next year then it may be that we need an

>"ace" recruiter. But as we all know we had one of those in

>Romar and he could not close the deal and at other schools

>like Indiana and Missouri the ace recruiter as head coach

>could not win enough games even with a bench full of high

>school all americans.

Dwayne Polk and Luke Meyer success? Wow, with standards that low, no wonder you are pleased.

"Hits" are are Lisch and Liddell. Polk is in his 3rd season, and we have been through this many times...Uh oh he might be reading this...what shoudl I do...he is a bust even as a role player, period, end of his discussion. Harsh? You betcha. LM is only a two year contributor, undersized forward with limited range, and defensive liability with bigger stronger players. The idea is to recruit better role players than this. I will give you LM, kindly, not a snowballs chance on Polk. Not a chance.

If you call Dwayne Polk a success, we can stop talking right now. Stop coddling. Let me re-phrase one last time for you...Soderberg needs to land high major players, i.e. a Lisch and Liddell and IV caliber player...every other year at minimum...doesn't need to load the team with them...but cannot, repeat cannot go two years in a row missing on high majors, if goal is NCAA consistently. End of discussion. Stop with AK and DM, they are role players.

Now you have the gall to say Romar couldn't close the deal...your words not mine...and he only had 3 years to recruit, but Brad should get 7-10 years or so.

Give me a break.

[NashvilleBilliken]

You're way to hard on Luke. DP hasn't done a whole lot. But Luke has really came on, and is the absolute definition of a role player. He plays with a lot of intensity. He plays within the offense and gets the shots that come to him (I think we can really put his shooting % to rest now). If he is aggresive, he can take it to the hole. If we had a "luke" to go along with every "kevin" and "tommie", we'd be in great shape.

[TheRaginCajun]

Yeah, I think Luke is exactly what you are looking for in a role player. He leaves it on the court night in and night out and is a solid all around player. He fights for rebounds and loose balls, seems to get key steals, and has shown the ability to make plays going to the basket.

[Billikan]

Calm down! Romar never recruited any player as good as Tommie, Kevin or Ian.

I agree, based on recent games, that Polk has not lived up to expectations but he was highly regarded when he was in high school. As I recall, before his injury, he was ranked in the top 50 in the nation.

I could not disagree more about Luke. I just do not get it. I was sitting with some people from out of town at the last game and they were extremely impressed with Luke and commented, correctly, that we are not as good a team when he is out of the game. Over the past year and a half he has demonstrated time and again how valuable he is to this team. Even the superstar lottery pick from NC, who I think may be the best player in the country at the 4 position, did not dominate Luke or go off for a big game. I will never understand that people cannot see that Luke is a very nice player and he has earned our respect.

[moytoy12]

"I will never understand that people cannot see that Luke is a very nice player and he has earned our respect."

I don't think many doubt the above statement, they would just rather see LM do his thing at the 3.

[cheeseman]

Did you not understand what Courtside posted - he says that Luke is not a high major and his play to date does not show that he developed into one. Luke is a consumate bench player and if that is what he was doing then fine but right now Luke is starting and that is the problem - not Luke's fault but rather Brad's for not recruiting better.

[moytoy12]

I understood what courtside posted just fine. I think many on this board would say that LM is a nice player and he has earned their respect.

[courtside]

>Calm down! Romar never recruited any player as good as

>Tommie, Kevin or Ian.

>

>I agree, based on recent games, that Polk has not lived up

>to expectations but he was highly regarded when he was in

>high school. As I recall, before his injury, he was ranked

>in the top 50 in the nation.

>

>I could not disagree more about Luke. I just do not get it.

>I was sitting with some people from out of town at the last

>game and they were extremely impressed with Luke and

>commented, correctly, that we are not as good a team when he

>is out of the game. Over the past year and a half he has

>demonstrated time and again how valuable he is to this team.

>Even the superstar lottery pick from NC, who I think may be

>the best player in the country at the 4 position, did not

>dominate Luke or go off for a big game. I will never

>understand that people cannot see that Luke is a very nice

>player and he has earned our respect.

Romar was at SLU for 3 seasons...Soderberg took longer than that to recruit above said players.

Based on recent games Polk...blah blah...2.5 seasons, and he isn't strong in any area. And ever the excuse maker, Polk was not highly recruited when SLU signed him, period, and even though he wasn't and you take a flyer...I have no problems with coaches taking flyers...but better have others in place too..Polk so far is a bust, it is okay, happens all the time in sports. You can say it.

Over the past year and a half...LM...what exactly has SLU won with him and the others...if all of them are so good, why aren't they better...especially against better teams....How is Luke doing this year against the Big Boys? Hmmm had a strong rebounding game vs an MVC team, a league noted for recruits who are undersized. He is 6'5...and not very athletic, can't shoot from 3...only, ONLY 14 attempts and 3 makes. I will not argue Meyer has had a huge jump in his ability and contribution this year...but from what to what? In an ideal world he would be coming off of the bench on a better club.

So, if BS has landed all of these players and doing so well...why hasn't SLU been ranked? Surely I can find it...top 25 is tough to make...let me find top 40...how are they competing in big games?

The entire board, 100% wants SLU to become a program that makes the NCAA most years, in your opinion Brad has gotten all of these nice players...why no NCAA's in his first four? ...I am not saying he should or shouldn't have been in it in those years...what I am saying is SLU needs better players to reach that level.

You cannot have a kid who is a 3 year bust like Polk, and LM is not going to give you a lot against the big boys...lesser teams he is a nice player and has made big improvement this season, his 3rd. But again, from what to what?

I have respect for players etc...they are getting a nice free ride and perks, they are big boys, ...SLU needs better players to win, period. Unless Billikan wants to come out and say it is the coach's fault that he can't coach all of these good players. Can't have it both ways.