Thank You for the Memory Wendell Bennett!

[BleacherBum593]

Thank you for the memory Wendell Bennett!

He played for one of the best high school coaches in the nation, but didn’t have the talent to play as a starter for a Division 1 program. His dream was to study aviation and he came to St Louis to follow his dream. He walked on at St Louis U because of his love for the game of basketball and gave it his all for 4 years.

I met him that first year as he rode the pines game after game. Nothing much said other than “how you doingâ€, “how’s it goingâ€. One player to one fan. Building a tradition of sorts between us. This continued on for the next 3 years.

Class and Character. It’s a good measure of one becoming a man. And Wendell had it.

As I followed Billiken Basketball over the years, I wasn’t really thrilled with the hiring of Brad Soderberg. I thought the AD short changed the process by hiring him instead of conducting a intensive search for a new head coach. But, I thought he should be given a chance to build a program. His program.

He started out in a pretty deep hole. I thought Romar left a pretty bare cupboard when he upt and left for the west coast. Throw in an ancient practice facility and it’s a really deep hole to climb out of to build a program, to build up a tradition.

You have to take baby steps to get there. Sometimes taking one step forward and two steps back. One step forward…..

I thought we had started to lay the foundation with the signing of local products, Polk and Meyer. Followed by Lisch and Liddell. Followed by Maguire and Knollmeyer.

But, all that changed last night. All the respect that I had for Coach Soderberg went out the window last night.

Call me old school, but one of the ways that you build tradition into a program is to honor those who played for you. Senior Night. The time to honor your seniors who have given you their blood, sweat and tears to help build the program. But, what happens last night. Only 1 of the 3 seniors start. So much for tradition. So much for showing some CLASS.

As the crowd grew restless in the second half, sitting down next to the Billiken bench you could hear the Blue Crew chanting for Soderberg to put Wendell in. Other fans joined in. The fans wanted to properly “honored†Wendell in his last appearance at home.

No start, no appearance even with the team up by twenty. As the clock ticked down towards three minutes remaining in the game, still no Wendell.

At the fifty seven second mark remaining in the game, Soderberg finally comes to his senses and puts him in. But, not before the coach has lost all my respect.

One board and one point later, it’s all over.

The one real memory that I’ll keep from this year will not be the last second basket against MO State. It won’t be the first half where we went toe-to-toe against the men wearing Carolina Blue. It won’t be the bada bing, bada boom ball girl of GW (who by the way gets my vote for A-10 Ball Boy of the Year).

Instead, it’ll be the memory of Wendell Bennett, coming back onto the court after the game was over last night. After all the players had headed to the locker room and most of the crowd had vacated the Scott Trade Center. As I talked with friends after the final game of the year, saying our good byes till next year, one friend nudged me and said “Here he comes.†I looked up and there was Wendell trotting down the floor to our section, next to the Billiken bench, to say shake hands and say thank you for my support over the last 4 years. And that moment said a lot about the class and character of this young man that will stand out in my mind for years to come.

Good Luck in whatever you tackle in life Mr. Bennett.

[Alonzo P Hawk]

>As the crowd grew restless in the second half, sitting down

>next to the Billiken bench you could hear the Blue Crew

>chanting for Soderberg to put Wendell in. Other fans joined

>in. The fans wanted to properly “honored†Wendell in his

>last appearance at home.

Point of Information:

Blue Crew in no way started the "Wendell" or the "We want Wendell" or the "Wen-del Ben-net" or the "Brad Hates Wendell" or any such cheers. Blue Crew is too tame to start cheers. Louder student fans behind Blue Crew started the cheers. Blue Crew were the ones who "joined in," not the other way around.

Wendell deserved to be in there with 10 minutes to play. That is something Wendell would remember for the rest of his life, but Brad ruined that opportunity. Unfortunately, his memory might be bitter now, who knows.

Good Luck Wendell!

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*Official Billikens.com sponsor of Mike Beczkala

[GOPBilliken]

What hasn't Soderberg ruined in his tenure here at Saint Louis University? Consider the source.

[Basketbill]

the game got to be a possession game with about two minutes left. What did you expect.

[slufanskip]

we were chanting and yelling for Wendell long before the Blue Crew. Imo .... he should have gotten a couple of real minutes in the first half when we were up 20. It didn't have to be a lot of minutes. Just a couple in real time, not mop up.

On the other hand, I won't go as far as BleacherBum ... UB did give WB a schollarship. He didn't have to, but he did, and imo that shows what he thought of Wendell.

Wendell is a favorite of mine also. There is something to be said for the player who bsts his butt for nothing but the love of the game and his school.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman

Official Sponser of the Stemmler and Ahearn could and would have helped club.

[slu72 fan]

Does a $30,000 scholarship amount to anything other than a big thank you for showing up and playing hard? I suspect that might offset the disappointment of getting in for a minute. Too bad Richmond got hot, we may have seen all of the other players sooner.

[jimbofive]

The onus is as much on the starters for not burying Richmond when they had the chance. I suspect Brad told them to stall as well, but their lackadaisical passes made Richmond feel like they were still in it.

JJ should have started, and I had hoped to see Wendell for the last five minutes, enough to get off several shots and actually get into the flow of the game a little bit.

Oh well, hat's off to Wendell. You have now scored infinitely more points than me at the D-1 level.

[DirtyRican]

It made me happy to see Wendell get a chance to get in the game and even get to the line for some points. He reminds me of the modern day Phillip Hunt. Man I loved when that guy got a chance to play. However, I think it is unfair to rip Brad for not getting him in the game sooner. Have we not been through meltdown after meltdown this season? We have seen big leads slip away at home a few times and even up 20 I was not certain we were getting the W. This team has to continue to fight for their playoff lives and making sure the game was well in hand before emptying the bench was the right thing to do.

I dont see anything wrong in what Brad did last night.

Plus I wanted to see Ian, Tommie and Kevin all get to 20 points. Has that ever happen in Bills history? Although it would have game against a team that looked like DeSmet it would have been pretty cool.

[Box and Won]

Major props to Wendell for all the hard work he's put in over the last four years - a span that initially had Philip Hunt as the "go-to" walk-on and very few blow-out victories in which walk-ons typically get to play.

[VTIME]

Hunt is a good guy and an assistant coach at Harris-Stowe.

[BigJ20]

That was the first time in a basketball game that I had not seen all the seniors on a team start the game on senior night. That blew my mind because its not like this Richmond team was going to jump out to a 10-15 point lead on us. I really don't understand Brad's reasoning for not starting JJ or WB alonside Ian??? I know it was a game that we absolutely couldn't lose, but c'mon that was ridiculous!

[brianstl]

It has happened here before and happens across the country all the time.

[billiken_roy]

shimmy never started her seniors on senior day either as only tyler was out for the opening jump.

i agree it happens a lot and while it is a nice gesture to let the seniors start, i think playing the game is far more important.

[DirtyRican]

Agreed...winning the game is more important than the feelings of one player. I guarantee if you asked Wendell he would say the same thing. Coaches are there to win games and development young men, however they are not paid to make friends.

[Swizzzy]

I think the one thing that upset me more then anything that occurred during Senior night is seeing who got more playing time then Wendell...Dustin Maguire. When I saw him enter the game, and play ahead of Wendell and even Adam Knollmeyer that is when I became infuriated, with all do respect to Dustin, I was under the impression that he was recruited for his shooting touch. Earlier in the season when he got minutes he looked scared and had a shot release that still needs major overhauling. He's not even the best freshman on the bench. I'd give that to Adam.

The reason I believe the game became close near the end is because of the action or rather inaction of Brad to put Wendell in earlier. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I noticed the chants for Wendell begin with about 18 min left in the second half, and it was sporadic for about the next 5 minutes or so. Then with 11 minutes left, and still no Wendell, that’s when I notice the atmosphere in the arena change, to a more hostile environment that favored Richmond rather then Saint Louis.

I can’t imagine anyone on that bench or on the court could not hear the chants for Bennett. I theorize that the players on the court were probably wondering the same thing. It most likely became a distraction to them and thus led to their sloppy play. Had we lost that game due to this distraction I would not blame the chanters in the crowd at ALL. How is Brad not going to play Wendell in front of his mother, sister, and brother. Only to hear the chants and begs from the crowd to let him play. Let him play coach, let him play! That is the only time that I have ever been embarrassed for the program. I hope Brad make amends because last night was complete crap!

[DirtyRican]

I am sorry Swizzy but have you ever played competitive sports? Your reasoning behind the players on the court being consumed by the chants is ridiculous. When you are on a team you are focused on one thing only, that is to win. You are not wondering that your teammate should be in the game because his mom is in the stands. There is a reason why Brad kept the starters in as he did. They are not good enough to take valuable game time off during the most important stretch of the season.

It may sound harsh but this is D1 athletics not your youth sports organization. The best players and the players that you expect to help in the future will play, the others will not.

I am proud of Wendell for sticking out 4 years without my PT, it shows how much he cares about the game and more importantly the relationships he had with his teammates.

Brad should not be to blame for Wendell not getting in sooner.

[billiken_roy]

i guarantee you that the coaches never noticed any "chants" from the crowd. they are tuned into winning a basketball game. responding to the chants are storybook or movie stuff. not reality.

[FromGreeceWithLove]

I think it is wrong to say that players and coaches don't hear the things people in the crowd yell or cheer, regardless of how into the game they are.

I think it would be best to talk to Wendell and JJ to see if they felt betrayed by not getting the start and I would bet neither of them would say they were offended or hurt. Maybe Soderberg talked to them and let them know what he was thinking and asked if they would be hurt if he didn't start them, who knows. I just think it is tough to call out Soderberg on this one without knowing the entire situation. I would have like to see the three seniors get the start and I think it would have been a nice gesture, but I don't blame Brad for doing what he thought was best for this team.

[bluecrewprez]

and he was so excited that we were chanting for him. He said he appreciated the fact that the majority of the BLUE CREW (seniors especially) would not stand up until they put him in. He asked me to send him the email address for the whole BLUE CREW so he can thank them for cheering for him. I'm just thrilled he got that free throw. We cheered like it was Anthony Drejaj hitting that 3 to end the NIT game vs. Iowa in 2004. Go Wendell!

[pballer]

I think Brad was just trying to keep fans in their seats. I have season tickets, but this was the first game I took my wife. She is not a sports fan. When we were up by 20 with 10 minutes left, I thought I would wait for Wendell to get in, the put my wife out of her misery by heading home. Needless to say, I saw the whole game.

[FromGreeceWithLove]

Wendell Bennett is a class act. To see him shaking hands and thanking people after the game shows me what a fine young man he is. This kid was obviously touched by the appreciation he was shown by the students and fans and it was special to see him be acknowledged for his hard work and to see him expressing his gratitude to the fans. Here's to Wendell Bennett, may you find much success and fulfilment in the next stage of your life. That is really something that he would ask you for the emal addresses of the members of the Blue Crew, what a good kid. It is moments like last night that he will remember for the rest of his life, kudos to the fans for making last night such a special night for Mr. Bennett.

[NH]

not to be pompus or anything but I was chanting let him start before the game and was chanting for him all game

[lloyddobbler]

it was great to see wendell get in and get that point. he sounds like a great kid.

and broy, just so you know, brad mentioned in his postgame interview that he heard the chants to put wendell in, but he had to wait for the right time.

[Basketbill]

you said to let you know if you were wrong.....your wrong.

First of all do you know why DM got in......LM was hurt and had to leave the game not because they were ahead. That was in the first half.

Secondly, getting a better seed in A-10 tourney helps our chances to make the tourney, so winning last night was the number one priority. Would Wendel Bennett want an NCAA watch or whatever they give out or five minutes of playing time. Even if we do not make the NCAA tourney, we may make he NIT and that may provide memories not just for WB but also for JJ, IV and every other member of the team.

Thirdly......grow up.

[Swizzzy]

The purpose of my post was not to give playing Wendwell's value above that of Dustin. The primary purpose of my post was to voice my displeasure in not letting Wendell see more then 57 seconds at the end of the game. I would be just fine if he reiceved 57 seconds to start the second half. I mean at that point we were still up by 20 points. I'm also not disputing that getting a higher seed should not have been a priority last night either. I just found it disheartening that the he waited until things became hostile and we had to regain our composure near the end to finally let Wendell in the game.

Another poster mentioned that at the Division 1 level players tune out everything they hear out on the court and are only focused on the game at hand. I dispute that claim. Homecourt advantage is an advantage for a reason it is used to rattle opponents and boast morale for the home team. With all that occurred less then a couple weeks ago at Rhode Island (if those claims are true) it just changed the way I feel about Brad, and leaves me to wonder if that influenced Dell's playing time.