Peterson/Iowa

[AJ]

According to HawkeyeReport.com, an Iowa message board, Lickliter spoke with Peterson on Friday night and plans to meet with him next week. The source, who claims to have talked directly with Peterson, concluded:

" If the visit goes well, I am pretty sure he will be a Hawkeye " If this source is correct it sounds like Peterson is headed to Iowa.

[slu72]

Doesn't sound promising. Am sure he's not flying to DC to tell him he DOESN'T want him to be a Hawkeye. Another one bites the dust.

[cheeseman]

Seems a little odd to say "another one bites the dust". From all reports the last few weeks this kid was wanting to go to Iowa. It was only that with Alford leaving things got held up with him being offered a schollie. The only reason it looked a little like maybe the Iowa thing might fall through was that the new coach had not contacted the kid in a timely fashion. My point is this one was gone sometime ago. So, nothing has changed regarding our recruiting situation - this is not new news.

[inthelou]

I really thought we had a shot at this kid. Seemed like with the coaching changes at Iowa and Princeton we had a good shot. I'm somewhat surprised he couldn't close the deal here by showing that SLU's situation is more stable than some of his other choices.

[DoctorB]

Actually, it is just a 2nd-hand source saying "I'm pretty sure."

Could be all she wrote, granted. But I would not read that as a done deal by any means.

I realize folks on here are starving for news, any news. but it is a waiting game for now and may be for several weeks.

Once we get one or 2 more signees by May, make your $25 checks out to any of the following:

The Freedom School, Harambee Works Program, the Daniel Foundation, the American Red Cross, or the SLSO.

[billfan4life]

Come on Brad, work your magic.

[AJ]

In fairness to Brad on this one, it really doesn't look like we had much of a shot at Peterson from the beginning. Before the end of the season Alford announced plans to move Tony Freeman, Iowa's soph PG to SG next season because the Hawks will need an outside scorer. That left the PG job wide-open for incoming PG Dairese Gary from Elkhart Indiana. However, Iowa determined that Gary probably was going to be a non-qualifier and that's when Alford went shopping and found Peterson available because of his withdrawal of his oral commitment to Princeton. Bottom line, when Peterson visited Iowa in early March Alford probably told him the PG job was his to lose, assuming Alford stayed at Iowa.

I suspect we got a visit from Peterson because Alford knew in early March that he might leave. I don't have any inside on what Brad told him during his visit here, but I am sure he was told the truth, that being: (1) Our PG from last year is returning; (2) The 2008 recruiting class likely will include at least one PG, the coache's son, and possibly Suggs. Thus, Peterson didn't have much of a choice if its between a Big Ten school with an open PG job and an A-10 school with a more uncertain situation at PG.

[slu72]

We have a returning pg? This would be DP? If Peterson was not an upgrade over DP, why did UB even go after him? DP has pretty much shown he is not the answer at point. Wouldn't it have been more truthful if UB had said something along the lines of, "PG is wide open for us next year."? Also, some have said Kramer is not a PG but a vertically challenged SG. Anyways, if Peterson were smart he'd take the Princeton opening. Doesn't sound like he's NBA material, and what degree has more potential earning power; Princeton, Iowa, SLU? That said, I'd still like to see him wearing SLU Blue.

[SLUDrew]

At the time Peterson visited here, neither Princeton nor Iowa had a coach. Brad had an absolutely GOLDEN opportunity to convince this kid SLU was the place for him and he didn't do it.

Jeff's mom who lives in Springfield was reportedly pulling for him to commit to SLU so she could easily come see him play.

With all these factors going for him, Brad still couldn't close the deal. Did he have an easy job recruiting against a Big 10 school? Absolutely not. However, he has to be able to get some of these kids or we will never improve.

If I may disagree on a few other points:

1) Our "PG" from last year is a 2G playing out of position so saying our PG is returning is a little misleading at best.

2) Kramer is a 2G and I HIGHLY doubt his coming to SLU in two years played any part in Peterson's recruiting

3) Scott Suggs is a 2G and the odds of him coming to SLU seem more and more remote.

[slu72]

C'mon, Drew, stop bashing Brad. I don't know whether or not to add AJ's "in all fairness to Brad" post to the excuse list. Not sure what category it would fall under. Could it be, "Hey, we're loaded with talent at that position and our future is solid too."? Jeez, I don't know what it's going to take to convince some people this guy just can't perform up to speed in the most important aspect of his job, which is bringing decent talent to SLU. I forgot a new one. It cropped up last week, after all those posts about Spoon, Romar, etc. "No one else has done it either."

[billiken_roy]

if i was a betting man, i would bet alford told peterson that slu had 3 returning point guards in lisch, lidell, and polk. and that the coach's son was a star point guard in the high school junior class and that he is recruiting suggs who wants to play point guard as well.

[AJ]

SLUDrew:

You are entitled to your own opinions about Brad and you've obviously formed them, but you are not entitled to your own facts:

(1) Dwayne Polk is a point guard not a shooting guard;

(2) Kramer has started at PG for 3 years at St. Charles West, albeit he is probably a better shooting guard in High School. At 5'9" he is projected by most as a PG in college.

(3) Suggs may NOT sign with us but I doubt Brad told Peterson: "We are recruiting one of the best PGs in the Country for our 2008 class and he lists us as one of his schools of interest, BUT I am sure he is not going to sign with us.

No one on this board is happy about how this season turned out or how the last 2 recruiting cycles have gone. Still, those of you on the board who have given up on Brad need to at least keep your facts straight and not expect miracles. See what happens in the next two weeks. If we don't sign anyone else of any note than I guess you guys can have some fun this summer doing more Brad-bashing.

[slu72]

1.) Fact: DP may be a PG, but he ain't nothing special.

2.) Fact: You want a guy who you admit would be better at SG at PG, instead of recruiting hard a pure PG? You lost me there.

3.) Fact: I am sure UB did not tell Peterson Suggs probably won't sign with us. I'd guess you got that right.

I would have thought UB would have sold Peterson on, "you've got a good chance to earn a lot of playing time as a freshman, and a very good shot at becoming a three year starter after that."

[billiken_roy]

slu72, what school recruiting any player doesnt say, ""you've got a good chance to earn a lot of playing time as a freshman, and a very good shot at becoming a three year starter after that.""?

[SLUDrew]

1)Exactly how many times have you seen Dwayne run the point? I have been at every game since his tenure began at SLU and he has played point guard VERY sparingly, at least since Tommie has been here.

2) Kramer has no business being a division 1 point guard and I highly doubt he will be our PG

3) HAve you seen Scott Suggs play or read anything about him? There is no way on God's green earth he will be a point guard in college. He is a CLASSIC two guard

[inthelou]

How in the world do you know what Alford told some 17 year old kid? Talk about overanalyzing something.

[billiken_roy]

ok, if you were alford and wanted that kid to come to iowa and knew slu was your competition, what would you say?

[slufanskip]

Alford probably didn't even mention SLU.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman

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

[inthelou]

He may have just been positive about Iowa and what they had to offer. I would think some coaches stay away from comparisons. Too easy to get caught in lies unless you are completely up on the intricacies, suspensions, signees of every school a kid might be considering.

[Basketbill]

the thing that has always bugged me about him is this whole moving across the country to go to Dematha...! Sludrew you mention the "Mother aspect about it" that did not keep him in Missouri to go to high school, so why would that make him choose SLU over Iowa. I hope the kid makes the right decision for him. If he feels like Iowa is right by all means choose it, but if he likes SLU better the decision is up to him, not BS not Lickliter.

[DoctorB]

as I said 8 hours ago-- funny how desperate for action/info folks are in the college sports world.

a few observations:

--I bet I have seen Kramer playing with the SLU team on more occasions than just about anyone on here (during summers, mostly). Sure looks like a point guard to me, when he is with them.

--I really think the PG/SG distinction is minimally helpful at best. Who was the pg on Florida? didn't it depend on who was on the floor at the time, mostly?

--I think it is sort of fun speculating about the inside scoop and the possible conversations between coach and recruit, but it is at best HIGHLY speculative and at worst fairly mindnumbing blather, if not outright pathological nonsense--especially when people then start arguing about the plausibility of each others speculations. Sociologically, this is a rather remarkable phenomenon (hope those words do not cause anyone to gasp).

Again, why not just let it go and see who we end up with? Why must this always become one more opportunity to bash someone for "not doing their job," "not closing the deal." What is this "deal" metaphor about, by the way? It makes it sound like selling a used car.

[kevinfootes]

If a kid wants to play at the highest level possible, he'll wait for the higher rated school to make a coaching decision. It was the smart play on his part. He's holding all of the cards. The SLU offer was going to be there whether he waited or not. Why in the world would he have committed to SLU at that point?

[SLUDrew]

If It was all about the higher rated program, kids would never commit early to mid-major programs, but they do all the time.

[kevinfootes]

"If It was all about the higher rated program, kids would never commit early to mid-major programs, but they do all the time."

Actually, I don't think kids commit early to mid-majors over BCS schools with any kind of regularity. And I'm not talking about the kid who says he's being recrutied by a big school because he got a letter or two from them. That's the baloney you get from these recruiting services. A kid gets a letter from state u. and tells the recuriting expert he's one their list.

I'm not saying it never happens, but you won't typically see a kid pick Toledo over Ohio State, UCSB over UCLA, etc.

It looks like your bending things here to fit your argument.

[inthelou]

I agree with a lot of what you said there and it's one of the reasons why I haven't given up on this recruiting class. No matter what anybody says we have been mentioned as finalists for a lot of good players and I think we will sign some good ones before all is said and done. I'm not drinking the kool-aid but I do think Brad will deliver this time.