Stu Durando is Back....

[SluSignGuy]

SLU has a history of talking a better game than it plays

By Stu Durando

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

04/23/2007

A bold statement on Brad Soderberg's first day as head basketball coach at St. Louis University prompted excitement among the most optimistic fans and incredulity among the realistic.

"I want to win a national championship,'' he said. "Why not here?''

"Here'' not only meant SLU, but Scottrade Center, where the Billikens have played in recent years for polite fans who filled less than 50 percent of the arena.

It meant the West Pine Gym, where coaches hesitantly took recruits to see the program's practice facility.

It meant a weight room where players could smack their heads on low-hanging pipes if not careful.

All of that will change when Chaifetz Arena opens in 2008. By then, few will remember Soderberg's words.

But a vow first made in 1988 by SLU's president, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, has lingered and will follow the Billikens into the arena as a fifth head coach chases his vision of producing a top-50 program.

"He made that statement when we were honoring the team in Kiel Opera House,'' former coach Rich Grawer said. "He got up and made that statement, much to the surprise of all of us. That was the first time we heard it.

"I think they can make it to the NCAA Tournament. But is that the same as being a consistent top-50 program? That's an ambitious goal.''

Under Soderberg and his predecessor, Lorenzo Romar, the Billikens struggled to be a consistent top 100 program. Their average final Ratings Percentage Index in the last eight seasons is 92, according to one RPI approximation. During that span, they are 23-49 against the top 50 (12-33 under Soderberg) and 50-78 against the top 100.

Not since Charlie Spoonhour walked the sideline in the 1990s have the Billikens come close to reaching the goal.

Although the university has said nothing about the coaching search since Soderberg was fired, the school's official statement seemed adamant about the program's expectations.

The announcement said the university made the move to "achieve its goal of consistently having one of the nation's top basketball programs.'' The search, it said, would focus on individuals "committed to establishing the Billiken men's basketball program as one of the top programs in the Atlantic 10 and the country.''

Questions have persisted for years whether Biondi has provided the necessary financial resources to achieve his objective. The new arena is the most critical element, but what about other expenditures?

SLU spent $2.1 million on men's basketball for the 2005-06 season, ranked eighth among the Atlantic 10's 14 schools. Temple led the way with $3.8 million in expenses, and St. Bonaventure was last at $1.3 million.

SLU annually spends more on men's basketball than most Division I schools without a football team (Division I-AAA), according to Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data. However, when it comes to recruiting, SLU spends less on men's sports — the majority on basketball — than the average Division I-AAA school.

Numerous private schools with Division I-AAA status have made the NCAA Tournament since 2000, the year of SLU's last appearance. Since that year, 21 private, non-football schools have played in the tournament, and 13 have made multiple appearances.

The program at Xavier, another private school in the A-10, shows that the task is not unrealistic. The Musketeers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 16 times since 1986.

Playing in a 7-year-old arena, they have finished in the RPI top 50 five times since 2000. The school spent an average of $3.1 million on men's basketball from 2003 to '06.

SLU probably will have to up the ante when it comes to paying its next coach. When Romar started, he was the university's highest-paid employee at $438,000 in 1999, according to IRS documents. For 2004, the most recent year the forms are available, Soderberg was not among the five highest-paid SLU employees, placing his salary at less than $451,331.

That same year, Phil Martelli made $533,340 at St. Joseph's, Brian Gregory made $480,000 at Dayton and Carl Hobbs made $342,455 at George Washington.

Ultimately, the Billikens' chances of being a top 50 program will come down to recruiting and coaching. The school has made breakthroughs over the years in having at-risk players accepted, according to a source, giving coaches the opportunity to pursue a larger pool of players.

SLU has had trouble luring top talent from outside the St. Louis area, although schools such as Southern Illinois University Carbondale have shown that national recruiting isn't necessary for a strong program.

Soderberg nearly made what could have been a breakthrough in the recruitment of junior college forward Rodney Alexander. The Michigan native said he considered SLU until last weekend but signed with Illinois the day Soderberg was fired.

"SLU is small, but it's OK,'' Alexander said. "It's kind of like DePaul, basically. What I didn't like is that they slow the ball down sometimes. They don't push it. Other than that, everything was cool. They're getting a new gym, so that's a big (step).''

Twenty years after he arrived at SLU, Biondi hopes it will be enough to finally realize his hoop dreams.

[huzzah]

Here is what is interesting about the article. His headline and major premise is that SLU does not spend enough money to be good. He then lists the salaries of several coaches. The lowest paid was Hobbs from George Washington. However, he is the one who won the A-10 tournament and went to the NCAA. Therefore, not withstanding Stu's premise, you need to spend money to achieve success because they are connected, he then proves that there is not a direct correlation between the two. George Washington does not have good training facilities from what I have read previously and the coach is paid $342,000 while we were paying Soderberg appox $425,000. However, the "cheap coach" blew us away in the A-10 tournament. Stu needs to go back to Logic 101. It shows the Post is so anxious to put SLU down that they write this tripe. Did lack of money keep Coach Brad from recruiting a 4 or a 1? Remember Romar recruited the east and west coasts and even Montana. When interviewed Romar indicated he had a harder time recruiting locally since the area is conservative and it takes a while to win the trust of the locals. He said he felt he had achieved local trust just about the time he left. If money is the only problem here then why did Rich Grawer not land another Div 1 job and instead settled for a HS position? Why did Spoonhour flop at UNLV? If the Post wants to be critical of us then why do they settle for the vindictive and the illogical? They should examine their own house, get it in order, and cease producing a "rag".