Local Recruits RM and UB

[slu72]

Read the Harrelson post below, and it does bring to mind kids like Falker, Tatum, Ahern (sorry the dreaded BA name once again), and Shaw. Which is why there are posters saying if he gets out of his LOI, we should nab him. Supposedly the above 4 all expressed a desire to attend SLU, but for one reason or another UB didn't want them. They all went on to have pretty successful stints in the MVC, while we all scratched our heads and wondered why they weren't wearing Billiken Blue in the first round of the last two NCAA's. Now up pops Harrelson's name. A kid who also supposedly wants to be a Billiken. If UB were still here, I'll wager even B'roy would be saying take him even if UB had inked Eberhart. We're all scared MoState, SIU (if they have any openings),or a Bradley would, and down the road we'd be watching him in the tourney, while we posted our frustrations about another UB miss on a local. What I'm hoping for most in RM is that he won't miss these local hidden gems as did our previous HC. I don't know if Harrelson is a gem or not, but am willing to trust his judgement until proven elsewise. A question re Harrelson, why suddenly does he want his release? Did the HC that recruited him leave, or does he think RM might want him whereas UB didn't?

[davidlee]

I am not trying to disagree with the general theme of your post but Brad recruited Shaw; I believe his last 2 schools were SIUC and SLU.

SIUC started recruiting him a lot sooner than Brad.

[Sheltiedave]

Who would we be recruiting if Polk were still coach?

[Box and Won]

I've wondered if Torres Roundtree will reconsider his early oral commitment to SIU in light of Majerus' hiring. Maybe Nate will have some insight.

[jimbofive]

That's an interesting prospect... I'd love to have him.

At the same time, who knows what RM's recruiting clout will really be like next fall? He might have 6-7 guys BETTER than Roundtree chomping at the bit to play here - wouldn't that be nice?

[VTIME]

>Who would we be recruiting if Polk were still coach?

Who was Dwayne Polk coaching?

[Nate Latsch]

>I've wondered if Torres Roundtree will reconsider his early

>oral commitment to SIU in light of Majerus' hiring. Maybe

>Nate will have some insight.

According to Roy's Rules of Recruiting, St. Louis U. coaches are not allowed to talk to Torres Roundtree until he turns 27.

I have talked to Torres about Majerus.

- Nate

[Westy03]

You cant just leave us hanging like that... I dont care if he still says he is still 100% going to SIU still, but it would be interesting to hear what he thinks of RM just to get a kids perspective.

[DoctorB]

I think we will see RM being EXTREMELY selective with the local guys this fall -- meaning guys like Suggs and a few others (which may or may not include Brandenburg). Down the line, guys like Griffey or Anderson.

But besides these very unusual local blue-chippers, I think we will be going national in terms of serious top 100 D-1 talent. For example, I bet we have feelers out in the west, like Utah. Also up in Wisconsin. And if we get Moser-- Illinois and Chicago, and a few Hoosiers maybe. (every team could use a few of them).

In other words, I would have expected Coach BS to emphasize the local region, which he did; but Coach RM will emphasize a much larger area and really pinpoint a few top catches locally. It may mean that some of the guys who were previously offered will no longer be on the radar for SLU basketball. That may include some of the guys we all hoped to snare, like Roundtree. It seems evident that RM had a very different evaluation of Griskenas than did BS, yes? In short -- our recruiting is heading for a new level, and may leave the local scene pretty much in the dust--except for the true phenoms.

[Billiken75]

What were Torres impression of the coaching change and Majerus in charge?

Thanks for your updates Nate - they are always appreciated and provide a needed bi-partisan insight.

[ACE]

Nate, don't let Roy sour you on the board. He's been wrong about a bunch of stuff and won't admit it. His blind loyalty to Soderberg is bizarre.

Please share what Roundtree said. The vast majority of us appreciate your insights.

[slu72 fan]

To answer your question, no the head coach, Derek Thomas, is not leaving. According to Cusamano, the kid was told by his high school coach to not commit to WIU, because it was his first visit. The kid agreed, but upon his leaving did commit to Thomas.

Since signing last November, he's reconsidered and has asked to be released. Rammer provided little insight, since Thomas is his friend and he didn't want to comment.

[slu72]

Sheltie, Polk bought in a pretty good large freshman class his second year...for one reason or another they didn't stay together. But since you asked, I don't know.

[VTIME]

DoctorB great job recognizing Anderson, a lot of people dont. Another kid is Gavin Wiss, he's third elite big man in the area class of 2009. He game grew leaps and bounds from his freshman year. With Will Lawson and Ty Griffey, its good that he is at a different school and he can be the lone guy inside. It gave him a chance to see what can happen when he gets the ball. Playing with a willing passer like Waller should only help his evolution and Waller takes pressure off of him with his scoring.

[billiken_roy]

you'd lose that bet.

[billiken_roy]

https://goomer.ncaa.org/wdbctx/lsdbi/LSDBi....on=1&p_Bylaw=13

nate do folks a favor and learn the rules.

[billikendave]

I like Roy and appreciate his zeal for the program; however, he had the same blind loyalty to Romar even though he left the program in less than ideal circumstances....

[billiken_roy]

ace, my opinion of nate's "reporting" has nothing to do with soderberg.

when was the last time nate told us about who the billikens were recruiting? all he has done for the last year is tell us about who we are not recruiting and who we are losing recruiting battles to.

no mention of soderberg driving to vienna illinois in the middle of the night to get to thompson's practices. or no mention of soderberg sitting with the aau teams parents all summer. or soderberg winning on femi john who is the honor student of the two between john and roundtree. or how about the fact he found and won on relephorde, mitchell and eberhardt.

if you want to criticize soderberg for who he is recruiting instead, fine, but give the staff credit for chasing those other players and actually working. nate liked to paint a picture that soderberg and his staff were running home each nite to watch american idol instead of recruiting. when the truth is that our staff was recruiting, just not nates low d-1 favorites.

i am especially intrigued by the board's loyalty to nate's "insight" when the truth is that a lot of the players he was advocating recruiting for slu are not going to programs that are on the level of slu. eckerle doesnt even have a scholarship. harrelson is at the 327th ranked school.

i am anxious to see if he will expect majerus to also be viewing and recruiting at the troy vs fort zumwalt games.

[billiken_roy]

and romar has since proven he was a bigtime coach. i.e. was it romar's fault or the environment he was in?

the number one reason majerus is a tremendous hire is he had the juice to get the money needed to fix all the skinny ways we have run a basketball program for the last 20+ years.

too often the problems we have faced in the past were blamed on the coaches when they were doing all they could with what they had at their disposal.

[Nate Latsch]

>or soderberg winning on femi john who is the honor

>student of the two between john and roundtree.

I didn't realize Femi John committed to the Billikens.

Nice pick up.

Good thing Soderberg locked that down before getting fired.

- Nate

ps: My sources have told me Femi John was not interested in SLU. (I don't know if that is still the case with the coaching change.)

[Nate Latsch]

Torres Roundtree has always wanted to go to St. Louis U.

That's what he said when he committed to Southern Illinois earlier this spring.

Now that there's been a coaching change, Roundtree is still interested in the Billikens.

- Nate

[billiken_roy]

there's a surprise, nate telling us again that a recruit isnt interested.

john said just the opposite two months ago on the piece with cusamono. if he has since flipped, that is news. thanks for breaking that.

[ACE]

>Torres Roundtree has always wanted to go to St. Louis U.

>

>That's what he said when he committed to Southern Illinois

>earlier this spring.

>

>Now that there's been a coaching change, Roundtree is still

>interested in the Billikens.

>

>- Nate

Thanks. That's good to hear.

Do you think the final straw for Soderberg was not making progress with the class of 08?

[Nate Latsch]

>DoctorB great job recognizing Anderson, a lot of people

>dont. Another kid is Gavin Wiss, he's third elite big man

>in the area class of 2009. He game grew leaps and bounds

>from his freshman year. With Will Lawson and Ty Griffey,

>its good that he is at a different school and he can be the

>lone guy inside. It gave him a chance to see what can

>happen when he gets the ball. Playing with a willing passer

>like Waller should only help his evolution and Waller takes

>pressure off of him with his scoring.

It is Will Kirksey at Lafayette, not Will Lawson.

Will Lawson is a sophomore big man at Althoff.

There's a strong possibility that Gavin Wiss and Ron Waller will not be teammates next season.

- Nate

[cheeseman]

Did I miss something when did Femi John commit to SLU? Roy, while you might think Brad was working hard recruiting the reports out there were that SLU was loosing the battles for whatever the reason and some recruits parents commented that once the schollie was offered they never heard much from SLU. Brad might have been working hard but he apparently did not know where/how to put his efforts to their best use. Nate's opinions are welcomed just like everybody's else as long as that person is not name calling or being over the top.