Early commitments

[ACE]

This is a comment from Timmermann's blog and it points to one of the things that used to drive some of us nuts about Soderberg...

"I don't have definitive information on this, but doesn't it seem like a measure of a team's strength is it's ability to get early commitments?"

There is no guarantee that all of these players will pan out, but the bottom line is that Majerus and staff are getting who they want and they are locking them up early. What a refreshing change.

[billiken_roy]

i am convinced it is all interconnected. soderberg played his recruiting close to the vest and imo it hurt his own efforts because there was never any buzz associated with the program. kids dont read their names and probably dont want to participate in the CIA games that soderberg played with recruiting.

this summer has been one continuous buzz and one has to believe that the kids like being in the middle of that. majerus and moser are using the grapevine and the rumor mill of the internet "recruiting experts" to their fullest advantage. those "experts" need program buzz to be able to give subscribers and surfers a reason to come to their site. and then the kids see their names, and the ball is rolling. it has sure made for a more enjoyable summer. a summer of recruiting discussions we have had only a very few times in billiken history.

[KannapolisBillsMan]

This is good for a guy who gets an earful at work about how great the Dukes and Carolinas of the world are. At least there's some good news coming out of the SLU camp!

[Taj79]

... on his statement about a "buzz" but have to ask something akin to what I said in another thread .... that is does anyone think we are where we are at this point in our summer if Soderberg is still around? I don't know Brad personally but know he was well-liked and well-though of by the AD and the staff.

The second thread to that question is does anyone think we are where we are this summer if its anyone EXCEPT Rick Majerus (or similar heavyweight, no pun intended) pulling the strings? I can't help but think some big shot in the moment lead recruiter or Cinderella slipper wearing assistant coach taking over for Soderberg takes us back to square one and we lose not only what we now have, but what we did have in Mitchell and Relphorde? Both Anthony and Marcus have gone on the record and in public saying what they have about the Majerus hiring. Even Kevin and Tommie expressed a new-found vigor about the hire, not some depths of despair, I'm out of here story.

I don't see a hire like Franschilla, or Lavin or Dougherty or some other talking head doing for this program what Majerus' hiring did. Just can't see it. Just not that visionary.

[slu72]

I think RM's performed brilliantly in recruiting. First, he didn't outright abandon recruits AT (and UB) had made inroads with. This was good for his local credibility and hopefully put some money in the local AAU bank for future withdrawals. We always knew very little about UB's recruiting plans. Last summer we did get bits and pieces about who was on his radar, because he went after some high profilers who ended up at places like KSU and Georgia. Why he was willing to take those long shots is bewildering, as it appeared he had no plan B's, no C's, nothing to fall back on. Very pleased RM was realistic in who he could bring to SLU at this stage. He wasn't going to scope out many top of the top guys, say top 100, and so he moved on to what was a more realistic plan. Furthermore, with most of his recruiting behind him, he is now free to concentrate on coming up with how to win this season.

[Guest BillikenReport]

>Very pleased RM was realistic in who he could bring to

>SLU at this stage. He wasn't going to scope out many top of

>the top guys, say top 100, and so he moved on to what was a

>more realistic plan.

It should also be noted that if SLU does land Suggs, the Billikens would have two Top 100 recruits among the kids they are bringing in.

Two top 100 recruits and three or four guys who will fill valuable roles and you have a very nice recruiting class.

- Nate

[SShoe]

One of the most frustrating things with Brad was that he didn't get early committmetns and it cost him dearly. Many on this board didn't see why it mattered, but in recruiting it's extremely valuable to get in early on guys. If we're constantly scrambling in the spring of 08' to fill spots, we're probably not putting in enough time on guys for the next fall's 09' recruiting class, and we're stuck recruiting again in the spring. The cycle then continues.

[cheeseman]

Clearly Brad's recruiting performance was his undoing.

[Taj79]

... and not only do you lose the time on the next class to the other sharks in a predator-rich environment, the perception of your program goes into the crapper as well. Think about it ..... if you are such a hot shot program, how come you are filling your openings with what has to be less-than-stellar talent? Grantd, while there may be a few top 100 recruits still available after the early signing period, they are out there for reasons that are not in any way tied to SLU.

Leon Powell can't get grades. Someone like OJ Mayo might actually enjoy the "benefits" of the recruiting process (don't know anyhting, just making that up) or the choice between Fantastic U. and Really Fantastic U. is so minimal, you do wait. But most, I believe are waiting on grades. Plan B, C and even D guys are long gone. So you get no buzz for early signings, and you get no buzz for anything late. You've then got a middling program muddling along.

To me, that was Brad's legacy for his last three years. He inherited Romar's folks and made that work for the first two years but things after that never got off the ground. I think Brad, much like me, had really bought into the local St. Louis scene, class of 08, being his saving grace. He didn't make it there and in hindsight, I think if he did, we would have been disappointed once again.

I've talked trends before and this was Brad's trend, like it or not. I think he, and some of us others, believed Kramer was his in and this was make or break year. Face it, if he didn't score with such an "in", scoring without it was going to never happen.

Rumor right now is the same on another coach we watched five years ago .... Brian Gregory at Dayton. Five years in the hopper and no NCAA berths. He don't go this year, he is gone, mark it down.

[slu72]

NO doubt Dayton's got to be getting antsy. Also, they only have to look about 30 miles down I75 to see X shopping for a prom dress every year. That's got to burn some folks. I have no idea why BS struggled with recruiting. But during the RM gossip, there did surface some tidbits like once the offer was made that was the end of it pretty much. Hard to imagine that, but it was said. Sad as it may sound, to be successful in this business, adults have to play suck up to 17 and 18 year olds. I would also guess UB was probably bad mouthed by his brethren quite a bit. "Mediocre", "Boring slow ball", etc. They can't fire these darts at RM.

[GOSLU68]

Coach has got the locals attention; no doubt he could have been

like Huggins and brought his players with him; instead he is getting the most our of both sides of the river; BS started the Eside coming to SLU and I figured BS was originally hired because Romar couldn;t find the midwest on his recruiting map;

the worst thing about Romar was wasting all that time courting

Darius Miles as if he could get into SLU.

KL and TL are great SLU gets and we owe Brad