Tip-Off Club 10-21-2008

[davidnark]

I will let someone else provide the exhaustive details, but I can tell you that Majerus was on his game tonight. He was fascinating, candid, and exhaustive. Unlike last season, when I walked away from Majerus's first public talk surprised at some of the candid criticisms Majerus provided of the incoming players, he was consistently positive about the seven new players. He was particularly positive about Mitchell, Cassity, and Cotto, but he had good things to say about every new player. His repeatedly pointed out that the big guys will take some time to develop and grow, and he talked repeatedly about the expectation for freshmen mistakes, but you can tell he is ready to go to war with this group. Recruiting-wise, it sounds like they feel pretty good about an additional power forward who will likely redshirt a year and a guard who can play the one and two (possible from Australia?). Most of the new guys stopped by and introduced themselves, and they seemed genuinely happy to be there.

[GOSLU68]

I will let someone else provide the exhaustive details, but I can tell you that Majerus was on his game tonight. He was fascinating, candid, and exhaustive. Unlike last season, when I walked away from Majerus's first public talk surprised at some of the candid criticisms Majerus provided of the incoming players, he was consistently positive about the seven new players. He was particularly positive about Mitchell, Cassity, and Cotto, but he had good things to say about every new player. His repeatedly pointed out that the big guys will take some time to develop and grow, and he talked repeatedly about the expectation for freshmen mistakes, but you can tell he is ready to go to war with this group. Recruiting-wise, it sounds like they feel pretty good about an additional power forward who will likely redshirt a year and a guard who can play the one and two (possible from Australia?). Most of the new guys stopped by and introduced themselves, and they seemed genuinely happy to be there.

I would guess 200 to 250 came to the meeting; the real star of the night and there were many was TL.

He said he gained 5 lbs and Barry had lost weight;

Coach said BT shuffles his feet and he is going to have the track coach work with his running style; he siad BT is a hard worker and

TL kept insinuating Willie Reed was ahead of BT but coach said Willie is too thin and said together they make a perfect 1 O and got a laugh.

Coach stayed on the dais al long as anyone had questioins; said Anthony Mitchell of last years team was a good fit to play at Mizzou but not

his system. Coach said he likes the long term BT over the long term John Brandenburg who is more athletic at the moment. Repeated several

times it is hard to find a juco who can graduate from SLU or is coached to play something above street ball in Junior College-

I'll leave other comments to others present

[Quality Is Job 1]

Thanks guys. I'm encouraged. Hey, 68, was Coach Majerus referring to himself as the "0" to go with Reed's "1," or was he referring to Thompson?

[ldm]

I will let someone else provide the exhaustive details, but I can tell you that Majerus was on his game tonight. He was fascinating, candid, and exhaustive. Unlike last season, when I walked away from Majerus's first public talk surprised at some of the candid criticisms Majerus provided of the incoming players, he was consistently positive about the seven new players. He was particularly positive about Mitchell, Cassity, and Cotto, but he had good things to say about every new player. His repeatedly pointed out that the big guys will take some time to develop and grow, and he talked repeatedly about the expectation for freshmen mistakes, but you can tell he is ready to go to war with this group. Recruiting-wise, it sounds like they feel pretty good about an additional power forward who will likely redshirt a year and a guard who can play the one and two (possible from Australia?). Most of the new guys stopped by and introduced themselves, and they seemed genuinely happy to be there.

tommie said that km is playing well in practice and that cassity is the sleeper. he said that be is moving much better. he, kevin and barry have the green light, so to speak, to improvise as the opportunity presents itself. coach praised each freshman individually, but warned that they will make freshmen mistakes. he said that he will suggest that wr red shirt, but does not know if wr will want to do that. coach also said that he will depend on bt, bc, and be to man the post and, i believe, the power forward. that does not leave a lot of strength in the middle and suggest 4 guards a lot of the time. tommie said that the coach wants him to crash the boards more.

coach also said that at some point this will be a good team. he just does not know when that will happen. coach challenged the audience to ask questions about strategy, which really did not occur. there will be an event on thurs. oct 30 at 7 p.m. where any fan can show up and talk with players and coaches. maybe someone can bring up strategy issues. i can not make it and am not expert enough to believe i can ask an intelligent enough question, but certainly others are.

i would like to know how the freshmen are doing relative to coach's offensive schemes and defensive schemes and what adjustments he believe are necessary to help this group of players do well.

coach also said that bt has lost weight and fat, but that he has to learn to run properly and will work with a track coach next spring. he said that pe has put on 20 pounds and is eager for the season to start. he took very difficult chemistry classes with labs this summer so that he will not have labs this school year which conflict with practice. he said that pe is no. 7 on the team and hopes by continuing to recruit well that pe will go further down in the order of players. he did not mean that as a knock on pe, but as an expression of his anticipated recruiting. coach also said that dan lisch is tough and plays well but knows that his scholarship is for one year. he hopes to recruit over dan and then to help him get to a good school where he can play. he mentioned w.u.

he spoke about the importance of making sure the players get a good education and was proud about the high graduation rate. tommie was impressive in how he handled questions before coach came in, both about the team, his criminal justice major and his work at the city's juvenile justice center this summer. he spoke about how he hope to help young people in trouble and to be a role model to them in the future.

re: recruiting. coach spoke highly about the athleticism of the player who has committed. he said that this player needs to increase his bulk and strength but looks for good things from him. he hopes to sight 2-3 players this fall and another one or two this next spring. he is not looking at juco's. they have trouble transferring credits and are generally not coached so well. as a result, he suggested that it was not worth the investment of time and energy to get them to where he wants them before they have to leave. he would rather work with high school players.

coach said that a big player, i believe, 6 ft. 8 in. or more and around 225 visited this weekend. he is down to 2 schools, but coach was frank with him and would want him to redshirt. he is not sure how that will play out. if i am correct, he also talked about a croatian australian who he believes will be a good1-2 player. i believe that he said that this player will visit this weekend. i do not believe that he was more specific about any other recruit. they are looking for 4 players. at 1-2, a shooter, a wing ( which they have ) and a big player. he talked about how hard it is to get a good big and how they generally develop more slowly.

that's all i can remember from the top of my head. have a good day.

[FromDaEastSide]

Thanks for the recap!

[cheeseman]

RM's comments about the Australian player and then the Croatian comment at first led me to believe that is was a Croatian player who lives in Australia but when I asked the people I was sitting with they both believed that he was talking about two different players. He did say that he thought he would get the Croatian but then did not talk all that much about the Australian kid other than to say he is a good player but not necessarily a position that we need but sometimes you have to go for the best player. This whole segment of his talk was a little rambling so I am not real sure what he was saying.

Just a point of clarification, RM did not say that Anthony Mitchell should play at MO - what he said was that AM was a better fit for a Missouri style of play and was not a good fit for his style. He liked AM as a kid but through no fault of his own he simply found himself in a different situation that was not a good fit for him. He said that Dustin and Adam simply where not good enough to play at SLU and it was best for them to move on. He said that Relphorde was a good player but that MR made the decision to move on and RM agreed with him given what MR's expectations were - I am probably interpreting what he said so my impression might not be exact.

I am not sure I heard anything about a 4 guard situation - not saying they won't play 4 guards sometime but my impression was that he was not going to probably have a 5 and was going to go with TL, KL, KM, BE and one of the bigs as a pf. After that, the others will simply mix in as needed.

Tommie did say that he thought Cassity was the sleeper of the freshmen. RM said that KL would back up KM at pg for now and that he was looking to bring in another pg for next year.

When talking about the Daniel Lisch situation - RM said that Daniel knows that he plans to recruit over him and understands the situation clearly. RM thought that Daniel would be best in a D3 program but he was glad to have him for this year. He talked about how special it was for Daniel to be able to play at the same school this year with his brother and sister.

RM thought that Theresa and Kevin both had real shots at being academic All Americans this year.

RM talked about the schedule and said that it was tough to put together and it is a more difficult schedule then some think - he mentioned the travel and timing of the games as one issue but he is satisfied with it for now. He said that Father Biondi has been working but he needs to push his fellow Catholic presidents to remember that they are on the same team but they have been slow to respond.

Ticket sales are at 7K and they are really only about 350 away from their best expectations so things are going very well. So, the place should be at 70% capacity at the worst. Ticket packages were being mailed out this week some went out on Monday and others will be mailed out each day - everybody will have their tickets by early next week for sure. The company they used to print the tix was in Canada - apparently several NHL and NBA teams use the same printer. The company went on strike and the bankrupt. All the teams are scrambling to get the tix printed - he said that the Bulls were telling their fans that vouchers would be sent to them for the first couple of games since they still had not gotten their tix printed yet. Apparently we went local and convinced a printing firm who has never done tickets but things have worked out.

Shuttles will be run from all the parking garages for each game and that Metro Link is a mess and they are not sure anything can be done with that for now - I assume he was talking about the lack of money they have preventing them from doing anything at this time.

The radio package will be announced this week and there will not be any surprises. The TV package is not good but a majority of A10 teams now are unhappy and want a change. Nothing can be done for this season but things will be improved for next. The new commish knows it is a dog of a contract and has promised to get the matter resolved for next year. She knows SLU wants to be a player in the conference and understands our needs.

[Cowboy]

-thanks for the updates, wish i could have been there

[willie]

One other piece of info: Next year we are playing in a tournament in Chicago with Notre Dame and I think he said Iowa State.

[kshoe]

One other piece of info: Next year we are playing in a tournament in Chicago with Notre Dame and I think he said Iowa State.

One other thing that was real interesting was that SLU was the sponsor for the Final Four bids St. Louis was putting in for 2013-2106 (don't hold me to the exact years). In previous years the MVC has been the lead sponsor and SLU had tagged along.

Some may say, who cares, but besides the prestige that comes with hosting a Final Four, I suspect there will be more tickets available to SLU (and Billiken Club members) then there were the last time around...

[Box and Won]

One other thing that was real interesting was that SLU was the sponsor for the Final Four bids St. Louis was putting in for 2013-2106 (don't hold me to the exact years). In previous years the MVC has been the lead sponsor and SLU had tagged along.

Some may say, who cares, but besides the prestige that comes with hosting a Final Four, I suspect there will be more tickets available to SLU (and Billiken Club members) then there were the last time around...

It sounds like the Sports Commission's visit with officials from the NCAA went well on Monday. They will make one more presentation to the NCAA then we should find out shortly thereafter whether we will be awarded a Final Four or not.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[Iggy]

I'll be 142 years old in 2106.

[Box and Won]

I'll be 142 years old in 2106.

Tha means you will have reached the average age of our fan base.

[bauman]

tommie said that km is playing well in practice and that cassity is the sleeper. he said that be is moving much better. he, kevin and barry have the green light, so to speak, to improvise as the opportunity presents itself. coach praised each freshman individually, but warned that they will make freshmen mistakes. he said that he will suggest that wr red shirt, but does not know if wr will want to do that. coach also said that he will depend on bt, bc, and be to man the post and, i believe, the power forward. that does not leave a lot of strength in the middle and suggest 4 guards a lot of the time. tommie said that the coach wants him to crash the boards more.

coach also said that at some point this will be a good team. he just does not know when that will happen. coach challenged the audience to ask questions about strategy, which really did not occur. there will be an event on thurs. oct 30 at 7 p.m. where any fan can show up and talk with players and coaches. maybe someone can bring up strategy issues. i can not make it and am not expert enough to believe i can ask an intelligent enough question, but certainly others are.

i would like to know how the freshmen are doing relative to coach's offensive schemes and defensive schemes and what adjustments he believe are necessary to help this group of players do well.

coach also said that bt has lost weight and fat, but that he has to learn to run properly and will work with a track coach next spring. he said that pe has put on 20 pounds and is eager for the season to start. he took very difficult chemistry classes with labs this summer so that he will not have labs this school year which conflict with practice. he said that pe is no. 7 on the team and hopes by continuing to recruit well that pe will go further down in the order of players. he did not mean that as a knock on pe, but as an expression of his anticipated recruiting. coach also said that dan lisch is tough and plays well but knows that his scholarship is for one year. he hopes to recruit over dan and then to help him get to a good school where he can play. he mentioned w.u.

he spoke about the importance of making sure the players get a good education and was proud about the high graduation rate. tommie was impressive in how he handled questions before coach came in, both about the team, his criminal justice major and his work at the city's juvenile justice center this summer. he spoke about how he hope to help young people in trouble and to be a role model to them in the future.

re: recruiting. coach spoke highly about the athleticism of the player who has committed. he said that this player needs to increase his bulk and strength but looks for good things from him. he hopes to sight 2-3 players this fall and another one or two this next spring. he is not looking at juco's. they have trouble transferring credits and are generally not coached so well. as a result, he suggested that it was not worth the investment of time and energy to get them to where he wants them before they have to leave. he would rather work with high school players.

coach said that a big player, i believe, 6 ft. 8 in. or more and around 225 visited this weekend. he is down to 2 schools, but coach was frank with him and would want him to redshirt. he is not sure how that will play out. if i am correct, he also talked about a croatian australian who he believes will be a good1-2 player. i believe that he said that this player will visit this weekend. i do not believe that he was more specific about any other recruit. they are looking for 4 players. at 1-2, a shooter, a wing ( which they have ) and a big player. he talked about how hard it is to get a good big and how they generally develop more slowly.

that's all i can remember from the top of my head. have a good day.

Great report. I'll try to add a few comments.

In reply to a question about recruiting in the local area, RM was clear about two things: 1st, recruiting the STL area was a top priority; but 2nd, don't look for any local signings this year. He mentioned that he had some interest in a Washington, Mo player coming along in the future, but not this year. He also mentioned the difficulty in getting a STL PHL into SLU due to academic issues, primarily math. He did mention that there were a couple of players from a year ago who he tried to help place in a JUCO, but wasn't sure how that would work out, regarding their qualifying for SLU.

Coach Gray kicked off the night and was extremely positive as always. She brought 2 players (T. Lisch & Katie P.) along and they both answered a few questions. She cited some of the bigger names on their schedule and it was very impressive. Someone asked if she felt we were finally at the point where a post season bid might be forthcoming, at which point she put the "mike" in the face of the 2 players for them to respond in unison, YES!!! Obviously it was something they have talked about previously. She asked, at least twice, for us to come out to see her team play.

Asst. AD Irby (?) took over next and seemed to be filling time for subsequent speakers. He announced a "meet & greet" with the Women's team, but I can't remember the date he mentioned. He then made the "big announcement" about the "M & G" with the Men's team for 10/30 as previously announced on this Board. He certainly didn't give it much hype with regard to what was planned. It was also interesting that in announcing both events, no time was given. I was going to ask him about that, but later,RM said it was at 7:00 for the Men. Not sure about the Women's. Irby was asked about shuttle service from the Metro stop and after dancing around the issue, basically said not to plan on it.

Our AD was next and his talk was out of PR 101. He thanked everyone and cited the success of the W. Volleyball team and talked about how important it was for the men's Socer team to win at Charotte this weekend. No news on the output of his Working Group on the parking issue. Clearly, I continue to be uninspired by the Leader of our Ath Dept. He reminds me of a less imposing figure than Scott L., the former Rams Coach. He displays about 5% of the enthusiasm of CL. He acknowledged that the TV situation was terrible (my words) and stated that the radio speculation in the PD over the past week (101 FM) was very accurate-expect an announcement this week.

Next were Porter Moser and TL III. Not much from Porter, I had the impression that he was just filling time until RM showed up. Can't even remember what he talked about, but as covered in previous posts, TL III was outstanding. He appeared to be very confident and at ease. Great job, TL III!!

Finally, the star of the show appeared and went right into answering questions. As usual, he was very candid and rambling. About 10 players joined him up front for a short period, during which he introduced them and talked very briefly about each of them. (KL was in class, WR was back home for a funeral and RC was not present-no reason given) During his talk, he discussed the 3 players not present---said RC was only going to play the 2 which meant that KL was going to relieve KM when needed at the #1. As mentioned, he discussed WR as athletic, but very thin and that when they stood next to each other they made a perfect 10. RM was extremely positive about RC's shot, describing it twice, as unusual (good) in that he shot the "3" as a jump shot not a partial-set shot--RM said that very few players can do that. Finally, RM mentioned the 10/30 event as a "beer and brats" night and said that it was free, so come out and meet all the players.

The night was long but interesting.

Regarding the location, I certainly hope that this does not reflect a change for most BC meetings. It was a good idea with both the HCs scheduled, but the turnout will not be nearly as big when RM it not on the agenda. Humphreys is far better (in my opinion), in two aspects---1. Food (expected more than popcorn and chips given what Humphreys provides) and 2. the cost of a beer--I seem to remember that Jan charged somewhere around $1.00 or $2.00 for beer or at least under $2.50. At an event in our own facility for Program boosters, $7.00 for a beer was offensive. If that's what they are going to charge at games fine, but at a special booster's event like this, $2-3.00 should have been sufficient to cover any costs for the evening. A positive to end on---the parking for the event was good, using the VIP lot.

[Majerus Magic]

Great report. I'll try to add a few comments.

In reply to a question about recruiting in the local area, RM was clear about two things: 1st, recruiting the STL area was a top priority; but 2nd, don't look for any local signings this year. He mentioned that he had some interest in a Washington, Mo player coming along in the future, but not this year. He also mentioned the difficulty in getting a STL PHL into SLU due to academic issues, primarily math. He did mention that there were a couple of players from a year ago who he tried to help place in a JUCO, but wasn't sure how that would work out, regarding their qualifying for SLU.

SG Nathan Scheer from Borgia is the kid RM is referring to.

[Pistol]

Tha means you will have reached the average age of our fan base.

First post that made me laugh out loud in a while. Great stuff.

Kshoe and Box, great news about the potential hosting of a Final Four by SLU instead of the Valley. That would be huge. I know the next three are Detroit, Indianapolis, and Houston and I think 2012-2016 will all be announced next month.

In response to Bauman, the Associate AD's name is Kosha (pronounced "ko-SHAY") Irby, just so you know who that was. He had a marketing/event management spot for a few years, took a job with South Florida for a year, and has now been back for 2 years or so in his current role. I want to say he played CB on Memphis' football team in college.

Thanks to all for the reports. I still would like to see some kind of line for us out-of-town Billiken Club members and season ticket holders to get a live feed, but these write-ups will have to do for now.

I'm optimistic for this team in the long run, if not so much for this year. Majerus and his staff seem to have put together a special class this year and hopefully that's the foundation for the future. I feel bad that they're 3 years behind Liddell and Lisch, but there's nothing that can be done about that now. I'm also happy to hear that Majerus thinks he'll land 2-3 more this fall instead of an all-spring class. I tend to agree that the JUCO route isn't always the quick fix people think it is because you generally get guys with spotty academic histories and who are hard to evaluate. I think the all-freshman route is generally the way to build a stronger long-term program and we should be chasing a high level of talent. Majerus' constant bringing up of academics sits well with me, too; I've had to argue this with Ohio State fans ever since I moved to Cincinnati, but I'll always believe that academics need to be emphasized in every program and I feel a lot better about supporting clean programs. I'm glad that just because Rick Majerus is a "name" coach doesn't mean he's a win-at-all-costs kind of guy.

[cheeseman]

Great report. I'll try to add a few comments.

In reply to a question about recruiting in the local area, RM was clear about two things: 1st, recruiting the STL area was a top priority; but 2nd, don't look for any local signings this year. He mentioned that he had some interest in a Washington, Mo player coming along in the future, but not this year. He also mentioned the difficulty in getting a STL PHL into SLU due to academic issues, primarily math. He did mention that there were a couple of players from a year ago who he tried to help place in a JUCO, but wasn't sure how that would work out, regarding their qualifying for SLU.

Coach Gray kicked off the night and was extremely positive as always. She brought 2 players (T. Lisch & Katie P.) along and they both answered a few questions. She cited some of the bigger names on their schedule and it was very impressive. Someone asked if she felt we were finally at the point where a post season bid might be forthcoming, at which point she put the "mike" in the face of the 2 players for them to respond in unison, YES!!! Obviously it was something they have talked about previously. She asked, at least twice, for us to come out to see her team play.

Asst. AD Irby (?) took over next and seemed to be filling time for subsequent speakers. He announced a "meet & greet" with the Women's team, but I can't remember the date he mentioned. He then made the "big announcement" about the "M & G" with the Men's team for 10/30 as previously announced on this Board. He certainly didn't give it much hype with regard to what was planned. It was also interesting that in announcing both events, no time was given. I was going to ask him about that, but later,RM said it was at 7:00 for the Men. Not sure about the Women's. Irby was asked about shuttle service from the Metro stop and after dancing around the issue, basically said not to plan on it.

Our AD was next and his talk was out of PR 101. He thanked everyone and cited the success of the W. Volleyball team and talked about how important it was for the men's Socer team to win at Charotte this weekend. No news on the output of his Working Group on the parking issue. Clearly, I continue to be uninspired by the Leader of our Ath Dept. He reminds me of a less imposing figure than Scott L., the former Rams Coach. He displays about 5% of the enthusiasm of CL. He acknowledged that the TV situation was terrible (my words) and stated that the radio speculation in the PD over the past week (101 FM) was very accurate-expect an announcement this week.

Next were Porter Moser and TL III. Not much from Porter, I had the impression that he was just filling time until RM showed up. Can't even remember what he talked about, but as covered in previous posts, TL III was outstanding. He appeared to be very confident and at ease. Great job, TL III!!

Finally, the star of the show appeared and went right into answering questions. As usual, he was very candid and rambling. About 10 players joined him up front for a short period, during which he introduced them and talked very briefly about each of them. (KL was in class, WR was back home for a funeral and RC was not present-no reason given) During his talk, he discussed the 3 players not present---said RC was only going to play the 2 which meant that KL was going to relieve KM when needed at the #1. As mentioned, he discussed WR as athletic, but very thin and that when they stood next to each other they made a perfect 10. RM was extremely positive about RC's shot, describing it twice, as unusual (good) in that he shot the "3" as a jump shot not a partial-set shot--RM said that very few players can do that. Finally, RM mentioned the 10/30 event as a "beer and brats" night and said that it was free, so come out and meet all the players.

The night was long but interesting.

Regarding the location, I certainly hope that this does not reflect a change for most BC meetings. It was a good idea with both the HCs scheduled, but the turnout will not be nearly as big when RM it not on the agenda. Humphreys is far better (in my opinion), in two aspects---1. Food (expected more than popcorn and chips given what Humphreys provides) and 2. the cost of a beer--I seem to remember that Jan charged somewhere around $1.00 or $2.00 for beer or at least under $2.50. At an event in our own facility for Program boosters, $7.00 for a beer was offensive. If that's what they are going to charge at games fine, but at a special booster's event like this, $2-3.00 should have been sufficient to cover any costs for the evening. A positive to end on---the parking for the event was good, using the VIP lot.

The women's M and G is for today and doors open at 6:30pm - everyone is invited but it is primarily a chance for the students to meet the team. Same times for the men's activity. Actually, I like what May has done to date - I know he is not a as visible or rah rah as CL was but that does not make him a poor AD. The AD can be behind the scenes as long as he gets something done - that was Woolard's problem he was low profile and low accomplishment. The radio package is far better than anything we have had before and he seemed excited about it when I spoke to him one on one. He has been a mover and shaker in getting other A10 teams to ban together to push for a TV contract change - apparently there was lots bitching but nobody was interested in putting a coalition together to push the commish for changes - Bruno was a sleep at the wheel on this one - I guess she just mailed her last two years in. I liked his comments about inviting back alum players and coaches in the area to take a more active role in the programs and he talked about how he had personally called and invited Rich Grawer to meet with him and gave Grawer a personal tour of the new arena. He told Grawer that he knows that his contributions were important to the program and he wants to make sure that it is recognized accordingly. I am sorry May does not look good in a short skirt and heels but judge him on his results - after all the New England Patriots coach is very underwhelming when he speaks to the media and others and it did not keep him from being successful.

[Clock_Tower]

Great and interesting comments. Really enjoy the return of basketball talk. Thank you.

1. A little surprised (not complaining or disagreeing - just surprised) that RC will not play the pg this year. Anyone else?

2. Redshirt for WR? RM sure has guts. Despite being shorthanded last year, he redshirted DM when he could have used another warm body, if for no other reason, than as a practice player. This year, we again have no depth at the 4 and 5 position (lost LM, DB and BH and only BE - who wasn't all that good last year - is returning) and RM is suggesting to WR that he redshirt? What happens if an injury to BE, BT or BC? That's alot of minutes for these 3 or we will - as indicated - definitely watch 4 guards alot more than I thought this year. Who would the 4 guards be? KM, KL, TL and RC?

3. Uninspired performances by May and Irby. Why couldn't we find guys who would not only be "yes men" to RM but also be a little more inspiring? Debbie Yow and Cheryl Levick, wish you were here.

4. No jucos and possible WR redshirt? That would mean 6 Freshmen, and 5 frehmen next year, right?

5. The October 30th event: any practice or basketball that night or is this just a "meet & great" while eating bbq?

6. $7 beers?? What a slap in the face for the die-hards. That act alone speaks volumes.

[willie]

The women's M and G is for today and doors open at 6:30pm - everyone is invited but it is primarily a chance for the students to meet the team. Same times for the men's activity. Actually, I like what May has done to date - I know he is not a as visible or rah rah as CL was but that does not make him a poor AD. The AD can be behind the scenes as long as he gets something done - that was Woolard's problem he was low profile and low accomplishment. The radio package is far better than anything we have had before and he seemed excited about it when I spoke to him one on one. He has been a mover and shaker in getting other A10 teams to ban together to push for a TV contract change - apparently there was lots bitching but nobody was interested in putting a coalition together to push the commish for changes - Bruno was a sleep at the wheel on this one - I guess she just mailed her last two years in. I liked his comments about inviting back alum players and coaches in the area to take a more active role in the programs and he talked about how he had personally called and invited Rich Grawer to meet with him and gave Grawer a personal tour of the new arena. He told Grawer that he knows that his contributions were important to the program and he wants to make sure that it is recognized accordingly. I am sorry May does not look good in a short skirt and heels but judge him on his results - after all the New England Patriots coach is very underwhelming when he speaks to the media and others and it did not keep him from being successful.

Cheese how do you know May doesn't look good in a short skirt and heels? Have you seen him in one?

[kwyjibo]

One other thing that was real interesting was that SLU was the sponsor for the Final Four bids St. Louis was putting in for 2013-2106 (don't hold me to the exact years). In previous years the MVC has been the lead sponsor and SLU had tagged along.

Some may say, who cares, but besides the prestige that comes with hosting a Final Four, I suspect there will be more tickets available to SLU (and Billiken Club members) then there were the last time around...

No, this is a good thing generally. It means more access and more visibility for the program. Now, if SLU uses their timekeeper and he/she screws up in a nail-biter game, well . . .

[slufanskip]

Great and interesting comments. Really enjoy the return of basketball talk. Thank you.

1. A little surprised (not complaining or disagreeing - just surprised) that RC will not play the pg this year. Anyone else?

2. Redshirt for WR? RM sure has guts. Despite being shorthanded last year, he redshirted DM when he could have used another warm body, if for no other reason, than as a practice player. This year, we again have no depth at the 4 and 5 position (lost LM, DB and BH and only BE - who wasn't all that good last year - is returning) and RM is suggesting to WR that he redshirt? What happens if an injury to BE, BT or BC? That's alot of minutes for these 3 or we will - as indicated - definitely watch 4 guards alot more than I thought this year. Who would the 4 guards be? KM, KL, TL and RC?

3. Uninspired performances by May and Irby. Why couldn't we find guys who would not only be "yes men" to RM but also be a little more inspiring? Debbie Yow and Cheryl Levick, wish you were here.

4. No jucos and possible WR redshirt? That would mean 6 Freshmen, and 5 frehmen next year, right?

5. The October 30th event: any practice or basketball that night or is this just a "meet & great" while eating bbq?

6. $7 beers?? What a slap in the face for the die-hards. That act alone speaks volumes.

$3.00 for a soda in about a 10 oz. cup. I think they said free refills, but I didn't have an extra 30 minutes to wait in line. They had chicken fingers, but ran out about 10-15 minutes before the meeting started. Definately not a good showing for Lor...ini's.

I like May and agree with the poster who said to give him time and judge him on the results. If we end up on 101.1, he will have already significantly improved our radio. If he's behind the move for better TV, kudos again when it's complete.

[3star_recruit]

The only thing that surprised me was Willie Reed not being in the top 9. That means Tommie is back to part-time duty at the 4 and either Barry or Brian will be playing even more minutes at the 5 than I thought. The good news is Tommie's rebounding numbers should like they did under Soderberg. The bad news is we're once again the smallest team in the conference.

[Westy03]

The only thing that surprised me was Willie Reed not being in the top 9. That means Tommie is back to part-time duty at the 4 and either Barry or Brian will be playing even more minutes at the 5 than I thought. The good news is Tommie's rebounding numbers should like they did under Soderberg. The bad news is we're once again the smallest team in the conference.

Majerus never said that he definitely wanted Reed to redshirt. He said he could see 5 minutes a game to block shots. Ideally Reed would redshirt but im not 100 percent sure he will. He is not ready for D-1 basketball.

Another note that Tommie and Porter mentioned was that Rick is giving Tommie a lot more freedom to read the defense and drive the hole, crash the offensive boards, and post up. I really believe Tommie is going to have one hell of a year.

[jimbofive]

Another note that Tommie and Porter mentioned was that Rick is giving Tommie a lot more freedom to read the defense and drive the hole, crash the offensive boards, and post up. I really believe Tommie is going to have one hell of a year.

I sure hope so, I'd really like to see him get a chance at the NBA. Kevin, too, though unless Kevin decides to shoot 50% from three this year, his options are a bit more limited in my mind. No matter though, it sounds like they both have their academics in order, and they'll never hurt for a job in STL. If not for those two, Billiken basketball would have been in a SORRY state these past few years. I like that Majerus has given them and Barry the green light, which seems to be a continuation of late last year. Tommie especially does not need a strict offense to get his points. I would keep an eye on Barry's leash, but Tommie and Kevin could create havoc if Kwamain actually makes his man guard him. I expect Tommie and Kevin to put up some big numbers against our special olympics non-con schedule.

[Westy03]

I sure hope so, I'd really like to see him get a chance at the NBA. Kevin, too, though unless Kevin decides to shoot 50% from three this year, his options are a bit more limited in my mind. No matter though, it sounds like they both have their academics in order, and they'll never hurt for a job in STL. If not for those two, Billiken basketball would have been in a SORRY state these past few years. I like that Majerus has given them and Barry the green light, which seems to be a continuation of late last year. Tommie especially does not need a strict offense to get his points. I would keep an eye on Barry's leash, but Tommie and Kevin could create havoc if Kwamain actually makes his man guard him. I expect Tommie and Kevin to put up some big numbers against our special olympics non-con schedule.

The assistant GM for the Jazz was at practice yesterday, if that means anything

[billiken_roy]

If not for those two, Billiken basketball would have been in a SORRY state these past few years.

you can probably say that about 90% of schools each year. lose your top two players without similar replacement and the team would dive.