Cody Ellis

[Iggy]

Is he still down under getting his paperwork in order? Or has he made it to the States yet? Has the 'to red shirt or not to red shirt' discussion taken place yet? Might he be sitting on the bench tonight? Haven't heard much since he was cleared.

[billiken_roy]

Is he still down under getting his paperwork in order? Or has he made it to the States yet? Has the 'to red shirt or not to red shirt' discussion taken place yet? Might he be sitting on the bench tonight? Haven't heard much since he was cleared.

i was told by an athletic dept person last tuesday, that ellis would be lucky to have his student visa by january 9th. it was my understandng that until then nothing will happen.

[Westy03]

I heard that he leaves Australia Jan 1st but im not sure if that is correct. All signs point to him playing his first game against Richmond if he doesnt decide to redshirt.

[Cowboy]

-rammer said on his show today CE will be in STL on friday

[davidnark]

Ellis has also said that he will be here on the 1st.

[RUBillsFan]

Ellis has also said that he will be here on the 1st.

The sooner we get Ellis here the better. He needs to start practicing with the team and getting back into bball shape. Hopefully he is a quick learner b/c it seems like Rick's system is very difficult to learn.

[willie]

Ellis has also said that he will be here on the 1st.

So does anyone know if he has been totally cleared. Not that he would but could he play in the Bowling Green Game?

[RUBillsFan]

So does anyone know if he has been totally cleared. Not that he would but could he play in the Bowling Green Game?

I'm not sure the answer to that question. But from my perspective it would make sense for SLU to get him here as soon as possible now that he will be cleared and then sort out the details once he gets here. That way he could be getting acclimated to life in America, getting to know his teammates, begin practicing, and everything else while he waits for all the paperwork to go through.

[Billikan]

I'm not sure the answer to that question. But from my perspective it would make sense for SLU to get him here as soon as possible now that he will be cleared and then sort out the details once he gets here. That way he could be getting acclimated to life in America, getting to know his teammates, begin practicing, and everything else while he waits for all the paperwork to go through.

I would doubt that he will be able to play in the BG game but he may be ok for the Richmond game. I am fairly certain that he does not want to redshirt and to me it makes no sense. He has to be chomping at the bit after all this delay and the reward for his perseverence and his hard work to get eligible is to be able to play, not sit on the bench!

Also, in terms of his ability to adapt to the team, etc., I would think playing as soon as he can will help him adjust better. His buddy Christian will help him as well.

In terms of his development and the team, it would seem to me that the next 3 months or so will be a great time for him to learn the system, get back in basketball shape and learn to work with his team. He might really help us this year but, for sure, he will hit the ground running next year. As we have seen many times, if he were to sit out an entire year, it will take him just that much longer next year to fit in and play up to his potential.

I am stoked to see him in a Billiken uniform!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[slu72]

I am stoked to see him in a Billiken uniform!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agree, Billikan, let him play! What good's it gonna do him redshirting at this point? Let him taste the A-10. Next year is the big one for the Bills and CE anyways. Any chance we get this Loe kid?

[dneuner]

Coach Rick confirmed that Ellis will arrive in St. Louis late Saturday night. Majerus will be flying from Ohio to meet him and said they will have breakfast on Sunday. Coach wants me to bring a message to you guys: PATIENCE WITH ELLIS. Rick knows the pressures on Ellis to be amazing right away are great, but be patient with him. Majerus doesn't think you'll regret Ellis being at SLU. BTW, the words "red" and "shirt" were never mentioned tonight. Coach said the biggest question is how much and when to play the kid.

[moytoy12]

Coach Rick confirmed that Ellis will arrive in St. Louis late Saturday night. Majerus will be flying from Ohio to meet him and said they will have breakfast on Sunday. Coach wants me to bring a message to you guys: PATIENCE WITH ELLIS. Rick knows the pressures on Ellis to be amazing right away are great, but be patient with him. Majerus doesn't think you'll regret Ellis being at SLU. BTW, the words "red" and "shirt" were never mentioned tonight. Coach said the biggest question is how much and when to play the kid.

You bring a lot of good information to the board. Thank you and hope you keep it up.

[NextYearBill]

Coach Rick confirmed that Ellis will arrive in St. Louis late Saturday night. Majerus will be flying from Ohio to meet him and said they will have breakfast on Sunday. Coach wants me to bring a message to you guys: PATIENCE WITH ELLIS. Rick knows the pressures on Ellis to be amazing right away are great, but be patient with him. Majerus doesn't think you'll regret Ellis being at SLU. BTW, the words "red" and "shirt" were never mentioned tonight. Coach said the biggest question is how much and when to play the kid.

I see the U news still sucks.

[Pistol]

From Timmerman's article today:

ELLIS IS ON THE WAY

SLU freshman Cody Ellis has gotten his paperwork taken care of and is expected to arrive from Australia by the end of the week. He won't travel to SLU's game Saturday at Bowling Green, but the Bills then have a week off before opening Atlantic 10 play at home against Richmond.

[Cowboy]

Coach Rick confirmed that Ellis will arrive in St. Louis late Saturday night. Majerus will be flying from Ohio to meet him and said they will have breakfast on Sunday. Coach wants me to bring a message to you guys: PATIENCE WITH ELLIS. Rick knows the pressures on Ellis to be amazing right away are great, but be patient with him. Majerus doesn't think you'll regret Ellis being at SLU. BTW, the words "red" and "shirt" were never mentioned tonight. Coach said the biggest question is how much and when to play the kid.

-just a bump

-thanks for delivering rick's message, i hope the guys sitting in front of me saying they expect CE to be a "difference maker from day 1" are right but understand and react accordingly if they are wrong

[dneuner]

The full Majerus quote, courtesy of TT at the PD:

“Now we’ve got a real interesting challenge,” Majerus said. “What do you do with the kid from Australia? We’re glad he’s here, but how much do you play him? He’ll want to play and we want to play him. If you come in on a baseball team, all you have to do is hit. Or field. When you come in on a football team, you’re a pass blocker, you’re a guard, you’re a quarterback, you’re a receiver. When you come in on a basketball team, everyone on the team is intertwined with you, particularly with our defense. Now, that’s going to be an interesting dynamic.

“In fairness to the young man, for what he’s endured and the persistence he’s shown, his wanting to be at St. Louis … I’ll just say this before the fact, after the first year with (Dirk) Nowitzki, everyone wondered why Dallas had acquired Nowitzki. After the second year, and certainly into the third year and beyond, no one was wondering why Dallas had got Nowitzki. I think foreign players historically have an adjustment period. I think he’ll have an adjustment period. Watch, it will be the length of our season, but think about this, we’ve been together 11½ weeks, 12 weeks, now there’s only 8 weeks left. We need the body. At least it’s another body for practice. And we can certainly use his skills and size but I would ask the fans to be real patient. He flies from Perth to Sydney, and that’s a 4 ½ hour flight, then from Sydney, I think that’s 19½, then an hour down here, he comes 14 time zones away, they say you need a day to acclimate for every time zone. I’m going to fly back early Sunday morning, 6 a.m., to bring him to my place to have breakfast, welcome him, tell him, don’t press, don’t worry about this, that type of thing, it’s really important for me. I was going to go recruiting. The young man is such a nice kid and he’s made such a big commitment. You should see Christian too. His head is spinning and he’s been here for that period of time.

“I assume he’ll play. Watch, he’ll get hurt.”

[ACE]

My early expectations are not too lofty. I simply expect him to be immediately better than Cory and Smith. That is no knock on those guys who seem to be progressing nicely. Then eventually, I expect Cody to move ahead of Brian on the depth chart. Not sure when it happens, but I will be patient.

[RUBillsFan]

My early expectations are not too lofty. I simply expect him to be immediately better than Cory and Smith. That is no knock on those guys who seem to be progressing nicely. Then eventually, I expect Cody to move ahead of Brian on the depth chart. Not sure when it happens, but I will be patient.

I think he'll be better than Remekun or Smith were at the beginning of the season, but now that they have had some time to adjust and understand Rick system a bit they have been playing much better. Cody will be good we just need to be patient. I hope he comes in and drops 25 on Richmond, but I'll be okay as long as he is contributing at a high level next year when the team will hopefully be going somewhere.

[Archy McNally]

My early expectations are not too lofty. I simply expect him to be immediately better than Cory and Smith. That is no knock on those guys who seem to be progressing nicely. Then eventually, I expect Cody to move ahead of Brian on the depth chart. Not sure when it happens, but I will be patient.

If I was coach, I would do my best to talk him into redshirting - it would be the best for him both athletically and academically. However, he has gone through so much, that I would leave the decision up to him.

I think he will struggle to be immediately better than Cory on the defensive side of the ball and hitting the glass.

[billiken_roy]

i too think he should redshirt. but i sure could understand the kid just dying to get on the court and wanting to play. considering what he accomplished academically to retake that test multiple times and get the needed score when he could have walked away to play professionally with luke meyer and kevin lisch immediately, is quite admireable. so if the kid wants to play, let him play.

[Cowboy]

My early expectations are not too lofty. I simply expect him to be immediately better than Cory and Smith. That is no knock on those guys who seem to be progressing nicely. Then eventually, I expect Cody to move ahead of Brian on the depth chart. Not sure when it happens, but I will be patient.

-not too lofty but to be immediately better than 2 guys that have been here all year, who by most if not all accounts have progressed and only one of which had to deal with a time zone change (1 hour)? no, not too lofty at all

Coach wants me to bring a message to you guys: PATIENCE WITH ELLIS. Rick knows the pressures on Ellis to be amazing right away are great, but be patient with him

[ACE]

-not too lofty but to be immediately better than 2 guys that have been here all year, who by most if not all accounts have progressed and only one of which had to deal with a time zone change (1 hour)? no, not too lofty at all

Coach wants me to bring a message to you guys: PATIENCE WITH ELLIS. Rick knows the pressures on Ellis to be amazing right away are great, but be patient with him

Well Remekun certainly has progressed, but for the season he has averaged 13 minutes, 1.7 ppg and 2.1 rpg and Smith even less. No, I don't think it is too much to expect that Cody will be immediately better than that. I am patient and not expecting miracles. We shall see.

[cheeseman]

My early expectations are not too lofty. I simply expect him to be immediately better than Cory and Smith. That is no knock on those guys who seem to be progressing nicely. Then eventually, I expect Cody to move ahead of Brian on the depth chart. Not sure when it happens, but I will be patient.

I would not make that assumption given how much JS and CR have progressed so far this year. With 2 months left in the season it may well be until the last half of conference play before CE sees much time to speak of.

[cheeseman]

i too think he should redshirt. but i sure could understand the kid just dying to get on the court and wanting to play. considering what he accomplished academically to retake that test multiple times and get the needed score when he could have walked away to play professionally with luke meyer and kevin lisch immediately, is quite admireable. so if the kid wants to play, let him play.

I agree about red shirting him but I also agree with what you said about honoring his wishes.

[SShoe]

Redshirting Cody makes sense for the program in the long term, but if you're like me and believe next year is the breakthrough season, then I think playing Cody immediately and getting him acclimated to D-1 ball would be the better move.

Because of his delayed arrival, Cody is coming in with as much hype as any Billiken in recent memory. Unfortunately for him, he could put up 10 ppg in conference and still wouldn't live up to expectations. That being said, I'll be a little disappointed if he doesn't surpass CR and JS within a few weeks of his arrival. He'll have to learn the schemes, but my feeling is that CE should still be well ahead of those guys in terms of physical maturity and skill level.