Paul E

[Majerus Magic]

I dont know about y'all but I just have more faith.

[kshoe]

It is amazing to me that someone like Roy can criticize Majerus for giving Eckerle a scholarship for 3 years. He was essentially a walk-on that was granted a scholarship for 3 years. It was a gift from the beginning and all parties knew it. Same story with Daniel Lisch.

Its one thing to have an honest moral objection about players having scholarships pulled because they can't compete on the court. Its quite another to be so anti-Majerus that you actually criticize him for doing a good thing with both of those players. They got a combined 4 free years out of SLU that most coaches would not have provided. To me, Majerus should be aplauded for how these two were handled, not criticized.

[billiken_roy]

Roy, I usually agree with you one this issue, but not with Paul. Paul knew what he was getting into, a one year scholarship. He has had the scholarship for three years and has done a great job with the team. Rick would have never offered the scholarship if it had to be a four-year promise. If the coaching staff followed your logic, Paul would have never had a scholarship and I fail to see how that would be better.

i stated already that i understand the promises made up front and the deal they made. and second i am sure the eckerle's all understand completely. my point is more about doing the right thing to a young man that has been a stellar member of the program regardless of "the deal". that is the type of example we should be making as a demonstration to recruits going forward. the paul eckerle's of the world who are also basketball players should see us in the same light that the likes of a stanford program is seen.

i want the quality of our student athletes hear and soul to be the ilk of paul eckerle. i am not saying they are not, but cutting the best example we have isnt going to do anything to win over that next paul eckerle that happens to also be 6'10" tall, and shoots like kevin durrant and runs and jumps like hakeem warrick either.

when rickma is talking about the importance of academics it should go both ways as we seek out the student athlete that excels in academics and then in turn backs such to the end regardless of their actual basketball prowess as long as they continue to excel in school, behave in society and are a great teamate with the effort on the court and in practice to show they give all.

[billiken_roy]

Oh and BTW-

Horace Dixon- full athletic scholarship at Southern University

Anthony Mitchell- full athletic scholarship at SIUE

Obi Ikeakor- athletic scholarship at New Orleans

Dustin Maguire- full athletic scholarship at Northern Kentucky (a top 10 D-2 school I might add)- he is starting, averaging 30 minutes a game, and leads the team at 15 points per game.

Looks like everybody that got 'forced' out is doing okay- no ruined lives or broken spirits....and I think Paul will be just fine too....

so southern university, siue, new orleans, and northern kentucky academic degrees are the equal of a slu degree?

btw, i do not include ikeakor and dixon in my point of contention, neither held up their end of the bargain as ikeakor was a horrible teamate that was probably given longer to come around to the team than he should have been and dixon and ikeakor also did not do the job in the classroom.

[billikenbilly]

What soderberg done the same thing, we wouldn't even be talking about this because Billiken Roy would have completely backed him. This is just hatred on Roy's part, and I will now ignore this thread. Ridiculous.

i stated already that i understand the promises made up front and the deal they made. and second i am sure the eckerle's all understand completely. my point is more about doing the right thing to a young man that has been a stellar member of the program regardless of "the deal". that is the type of example we should be making as a demonstration to recruits going forward. the paul eckerle's of the world who are also basketball players should see us in the same light that the likes of a stanford program is seen.

i want the quality of our student athletes hear and soul to be the ilk of paul eckerle. i am not saying they are not, but cutting the best example we have isnt going to do anything to win over that next paul eckerle that happens to also be 6'10" tall, and shoots like kevin durrant and runs and jumps like hakeem warrick either.

when rickma is talking about the importance of academics it should go both ways as we seek out the student athlete that excels in academics and then in turn backs such to the end regardless of their actual basketball prowess as long as they continue to excel in school, behave in society and are a great teamate with the effort on the court and in practice to show they give all.

[billiken_roy]

What soderberg done the same thing, we wouldn't even be talking about this because Billiken Roy would have completely backed him. This is just hatred on Roy's part, and I will now ignore this thread. Ridiculous.

name me one eckerle like player that soderberg or romar moved off the team during their stay as head coaches.

sorry i have been preaching that stance forever. you are wrong wrong wrong.

[slupkt04]

name me one eckerle like player that soderberg or romar moved off the team during their stay as head coaches.

sorry i have been preaching that stance forever. you are wrong wrong wrong.

Since we don't know what Paul's situation is, why the need to speculate? It's not like he reads this blog as he puts down his copy of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Move to close thread....we are adding fuel to a fire that no one but this board has created.

[JohnnyJumpUp]

i want the quality of our student athletes hear and soul to be the ilk of paul eckerle. i am not saying they are not, but cutting the best example we have isnt going to do anything to win over that next paul eckerle that happens to also be 6'10" tall, and shoots like kevin durrant and runs and jumps like hakeem warrick either.

If a 6'10" player who shoots like Durant, runs and jumps like Warrick is interested in SLU, he won't give a ###### what SLU did/does with Eckerle. More than likely he won't be interested in anything to do with SLU anyway, he'll be looking at perennial power like duke, unc, etc.. I am not quite sure what you are trying to say here, your example just doesn't make much sense.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Since we don't know what Paul's situation is, why the need to speculate? It's not like he reads this blog as he puts down his copy of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Move to close thread....we are adding fuel to a fire that no one but this board has created.

I can't believe I am agreeing with Metz on the above.

Come on Roy, with Brad and Lo, because of recruiting deficiencies I don't recall either one having a full roster.

[b.hayes]

i didnt start the discussion. and sorry if i think doing the right thing per our student athletes is more important than the first game of the cbi championship series.

I didn't say you did. Just because I mention your name it doesn't mean I'm accusing you of something. You are so sensitive sometimes, my lord.

Stop trying to be a martyr about it. Everyone knows your viewpoint on this as well as your sickening holier-than-thou attitude.

[slupkt04]

You guys are arguing over an opinion, not fact. We still know nothing from Paul, and until then, let's just can it.

[billikenbilly]

name me one eckerle like player that soderberg or romar moved off the team during their stay as head coaches.

sorry i have been preaching that stance forever. you are wrong wrong wrong.

"Moved off the team." That's not what's happening. Majerus essentially gifted a scholarship to someone who was going to school anyways. That never happened in the Sodie era. Had it happened, you would have been fully supportive. That was my point.

You still ignore the fact Sodie intended to pull John Seyfert's scholarship.

[Guest BillikenReport]

Is now a good time to point out that I got ripped on this site FOUR YEARS AGO for suggesting that B. Soderberg should recruit a player like Paul Eckerle who could be a great representative of Saint Louis U.?

[slupkt04]

"Moved off the team." That's not what's happening. Majerus essentially gifted a scholarship to someone who was going to school anyways. That never happened in the Sodie era. Had it happened, you would have been fully supportive. That was my point.

You still ignore the fact Sodie intended to pull John Seyfert's scholarship.

Seyfert was homesick and was leaving regardless of regime change.

[moytoy12]

i stated already that i understand the promises made up front and the deal they made. and second i am sure the eckerle's all understand completely. my point is more about doing the right thing to a young man that has been a stellar member of the program regardless of "the deal". that is the type of example we should be making as a demonstration to recruits going forward. the paul eckerle's of the world who are also basketball players should see us in the same light that the likes of a stanford program is seen.

i want the quality of our student athletes hear and soul to be the ilk of paul eckerle. i am not saying they are not, but cutting the best example we have isnt going to do anything to win over that next paul eckerle that happens to also be 6'10" tall, and shoots like kevin durrant and runs and jumps like hakeem warrick either.

when rickma is talking about the importance of academics it should go both ways as we seek out the student athlete that excels in academics and then in turn backs such to the end regardless of their actual basketball prowess as long as they continue to excel in school, behave in society and are a great teamate with the effort on the court and in practice to show they give all.

The counter argument is that SLU and RM did do the right thing and have rewarded PE with athletic scholarships.

[billikenbilly]

Seyfert was homesick and was leaving regardless of regime change.

Soderberg mentioned at a tip-off club meeting that he contemplated talking with seyfert about finding a new place to play because he was not good enough - not because he was homesick. It just so turns out that he left because he was homesick - at least that is what we were told. The fact Soderberg was willing to do what Roy always screams about deserves some discussion, regardless of the reasons given after he left. But Roy has the blinders on.

[billikenfan05]

St. Roy is always right.

[slupkt04]

Soderberg mentioned at a tip-off club meeting that he contemplated talking with seyfert about finding a new place to play because he was not good enough - not because he was homesick. It just so turns out that he left because he was homesick - at least that is what we were told. The fact Soderberg was willing to do what Roy always screams about deserves some discussion, regardless of the reasons given after he left. But Roy has the blinders on.

Whether or not he was or wasn't good enough shouldn't matter for a coach like Soderberg. But then again, good coaches like to challenge themselves by taking a mediocre player and turning them into something of value to a program. Brad never did that.

[dlarry]

I dont see what the problem is.

-Eckerle shows up without a scholarship and was going to pay most of his way through college.

-Majerus shows up and the Bills have an extra scholarship

-Majerus gives the scholarship to Eckerle

-Eckerle gets a free education from SLU for a few years

The way I see it Majerus did Eckerle a favor. He never had to give him a scholarship. It was given to him as a show of thanks.

The Bills got a player that helped the team, Eckerle was allowed to go to a school for free for a few years instead of paying out of his pocket.

I would think trying to find a negative in anthing Majerus did with this situation would be impossible.

[billikenbilly]

leave it to roy to find a negative in this.

I dont see what the problem is.

-Eckerle shows up without a scholarship and was going to pay most of his way through college.

-Majerus shows up and the Bills have an extra scholarship

-Majerus gives the scholarship to Eckerle

-Eckerle gets a free education from SLU for a few years

The way I see it Majerus did Eckerle a favor. He never had to give him a scholarship. It was given to him as a show of thanks.

The Bills got a player that helped the team, Eckerle was allowed to go to a school for free for a few years instead of paying out of his pocket.

I would think trying to find a negative in anthing Majerus did with this situation would be impossible.

[doowop]

I'm not sure how much Eckerle will play next season, but he's definitely needed. He was very much missed this season.

Eckerle has been a very strong leader for this team. He's done a lot of things behind the scenes to help this program, like talking with recruits when they visit campus, helping the younger guys on the team with whatever, etc. He's been Willie Reed's roommate all year, which I'm sure has had to help Willie.

If SLU has 14 guys competing for minutes next year, with Eckerle as the 14th man, who knows how much he'll see the floor. But he has been an important member of this team for three years already and will continue to be for as long as he sticks around.

I am talking about being on the floor and playing. SLU has had so many players with intangibles who could not put the ball through the basketball. SLU needs scorers. I know he is needed in other capacities, but he should not be needed as a player. If we had the kind of talent we used to get, then he would be needed as a player. What did he do scoring wise when he played? His shot was not accurate and he did not have a good free throw shooting per centage. He was a hustler. We have had many of them and continued to lose games. As I said before, if PE HAS to play, SLU is not in good shape guard wise.

[ACE]

Here is why Roy has zero credibility on this ... not a word of criticism from him when Sodie was offering scholarships to kids who couldn't cut it academically or athletically - Obi, Horace, Brandon Morris, Antwan Alexander. Sodie later does NOT offer an athletic scholarship to Paul, a quality student-athlete. Then, mean old RM extends a scholarship offer to Paul for three years and is upfront that it was going to be on a year-by-year basis, yet Majerus is the bad guy?!?!?!

[slupkt04]

Here is why Roy has zero credibility on this ... not a word of criticism from him when Sodie was offering scholarships to kids who couldn't cut it academically or athletically - Obi, Horace, Brandon Morris, Antwan Alexander. Sodie later does NOT offer an athletic scholarship to Paul, a quality student-athlete. Then, mean old RM extends a scholarship offer to Paul for three years and is upfront that it was going to be on a year-by-year basis, yet Majerus is the bad guy?!?!?!

You know, I'm sure RM saw a little of himself in Paul...maybe knew he was gifted in academia, but loved basketball. I'm sure Rick remembers to the exact day he had to give up basketball and pursue another love - coaching. Well, he had Al Maguire at Marquette to mentor him. Maybe when Paul goes on to cure a disease or help save a child's life, he will thank Rick Majerus for being a guiding light in his career pursuits. When Majerus came here, he fully understood the Jesuit mission of being a man for others. Let's hope Dr. Paul carries on our mission to every person he encounters.

[Quality Is Job 1]

On the Soderberg/Seyfert issue: When Brad Soderberg was an assistant, he approached Coach Romar (the head coach) and suggested they find another school for John Seyfert. Romar said to give the kid more time. After Coach Romar left for Washington and Soderberg became head coach, Seyfert left, presumably because he was homesick.

[billikenbilly]

On the Soderberg/Seyfert issue: When Brad Soderberg was an assistant, he approached Coach Romar (the head coach) and suggested they find another school for John Seyfert. Romar said to give the kid more time. After Coach Romar left for Washington and Soderberg became head coach, Seyfert left, presumably because he was homesick.

So, you agree that Soderberg suggested they find another school for a player who was not cutting it?

I don't care if it turned out to be the reason he left or not. Why are his intentions not being treated the same way as Majerus's. Presumably, had Romar gone along with it, Seyfert would have been pushed out. Roy refuses to hold Soderberg's actions to the same standards as Majerus. In fact, Roy claims he was at the tip-off club meeting when Soderberg mentioned this, yet he didn't come on the board to throw a hissy-fit and to tarnish our coach's reputation. Why not?

Imagine a tip-off club meeting today (which Roy won't attend but let's assume he does) where Majerus openly states that he intended to push out Conklin last year because he wasn't cutting it. There would be no end to Roy's criticism of Majerus. And if, in fact, Conklin did leave and claimed it was because he was homesick, Roy would be the first to call that reason a lie. He's already calling it a lie if Jeff Reid never returns and the reason given is because of the concussion.