SLU women get a big local commitment

[Guest BillikenReport]

This girl is rated as one of the top 40 juniors in the country:

http://stlhighschoolsports.com/sports/girls-basketball/incarnate-word-junior-commits-to-slu/

[cheeseman]

Now all she has to do is stay beyond her freshman year.

[p diddy]

She must be pretty good. Earl Austin Jr. seems to be really high on her. He's got a nice write-up about her on his website.

[doowop]

This is very good news as most of her current players were only average to slightly above average players on their high school teams. Very few had high scoring averages in high school and they desparately need scorers, imo.

[TheBand]

Is it bad that my only thought on this is "Its about time."

This program and Shimmy just seem to be treading water... no progress.

[Pirahna]

Is it bad that my only thought on this is "Its about time."

This program and Shimmy just seem to be treading water... no progress.

Shimmy is a nice coach and person, but I do agree it is about time this team has a player that is above mediocrity.

[billiken_roy]

how soon we forget the level of play and talent prior to shimmy.

no argument that the women's team hasnt challenged for the top of the a-10 yet, but it is sure better than the days of jill.

losing teresa last year was totally unforseen and a tough blow to survive as well as we did.

i am sure shimmy has all the same financial budget support that the men's team has as well. (sarcasm)

[Pirahna]

how soon we forget the level of play and talent prior to shimmy.

no argument that the women's team hasnt challenged for the top of the a-10 yet, but it is sure better than the days of jill.

losing teresa last year was totally unforseen and a tough blow to survive as well as we did.

i am sure shimmy has all the same financial budget support that the men's team has as well. (sarcasm)

I apologize, I did forget about Teresa and what a blow it was for her to leave. I'm optimistic for this season even though it does look like the odds are not in their favor

[doowop]

I have not forgotten the talent at SLU before Shimmy came here. The talent there while T. Lisch and Kemezys were playing was very good. However, if you look at the profiles of the current players you will see only a few had outstanding high school careers. Shimmy needs better talent that will play for her all four years. I hope she gets it and soon has as much success as the volleyball team.

[thetorch]

When Shimmy took over the program it was essentially a D-2 team playing a D-1 schedule with absolutely no success ever in its history.

I've been critical of Shimmy certainly, she maybe tried too hard to fast in recruiting which backfired on her. She is not a great game coach and she's had a lot of deadweight on her staff (although the current one I think is strong). Certainly Chaifetz has affected her program even more than the Mens but the program is still only a few years from being at less than zero. I don't know whether she'll get a new contract but she has done well for what little support she receives.

[slu72 fan]

When Shimmy took over the program it was essentially a D-2 team playing a D-1 schedule with absolutely no success ever in its history.

I've been critical of Shimmy certainly, she maybe tried too hard to fast in recruiting which backfired on her. She is not a great game coach and she's had a lot of deadweight on her staff (although the current one I think is strong). Certainly Chaifetz has affected her program even more than the Mens but the program is still only a few years from being at less than zero. I don't know whether she'll get a new contract but she has done well for what little support she receives.

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I'm not sure that the financial support is that lacking, certainly attendance is a major issue. The team has gone backwards, and this year may be a disaster. As a person that attends most home games, I hope I'm wrong, but losing their best outside shooter, and one of the better centers in the league, can't help.

The real question is will Shimmy be back next year. I'm pretty sure her contract expires this year, and it may be a very tough season for the team. The fact she's recruiting St. Louis is a real plus. She needs to continue to successfully do so. It helps on the attendance and maybe the wins. Every year, she's recruited a project that has been a major bust. Losing Teresa was a major blow to last year, but she'd be gone now. The cupboard is pretty bare.

[billiken_roy]

i truly would like to know how shimmy's overall program budget stacks up to the rest of the conference. i would guess she has to "find a way" and make do compared to her fellow a-10 coaches.

as to the cupboard being bare, i dont know about that. lauren woods is becoming a star. last year she averaged over 14 ppg. not many programs have 6 footers with the guard skills lauren has.

while courtney webb wont help this coming season due to having to sit out this year after transferring, courtney is also a big guard that was a mcdonalds all american in high school. she definitely doesnt fit the profile of someone with "mediocre high school" numbers.

shimmy filled the entire recruiting class in the fall and if you read the news release, it sure sound to me as though we have talent albeit young on this roster.

http://www.slubillikens.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/111109aaa.html

while amanda will be difficult to replace, i think a lot of folks are thinking about last year and not the entire career. amanda worked hard to become what she ended up to be her senior year. both mallory eggert and kathern hester remind me a lot of amanda in her early years so who's to say they cant also progress to her level?

count me in the group that wants shimmy to succeed and is not ready to throw in the towel on her yet. she is a tireless worker. she is a fantastic represenative of saint louis university and unless she is afforded all the financial and personel luxuries that the men's program is given, i think she needs additional time to reach the next level.

[bauman]

i truly would like to know how shimmy's overall program budget stacks up to the rest of the conference. i would guess she has to "find a way" and make do compared to her fellow a-10 coaches.

as to the cupboard being bare, i dont know about that. lauren woods is becoming a star. last year she averaged over 14 ppg. not many programs have 6 footers with the guard skills lauren has.

while courtney webb wont help this coming season due to having to sit out this year after transferring, courtney is also a big guard that was a mcdonalds all american in high school. she definitely doesnt fit the profile of someone with "mediocre high school" numbers.

shimmy filled the entire recruiting class in the fall and if you read the news release, it sure sound to me as though we have talent albeit young on this roster.

http://www.slubillikens.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/111109aaa.html

Roy, agree with all the positives you mentioned. She presents a professional and positive image as a rep of SLU. It's great to see the pick up she just made for next years recruiting class, especially since the recruit is a "local." My only concern with Shimmy is her continual loss of players, but maybe that is normal for female athletes. If we could just combine her appearance and oral commo skills with RM's coaching and recruiting ability we would win the NCAA every year.

while amanda will be difficult to replace, i think a lot of folks are thinking about last year and not the entire career. amanda worked hard to become what she ended up to be her senior year. both mallory eggert and kathern hester remind me a lot of amanda in her early years so who's to say they cant also progress to her level?

count me in the group that wants shimmy to succeed and is not ready to throw in the towel on her yet. she is a tireless worker. she is a fantastic represenative of saint louis university and unless she is afforded all the financial and personel luxuries that the men's program is given, i think she needs additional time to reach the next level.

Roy, agree that Shimmy is a great rep of SLU. She is professional and positive. Can we bottle those traits with RM's ability to recruit and coach? If so, we can retire from our day jobs.

Her only problem is losing so many players before graduation (or at least before 4yrs in the program). Don't remember all the names but it just seems like a lot of players leave early-maybe that's a female issue.

[Guest BillikenReport]

One of the issues Shimmy has had to deal with throughout her time at Saint Louis U. is that the St. Louis area hasn't had much girls basketball talent.

T-Lisch was one of the top players to come through this area, but other than her there haven't been many impact mid- to high-major girls basketball players in the area. Felicia Chester (DePaul) was one. Shaq Jones (Mizzou) was another. So three girls during Shimmy's time were high quality players and Shimmy got one and finished second on another (Jones) who was also recruited by Tennessee.

This new commitment, based on the ESPNU ranking, may be better than all of those other players. I know Earl loves her potential. She may be the kind of player that leads to other quality recruits following her to SLU. I've heard the Stock twins at St. Joe's both like SLU.

Shimmy hasn't been working with a lot of talent during her time at SLU and has lost contributing players for a variety of reasons, including homesickness and boyfriends and family problems. I'm not naive enough to say some of the transfers haven't been her fault but with the information I've received I'm not willing to blame her for all of it.

[SLURadioBoy]

Just fyi, my wife teaches Taylor and says she's a great kid. I'm sure she'll be a real asset to the program and hopefully can help Shimmy get the program to the next level.

[volfan]

It will be an interesting year for Shimmy. With the departure of Tony Francis, the one who was able to bring TLISCH to SLU and the only real basketball mind that was on the staff. He was the only one that seemed noce to talk to on the staff. Shimmy is way over her head, hell she makes Jill Pizzotti look like Pat Summit, at least Jill made the WNIT, shimmy can not even make that tournament.

I hope she has a good year but I doubt it, she is toooo emotional and from what I hear the players really do not respect her.

[bauman]

It will be an interesting year for Shimmy. With the departure of Tony Francis, the one who was able to bring TLISCH to SLU and the only real basketball mind that was on the staff. He was the only one that seemed noce to talk to on the staff. Shimmy is way over her head, hell she makes Jill Pizzotti look like Pat Summit, at least Jill made the WNIT, shimmy can not even make that tournament.

I hope she has a good year but I doubt it, she is toooo emotional and from what I hear the players really do not respect her.

WOW! Are you Jill P's husband? father? mother? FYI, no one makes JP look like Pat Summit.

Your last phrase about the players/respect issue is a cheap shot only taken by an internet coward. "From what you hear?" Who do you hear it from? What players don't respect her?

Dislike her record or things she does publicly, but don't hide behind the internet and make chicken$#!t remarks like that.

[billiken_roy]

It will be an interesting year for Shimmy. With the departure of Tony Francis, the one who was able to bring TLISCH to SLU

wrong

[BIG BILL FAN]

i truly would like to know how shimmy's overall program budget stacks up to the rest of the conference. i would guess she has to "find a way" and make do compared to her fellow a-10 coaches.

as to the cupboard being bare, i dont know about that. lauren woods is becoming a star. last year she averaged over 14 ppg. not many programs have 6 footers with the guard skills lauren has.

while courtney webb wont help this coming season due to having to sit out this year after transferring, courtney is also a big guard that was a mcdonalds all american in high school. she definitely doesnt fit the profile of someone with "mediocre high school" numbers.

shimmy filled the entire recruiting class in the fall and if you read the news release, it sure sound to me as though we have talent albeit young on this roster.

http://www.slubillikens.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/111109aaa.html

while amanda will be difficult to replace, i think a lot of folks are thinking about last year and not the entire career. amanda worked hard to become what she ended up to be her senior year. both mallory eggert and kathern hester remind me a lot of amanda in her early years so who's to say they cant also progress to her level?

count me in the group that wants shimmy to succeed and is not ready to throw in the towel on her yet. she is a tireless worker. she is a fantastic represenative of saint louis university and unless she is afforded all the financial and personel luxuries that the men's program is given, i think she needs additional time to reach the next level.

you seem to be a lot more understanding about players leaving under shimmy, than you do of rm...