Jump to content

Another Recruiting Bust


Recommended Posts

Wally Ellenson Commits To Minnesota

Posted on August 15, 2011 by heardthisblog

Wally Ellenson, after mulling over several BCS offers, and multiple mid-major schools, decided on Minnesota this afternoon.

“I committed about an hour ago,” Ellenson told HeardThisBlog.com. “Talking to Coach [Tubby] Smith was great. I liked the campus and how I could fit in.”

Ellenson said if he didn’t commit to Minnesota, he would have taken an official visit to West Virginia, and Kansas was going to make an in-home visit.

“They see me as a shooting guard,” Ellenson said. “And someone that can drive every once in a while.”

Distance from his family was also a big factor.

“It’s nice to be able to have my family close enough to come see my games because it’s not that far away,” Ellenson said.

Based on the direct quotes, I doubt that will end up being inaccurate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All over Twitter that another SLU target has told SLU they're not good enough, with Wally Ellenson heading to Minnesota.

I hope this is inaccurate, but probably not.

I guess the only way this matters a lot if this was a kid that could step in and start.

Recruiting bust is harsh wording.

We will get very few kids who have BCS offers and interest like he did until we start going to the tournament.

We had a good shot at him until all of the BCS schools got serious. I can't blame him for staying at his home BCS school, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recruiting bust is harsh wording.

We will get very few kids who have BCS offers and interest like he did until we start going to the tournament.

We had a good shot at him until all of the BCS schools got serious. I can't blame him for staying at his home BCS school, though.

Where's World Wide Wes when we need him? We had talked about this kid for awhile, and lose him to Minnesota. I think you're right that the Tournament is the key towards getting better players though. Reminds me of the Chevious recruiting, where we are high on the kid and he ends up going to a school that was staring down the barrel of probation. SLU needs to raise their profile in the recruiting world yesterday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where's World Wide Wes when we need him? We had talked about this kid for awhile, and lose him to Minnesota. I think you're right that the Tournament is the key towards getting better players though. Reminds me of the Chevious recruiting, where we are high on the kid and he ends up going to a school that was staring down the barrel of probation. SLU needs to raise their profile in the recruiting world yesterday.

let this be a lesson. did any of us here at billikens.com goseethekidplay? no. no one to blame but ourselves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recruiting bust is harsh wording.

We will get very few kids who have BCS offers and interest like he did until we start going to the tournament.

We had a good shot at him until all of the BCS schools got serious. I can't blame him for staying at his home BCS school, though.

Elleson is from Wisconsin, not Minnesota.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All over Twitter that another SLU target has told SLU they're not good enough, with Wally Ellenson heading to Minnesota.

I hope this is inaccurate, but probably not.

I guess the only way this matters a lot if this was a kid that could step in and start.

The title of your thread is misleading. I wouldn't call this a "bust." I'm encouraged that RM and staff consistently attract interest from players who hold other offers from quality programs. Now if we were losing recruits that we really wanted to programs like Methdale, then I would be very discouraged. We're not always going to land our primary recruiting targets, nobody does. But we're consistently getting our fair share of quality players. We got Glaze even though he had BCS offers. We landed Loe after he visited Pitt and Georgia Tech. We are in on some other promising prospects this year. It will be ok. Relax.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The title of your thread is misleading. I wouldn't call this a "bust." I'm encouraged that RM and staff consistently attract interest from players who hold other offers from quality programs. Now if we were losing recruits that we really wanted to programs like Methdale, then I would be very discouraged. We're not always going to land our primary recruiting targets, nobody does. But we're consistently getting our fair share of quality players. We got Glaze even though he had BCS offers. We landed Loe after he visited Pitt and Georgia Tech. We are in on some other promising prospects this year. It will be ok. Relax.

See, I don't think it's misleading. Minnesota is not a quality program. If it's the kid that went to Wisconsin or a perennial power, fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, I don't think it's misleading. Minnesota is not a quality program. If it's the kid that went to Wisconsin or a perennial power, fine.

Did you read the part about "close to home"? The kid is from freaking RICE LAKE, Wisc. Just south of a bigger lake, Lake "Short Ears." (You think I'm kidding.) Where the nearest Applebee's is 60 miles away in beautiful downtown Eau Claire.

MSP is all of 100 miles away. That's within snowmobile range except during February. Madison is 230 miles away. The next-closest D-1 school, if I'm not mistaken, is 300 miles away in Mwaukee.

The kid allegedly had "interest" from WVa and from (to borrow an adjective) Gotdamn Kansas, yet he committed to Caddieshack U. and didn't go visit the other two. Sounds like we lost out on a mama's boy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you read the part about "close to home"? The kid is from freaking RICE LAKE, Wisc. Just south of a bigger lake, Lake "Short Ears." (You think I'm kidding.) Where the nearest Applebee's is 60 miles away in beautiful downtown Eau Claire.

MSP is all of 100 miles away. That's within snowmobile range except during February. Madison is 230 miles away. The next-closest D-1 school, if I'm not mistaken, is 300 miles away in Mwaukee.

The kid allegedly had "interest" from WVa and from (to borrow an adjective) Gotdamn Kansas, yet he committed to Caddieshack U. and didn't go visit the other two. Sounds like we lost out on a mama's boy.

Seriously excellent analysis. Majerus would be $hitting on his high-jumping face within minutes of his first Billiken Belly Rub. Remember, the higher a dude jumps, the more it hurts when you undercut him. Grandy will backflip that kid if the two schools should meet in the tournament sometime. When we're a 4 seed and they're a 13 seed.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, I don't think it's misleading. Minnesota is not a quality program. If it's the kid that went to Wisconsin or a perennial power, fine.

And SLU is? Really, picking Minnesota over SLU is not that unthinkable. SLU's last appearance in the NCAA tourney was 2000. Minnesota had back-to-back appearances in the dance prior to last season. And they still had a winning season last year and were even ranked as high as #14 in the AP poll.

Also, they have a head coach that has an NCAA championship to his credit, 16 NCAA appearances and a lifetime winning percentage of .702 and he has never had a losing season, which is a claim our head coach can no longer make. They also happen to play in a conference that regularly gets 5-7 teams (out of 11) into the NCAA tourney.

As a SLU fan, I am not one to lob stones at a school or program about the quality of its basketball program if it is more successful than ours. Sure, there is much to be excited about when looking at the team now, and we all hope that it brings winning seasons and tourney success. But until it actually does, we can't be surprised when recruits choose other schools over this one. Especially when the school is a BCS team with more recent success, has a HOF coach and is closer to home for the recruit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you read the part about "close to home"? The kid is from freaking RICE LAKE, Wisc. Just south of a bigger lake, Lake "Short Ears." (You think I'm kidding.) Where the nearest Applebee's is 60 miles away in beautiful downtown Eau Claire.

MSP is all of 100 miles away. That's within snowmobile range except during February. Madison is 230 miles away. The next-closest D-1 school, if I'm not mistaken, is 300 miles away in Mwaukee.

The kid allegedly had "interest" from WVa and from (to borrow an adjective) Gotdamn Kansas, yet he committed to Caddieshack U. and didn't go visit the other two. Sounds like we lost out on a mama's boy.

I have family from the MSP area and visited the school and honestly the females there definitely surpassed expectations. Clearly the kid wanted to go somewhere were he could play on TV for a guy named Tubby and crush moderately above average poon while no one made fun of his dumbass Wisconsin accent. Seems like a logical choice to me.

Plus who wants to go to anywhere in West Virginia anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have family from the MSP area and visited the school and honestly the females there definitely surpassed expectations. Clearly the kid wanted to go somewhere were he could play on TV for a guy named Tubby and crush moderately above average poon while no one made fun of his dumbass Wisconsin accent. Seems like a logical choice to me.

Plus who wants to go to anywhere in West Virginia anyway.

How did Jimbo hack NH's account?!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it may work in our favor to wait until the spring signing period. We have a lot to prove this year and if we do it can be a lot easier to say come to our school that made the tourney than to say come to our school that took 4th last in the A-10.

Maybe even hold off on scholarships for this year if any really solid recruits aren't interested. It can be more offers to give once we've established ourself.

GO BILLS!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have family from the MSP area and visited the school and honestly the females there definitely surpassed expectations. Clearly the kid wanted to go somewhere were he could play on TV for a guy named Tubby and crush moderately above average poon while no one made fun of his dumbass Wisconsin accent. Seems like a logical choice to me.

Plus who wants to go to anywhere in West Virginia anyway.

One of the best parts of college (besides crushing poon) is viewing the eye candy walking up and down campus. I son't know about other people, but goretex coats don't turn me on. I hope he enjoys the 2 weeks a year he gets to see scantily clad dimepieces strolling up and down campus.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How did Jimbo hack NH's account?!

New hire, Coach JW exudes delight with the campus, university landscaping, practice and Chaifetz facility compared to Loyola, Chicago and he liked city-living nearby in Edgewater.

Any kid looking for city college atmosphere will likewise see SLU as being very competitive. Nice to have coaches who get it and don't move to St. Chuck.

Cornfields like U of Illinois are harder walking to get to classes and disorienting to those measure distance in blocks versus driving miles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...