SpencerFilibuster Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/36816/3-point-shot-notes-from-a-10-media-day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/36816/3-point-shot-notes-from-a-10-media-day You know what, this is a good move. You get J. Crews in for one year, he and Majerus help to groom Antny Young, then he becomes one of your top assistants/recruiters. A savvy veteran, good coaching background...this can only help our ballclub. Welcome to the U, Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/36816/3-point-shot-notes-from-a-10-media-dayMixed feelings about this. It is good from a coaching perspective this late in the game. We get a veteran on staff who will help coach the guys for the year with little "training" needed. But, it leaves recruiting in shambles. I'm hoping Hariman has a few tricks up his sleeves that we haven't heard about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billboy1 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Sounds like RM wasn't real happy with the AJ move. Previous posts tended to downplay RM's concerns. Also, agree the main item now is recruiting. Need to make sure someone steps in to pick up te slack and make sure we keep on prospects that are on our list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenfan05 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Mixed feelings about this. It is good from a coaching perspective this late in the game. We get a veteran on staff who will help coach the guys for the year with little "training" needed. But, it leaves recruiting in shambles. I'm hoping Hariman has a few tricks up his sleeves that we haven't heard about.How does this leave recruiting in shambles? I don't know much about Crews or the inner workings of our recruiting practices but I suspect you don't either. I feel you are probably overreacting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 How does this leave recruiting in shambles? I don't know much about Crews or the inner workings of our recruiting practices but I suspect you don't either. I feel you are probably overreacting.I guess. But we had our top assistant leave, then our second top assistant leave. I perceive Whitesell to be like Majerus....an older guy who just doesn't have as much energy as a young assistant. Then Crews comes in and we say it's going to be a one year deal...meaning he won't add anything to recruiting. So that leaves Tony, Hariman and the Majerus name. I don't know much about SLU's recruiting, but I have a fairly decent understanding of the recruiting game and our situation isn't a good one. That is a fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I perceive Whitesell to be like Majerus....an older guy who just doesn't have as much energy as a young assistant. What do you base this perception on? Have you personally spoken to Whitesell to garner that opinion of him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I guess. But we had our top assistant leave, then our second top assistant leave. I perceive Whitesell to be like Majerus....an older guy who just doesn't have as much energy as a young assistant. Then Crews comes in and we say it's going to be a one year deal...meaning he won't add anything to recruiting. So that leaves Tony, Hariman and the Majerus name. I don't know much about SLU's recruiting, but I have a fairly decent understanding of the recruiting game and our situation isn't a good one. That is a fact. Yeah, I just don't see how our recruiting is in a "shambles." People were predicting doom and gloom after the departure of Porter. Soon after we landed a kid who signed with UNLV and was holding offers from Big East schools. More recently, just earlier this week HTB was reporting that we were in Minnesota and Indianapolis looking at players (without Jensen). Not sure if Majerus was there, but he has made plenty of these recruiting trips before. It seems like going back to the recruitment of Jordair, he has been up in MN on a regular basis. Recruiting is continuing without Jensen and Moser. We have recruits visiting this weekend and next. Majerus seems to have plenty of his own recruiting connections. He knows his way around Chicago, Wisconsin and Minnesota, plus he seems to have a connection with Notre Dame Prep. And who knows, Crews may introduce Majerus to some new contacts. It is probably nearly impossible to land a hot-shot recruiter at this point, so adding Crews for a year to help with practices, scouting, etc. seems to make some sense. This will buy Majerus some time to evaluate what prosepctive assistants could be available following this season. He could have the opportunity to bring somebody in who has the connections to immediately bring in a couple of quality players. Most importantly, winning this season and going to the NCAA Tourney is the thing that would help recruiting the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 You know what, this is a good move. You get J. Crews in for one year, he and Majerus help to groom Antny Young, then he becomes one of your top assistants/recruiters. A savvy veteran, good coaching background...this can only help our ballclub. Not only that. Think of how well-dressed the team will be when they're walking around campus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I got the impression from some on this Board that Jensen's leaving was a smooth transition and there was even speculation that RM's contacts helped Jensen pull this move off. Reading this brings a different light to the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Yeah, I just don't see how our recruiting is in a "shambles." People were predicting doom and gloom after the departure of Porter. Soon after we landed a kid who signed with UNLV and was holding offers from Big East schools. More recently, just earlier this week HTB was reporting that we were in Minnesota and Indianapolis looking at players (without Jensen). Not sure if Majerus was there, but he has made plenty of these recruiting trips before. It seems like going back to the recruitment of Jordair, he has been up in MN on a regular basis. Recruiting is continuing without Jensen and Moser. We have recruits visiting this weekend and next. Majerus seems to have plenty of his own recruiting connections. He knows his way around Chicago, Wisconsin and Minnesota, plus he seems to have a connection with Notre Dame Prep. And who knows, Crews may introduce Majerus to some new contacts. It is probably nearly impossible to land a hot-shot recruiter at this point, so adding Crews for a year to help with practices, scouting, etc. seems to make some sense. This will buy Majerus some time to evaluate what prosepctive assistants could be available following this season. He could have the opportunity to bring somebody in who has the connections to immediately bring in a couple of quality players. Most importantly, winning this season and going to the NCAA Tourney is the thing that would help recruiting the most. I know we want to put a brave face on it, and in the past Majerus has been able to find recruits when it seemed like it would be hard to do, but our staff currently consists of 3 aging coaches that few would expect to be at SLU in 3-4 years and an Australian. If you are a junior in HS you are looking for a coach, and at the very least a staff, that will be around for 6 years. Throw in that Jenson and Moser likely played a good cop to RM's bad cop routine, its not clear who on this staff will play that role going forward. I've come to the realization over the past 12 months that SLU is "all-in" on these next 2-3 years and what happens after that may indeed be a train wreck. Once you come to terms with it, its easy for an optimist to simply accept it, hope for the best these 3 seasons and worry about the future when it gets here. I'm sure pessimists will have a different take... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 It figures, Willie and I were just discussing this last night and came to the conclusion that Crews was the one guy we didn't want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Not only that. Think of how well-dressed the team will be when they're walking around campus. I was also thinking about the Purple Aces and their sleeves: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I don't know about this. It seems to me with the way kids think today, we'd have been better off going with a posse rather than a crew Maybe we are going to start going after the rowing crowd. We have made inroads in Australia and new Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 What do you base this perception on? Have you personally spoken to Whitesell to garner that opinion of him?I have not. All I know is that he is not young. Please tell me of your personal interactions with him and what he is bringing to the table recruiting wise. Enlighten me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I have not. All I know is that he is not young. Please tell me of your personal interactions with him and what he is bringing to the table recruiting wise. Enlighten me. Oh this is going to be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 To me it sounds like Majerus is upset with the timing of Jensen's departure and given that the week practice starts is not exactly the ideal time to be looking for a new assistant, he put in a call to a friend to get some help for the season. Majerus thinks the world of Crews as an X's and O's guy. This hiring gives him someone he trusts at this late juncture. Crews' past does make me a little leery, but if he's only in this for a year, he could try to keep a low profile. I think this is different than when he was being discussed as Moser's replacement because then he would have been a Bad Cop to back up Majerus' Bad Cop routine. From the little bit I saw from Whitesell in the summer practices, I think he might be more like Moser than Majerus. Not sure how this will affect recruiting. Obviously Jensen was doing some of the recruiting, and if Crews is only in this for 1 year, probably not going to be doing much of the recruiting. Since Tony Young is the DBO, not sure if he can recruit or not. I know when Majerus was sick last year, SLU got a waiver from the NCAA for Young to recruit in Majerus' absence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I never bought the idea that this AJ leaving was OK with RM - I figured he was smart enough to see how this screws up many things. Roy was probably right - AJ hated recruiting so much that he was willing to burn bridges to get out - how he did not know this earlier is beyond me. If memory serves me right - we only have 2 schollies for 2013 - correct? KM, CR and CE so this is not impossible to deal with from a recruiting stand point - just something we did not need now. Crews as a one year fill in will be fine - make lemonade out of lemons thing. My biggest concern when AJ left was who was going to handle the coaching of big men so this kind of works this out for now. My advice would be to hire someone as soon as possible once the season is over and not drag it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 All I can say is I'd rather lose an assistant coach than our two best players one week before practice starts. The Billikens need to win on the court, period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Katz' stuff didn't seem to minch words: "Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus told ESPN.com that he has hired former Army and Evansville coach Jim Crews to replace Alex Jensen as his top assistant. Jensen abruptly left Majerus and the Billikens earlier in the week to work with the D-League team of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The move stunned Majerus, who had been close to Jensen since coaching him at Utah. Majerus was livid with the Cavs for hiring away Jensen now, right before the start of the season. Crews agreed to help him and lend his veteran coaching skills. A one-time Indiana player and assistant under Bob Knight, Crews said he would commit to SLU for the season." Words of concern, to me, are "aberuptly," "stunned," and "livid." I think that shows just where majerus stand with both the Cavs and jensen, thnak you very much. So he got a stop gap which is amplified in the last sentence in "commit ... for the season." Now, could Crews commit longer? Sure, even laws change. I'm going with kshoe on this one .... as in worrying about the future later if only for the fact that we have no control now anyway and anythin gbright in that future is going to have to feed off the unknown of this season and next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Only know the little I have read about this guy, but I don't like this hire at all. I guess all of our recruiting eggs are in the "let's get wins and the kids will follow" basket. If we do well this year, this assistant mess shouldn't be a big issue. If we do poorly, this is going to be a disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I have not. All I know is that he is not young. Please tell me of your personal interactions with him and what he is bringing to the table recruiting wise. Enlighten me. Well, I actually met and spoke with Coach Whitesell at length on the 1st day of the practice sessions for the Canada trip (Essentially HIS 1st day as well). I had a fantastic interaction with him as he seemed incredibly up beat, positive, energetic. During my personal interaction with him, which you have had zero, I found him to be someone who I would think would represent the University well to a potential recruit. After that first day, Whitesell made sure that he acknowledged me on every occasion that I was at practice...again, they type of interaction you would expect from a coach/recruiter. All positives in my opinion...AND energetic. I'm not a recruit, but he paid a bit of attention to me...wonder how that translates on the recruiting trail with someone he's really going after... In your earlier post, you admitted that you " don't know much about SLU's recruiting, but I have a fairly decent understanding of the recruiting game and our situation isn't a good one." Umm..which is it? You claim to not be an expert AND an expert in the same sentence. Your perception about youth seems very out of place since you have apparently not met the man. Oh...and Whitesell is 51. Just to name a few other coaches who are older than Whitesell ( who I assume you think don't have energy in recruiting) John Calipari 52 Tom Izzo 56 Rick Pitino 59 Roy Williams 61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I know we want to put a brave face on it, and in the past Majerus has been able to find recruits when it seemed like it would be hard to do, but our staff currently consists of 3 aging coaches that few would expect to be at SLU in 3-4 years and an Australian. If you are a junior in HS you are looking for a coach, and at the very least a staff, that will be around for 6 years. Throw in that Jenson and Moser likely played a good cop to RM's bad cop routine, its not clear who on this staff will play that role going forward. I've come to the realization over the past 12 months that SLU is "all-in" on these next 2-3 years and what happens after that may indeed be a train wreck. Once you come to terms with it, its easy for an optimist to simply accept it, hope for the best these 3 seasons and worry about the future when it gets here. I'm sure pessimists will have a different take... I get what you are saying. I'm more concerned about the present season than the future. The present looks pretty good to me. We actually have all 13 scholarships accounted for, one recruit committed for next year and possibly the final one this fall with one of the MN kids. It looks like the strongest roster in over a decade. I think the near future (next season) also looks good. We have a strong core of 5 sophomores who will be here three more seasons (McCall, Loe, Jett, Evans and Barnett). Following this season there will be some business items to take care of. We will likely need to find a Crews replacement. Also, something should be done with Majerus' contract. Extend it a year or two or put a plan into action to identify a replacement. Maybe the RM's heir apparent can replace Crews? There is a lot of uncertainty in the future. Things can always change. Who knows how the conference shifts will affect us. The Billiken train can always get derailed by unforeseen events, but I think the near future looks very bright. Alex Jensen leaving doesn't change my outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Katz's report verifies that things are not rosy between Jensen and Majerus. Jerkoff move by Jensen, you can't deny that. Crews helps int eh present. Good Xs and Os. I assume Crews didn't want full time Asst duties anymore, that's why he didn't take the job over the summer. In this role he'll be a practice and bench coach for a year and earn his first paycheck in 2 years. Just to refresh everyone's memory some Andy Katz stories on Crews firing - Army Ad fires Crews & Army Fires crews after 7 seasons I still don't think it was ever cleared up what Crews actually did. Probably wasn't good though. Like another poster said, the Billikens are all in the next 2 seasons. Hopefully we can secure another recruit this weekend for '12 but with only 3 coaches recruiting until the end of the season we are at a disadvantage for the C/O '13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Well, I actually met and spoke with Coach Whitesell at length on the 1st day of the practice sessions for the Canada trip (Essentially HIS 1st day as well). I had a fantastic interaction with him as he seemed incredibly up beat, positive, energetic. During my personal interaction with him, which you have had zero, I found him to be someone who I would think would represent the University well to a potential recruit. After that first day, Whitesell made sure that he acknowledged me on every occasion that I was at practice...again, they type of interaction you would expect from a coach/recruiter. All positives in my opinion...AND energetic. I'm not a recruit, but he paid a bit of attention to me...wonder how that translates on the recruiting trail with someone he's really going after... In your earlier post, you admitted that you " don't know much about SLU's recruiting, but I have a fairly decent understanding of the recruiting game and our situation isn't a good one." Umm..which is it? You claim to not be an expert AND an expert in the same sentence. Your perception about youth seems very out of place since you have apparently not met the man. Oh...and Whitesell is 51. Just to name a few other coaches who are older than Whitesell ( who I assume you think don't have energy in recruiting) John Calipari 52 Tom Izzo 56 Rick Pitino 59 Roy Williams 61 An expert? Never have I claimed to be an expert on this board...much less in recruiting. I am not an insider in SLU's recruiting, but I have an understanding of what recruiting entails. I assume you are just trying to be a smartass with that comment. No problem. Please don't compare coach Whitesell to anybody on that list. 4 hall of famers? Seriously? I have nothing at all against Whitesell and I take it that you think that I do. I have seen his interviews and he seems upbeat, positive and a great ambassador for the program. Hell, Soderberg was the nicest man you could meet, always showed up for his radio show and did charity all over town....but his recruiting pretty much sucked. Whitesell is a retread. If he is our top recruiter, I have concerns. Yes, 51 is not young when it comes to recruiters in 2011. I will take back the word "shambles", but the fact that you cannot even acknowledge that this tremendous lack of continuity in our recruiting efforts is not a major setback is a little ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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