Rick Majerus Court

[GOSLU68]

Everyone forgets Bob Ferry who starred with Knickerbockers in NBA; he and Easy Ed are the real gems of the program.

Ed was All American and MVP in the NBA- no one else will ever do better

[bonwich]

I'm shocked Roy has remained silent the past couple of days except to say the reaction to Majerus is "over the top." With that said, I'd agree w/ the practice arena, but Spoonhour and Ed need to be recognized first. Grawer? Possibly. Romar? Get out of here, Roy.

Box's comment could actually develop into a really funny thread. What else can we name in remembrance of players?

Horace Dixon's Study Room?

Tom Thomas' Lawn.

[Jerram]

Very interesting discussion guys.... In short, I'll say that the honor should fit the man...

I really like the idea of the practice court being named after RickMa. The reason I don't think its low rent is because anyone who understands the kind of coach he was understands the connection. It will stand as a daily reminder to players for a generation to come as to why practice/preparation is so important. "We talkin bout practice?!" - dam straight A.I. (Now THAT would be funny, if the 76ers named their practice court after Iverson...HA!)

I think it would also be nice if the University named a student-athlete study hall in his honor. I don't know if one exists but clearly that would honor his legacy in a more holistic way (how Jesuit!).

I agree that its hard to know Majerus' impact at this point. And its hard to get around the fact that he was only here for a few years. Fairly or unfairly, the next coach will affect his legacy somewhat too. I was at SLU from 92-97 (including Grad School), smack dab in the Spoonball era. He is certainly someone who'd get more credit for being the foundation of renewed excellence if things hadn't crapped out after him for a few years. Is that his fault? Could he really have done more? What if Larry Hughes decided to stay another year? That single decision may have really made a difference to this program - can't really blame Spoon. Honestly, I personally haven't followed college hoops long enough to know what really defines a coach as "the one" who turned it around or "built it". I'd love to see Spoon honored too, but I struggle in trying to weigh their respective contributions to this program. Therefore, its difficult to think of this discussion from the standpoint of "the more important you are to the program, the bigger the honor you should get".

For awhile I was sympathetic to the idea that the Cardinals could retire Willie McGee's number. Not because he was one of the best Cardinal players ever, but because he was a very, very good Cardinal that the fans adored, felt they could relate to, and it was great to see him come back at the end of his career and do well. Now I think he should be honored, I just don't know that number retirement is most appropriate. But, the point is, maybe they can find something that exemplifies the qualities that make him loved. I'd like to see the same thing for Majerus....

[bauman]

Sorry, to try to bring this thread back to some reality from my viewpoint, but here are a few things which I believe to be facts-some positive and some negative about the RM era at SLU:

-we were lucky to have been able to convince him to come to SLU at a time when the program could fairly be described as drifting along.

-he was without a doubt the biggest name star we have ever had as a HC-a rock star

-the man could coach. I would take him against any other coach with the same players

-his name alone allowed him to bring in recruits that SLU would likely not have been able to sign with any other coach

HOWEVER,

-in my opinion he is not leaving the program in as good of shape as many of you think. The quality of his last 2 recruiting classes was significantly inferior to what is now the JR and SR class players. I do not look forward to 2 years from now when the program is led by 1 of the 2 MAC quality recruits Rick has recently signed. Additionally, I am less than excited by a front court whose upperclassmen consist of GG and JM. Basicaslly, I see these last couple of recruiting classes as a big drop off from the excitement we felt when we were able to land KM, DE and CE. Granted, if RM has remained as HC he might very well have been able to coach these guys up, but none of them bring to the table skills like BC, KM CE or even RL, who at least shows the potential to be a really good player. I have intentionally not referred to KC or JD, however what I have seen of KC is less then I expected from the advance raves (by the way Steve, the roster on the Billikens.com roster page shows him as 6'10") and it is not an encouraging sign that we felt JD was not ready to play this year. Hopefully, both turn out to be of the quality of KM and DE.

On balance, I am glad we were able to be led by RM for the past few years and he certainly gave the program and fans many great moments, but I think we need to keep it in perspective. As someone else said in this thread, his contribution to the program will be better appraised in 2-3 more years.

[RiseAndGrind]

nm

[3Bill]

Batman - I completely disagree. First of all who are the Mac quality recruits Rick signed?

I foresee pretty nice lineups for the next few years, good enough that this team should attract some qualified coaches.

2013-14 - manning, loe, Evans, Jett, McCall. Bench- mcbroom, carter, glaze, drew, Crawford

2014-15 - manning, glaze, drew, carter, mcbroom. Bench- Crawford ??

Bottom line is next year looks promising and there's a strong base for the following year. The recruiting class to replace Jett, Evans, loe and McCall will have to be good but if u bring in 4-5 guys - which a strong recruiter should be able to do, then we're looking good. Sure could have been better had rm not gotten sick and been recruiting but still looking much better than what he walked into

Sorry, to try to bring this thread back to some reality from my viewpoint, but here are a few things which I believe to be facts-some positive and some negative about the RM era at SLU:

-we were lucky to have been able to convince him to come to SLU at a time when the program could fairly be described as drifting along.

-he was without a doubt the biggest name star we have ever had as a HC-a rock star

-the man could coach. I would take him against any other coach with the same players

-his name alone allowed him to bring in recruits that SLU would likely not have been able to sign with any other coach

HOWEVER,

-in my opinion he is not leaving the program in as good of shape as many of you think. The quality of his last 2 recruiting classes was significantly inferior to what is now the JR and SR class players. I do not look forward to 2 years from now when the program is led by 1 of the 2 MAC quality recruits Rick has recently signed. Additionally, I am less than excited by a front court whose upperclassmen consist of GG and JM. Basicaslly, I see these last couple of recruiting classes as a big drop off from the excitement we felt when we were able to land KM, DE and CE. Granted, if RM has remained as HC he might very well have been able to coach these guys up, but none of them bring to the table skills like BC, KM CE or even RL, who at least shows the potential to be a really good player. I have intentionally not referred to KC or JD, however what I have seen of KC is less then I expected from the advance raves (by the way Steve, the roster on the Billikens.com roster page shows him as 6'10") and it is not an encouraging sign that we felt JD was not ready to play this year. Hopefully, both turn out to be of the quality of KM and DE.

On balance, I am glad we were able to be led by RM for the past few years and he certainly gave the program and fans many great moments, but I think we need to keep it in perspective. As someone else said in this thread, his contribution to the program will be better appraised in 2-3 more years.

[Tonka]

Sorry, to try to bring this thread back to some reality from my viewpoint, but here are a few things which I believe to be facts-some positive and some negative about the RM era at SLU:

-we were lucky to have been able to convince him to come to SLU at a time when the program could fairly be described as drifting along.

-he was without a doubt the biggest name star we have ever had as a HC-a rock star

-the man could coach. I would take him against any other coach with the same players

-his name alone allowed him to bring in recruits that SLU would likely not have been able to sign with any other coach

HOWEVER,

-in my opinion he is not leaving the program in as good of shape as many of you think. The quality of his last 2 recruiting classes was significantly inferior to what is now the JR and SR class players. I do not look forward to 2 years from now when the program is led by 1 of the 2 MAC quality recruits Rick has recently signed. Additionally, I am less than excited by a front court whose upperclassmen consist of GG and JM. Basicaslly, I see these last couple of recruiting classes as a big drop off from the excitement we felt when we were able to land KM, DE and CE. Granted, if RM has remained as HC he might very well have been able to coach these guys up, but none of them bring to the table skills like BC, KM CE or even RL, who at least shows the potential to be a really good player. I have intentionally not referred to KC or JD, however what I have seen of KC is less then I expected from the advance raves (by the way Steve, the roster on the Billikens.com roster page shows him as 6'10") and it is not an encouraging sign that we felt JD was not ready to play this year. Hopefully, both turn out to be of the quality of KM and DE.

On balance, I am glad we were able to be led by RM for the past few years and he certainly gave the program and fans many great moments, but I think we need to keep it in perspective. As someone else said in this thread, his contribution to the program will be better appraised in 2-3 more years.

Bauman, I disagree somewhat.

Let's not forget that DE was not the highlight of that class. Few of us were singing little praise of DE and MM was getting most of the attention. DE came on stronger than most expected. The red shirting of JD may have been strategic as well. Without anybody out recruiting hard with only an interim Coach, having JD as a red shirt freshman next year will be nice. In the limited time I saw of JD, I really liked what I saw. We red shirted him like a lot of good programs do - allow him to grow and get stronger.

RM said JM will be a very good big. I think we all forget that RM also said that JM will take a few years. I expect JM at worst to be a decent big.

In two years, Carter will be a junior. This is the kid that RM said is the best guard he's recruited at SLU so far. If you look at MM, JJ, and KM and he says that about KC - I am excited.

RM also got McGroom to transfer here. In two years, McGroom will be a junior. McGroom made MAC all freshman honors and averaged 11 points a game and almost 3 assists, while shooting 42% from three his freshman year. I'll take that.

Did RM leave us Duke caliber players - nope. But, no other Coach in the Billiken modern era left a team like this.

[RiseAndGrind]

nm

[RiseAndGrind]

Bauman, I disagree somewhat.

Let's not forget that DE was not the highlight of that class. Few of us were singing little praise of DE and MM was getting most of the attention. DE came on stronger than most expected. The red shirting of JD may have been strategic as well. Without anybody out recruiting hard with only an interim Coach, having JD as a red shirt freshman next year will be nice. In the limited time I saw of JD, I really liked what I saw. We red shirted him like a lot of good programs do - allow him to grow and get stronger.

RM said JM will be a very good big. I think we all forget that RM also said that JM will take a few years. I expect JM at worst to be a decent big.

In two years, Carter will be a junior. This is the kid that RM said is the best guard he's recruited at SLU so far. If you look at MM, JJ, and KM and he says that about KC - I am excited.

RM also got McGroom to transfer here. In two years, McGroom will be a junior. McGroom made MAC all freshman honors and averaged 11 points a game and almost 3 assists, while shooting 42% from three his freshman year. I'll take that.

Did RM leave us Duke caliber players - nope. But, no other Coach in the Billiken modern era left a team like this.

+1

[cheeseman]

There are windows from the concourse overlooking the practice court. Their could be some kind of designation there which would be seen by anyone walking around.

As far as him not deserving it, I guess you could say that ... does Daryl Kile deserve a mention anywhere from the Cards? RM is, I want to say an iconic coach in the history of the game, but iconic is probably too strong. Neither Spoon nor Romar have or had the status of RM throughout the basketball world. He was the current head coach of the Bills coming off of one of the best seasons for the Bills in the last 50 years when he got sick and passed.

Most people never ever walk by the practice facility but everybody does go into the arena. I am not saying we should name something after him but if we do it should be something that really does tribute to him not something nobody will ever see. The one thing that is different about RM from Spoon and Romar is that they both moved on to other jobs and RM died as our head coach - i know he took a leave and then actually resigned but those are only technicalities - had he not gotten sick he would have been here.

[Box and Won]

Horace Dixon's Study Room?

The Horace Dixon Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Want to Learn to Do Other Things Good Too.

[Taj79]

I don't believe roy said anything about naming anything for Romar, he just pointed out that Romar and Majerus made exactly the same number of Dances ---- one. I might also offer that Grawer left Spoon a nice little duo in Claggs and Hmark when he went out the door. Is that the same as now? Probably not. But short of that, Spoon's greatest legacy was getting Hughes here for one and done. I think it speaks volumes to the lack of substance in this program that we are talking about Majerus ( to some an interloper) in the same vein as Grawer (savior to many) and Ferry and MacCauley (when dinosaurs roamed the earth).

The kids left seem to have come here to play for this legendary coach. What else is there to play for here? The so-called foundation created by Douglas/Gray/Bonner crumbled only to be reborn by Claggs/Hmark/H. Then it was crumbling until the Legend arrived; then it and he were one and done. Then it fell on to the broad shoulders of Majerus who I believe used his sizable rep to get the kids he wanted and knew that in order to become competitive and be in it every night, they all had to buy in to his system and make it work. We saw that last year. I still believe that his death notwithstanding, he was gone this year because he and Biondi could not co-exist. And what a way to go out ---- resurrecting a brain-dead program, making it a winner despite internal issues, and moving on, legend intact and amplified. My focus on sustainability is still unresolved. Obviously, it does not appear to be Crews or Whitesell.

Next year does not appear to be much of an issue if we open with Loe, Evans, McCall, and Jett. What I don't like about that is that we obviously need a fifth starter and I prefer JJ off the bench. JJ is still not an offensive option to me right now. To those who still believe Manning and Glaze are going to come on and "get it," I say we'll see. Majerus said a lot of good things about Manning true,but without RM there to teach him what he knew, will it come to fruition? Good news in that the jury is still out on that and could come home a winner. Glaze? Have no clue -- just not enough in term sof a body of evidence. Carter and Drew had high preseason praise so there is still time to see that develops into. I am still skeptical on McBroom only because of what I have seen from our other MAC transfer.

Locally, the Orioles, who had not had a winning record in 14 years and did not expect to make this year's playoffs (but did), ran a once-a-month promotion where they unveiled bronze statues in the centerfield court for each of their hall-of-famers. Palmer. Weaver. Brooks Robinson. Frank Robinson. Eddie Murray. Why not do something similar for Billiken basketball? Create a Hall of Fame. Induct one guy a month for the duration of the season. Start with Easy Ed. You coudl easily include Ferry. Harry Rogers. Monroe. Larry. Grawer and so on. I don't think you start with Rick but he's in there. Spoon? Maybe. Romar? No way.

I believe that, in a way, Rick's illness gave the University an out. I really don't believe they were going to rehire him or extend him and it was going to be a messy divorce --- reality-wise or perception-wise. I think he had had enough of the good father and vice-a-versa. Guys like Bernie and Burwell would have been like "what the hell were you thinking,Larry?" I have long called Saint Louis University a "graveyard" for coaches. Rick's death takes that to a whole, new and likely uncalled for level.

The man was truly a basketball genius. I'd like to see a picture of him and the telltale black sweater promitnently in Chaifetz' main entrance. His history here was unfortunately too short to emulate "Coach K court" or "the Dean Smith Center."

[billiken_roy]

well said mr taj.

[MB73]

Agree with Taj, though miffed at Roy's cold approach to all of this with RM.

Romar does not belong in any conversation about honoring Billiken coaches. Majerus, Spoon, Grawer, that is it, maybe another from the OLD days, but not Romar.

It is a shame that it takes a death for this board to try to get SLU to even think this way. There should be something honoring Spoon and Grawer and now Majerus at Chaifetz. Not the name of the court, but something, name something after them, hang something from the rafters, a glass booth with photos-black turtle neck-memorabelia. Whatever. And Easy Ed, the legend, a symbol, sure from long, long ago, who also rather recently passed, again, a statue was offered for FREE, rejected. WTF? Maybe a few other modern era players should be considered.

The Athletic Dept, they can't they figure this out? A culture of tradition. Woefully lacking. It took the death of a current HOF coach to even think this way.

[Deutschkind]

The Milwaukee Brewers (sorry Cardinals fans, I'm from Wisconsin) have a Walk of Fame around the outside of Miller Park. Statues of Aaron and Yount, plaques of other important people. Something like that could work, either in the path around Chaifetz or around the concourse. They already have something up of the Doctor, so why not Majerus, Grawer, Spoon, McCauley and everyone else?

[Billiken Rich]

The Milwaukee Brewers (sorry Cardinals fans, I'm from Wisconsin) have a Walk of Fame around the outside of Miller Park. Statues of Aaron and Yount, plaques of other important people. Something like that could work, either in the path around Chaifetz or around the concourse. They already have something up of the Doctor, so why not Majerus, Grawer, Spoon, McCauley and everyone else?

Seems like the good father might know a few people that do outdoor sculptures.......

[cheeseman]

This is the first time I actually heard this from what I would consider a creditable source - Bernie M has been doing a tribute all week to RM and he just finished talking about how Father Biondi was not going to renew RM's contract after this year. If that had actually happened, given all the problems Biondi is having already I would imagine that there would have been an all out revolt of athletic donors and I would have been right up front carrying my pitchfork.

[ACE]

Miklasz is talking about this subject right now on the radio. He guess is that he thinks the Athletic Dept. would like to do something in the building, but with the "King of Midtown" (Biondi) who knows. Look at the way Biondi bungled the Easy Ed statue.

He is having what he is calling "Majerus Week" on his shows this week. Another added benefit was that RM's presence changed the perception of the program among many local media and "casual" fans. Having RM showed that we were not small-time, which was a common perception. How many times in the past did people on this board complain about people like Bernie not showing the program respect. As far as local media, Bernie felt like RM was a lot better to them here than Utah. RM certainly went on every two-bit radio station in town. RM also changed the perception of the program nationally.

[White Pelican]

This is the first time I actually heard this from what I would consider a creditable source - Bernie M has been doing a tribute all week to RM and he just finished talking about how Father Biondi was not going to renew RM's contract after this year. If that had actually happened, given all the problems Biondi is having already I would imagine that there would have been an all out revolt of athletic donors and I would have been right up front carrying my pitchfork.

I have no connections to SLU, just been a basketball fan for a long time. As Rich Grawer used to say, if you want to watch Division I basketball, we're the only game in town. (Yeah, I know, SIUE now, but still...)

But as an outsider admittedly thinking of a successful basketball program, I think SLU is long overdue for a new boss. I don't understand why other Jesuit schools can have successful programs while still maintaining academic integrity and we can't. And Larry seems to have all kinds of problems unrelated to sports now too.

[OkieBilliken]

I am not a huge supporter of Biondi, but I do think the athletic department is successful and has a great deal of academic integrity. I think we won every Conference USA academic award that ever was presented and we continue to churn out student athletes that we should all be very proud of.

I was a big fan of RM, however I think his behavior was questionable on numerous occasions. I think his constant droning that we were in the wrong conference was pathetic. He should have resigned if it was a bad as he went on about. His vocal poltiical views were also I believe inappropriate.

Despite that fact that he seemed like an all around great guy, unlike some of his predecessors, I never got the sense that he was much of a salesman for the program as much as for himself. I would not categorize the Majerus era as an unqualified success. The upside was great though.

[JMM28]

How about that except screw Mizzou and Illinois.

4 teams. Round robin. SLU, Utah, Ball State, Marquette.

Matt Norlander stole my idea. http://cbsprt.co/TKPd7K

[jbizzle09]

I am not a huge supporter of Biondi, but I do think the athletic department is successful and has a great deal of academic integrity. I think we won every Conference USA academic award that ever was presented and we continue to churn out student athletes that we should all be very proud of.

I was a big fan of RM, however I think his behavior was questionable on numerous occasions. I think his constant droning that we were in the wrong conference was pathetic. He should have resigned if it was a bad as he went on about. His vocal poltiical views were also I believe inappropriate.

Despite that fact that he seemed like an all around great guy, unlike some of his predecessors, I never got the sense that he was much of a salesman for the program as much as for himself. I would not categorize the Majerus era as an unqualified success. The upside was great though.

Can you at least wait until after the funeral to crap on the guy? Sheesh.

[billikenfan05]

I am not a huge supporter of Biondi, but I do think the athletic department is successful and has a great deal of academic integrity. I think we won every Conference USA academic award that ever was presented and we continue to churn out student athletes that we should all be very proud of.

I was a big fan of RM, however I think his behavior was questionable on numerous occasions. I think his constant droning that we were in the wrong conference was pathetic. He should have resigned if it was a bad as he went on about. His vocal poltiical views were also I believe inappropriate.

Despite that fact that he seemed like an all around great guy, unlike some of his predecessors, I never got the sense that he was much of a salesman for the program as much as for himself. I would not categorize the Majerus era as an unqualified success. The upside was great though.

Fuok. Off.

[JettFlight5]

Fuok. Off.

I better buy some lottery tickets. I agreed with NH and 05 in the same night.

[jimbofive]

Fuok. Off.

HATE.