Recruiting - 2013

[Taj79]

My buddy's review of Mr. Yacoubou ....

"Yacoubou - don't know what the deal was. Someone always seems to get in Jay's Doghouse each and every year and ends up transferring out. Personally, I liked the kid's play. he was our best perimeter defender.. Good 3 point shooter. Has great hops too and can board. No clue why he was not used more."

Some things just don't work out .....

[Jrberendzen]

Wherever he ends up going, I think he's going to be a good player. He's got a huge upper body frame for an 18-year-old PG, long arms. He scores in a few different ways and isn't afraid to drive in traffic. It's a shame it doesn't look like it will work out, whatever the real reason.

I think he likes it in California anyway but there are tons of 2014,2015 and 2016 prospects to come so if we keep the scholie it really won't matter that much if we use it for a transfer now. Another reason i think Slu dropped interest is because Ro kept them waiting and waiting.

[Clock_Tower]

to brianstl's comment ----- I agree with Pistol. When the trail of RO started, he was just one of four supposed PG's on the list -- him, Starwberry, Saintil and Knight. Right after his entry into our sweepstakes, DK went away pretty fast to Illinois State. And despite visiting us and having a local connection with Dad in the area, so too did JS. That left HS and RO and all of a sudden, HS is going prep school ala JS. Plus the home visit to RO noted above by Pistol.

I can't say like larry72 that RO became a diva, but it would seem to be believable. RO started with just us and Cal State Fullerton on his list. Then we heard Pitt was in play. Yet Pitt was never listed in connection with RO. Then LSU comes into play. That makes his list per verbalcommits. Then he's off to Tennessee and now Texas Tech. Half of me is hoping we cut bait with this kid if he's stringing us along; the other half of me questins if it is indeed an SAT/eligibility thing. Another half of me says junk him if he's not "into" being a Billiken; the other half says every kid should explore all possibilities before making said decision.

Whatever. Two 50/50 choices here.

Good thoughts. For me, I have really enjoyed the RM method of not coming in second place -- would feel good to junk him. At this point, though, we really don't have much to lose by remaining in the hunt. We have our roster largely in place next year, we landed 4 quality recruits/players this year (3 in the Spring), we are actively pursuing 2014 recruits, will now have 2 years of success/NCAA Tourney (plus an expected third season on the way) and, for the first time in long time, we will immediate playing time to sell to the 2014 recruits. Remember, the 2014 Fall recruits will commit before our new recruits/players will really play and knowing that JJ, MM, DE and RL will all be gone and that while we will have returning talent/these 4 new players, there will be five (5) open starting spots next year.

[The Pelican]

A few things to note re: RO

1. Qualification academically was an issue.

2. Despite his frame, he was a poor ball handler and didn't "light it up" when he practiced with the team.

3. He was not a top priority and we were never waiting for him to accept us.

4. He will likely go to TT if he clears.

5. SLU's love affair with RO was created on this board and was fictional.

We have a few transfers on the radar and don't be surprised if the last scholly gets used. We will likely hear something in late June/July.

2014 will be a special recruiting class. Winning makes all the difference and we can compete with the big boys in the Midwest with our recent accomplishments and facilities. The staff is recruiting full throttle and are making great strides. This fall will be very exciting I am calling it now.

This is a special time for SLU athletics.

[billikens747]

I agree with #5 and most of us are guilty of this.

Going back to Crew's interview early in the spring signing period when he stated that there would be two signees within that week, I wonder who the other player was. Was it RO? Ash Yacoubou?

[Box and Won]

5. SLU's love affair with RO was created on this board and was fictional.

It was real to me, Pelican. It was pure and beautful and I'll never forget it.

[moytoy12]

It was real to me, Pelican. It was pure and beautful and I'll never forget it.

+1

[Tonka]

A few things to note re: RO

1. Qualification academically was an issue.

2. Despite his frame, he was a poor ball handler and didn't "light it up" when he practiced with the team.

3. He was not a top priority and we were never waiting for him to accept us.

4. He will likely go to TT if he clears.

5. SLU's love affair with RO was created on this board and was fictional.

We have a few transfers on the radar and don't be surprised if the last scholly gets used. We will likely hear something in late June/July.

2014 will be a special recruiting class. Winning makes all the difference and we can compete with the big boys in the Midwest with our recent accomplishments and facilities. The staff is recruiting full throttle and are making great strides. This fall will be very exciting I am calling it now.

This is a special time for SLU athletics.

Great info

[Pistol]

A few things to note re: RO

1. Qualification academically was an issue.

2. Despite his frame, he was a poor ball handler and didn't "light it up" when he practiced with the team.

3. He was not a top priority and we were never waiting for him to accept us.

4. He will likely go to TT if he clears.

5. SLU's love affair with RO was created on this board and was fictional.

How do you know? Just wondering what the rest of us were missing.

[kshoe]

How do you know? Just wondering what the rest of us were missing.

I've long viewed pelican as an insider, similar to DALove and SLU72_fan. If he says it, it's probably right.

[jimbofive]

How do you know? Just wondering what the rest of us were missing.

YOU'RE JUST A MESSAGE BOARD MORON. WHY DON'T YOU AND ACE GO SCROUNGE UP 2,500,001 ALUMINUM CANS SO YOU CAN BUY YOURSELF A CLUE!?!?

[Pistol]

YOU'RE JUST A MESSAGE BOARD MORON. WHY DON'T YOU AND ACE GO SCROUNGE UP 2,500,001 ALUMINUM CANS SO YOU CAN BUY YOURSELF A CLUE!?!?

How do you think we pay for our internet access?

[Westy03]

I've long viewed pelican as an insider, similar to DALove and SLU72_fan. If he says it, it's probably right.

I agree. Pelican has a proven track record.

[Box and Won]

How do you think we pay for our internet access?

Li-barry.

[Pistol]

Li-barry.

Wow, didn't even think of that. That is where I get movies and CDs, though. Limit 10 per day. Jerks.

[Pistol]

I agree. Pelican has a proven track record.

I've long viewed pelican as an insider, similar to DALove and SLU72_fan. If he says it, it's probably right.

Yeah, I'm just curious where it comes from. The academic thing seems more recent, we did an in-home visit, programs with bigger budgets were inviting him out after we did, and I never saw that he didn't jibe with the team in workouts. If his visit didn't go well, how was that not mentioned before?

It's been a weird timeline with him, and I've been curious about what was really going on all along. But I didn't see anything that could absolutely confirm anything negative.

I have said before and will admit again that I'm not on any of the pay sites (poor MBM, can collector, libarry user). I just aggregate what I can find on other sources and dump it here.

[WestCoastBilliken]

How do you know? Just wondering what the rest of us were missing.

I know statistically, #1 is definitely correct coming out of Inglewood HS.

[William Iken]

It seemed to me that his recruiting picked up as others went off the board. Scholarships needed to be filled, and he became an option for many. At that point Cal-Fullerton and a few others were ditched in favour of the bright lights of Lubbock and other mystical places. We may have backed off - but it seems not entirely out with the home visit - just when others were starting to contact him and show him love. This, he seems to enjoy. No knowledge here, just following the timeline.

[ACE]

A few things to note re: RO

1. Qualification academically was an issue.

2. Despite his frame, he was a poor ball handler and didn't "light it up" when he practiced with the team.

3. He was not a top priority and we were never waiting for him to accept us.

4. He will likely go to TT if he clears.

5. SLU's love affair with RO was created on this board and was fictional.

We have a few transfers on the radar and don't be surprised if the last scholly gets used. We will likely hear something in late June/July.

2014 will be a special recruiting class. Winning makes all the difference and we can compete with the big boys in the Midwest with our recent accomplishments and facilities. The staff is recruiting full throttle and are making great strides. This fall will be very exciting I am calling it now.

This is a special time for SLU athletics.

Some people saw his highlight video of his steals and uncontested dunks and fell in love. VTime would have loved it. The fact that seemingly no decent programs on the West Coast were interested in him raised some red flags with me. Now a few low level BCS programs scrounging to fill scholarships have expressed interest in him late in the game, but that doesn't change much. We will have AY and AB ready for 2014 and I am confident that we will be able to add a couple more guards in the Class of 2014 better than Randy.

[kshoe]

Yeah, I'm just curious where it comes from. The academic thing seems more recent, we did an in-home visit, programs with bigger budgets were inviting him out after we did, and I never saw that he didn't jibe with the team in workouts. If his visit didn't go well, how was that not mentioned before?

It's been a weird timeline with him, and I've been curious about what was really going on all along. But I didn't see anything that could absolutely confirm anything negative.

I have said before and will admit again that I'm not on any of the pay sites (poor MBM, can collector, libarry user). I just aggregate what I can find on other sources and dump it here.

Here is what I believe to be a plausible explanation:

- He comes on the visit. It goes OK but not great as he doesn't wow us. However, at the time we have only filled two schollys (Crawford and Reggie) and we need bodies as we know Drew will be opening up soon. Some transfers like the Indiana kid aren't even available yet.

- We go out to California to visit him (and maybe Tanner at the same time). We tell him that we need an answer soon, otherwise we need to move on. He won't commit at that point and starts the process of visiting Miami OH, Tenn Tech, LSU, etc.

- We no longer recruit him at that point but we never state that (we never state anything about recruiting) and Randy O doesn't want to tweet that.

- This board interprets silence as continued interest, when in reality we haven't been recruiting him for over a month.

That's my take.

[billiken_roy]

i thought the telling point was when randy tweeted he was retaking the test. i.e. we werent going to sign a potential academic casualty and tie up a roster spot needlessly. it would have been foolish to do so and i could see a scenario where when the research was done that showed he wasnt qualified we "moved on". may have let him know "when you pass, let us know we would be happy to talk then".

[DoctorB]

it all sounds about what I've heard myself. a few additional comments:

6. I know this new regime is not interested in getting burned any more over academics.

7. I know from talking to players, they get a pretty good sense of a kid on a visit, and how they will both play and fit into the culture of the program. This feedback is simply invaluable to the coaching staff. Just to give one example, many people have said how impressed they are with RA, just as a kid, not a player only. That really matters to this administration, guys.

8. This board has indeed been desperate for a PG; but I believe if you go back and check you will find somewhere a post where I mentioned it seemed evident they had cut loose form RO; don't feel like looking it up but it was a few weeks back I think... my sense is (not inside source) we pulled the offer at some point.

9. I know there are at least a couple other transfer possibilities; not sure about the foreign options though. I know the final scholly will be tapped; one way or the other...

10. If somehow a new player is not brought in, a one-year scholly could be extended to someone like Sean Duff, which has happened here in the recent past, like with Daniel Lisch. Duff has improved and can play at this level, btw. if you look it up you might be surp[rised at the level of success he had coming into college. I believe he was nominated for the McDonalds game, for instance; and he won a Missouri state championship too, I think with Borgia.

11. White Pelican obviously has contact with players or others in the program. This post is one of the most knowledgeable on here for a while. It's probably a sign of serious dysfunction that I (and you, dear readers) keep checking this thread, which may be approaching Guinness world record length--desperate for more news, more bodies on the team. o well....

FINALLY: I think some of you ought to by me a cold beverage; cuz if you check you will notice I have hit the 1000th post on here!! I am on my way to the promised land of BiilkenRoy-like numbers. If you want to pay up, pm me and we can head out to Civil Life.

A few things to note re: RO

1. Qualification academically was an issue.
2. Despite his frame, he was a poor ball handler and didn't "light it up" when he practiced with the team.
3. He was not a top priority and we were never waiting for him to accept us.
4. He will likely go to TT if he clears.
5. SLU's love affair with RO was created on this board and was fictional.

We have a few transfers on the radar and don't be surprised if the last scholly gets used. We will likely hear something in late June/July.

[billiken_roy]

doc b i am looking over my shoulder and see you coming on strong! congratulations. one thing is for sure, your 1000 posts are all solid and i for one enjoy your thoughts about our billikens.

[drkelsey55]

DoctorB is like EF Hutton everyone listens when he speaks!

[White Pelican]

it all sounds about what I've heard myself. a few additional comments:

6. I know this new regime is not interested in getting burned any more over academics.

7. I know from talking to players, they get a pretty good sense of a kid on a visit, and how they will both play and fit into the culture of the program. This feedback is simply invaluable to the coaching staff. Just to give one example, many people have said how impressed they are with RA, just as a kid, not a player only. That really matters to this administration, guys.

8. This board has indeed been desperate for a PG; but I believe if you go back and check you will find somewhere a post where I mentioned it seemed evident they had cut loose form RO; don't feel like looking it up but it was a few weeks back I think... my sense is (not inside source) we pulled the offer at some point.

9. I know there are at least a couple other transfer possibilities; not sure about the foreign options though. I know the final scholly will be tapped; one way or the other...

10. If somehow a new player is not brought in, a one-year scholly could be extended to someone like Sean Duff, which has happened here in the recent past, like with Daniel Lisch. Duff has improved and can play at this level, btw. if you look it up you might be surp[rised at the level of success he had coming into college. I believe he was nominated for the McDonalds game, for instance; and he won a Missouri state championship too, I think with Borgia.

11. The Pelican obviously has contact with players or others in the program. This post is one of the most knowledgeable on here for a while. It's probably a sign of serious dysfunction that I (and you, dear readers) keep checking this thread, which may be approaching Guinness world record length--desperate for more news, more bodies on the team. o well....

FINALLY: I think some of you ought to by me a cold beverage; cuz if you check you will notice I have hit the 1000th post on here!! I am on my way to the promised land of BiilkenRoy-like numbers. If you want to pay up, pm me and we can head out to Civil Life.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Fixed the above for you. Just to be clear, I, WHITE Pelican am a message board moron. NO connections of ANY kind. THE Pelican is apparently an insider. Just making things clear.