Recruiting - 2016

[NH]

In addition to really liking the guys coming in next year, I also love where they are from. Recruits in Chicago, Peoria, Memphis, and Texas are seeing that guys from their town or state are choosing SLU. That's gotta help recruiting in the future.

How is this any different than years past?

People from Illinois, Memphis & Texas commit to tons of D1 schools every year. I doubt us landing one of them is going to change our view in a lot of future recruits.

The only real important factor is that we've made the tournament the last three years. We've gotten our name on the map. That's what it all comes down to.

[VeniceMenace]

Just win baby

[cgeldmacher]

How is this any different than years past?

People from Illinois, Memphis & Texas commit to tons of D1 schools every year. I doubt us landing one of them is going to change our view in a lot of future recruits.

The only real important factor is that we've made the tournament the last three years. We've gotten our name on the map. That's what it all comes down to.

I think all factors come into the equation. Certainly success and making the tournament drives recruiting the most. However, when kids from high profile high schools in Memphis and Chicago come to SLU, it cannot help but grease the wheels a bit for more players from those high schools and those towns.

[milwaukeebill]

Justin Tatum wad just on 920. Anyone hear the interview? I only caught the end

[brianstl]

Justin Tatum wad just on 920. Anyone hear the interview? I only caught the end

.

He said he was really proud of what they accomplished at CBC this season. Talked about playing at SLU and how much fun it was playing for his hometown. Talked about how much fun the Mizzou series was. Talked about his upcoming basketball camps. Stated he really stresses the fundamentals at these camps. Said Larry will be cohosting one with him and will be bringing Larry's buddies from his NBA days in for it. Said it was strange to coach against his son

Oh wait, you probably want to know about this........ He half joked half seriously said that you may still see Jayson play on a team his dad is coaching one day. Said he wants Jayson to go to SLU, but it is up to him to choose the best fit for him. Said both SLU and Mizzou have failed to make top local talent feel that they want them as bad as the big boy programs in the past. Stated in make no sense that guys like Cal, Donnovan, Self, Roy, etc made it to more of these kids games in the past than the Mizzou or SLU head coaches. Said he wasn't so much talking about Crews as he is really just starting at SLU. said it has been a big problem for years at both programs. Stated that SLU needs to sell itself as the hometown basketball program to these kids. Let them know what an honor and important thing it is to represent your hometown. Said that was huge to him and Larry.

I thought he came off great in the interview.

[kshoe]

Justin Tatum wad just on 920. Anyone hear the interview? I only caught the end

I caught most of it. Just did a 3 minute search for a link to it but couldn't find one. Definitely an interesting listen if someone can find it and it had good and bad depending on your general outlook on things.

He started by saying he didn't feel that Mizzou and SLU were recruiting locally enough and that he even saw that with Jayson as other schools were working harder for him. Burwell expressed amazement at that and he backed off a bit saying that was really more previous regimes lack of recruiting in STL, etc. They then talked about his group and how they all made the decision to attend SLU together. Near the end Justin joked that Jayson would make the final decision but that he definitely wanted him to go to SLU. Rammer joked that everyone knew where his vote would be.

My take was that he does think, to some extent, that we aren't putting in the same effort that the national schools are and even if its b.s. and we are working just as hard as the other schools, we need to step up our face time, etc. If UNC shows up to 3 practices, we need to show up to 4. In some ways we likely get punished for being local because anytime a national coach makes a special trip to visit STL its deemed as more impressive then if we drive down highway 40 to see Chaminade.

With only 1 more scholly to give in 2015 and 2 for 2016 there really should be no excuse for being outworked at this point. We have the available time to spend. Hopefully our coaches will catch wind of the interview and make adjustments as necessary.

[Duff Man]

http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTLcom/RadioShows/TheDriveHome/tabid/319/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/13052/The-Drive-Home-50714.aspx

[Schasz]

Hopefully, Coach Crews and his staff do all they can in recruiting not only Jayson but any other St. Louis area players who can help the Bills program. I would say not only attending their games but showing up at practice as often as NCAA rules allow.

[JettFlight5]

Did SLU seriously recruit guys like Beal and Lee? In the reaction, Rammer talks about some targeting of recruits...I don't know the backstories on some of the great local talent that left.

[slu72]

Did SLU seriously recruit guys like Beal and Lee? In the reaction, Rammer talks about some targeting of recruits...I don't know the backstories on some of the great local talent that left.

While this is only speculation, it seems the Mickey D types from St.L had their sights set a lot higher than SLU. Of course some of those we're not in the Fetz era, so we were selling used Pintos while the BCS'ers were selling Corvettes. Do recall that Romar put an all out blitz for WC kids, but UB seemed a little more zeroed in on locals. RM, it seemed, would express interest, but if the kid didn't respond in kind, he'd move on to plan B quickly. Whereas, UB would ask his plan B's to wait for an offer, while he waited for the 5 star to make his decision, ie Grimes and Shaw. This didn't work well for him as he didn't land the high flyers, save for Lidell and Lisch, and ended up hustling for Plan D types just to fill the roster. Hopefully, JC turns this around and we get a few local stars to stay home.

[cheeseman]

I know we have heard this - SLU does not recruit the local kids - theme for a long time. I have some first hand knowledge of this situation and know that some local coaches would prefer to place their kids at high profile programs - it makes them look good but I can not help wondering why would all these coaches we have had not wanted to recruit local kids - it makes no sense to me. ( by the way, I knew some local coaches who liked their kids going to high profile programs so they could get things like tix to the NCAA finals - one coach even told me that when he retired, none of them would return his calls anymore) I wonder if the real issue was that the kids did not express enough interest early on in SLU when the coaches first contacted them. While I understand that taking a no or very luke warm reception should not be the end of it initially I do think at some point coaches have to prioritize their time - their time is not infinite - so after a few conversations of not being overly encouraged the coach finally says ok I have to go fish somewhere else - is this really the fault of the coach? Also, I know that local coaches work hard to get their kids placed somewhere especially the ones who are not #1s - those kids take care of themselves - so when they call around asking coaches to come see a kid or look at the tape and the college coach does but is not overly sold on the kid then the high school coach says the school does not recruit local talent hard enough. Perspective is everything. Yes we also know that there were local kids who did want to go to SLU but the coaches either misjudged or the kid did not have the grades to make pursing him worthwhile - everybody can make a mistake. We know Brad S. was notorious for being slow to pull the trigger on local kids and under evaluating talent so I buy that he probably did screw up. However, we know Romar worked hard locally on the top kids but got nothing to show for it, RM would try but his philosophy was the worse thing that could happen would be to come in second on a kid so he moved on quickly if things were not heating up, Spoon was not a avid recruiter so local kids would have been right up his alley - no travel and easy access but he was not that successful either, and Grawer worked the local scene hard and he had some success ultimately but the administration foiled him at times. My point is I think SLU has recruited local kids but kids who do not express a realistic interest early on tend to cause the coach to move on. As many told STLHoop just because the kid is local does not mean we have to take sub talent. We all know that StL produces 2-3 top level recruits a year - yes sometime it is a kid or two more but on average - so the pool is not really deep and we all know that we can not win big with mid to low level D1 talent only on the team so of course the coaches have had to cast a wider net. I know that the connection the Tatum kid has to SLU is big and so I am sure he has left the door open for us but we all know that kids do what kids do and not necessarily what others want so all we can do is keep our fingers crossed.

[slufanskip]

In todays world if a HS coach has to call a college coach and inform him of his player ... the player probably isn't good enough to play for SLU.

[SLURadioBoy]

Justin said in the interview that he's pushing for SLU...although not too hard. Rumors say that his mom really wants him to go to SLU. His Godfather is Larry Hughes. Isn't his AAU coach Corey Frazier? Hopefully the family connection to the school will outweigh the bright lights of Duke, UNC and Kentucky.

[Dwayne's_World]

The coaching staff needs to just sit down with FBJT, look him in the eyes, and ask him if he wants to be just another typical one and done at a big boy school or if he wants to become a local legend playing basketball for the hometown team. One path would leave him with really no legacy whatsover, while the other path would make him a star at SLU. Imagine all of the family/friends/ or just casual basketball fans coming out to the Fetz to see one of the best basketball talents this city has ever produced...

[SLURadioBoy]

Justin basically also said that it doesn't matter which school you go, the NBA will find you and going to SLU didn't hurt Larry's stock at all. Hopefully that message is getting through to Jayson.

[sludevil]

The coaching staff needs to just sit down with FBJT, look him in the eyes, and ask him if he wants to be just another typical one and done at a big boy school or if he wants to become a local legend playing basketball for the hometown team. One path would leave him with really no legacy whatsover, while the other path would make him a star at SLU. Imagine all of the family/friends/ or just casual basketball fans coming out to the Fetz to see one of the best basketball talents this city has ever produced...

This. SLU can offer a legacy/hometown hero angle that national programs just can't, which is going to be crucial when up against the bright lights and big budgets of the Kentuckys and Dukes of the world. It sounds like we already have an in with the parents (which is half the battle), but we need to continue putting on the full court press with Tatum - going to all his games, frequently texting/calling, etc. - from now until the day he commits.

[jimbofive]

Justin basically also said that it doesn't matter which school you go, the NBA will find you and going to SLU didn't hurt Larry's stock at all. Hopefully that message is getting through to Jayson.

HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE

[slu72]

I hope we land him. That said, the bright lights of the schools mentioned above, and don't forget FL since Billy the Kid has had success in ST.L, will be difficult to overcome. One would think Cheney and the Legend must know each other from their NBA days and could put a bit of a press on him to attend SLU. His dad sounds like he'd like to see him play here, and, maybe even land an AC job in the process. His mom sounds like she wants him to stay at home and some have said they're pretty close. So, we definitely have some positives going for us. My concern is he'll look at the A10 and think, mid major vs ACC, SEC, Big10, etc. Remember when the Legend and that class came here, we were in CUSA which was a top 4 conference at the time. This is where being in the Beast would be extremely given all the stay at home thoughts he seems to be receiving from those around him, but at this point that seems to be a pipe dream. Still, am sure the staff will be all over him until they get a definitive "no way", or he just up and verbals/commits someplace else.

[Westy03]

Justin said in the interview that he's pushing for SLU...although not too hard. Rumors say that his mom really wants him to go to SLU. His Godfather is Larry Hughes. Isn't his AAU coach Corey Frazier? Hopefully the family connection to the school will outweigh the bright lights of Duke, UNC and Kentucky.

Maurice Jeffers helps train him along with Frazier so there is another SLU connection

[For-DaLove]

I'll say it again, we should be considered the favorite to land him. Also, the staff is working very hard to get him

[ACE]

Maurice Jeffers helps train him along with Frazier so there is another SLU connection

Does Mo Jeffers live in St. Louis?

[RiseAndGrind]

Does Mo Jeffers live in St. Louis?

Believe so

[SShoe]

Great interview. I also like the point he made regarding the Mizzou v. SLU series and its importance in building the brands of BOTH schools with local recruits. Games like that are an event locally and when local kids see it annually, they want to be part of it.

[Dwayne's_World]

Great interview. I also like the point he made regarding the Mizzou v. SLU series and its importance in building the brands of BOTH schools with local recruits. Games like that are an event locally and when local kids see it annually, they want to be part of it.

Alden is clueless.

[TheChosenOne]

I'll say it again, we should be considered the favorite to land him. Also, the staff is working very hard to get him

I have not heard that, but I do think we are on the short list and at least have a chance based on everything said above.

Schools like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, and North Carolina have a lot to offer, so beating them out for any recruit would be quite the accomplishment. You are talking about the most elite programs in the country with the best facilities coached by legendary coaches and playing on the biggest stages, that is tough to say no to. Maybe Jayson will group together with some of his national team buddies and decide they want to be the next group to lead Kentucky, Kansas, or Duke to a championship and gain the national attention that comes along with that. Or maybe he will decide that he wants to follow in the footsteps of his godfather and stay home and be a local legend. One year at SLU as opposed to any of the other programs recruiting him will likely not have any impact on his draft position.

I do know that SLU was a little slow to get around to recruiting Brad Beal and that rubbed them the wrong way, but no reason to be overly critical of a past staff missing on a kid that appeared to have the desire to play on the biggest stage. David Lee was in my class at Chaminade and I recall SLU not really being a player for him and specifically him commenting on the facilities in comparison to places like North Carolina, Florida, etc.