2014 Commit #2 Austin Gillmann (Center)

[Littlebill]

Current talent level.

Have you even "seen the kid play?" If so, then that's one thing, but to be upset about a signing before seeing him play is a tad ridiculous. A skilled big from STL? Yeah what a terrible use of a schollie

[WVBilliken]

Let's have all six available scholarships filled this fall. Spring is a terrible time to be trying to fill spots. I'd rather our coaches be focusing on the class of 2015 recruits this Spring rather than scrambling to fill available spots.

[doowop]

Gillman is listed at 6-8 on that site.

That site is not for 2013. It needs to be updated.

[almaman]

For the last 4 years we all said too bad one or two of or 17 year old bigs did not redshirt; now we sign TL and RA and we have a verbal from AG who is no more than 200 pounds and possibly still growing either 6 foot 8 o six foot 11 flat footed according to his coach.

I don't understand why a kid like this would not take a redshirt if the school is willing ti pay an extra $35,000 for him to study, possibly get a masters' degree by the time he graduated and has an extra year to make himself really competitive his senior year. A kid this big is going to play pro ball somewhere after he graduates and he could take foreign languages if his back up plan is to join Lisch in Italy.

Tell me what is the rush. Redshirts do get 5 years don't they?

that's so fknright I'm going to read it twice! happy holiday to all

[almaman]

Have you even "seen the kid play?" If so, then that's one thing, but to be upset about a signing before seeing him play is a tad ridiculous. A skilled big from STL? Yeah what a terrible use of a schollie

staff seems way too pragmatic for this tac but a +side effect of taking him is we'll avoid a never know of chance he hit big somewhere else

[Billboy1]

I have seen the kid play-he will be a project,

[ARon]

I have seen the kid play-he will be a project,

That's fair. Most big men will be. We need to see this staff coach up a big without RMs guidance anyway.

[ARon]

I have seen the kid play-he will be a project,

That's fair. Most big men will be. We need to see this staff coach up a big without RMs guidance anyway.

[aj_arete]

He sounds a little similar to the Zaga C that had a big SR season and drafted by the Celts. I recall a story where he was reed thin out of HS, so they redshirted him to add more muscle/weight. If AG is willing to put in the work, who knows. One other thought on JM, I don't think it's fair for some to be calling him a bust at this stage. He didn't look too bad in the games prior to his concussion. Let's at least give him this year before we write him off. If he can give us a solid 10 mpg a game, ie board, defend the interior, and hit a few of those jump hooks, he'll be a big help. I hope he and RL are off to that big man camp this summer.

While it's true that Kelly Olynyk was a skinny, 6'10 SF, rather than C out of high school, he had a much higher grade than Gillman, so that's not a fair comparison. Here's Olynyk's profile from ESPN: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/95952/kelly-olynyk.

On the other hand, Austin Gillman is not even rated by ESPN. Now if this was Majerus, who has a history of finding hidden gems, then I'd be more optimistic. However, I'm not sure Jim Crews has that skill yet, given his history from the University of Evansville and Army. Solid coach, who's found some good players at Evansville, such as Marty Simmons.

[Jrberendzen]

Not sure about actual dates of the commitments, but Majerus landed several commitments in his first few months on the job. Brett Thompson, Kwamain Mitchell, Brian Conklin, Willie Reed, and Femi John had all given a verbal commitment by August.

and only thompson and femi john were bad recruits(although femi had an unfourtunate scenario)

[brianstl]

While it's true that Kelly Olynyk was a skinny, 6'10 SF, rather than C out of high school, he had a much higher grade than Gillman, so that's not a fair comparison. Here's Olynyk's profile from ESPN: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/95952/kelly-olynyk.

On the other hand, Austin Gillman is not even rated by ESPN. Now if this was Majerus, who has a history of finding hidden gems, then I'd be more optimistic. However, I'm not sure Jim Crews has that skill yet, given his history from the University of Evansville and Army. Solid coach, who's found some good players at Evansville, such as Marty Simmons.

The kid has some natural skill. It will be up to the staff to coach that skill and the weight program to bulk him up. He doesn't have to Olynyk to have a productive career and no one claimed he was the next Olynyk.

[Duff Man]

On the other hand, Austin Gillman is not even rated by ESPN

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/187062/austin-gillman

[doowop]

Gillman has a whole senior season to improve. Judgment on his ability should probably wait until after the season. Some of you talk like he will be joining SLU this season. Opinions may change drastically after the season. So may his performance.

[Franchise_08]

http://

espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/187062/austin-gillman

Hilarious. I hope your point is ESPN recruiting page suck a $$.

[Bobby Metzinger]

While it's true that Kelly Olynyk was a skinny, 6'10 SF, rather than C out of high school, he had a much higher grade than Gillman, so that's not a fair comparison. Here's Olynyk's profile from ESPN: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/95952/kelly-olynyk.

On the other hand, Austin Gillman is not even rated by ESPN. Now if this was Majerus, who has a history of finding hidden gems, then I'd be more optimistic. However, I'm not sure Jim Crews has that skill yet, given his history from the University of Evansville and Army. Solid coach, who's found some good players at Evansville, such as Marty Simmons.

You want to talk about beating a dead horse... this is such a cop-out argument that Crews can't recruit. There's absolutely no selling point to attend the University of Evansville other than you're a kid IU or Purdue didn't recruit and you have a massive chip on your shoulder and want to continue to play college basketball. Those are the kids Crews recruited. Scrappy, -the-world kids that gave what they had to the program. At SLU, Crews has the luxury of not just selling a recruit on state-of-the-art facilities, but to an incredible university that is on the uptick. What Crews has at his disposal in 2013 trumps, in a landslide, what he had to sell with in 1994 at the University of Evansville. Crews led that school to five (5) first place finishes in 17 years. That's not bad, considering he was at a mid-major school with probably less than mid-major talent. He knows what players fit into his system and he's going to flourish here.

You know that, AJ. You just need to think about it a little bit more.

[bauman]

I think we might still be in the market for a #5. I see AG as more of a Rob Loe type player, just based on reports, and there is nothing wrong with that. How many years would we have been thrilled to have a 6'11" player at the #4? Things are looking up!

While a lot can change in a couple of years, I don't think we should assume that AG will bulk up to be a board clearing #5. Didn't we all think 3 years in the SLU weight program would turn RL into a strong, heavier player who would then be able to play like a true Center? If AG stays on the thin side and can develop an outside game, like RL, I would be happy. We just can't make every player what we want them to be.

I do intend to GSTKP.

Good get, Coach.

[Duff Man]

Hilarious. I hope your point is ESPN recruiting page suck a $$.

I know reading comprehension is hard, but the single sentence I quoted and was replying to implied that Gillman was not even on the radar of ESPN's recruiting site. The point was simply providing evidence to the contrary.

[kshoe]

You want to talk about beating a dead horse... this is such a cop-out argument that Crews can't recruit. There's absolutely no selling point to attend the University of Evansville other than you're a kid IU or Purdue didn't recruit and you have a massive chip on your shoulder and want to continue to play college basketball. Those are the kids Crews recruited. Scrappy, ######-the-world kids that gave what they had to the program. At SLU, Crews has the luxury of not just selling a recruit on state-of-the-art facilities, but to an incredible university that is on the uptick. What Crews has at his disposal in 2013 trumps, in a landslide, what he had to sell with in 1994 at the University of Evansville. Crews led that school to five (5) first place finishes in 17 years. That's not bad, considering he was at a mid-major school with probably less than mid-major talent. He knows what players fit into his system and he's going to flourish here.

You know that, AJ. You just need to think about it a little bit more.

It's just AJ being AJ. Every once in a while he pops his head out, takes shots, then disappears again for a few months.

While not a single recruit that Crews has brought to SLU has stepped on a college court yet, therefore its all a bit of a guessing game, I couldn't be happier with how he has done in recruiting:

- As interim coach and with most expecting him not to be retained, he uncovers a potential hidden gem in Crawford and convinces him to sign despite the uncertainty of who will actually be coach. Crawford goes on to have a great senior year and is ranked in the top 5 in Indiana, with the other 4 all going to power conference schools.

- He signs Reggie A. According to at least one billikens.com poster, he had multiple offers from top 20 programs. Even if you don't believe that, the reports of his early play at open gyms have been very encouraging.

- He signs Tanner L. Tanner had offers from K-state, BYU and Colorado St. and likely turned down other significant programs from even getting involved.

- He signs Ash Y. A 4 star prospect coming out of highschool, Ash had offers from at least Pitt and G-tech.

- He signs Davell Roby from Memphis. The kid had offers from Memphis and a large portion of the SEC.

- He signs an admitted local big-man project. Have absolutely no problem with something like this.

Crew's recruiting efforts to date have been great and he's earned our respect. But of course, with 4 schollys still to do, he's got more work to do but I'm nowhere near as concerned about the future state of this program as I was 3 months ago.

I suspect we'll hear again from AJ in 3 months when he wants to take more pot shots and then disappear.

[RUBillsFan]

I have seen the kid play-he will be a project,

When did you "see the kid play"? It sounds like there has been some reports of him making big improvements over the summer. Therefore, if you saw him play during the high school season, that may not be indicative of his current talent level.

[kmbilliken]

Crews obviously saw something he liked at the camp. Hence the immediate offer. They know they have to get him on a serious diet and weight training program. How much, if anything can they do before he enrolls?

Can he meet with our trainer? Work out in our weight room? Can our trainer give him suggestions?

[JMM28]

Remember the McCall-Evans class? A majority of this board thought that McCall was the gem of the class and Evans was met with a "meh."

Whether or not Gillmann turns out to be a stud, a role player, or a bust remains to be seen. I will trust the coaches.

And can we please correct his name in the title. Its 2 Ls and 2 Ns.

[kshoe]

Remember the McCall-Evans class? A majority of this board thought that McCall was the gem of the class and Evans was met with a "meh."

Whether or not Gillmann turns out to be a stud, a role player, or a bust remains to be seen. I will trust the coaches.

And can we please correct his name in the title. Its 2 Ls and 2 Ns.

Wouldn't be a problem if we used initials! (dead horse alert)

[DoctorB]

I'm signing in for 2 reasons: to say "I told you"; and 2), to correct some slightly erroneous info posted earlier.

1) I am totally NOT surprised to see Crews succeed as he is with recruits. I was honestly just shocked and frankly irritated with all the Crews-bangers on here, little more than 2-3 months ago. My how the attitudes are changing. Me see glass half full, not half empty?!?!

2) Regarding Marty Simmons: sorry but Crews did not "find" Simmons like he was some sort of unknown. He played at IU when Crews was there, and was Mr. Basketball in the state of Illinois, where he was one of the all-time top scorers. At Indiana, Simmons was part of a major NCAA run; then went on to be with Coach Crews at Evansville. As I seem to recall, he scored like 25 or 26 a game one of those years and was one of the top scorers in America both years. I met the guy and even played with him on occasion; he was slightly smaller than Cody but could definitely get off his great 20-foot shots whenever he wanted to. They often went in.

Now connecting the dots: Crews convinced Simmons, a major talent, to join him in Evansville, taking him away from a team that had just gone to the elite 8. some might say that Simmons would not have scored as much in the Big Ten; or that he could not take the heat from the General, Coach Knight. Whatever: I say, it shows Crews can appeal to major talents. What he did in Evansville (cleanly and honorably, I might add) was impressive; why he never got the offers at "big-time" schools is a bit of a mystery; except to say, maybe he just wasn't dirty enough. We need to thank our lucky stars, and bless the memory of Coach Majerus, that he had the foresight and wisdom to bring in another real talent to take over when he knew, or seems to sense, his health was running out!!

signing out, DRB

[slufanskip]

I have seen the kid play-he will be a project,

Do you think the staff has seen him play?

So the staff spends a few days with him at a camp and decides he's worth a scholarship, but you've possibly seen him play a couple of times and you have a better feel for his potential college career?

I'd agree he's been signed bassed upon potential, but 6'11" kids with (and this is based upon what I've read as I haven't seen him play) good hands, good footwork and a nice touch out to the 3 point line aren't a dime a dozen.

Either way, I'll assume the staff has the better clue on whether the kid was worthy of the scholarship

[TRN]

Another good thing about getting AG to commit is we have the local kid in he team that many have said has been missing over the past years.

I like the commit, you can't teach 6'11" with length and skill. Some time in the weight room and he can be an impact player blocking shots and rebounding at a minimum.

I think people tend to look at each player individually and fail to think of how a recruit fits into the puzzle as a complimentary player. Rick was a master of getting the different player types that fit together well, hopefully Crews can do the same.