billiken_roy Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 insiders recruiting data base lists a new name for the billikens this morning. Jacob baryenbrunch. he is listed as a 6 foot, 165 lb point guard from river valley high school in spring green wisconsin. the competition for his services that are listed are:Drake, Evansville, Northern Iowa, Portland, Saint Louis, Southern Illinois, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. again, imo this makes no sense. we have more quality guards on our roster and committed now than we ever have had and the last two names that show up on the billiken shopping list are guards/wings. i am sure we are searching for bigs as well, but it is frustrating that we are not seeing anything inside wise other than marcus landry. fyi, the names on the billiken insiders list are this baryenbrunch, david dubois (he was the wing name that showed up a couple of weeks ago) and marcus landry. all three are from wisconsin btw. and only landry is an inside player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 I have heard that we are the leader for Dennard Abraham, the 6'8" 250 lbs power forward from South Plains juco. http://www.southplainscollege.edu/athletics/mugs04/44.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 broy, I think you are getting heated-up over the big-picture recruiting process. My guess is that the SLU staff has a dozen or more high school/prep school players at each position on their recruiting list and that SLU has been sending some of these kids info for a year or more. However, what we don't know is SLU's current level of interest on each kid. SLU's coaching staff knows exactly which positions need strengthening and are recruiting those needs. Unfortunately, me, you and our board friends just don't know the other names as yet. Relax and trust our recruiting process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Our recruiting process has yet to land an insider player with legitimate potential from an American high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Bryce Husak is 7'1" and coordinated. How can you say that he does not have "legitimate potential"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Be patient, our recruiters will land a legit power forward, and personally, I don't care if he comes from Australia or Ashtabula, Ohio, as long as he can play and is a legitimate student-athlete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 I have not seen the guy play so I cannot comment on his ability. My impression is based on two factors. First - I have never heard anyone on this board talk him up. Did he practice last year? Was he a force? Did he make any contribution? Second - who did we beat out to get him and were they Division II or III? He may be a real steal in the long run. Maybe just maybe he will turn into the next coming of the fellow from GA Tech. Let's hope. For now I chalk him up to be a long shot, not a guy with legitimate potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 The pay recruiting sites are fine if your school happens to a member of their particular network of web sites but you're bound to be disappointed if they don't. A large pool of paying subscribers is what determines the quantity and quality of the recruiting coverage. Other than you and a handful of others, I doubt there are many SLU subscribers on any of the recruiting sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Bryce originally committed to a small D1 school called Elon. After his recruitment reopened in the Spring, it is my understanding that he was recruited by several respectable D1 programs in the midwest. I don't know whether Bryce will be a star at SLU, but he has the tools to succeed in due time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 While I would be happy if SLU gets Dennard Abraham, a potential problem would arise. There would be five players due to graduate in 2007: Justin Johnson, Darren Clarke, Ian Vouyoukas, Antwan Alexander, and Abraham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 To be fair, I think one would have to considered Justin Johnson a solid PF prospect when we signed him 2 years ago: 6'8", athletic, nice hops, nice jumper--originally signed by KState. The fact he has not panned out so far is not something I would put on our recruiting people. Compared to Romar swinging for the fences with no backup plan and Spoon just hanging out to see what falls in his lap, I'm quite pleased with the work of Brad and his staff on recruiting. Grawer was the last coach to recruit this well locally but he never got a player from East St. Louis and only one to my knowledge from Vashon (and Brad signed a top player from each of those schools in the same year). When has SLU ever gotten solid players who can contribute from overseas? Brad has landed two already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Grawer signed at least three players from Vashon: Anthony Bonner, Anthony Jones, and Melvin Robinson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Forgot about Melvin. Anthony Jones ... drawing a blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Anthony Jones was a Prop 48 who if memory serves me correct was a very good offensive player in his Vashon days, but was more of a role playing somewhat decent defensive player in his SLU days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 1, 2004 Author Share Posted June 1, 2004 grawer signed carlos skinner out of east st louis high school. and spoon had tyrone caswell. romar was all over darius miles and it is understood saint louis university was his second choice college wise. the point is, our previous coaches have gotten talent from east st louis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 1, 2004 Author Share Posted June 1, 2004 jjray said, "When has SLU ever gotten solid players who can contribute from overseas?" i guess solid and contribute are open for discussion. thus far, one cant be overjoyed with izik and his underachieving and inconsistency. and we got a long way to go before annoiting ian a success. i will agree that both are the best we have seen from "overseas" at saint louis though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Are you just in a contentious mood Roy or are you seriously arguing the merits of recruiting by prior coaching staffs vs. what Brad has done to date? What we are discussing is our expectations of Brad and his staff. We start with the pitiful state of affairs Brad found himself in June 2002. I am quite pleased with what Brad has produced from that point forward and have every expectation where things shall go from here. Do you wish to argue that premise (i.e., we should have faith in Brad's recruitment system) or are you just looking to kill some time and argue for argument's sake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 1, 2004 Author Share Posted June 1, 2004 i have mixed feelings about brad's recruiting results. at this point, other than frericks, i think his bigman recruiting has sucked. as for guards, he has been spectacular. that all said, why in the world dont we hear anything about bigs in our future? the fact we are bringing in all guards again next year and one undersized power forward and by all accounts recruiting all guards again for next year just puzzles the hell out of me. i see far lesser schools getting bigs, why arent we? it appears to me he is banking on johnson, vouyoukas, and husak turning into quality players. i would bet at least one does. but i would also bet at least one does not. the point is, we should be more balanced in what we are trying to land playerwise and by all indications we arent. now of course, as tsuegnekillib alluded to, we really dont know what he is recruiting as brad leaks nothing and thus we dont know for the most part what he is chasing. now if he would have come up with more than a bunch more guards and one undersized power forward this year, i wouldnt be as worried, but it sure seems like whatever info does get out is only about guards for the most part. it just seems strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Hum ... didn't know you were so pessimistic about Brad's recruiting of big men. Brad was a point guard so I can understand focusing on guard first (building the team from the outside in). The one complaint I have was the recruitment of both Husak and Ian in the same class. I would have just banked one of those scholarships. Unless Husak turns out to have more athleticism than advertised, they are similar players in what they bring to the table. We haven't mentioned Vas'shun Newborne yet. Brad has stated he doesn't sign juco players unless they have a chance to start. This guy must have rebounding ability even at 6'6" if Brad signed him. I think we shall be fine next year inside ... but Frericks leaves after the upcoming season. We need another rebounding machine for the 2005 class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 I second your assessment Roy. Let me ask this (and it is not a smart ass question), who on the coaching staff coaches the big men? What credentials do they have to coach them? Would a big man feel he could develop his game at SLU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 1, 2004 Author Share Posted June 1, 2004 jjray said, "We haven't mentioned Vas'shun Newborne yet. Brad has stated he doesn't sign juco players unless they have a chance to start. This guy must have rebounding ability even at 6'6" if Brad signed him. I think we shall be fine next year inside ... but Frericks leaves after the upcoming season. We need another rebounding machine for the 2005 class." i am in the "show me" category on newborne. he sounds to me like another sloan/varner player. not that that is necessarily bad, but i dont see him as a big improvement over where we were this year. at best, i envision quitman dillard. i sure hope i am wrong, but my gosh, why cant we get a real power forward? like i said, with the unbalanced numbers coming in, either he is convinced that johnson, vouyoukas and husak are going to be bigtime players, or else he isnt putting anywhere near the equal emphasis on inside players in his recruiting. i am extremely confident in our guards in the future, i have lots of questions and apprehension about out inside players. johnson, frericks, ohannon, vouyoukas, newborne and husak, arent proven consistent players. even as tough as a healthy frericks is, who knows when he will be struck by a bad back, circus fever, separated shoulders, etc. and after that we really have nothing to depend on. someone will probably step up, but again, wouldnt it be nice if we had a anthony bonner on the team? hell, i would take carlos skinner. just give me some athleticism and height that we know can produce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 1, 2004 Author Share Posted June 1, 2004 i am pretty sure that angres thorpe takes the big men at practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 evaluation. Granted Brad did not have much time to evaluate JJ given the state of the program when he took over but at this point in his career its difficult to say JJ was a significant recruit. I'll take a recruiter that gets kids ranked 200-300 but can spot the diamond in the rough over a recruiter that always lands the 50-100 guys that turn out to be busts. Hell, on rankings alone Sloan was the worst of his class with Mcclain and Edwin. We know how that one worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Brad has signed four true big men since has been at SLU: Husak, Ian, Frericks, and Newborne. Brad told us that one of those big men, Frericks, would be a contributor right away. Brad was right. He has told us that same thing about Newborne, so I expect a similar type of transition. Brad told us that the other two, Ian and Husak, were long-term projects with big upsides. To date, we have season one-half of one season between the two of them. Yet many posters on this board are all over Brad's recruitment of big men. Have we ever had three coordinated players who were at least 6'9" and 250 lbs.? Why the panic? I would be surprised if Brad cannot find good production at the two front court spots between Tom, Ian, Bryce, JJ, Newborne, and Izik. Relax and enjoy baseball for a few more months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Angres Thrope has coached SLU's post players since arriving at West Pine two years ago. Offhand, I'm not sure of Thrope's credentials other than he has been a career coach. (btw, Soderberg coached the post players under Romar.) SIU-C won 25 games and was ranked in the high teens at the end of last season, and all four of their coaches (Matt Painter, Paul Lisk, Rodney Watson, Jack Owens) and their senior manager (Shane Hawkins) were guards in college. So who coached SIU-C's post players? When Bruce Weber was running the tables at SIU-C all of the coaches were college guards as well. Butch, I understand your point. Having an former NBA center on your staff would look good on paper, but evidently it is not critical to winning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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