Duff Man Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I'll stand for the coach who has the only 2 regular season conference titles in my lifetime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 kshoe and JMM: did you happen to read Stu Durando's pre-Bonnie column/story? The one on Ash's final game? I know you are both likely short on time and all so I'll pare it down for you ..... "He (Ash)became interested in SLU as a freshman when the Billikens beat his Villanova squad in California. He was impressed by the camaraderie and team play the Billikens displayed under coach Rick Majerus." Also, in an effort to save time ..... "Dear Taj: you were right and (select: kshoe/JMM28) I was wrong." Short, simple, to the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 kshoe and JMM: did you happen to read Stu Durando's pre-Bonnie column/story? The one on Ash's final game? I know you are both likely short on time and all so I'll pare it down for you ..... "He (Ash)became interested in SLU as a freshman when the Billikens beat his Villanova squad in California. He was impressed by the camaraderie and team play the Billikens displayed under coach Rick Majerus." Also, in an effort to save time ..... "Dear Taj: you were right and (select: kshoe/JMM28) I was wrong." Short, simple, to the point. Ha ha ha. You neglected to leave out the next paragraph which is exactly the point JMM28 and I are trying to make: He became interested in SLU as a freshman when the Billikens beat his Villanova squad in California. He was impressed by the camaraderie and team play the Billikens displayed under coach Rick Majerus. Although the two never talked, he was impressed enough to sign with SLU after Majerus passed away in order to “play more, be coached well and win.” There are certainly many ways to attribute why a person choose to go to a certain school and undoubtedly the fact we had a good program going at the time was a major factor, but the simple, undeniable fact was that Majerus never spoke to Ash and was dead by 6 months at the time he committed to SLU. As such, he simply can't be called a Majerus recruit. He is a Crews recruit. To follow your logic, every other player that signed that spring and summer (Lanconna, Reggie, all 6 sophomores) must also be Majerus recruits because they came to SLU to “play more, be coached well and win.” As for my preseason predictions the last couple years; they've sucked and I was wrong. I've been wrong on plenty of other things before including the Big East. But one thing I know I am not wrong about it whether a dead man recruited Ash Y to come to SLU. He didn't! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 If that article proves you right, then using your logic - every single player on this roster is a Majerus recruit. They wouldn't have come to SLU if not for Rick. It doesn't matter if they never even spoke. Can we fire Rick retroactively for this mess? Extend Crews! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I would argue that every kid will have some point in time that he or she became "interested' in whatever school they consider. How about Damon Bailey at Indiana? Kid signed at what, 12 years of age? How about Blake Simmons deciding Evansville because his dad went there 20 - 25 years ago? Oh, and is the coach there today. I am sure there are a litany of kids and players that went to UCLA in the early 70's because of what was done there beforehand in the 60's. And while Wooden was still there there is indeed some credence payed to the fact of past experiences. I think given our situation, however, that once Majerus "left" and the pipeline to Majerus' recruits dried up and we relied on Crews recruits, well that appears obvious to me now. What I said was that I did not believe Yacoubou was a Crews recruit. He got hooked on SLU based on his personal seat in a loss to SLU in Anaheim. I am sure he saw other schools as well over his two year ride at Nova that scored similar points and made similar memories that came out when he decided transfer was it. My contention is that what he saw in Anaheim convinced him more than anything Crews might have said or done. And it was a good call --- Saint Louis was still winning. Crews did that for two years with Majerus' recruits. Using the players employing the Majerus principals. Would you both agree with that? I don't believe I extrapolated the situation to any other recruit, just Yacoubou. The pinpointing of "all" recruits, that's you guys. My aim is kept on just Yacoubou. Now, I don't exactly know what happens when a kid wants to transfer ala Yacoubou, or Jon Smith, or Dustin Maguire, or Ricky Frazier. I do know that other coaches cannot talk to players under scholarship as that would be tampering. The same is supposed to apply once the kid signs a Letter of Intent and stays that way until he is released from said LOI. Was somebody from SLU talking to someone in the Yacoubou camp -- gauging interest, making promises? I'd bet so. Maybe it was Crews who went hard and heavy once Yacoubou announced he was out at Nova. I doubt it ----- before Bishop, I would not have called NYC a Crews/SLU/Majerus hot bed. And I don't think going hard and heavy on the recruiting trail is a staple in Crews' repertoire. But if someone has something I'd listen. Again, my only contention was directed at the thought process saying Yacoubou was Crews' best recruit. I think every single player on this roster now with Yacoubou's graduation, is indeed a Crews' recruit. Crews flushed any good vibes we had enjoyed with the Majerus era. We are now back to 1983 -- with the exception being that us here in the peanut gallery can expect better things because we've seen it as recently as three years ago. In the past, we had aberrations --- Claggs and Hmark, Hughes, Miracle in Memphis. Rick gave us three sustained years -- not enough sustainability but enough to take the blinders down and see it could be done as opposed to just thinking it could be done. But it won't be done with Crews. He is not the coaching savant Majerus was. He doesn't have Hall of Fame credentials. He doesn't have a dedicated system to getting it done. His comfort rests at levels like the Valley and Patriot (and he hasn't been good there recently either). I found it appropriate both Evansville and Army went out of the tournament about the same time yesterday. So unless there is some record of Crews sitting down and recruiting Yacoubou up close and personal, then he was a Majerus recruit. Of course so too were Glaze and Manning and McBroom and Barnett and Jordan and Cotto and Smith so its not like he was infallible. And if its not Crews' ability to identify talent (Jolly, Gillmann, Bartley) -- if its not Crews' ability to deliver said talent (Tatum, Cooke) --- if it's not Crews' ability to coach up said talent (the entire roster including Yacoubou who never totaled what I think one should as a four-star recruit) --- then what pray tell is left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Taj, I can't believe I just read that whole thing to get to this part. So unless there is some record of Crews sitting down and recruiting Yacoubou up close and personal, then he was a Majerus recruit. Of course so too were Glaze and Manning and McBroom and Barnett and Jordan and Cotto and Smith so its not like he was infallible. You are literally going to require I provide proof that Crews had a sit down discussion with Ash to believe that he was not a Majerus recruit??? You do realize that the entirety of the Majerus "recruiting" of Ash was a handshake he likely gave him in the post-game line after Ash put up 2 FTs. If Majerus was still alive today and you asked him about the freshman on Villanova that made 2 fts against him, do you think he would remember that? Here are three articles that will help. Please read them: http://www.midmajormadness.com/2013/6/1/4388128/ash-yacoubou-transfers-to-saint-louis-university http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2013/06/02/former-villanova-guard-achraf-yacoubou-to-transfer-to-st-louis/ http://www.slubillikens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208313760 Just for completeness, I'll also point out that he announced he was leaving Villanova on April 4, 2013 and committed to SLU on June 1, 2013. He was the 4th recruit in that class following Mike Crawford, Reggie Agbeko and Tanner Lancona. Just a reminder that Rick Majerus died on Dec. 1 2012. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 -who cares? AY will play and Crews will coach one more game and then they will be reduced to entries in the Archive section of the SLU website -thanks to AY for his contributions, wish you would have had a better on court experience while at SLU but I am proud/happy that you are going to be the first in your family to get a college degree, wishing you much success Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 -who cares? AY will play and Crews will coach one more game and then they will be reduced to entries in the Archive section of the SLU website -thanks to AY for his contributions, wish you would have had a better on court experience while at SLU but I am proud/happy that you are going to be the first in your family to get a college degree, wishing you much success I'll give Ash credit. He battled through a crappy situation - gave a good effort and didn't sulk the way TLiddell did near the end of his senior season. He's not a star player, but really best suited as a role player. He would have been a very nice player to have in the mix during our 3-year tourney run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenboy Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 -who cares? AY will play and Crews will coach one more game and then they will be reduced to entries in the Archive section of the SLU website -thanks to AY for his contributions, wish you would have had a better on court experience while at SLU but I am proud/happy that you are going to be the first in your family to get a college degree, wishing you much success AY is the first victim of JC era coaching. The kids talent was not that of role player. He was always a star! Unfortunately he started to play right after the RM boys graduated and his development into the potential player he should have become was stunted by this staffs inability to fine tune his game. An outstanding rebounder, scorer, and defender that will hopefully find his game by working with a good trainer. The energy he brought should have been harnessed for Billiken success. Another gem about to be lost! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soderball Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 AY is the first victim of JC era coaching. The kids talent was not that of role player. He was always a star! Unfortunately he started to play right after the RM boys graduated and his development into the potential player he should have become was stunted by this staffs inability to fine tune his game. An outstanding rebounder, scorer, and defender that will hopefully find his game by working with a good trainer. The energy he brought should have been harnessed for Billiken success. Another gem about to be lost! I agree entirely. The guys on this roster shouldn't be judged for this staff's complete failure to develop skills and a cohesive game plan. This staff SUCKS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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