Recruiting - 2019

[brianstl]

30 minutes ago, Pistol said:

Is Ford actually telling guys no? It's probably not quite that simple, but yes, there are D-I players in the STL metro who we are not recruiting or did not recruit. I won't include guys like McKinney, who we offered but didn't seem to recruit in earnest (he seemed uninterested in SLU all along), but here are some we didn't offer or haven't offered (yet), and I haven't been able to find evidence of interest: Noah Frederking (2017 - Evansville), Shaun Williams (2018 - K-State), Cameron Williams (2018 - SIUE), Rashad McDaniels (2020 - I have him on the interest list but that was a preliminary add over a year ago and I haven't seen us recruit him at all), Phillip Russell (2020), and I'm sure there are a lot more that aren't immediately coming to mind.

I think the non-interest between SLU and McKinney was pretty equal on both sides.  I really don’t think McKinney would have been a good fit here.  I think the staff probably feels the same way.  The program isn’t yet in the position to have a local 4 star recruit who doesn’t work out.  You would have people around the area bad mouthing the staff by blaming them for it not working.

That said. If McKinney finds the right fit and dedicates himself, he can have a really nice college career.  Out of his finalists, I think the style of play at K State or VCU would be the best fit for McKinney.

[brianstl]

19 minutes ago, RiseAndGrind said:

I haven’t seen much on Markese Jacobs lately. 

Illinois has a huge recruiting weekend (including Liddell) coming up and Jacobs isn’t visiting then. 

He’s *liked* a couple of SLU related tweets lately but that is all I am seeing. 

The less we hear, the better for SLU.

[Glorydays2013]

Don't mean to stir up something on here but do people think Ford would have recruited Zeke? There were plenty of STL prospects that year that we did not get that I think Ford could have gotten (Tatum, Cook)

[VeniceMenace]

3 minutes ago, Glorydays2013 said:

Don't mean to stir up something on here but do people think Ford would have recruited Zeke? There were plenty of STL prospects that year that we did not get that I think Ford could have gotten (Tatum, Cook)

Yeah instead of enjoying the strongest recruiting and roster in the modern era, let’s ponder the misses and, on another thread, worry that the coach will bolt for the Power 5, where he’s already been. Season can’t start soon enough.

[Cowboy]

53 minutes ago, Pistol said:

Is Ford actually telling guys no? It's probably not quite that simple, but yes, there are D-I players in the STL metro who we are not recruiting or did not recruit. I won't include guys like McKinney, who we offered but didn't seem to recruit in earnest (he seemed uninterested in SLU all along), but here are some we didn't offer or haven't offered (yet), and I haven't been able to find evidence of interest: Noah Frederking (2017 - Evansville), Shaun Williams (2018 - K-State), Cameron Williams (2018 - SIUE), Rashad McDaniels (2020 - I have him on the interest list but that was a preliminary add over a year ago and I haven't seen us recruit him at all), Phillip Russell (2020), and I'm sure there are a lot more that aren't immediately coming to mind.

-yeah, there are some local guys that will go low level D1 that shouldn't get offers from us so if those guys are reaching out to us we say no

[hmart23]

12 minutes ago, Glorydays2013 said:

Don't mean to stir up something on here but do people think Ford would have recruited Zeke? There were plenty of STL prospects that year that we did not get that I think Ford could have gotten (Tatum, Cook)

Having known Zeke in high school, and watched him play games a couple years in a row, I think Zeke had the ability to be a elite mid major 3 and D type wing. Maybe off the bench. I think coming into a program being run by that former coach of ours really changed that possibility. 

[TheChosenOne]

@brianstl I don't want to get this off track by discussing a kid who is not a SLU recruit, but I am really interested to see how Mario McKinney turns out. In the Peach Jam he had a couple of games where he showed just how dynamic he can be, but so little of that is in the half-court. I have no idea how much time he puts into his game or the coaching he is receiving, but it is surprising to see a kid not improve his skill set throughout his high school career or add muscle to a really skinny frame. Every year the talk is how he needs to work on his handles and passing to be an option at the point at the next level or work on his shooting to be an option at the shooting guard position at the next level. Instead, those are still significant deficiencies in his game and he hasn't added any bulk to make himself a more versatile defender at the next level. But man he is dynamic in the open court. Such an impressive athlete, but really lacking skill and provides almost no value offensively in the half-court. I guess a guy like Briante Weber is the comp? Hopefully he puts in the time and doesn't waste those significant physical gifts. When I watch him on the basketball court with his incredible ability to get out and run and his leaping ability paired with a completely broken jump shot and loose handles, I think he should have pursued football. That kid as a WR or in the secondary would be a force.

[Pistol]

30 minutes ago, brianstl said:

I think the non-interest between SLU and McKinney was pretty equal on both sides.  I really don’t think McKinney would have been a good fit here.  I think the staff probably feels the same way.  The program isn’t yet in the position to have a local 4 star recruit who doesn’t work out.  You would have people around the area bad mouthing the staff by blaming them for it not working.

That said. If McKinney finds the right fit and dedicates himself, he can have a really nice college career.  Out of his finalists, I think the style of play at K State or VCU would be the best fit for McKinney.

I agree that he wouldn't have been a great fit here and as @TheChosenOne details so well above, he has a pretty unique game because of his athleticism but limited skill set. He really is suited to a program that wants to do everything in transition. I agree that I could see him working out at K-State and VCU, but I think he did a good job overall of identifying programs that would be more suited to his game. I could see him at Mizzou or Auburn. Some of his other offers - Illinois, Xavier, Nebraska, Iowa, etc. - would not have made sense at all for him. Having seen a lot of Chris Mack teams at Xavier, I'm not so sure about Louisville (although given how they're recruiting now, I don't know that he's option A for them). I don't see Oklahoma State or Iowa State play very often, but those don't strike me as places where he'd thrive.

[Littlebill]

1 hour ago, gobillsgo said:

Not that he wanted to come here anyway, but I don’t think we were ever that interested in McKinney. Seems like we passed on Pickett as well.  Also definitely weren’t interested in Mark Smith, from everything we have heard. 

I don't think SLU wanted Tilmon or Ramey either

[RUBillsFan]

2 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

I don't think SLU wanted Tilmon or Ramey either

I think SLU would have taken Tilmon or Ramey.  However, coach Ford identified early on that neither one of those guys was coming to SLU no matter how much work he put in, so he didn't waste his time.

[RiseAndGrind]

1 minute ago, RUBillsFan said:

I think SLU would have taken Tilmon or Ramey.  However, coach Ford identified early on that neither one of those guys was coming to SLU no matter how much work he put in, so he didn't waste his time.

Ford seems to be an expert at deploying his recruiting resources and reading a situation. I feel if SLU is in a final 5 - ford will close deal. 

[TheChosenOne]

19 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

I don't think SLU wanted Tilmon or Ramey either

Disagree on Tilmon, but I could see that being the case with Ramey.

[TheOne]

12 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said:

I think SLU would have taken Tilmon or Ramey.  However, coach Ford identified early on that neither one of those guys was coming to SLU no matter how much work he put in, so he didn't waste his time.

I mentioned this a while back. SLU actually had a good shot at Tilmon, especially after the Goodwin commitment, but started to back off of him for off-the-court reasons.  They were concerned about his grades, social circles, and his work ethic.

[ACE]

1 minute ago, TheChosenOne said:

Disagree on Tilmon, but I could see that being the case with Ramey.

I heard from somebody who I consider a pretty reliable insider that the staff saw red flags with Tilmon that gave them pause about jumping all in, even though Tilmon had some interest in us. And this isn't a case of sour grapes. When we miss on a recruiting target, he's been honest about it. For example, he said we really wanted that Rhoden kid who went to Seton Hall and thought we had a good shot. Ramey had no interest in us.

[SLURadioBoy]

@TheOne, any word on if we are pursuing Markese Jacobs and if we have a legitimate shot at him?

[RiseAndGrind]

2 minutes ago, ACE said:

I heard from somebody who I consider a pretty reliable insider that the staff saw red flags with Tilmon that gave them pause about jumping all in, even though Tilmon had some interest in us. And this isn't a case of sour grapes. When we miss on a recruiting target, he's been honest about it. For example, he said we really wanted that Rhoden kid who went to Seton Hall and thought we had a good shot. Ramey had no interest in us.

Forgot about Rhoden. He’s one that I think Ford thought he was going to get. 

[Franchise_08]

5 minutes ago, RiseAndGrind said:

Forgot about Rhoden. He’s one that I think Ford thought he was going to get. 

If I recall, Rhoden visited the week the whole s2 decision went down. Pretty sure that scared him off. It would have me.

[Littlebill]

35 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said:

I think SLU would have taken Tilmon or Ramey.  However, coach Ford identified early on that neither one of those guys was coming to SLU no matter how much work he put in, so he didn't waste his time.

It was a joke, guys. I love Ramey's game. I was joking but given the current bigs situation I think we wouldn't want Tilmon given the reason TheOne mentioned above, IMO

[TheChosenOne]

31 minutes ago, TheOne said:

I mentioned this a while back. SLU actually had a good shot at Tilmon, especially after the Goodwin commitment, but started to back off of him for off-the-court reasons.  They were concerned about his grades, social circles, and his work ethic.

That is interesting, it is obvious that you would know. I just remember the consistent teases from Frank about Tilmon possibly flipping to SLU prior to him signing with Illinois, so I think at that point (the fall) we certainly had interest. Now if you are talking about when he ultimately backed out of Illinois (the spring), I could certainly buy that because I don't remember hearing SLU mentioned at that time.

[TheChosenOne]

I am curious to see how the careers of Tilmon and Gordon play out because both kids had essentially the same red flags (although Gordon's became much more public unfortunately, still not sure why the Webster coach said the things he did) and then when they got to their respective schools the coaches have been quite pleased with their work ethic at least publicly. Two big time talents that I hope we get to see reach their potential. I love the situation that Gordon is walking into at SLU. 

[ACE]

47 minutes ago, TheOne said:

I mentioned this a while back. SLU actually had a good shot at Tilmon, especially after the Goodwin commitment, but started to back off of him for off-the-court reasons.  They were concerned about his grades, social circles, and his work ethic.

Makes me feel even better about the credibility of my source the fact that it lines up with what you're saying. I need to talk to my insider more often now. 

[willie]

10 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I am curious to see how the careers of Tilmon and Gordon play out because both kids had essentially the same red flags (although Gordon's became much more public unfortunately, still not sure why the Webster coach said the things he did) and then when they got to their respective schools the coaches have been quite pleased with their work ethic at least publicly. Two big time talents that I hope we get to see reach their potential. I love the situation that Gordon is walking into at SLU. 

I think that if Tilmon can learn how to play without continual fouling he can become a dominant college player. This isn't saying I would trade our bigs for him just a statement on his size and potential. 

[Glorydays2013]

After Jordon, Slu was trying to get both Tilmon and Pickett. Pickett was really close, but Goodwin and Gordon were the only ones drinking the blue koolaid at the time and the others were interested in playing with the Porters 

i think Ramey and his dad would have been cancer to Slu.

His dad knows he has pull with his AAU and could blacklist coaches. I imagine him trying to be in the ear of the coach to play his son more and certain plays, and if told no, would try to threaten recruiting ties. 

[gobillsgo]

1 minute ago, Glorydays2013 said:

After Jordon, Slu was trying to get both Tilmon and Pickett. Pickett was really close, but Goodwin and Gordon were the only ones drinking the blue koolaid at the time and the others were interested in playing with the Porters 

i think Ramey and his dad would have been cancer to Slu.

His dad knows he has pull with his AAU and could blacklist coaches. I imagine him trying to be in the ear of the coach to play his son more and certain plays, and if told no, would try to threaten recruiting ties. 

Who is Jordon, and are you claiming to know more than TheOne?

[Glorydays2013]

Just now, gobillsgo said:

Who is Jordon, and are you claiming to know more than TheOne?

He also goes by Goodwin...