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Recruiting - 2021


Pistol

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Just now, 3star_recruit said:

If you tracked only 3 stars and below from out of state, you'd make your life a lot easier. When's the last time we got a blue chipper from out of state?

French ended up as a top-100 4-star recruit. I guess he would be the closest thing to that.

I don't doubt it would be easier but my goal is to be exhaustive.

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On 10/24/2019 at 8:43 AM, Pistol said:

Ola Ajiboye - PF, 6-9, 185 - Chicago, IL (Von Steuben) - AAU: Team RWA - Twitter: @ola_ajiboye1
Offers: Saint Louis, Illinois-Chicago, Chicago State.

Interest: Tulsa, SIU-Carbondale, Florida Atlantic, Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Milwaukee, Mercer, Louisiana-Monroe, North Dakota, UC-Davis, NJIT.

Latest News: Ajiboye received an offer from SLU. (10/24/19)

Scouting Report: Ajiboye is a long, athletic, stretch four. He's an active rebounder and a force on the defensive end, defending aggressively and using his instincts, timing, and length to block and disrupt shots. He has a face-up game offensively and hits mid-range and three-point shots. He gets to the basket with long, strong steps, solid leaping ability, and the ability to maneuver and switch hands. He runs the floor well with a long stride and plays hard all the time. He has a long, slender frame but is still growing up and out.

-Huge upside here. He does a lot of things well already and has skill to build upon. He's about 6-8 or 6-9 now but wears a size 17 and is only 16 years old, so I'd be surprised if he's done growing. 3.5 GPA. We're smart to get in early on this one.

Your description of this man's strengths and the way he plays fits exactly into my idea of the kind of player Ford wants. Hope we get him.

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1 hour ago, Pistol said:

There is literally no way to tell what offers are still valid and which have been pulled. If I'm keeping track of every offer, I have to see them through to the end.

It's safe to say Griffin wasn't coming here. It's also safe to say that pulled or not, SLU would've accepted a commitment from him.

Of all people I wouldn't have expected you to not get the traditional sarcasm. I guy signs elsewhere. He's a tool (see above) and we pulled the offer or quit recruiting him

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On 11/1/2019 at 11:26 AM, Pistol said:

Nice little piece on our latest 2021 offer. Ajiboye has a couple nice things to say about SLU.

“I was very honored a big time school like Saint Louis believes in me,” he said. “I’m a player who likes to win and the school is a winning program.”

Never thought I'd see the day a recruit called us a "big time school" and "a winning program". Times are changing in Billiken land!

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1 hour ago, NashvilleBilliken said:

“I was very honored a big time school like Saint Louis believes in me,” he said. “I’m a player who likes to win and the school is a winning program.”

Never thought I'd see the day a recruit called us a "big time school" and "a winning program". Times are changing in Billiken land!

Every year there are 6'8/6'9 kids who are solid players and really good students who end up in the Ivy League.  These are the kinds of players who are more realistic about their basketball futures and see the value in a program like SLU.  I like that we're targeting one early.  

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40 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Every year there are 6'8/6'9 kids who are solid players and really good students who end up in the Ivy League.  These are the kinds of players who are more realistic about their basketball futures and see the value in a program like SLU.  I like that we're targeting one early.  

We've also had a tendency to offer mid-to-late-blooming Chicago bigs before their stock rises in the final year and a half before college - George Conditt, Martice Mitchell, (maybe) Seryee Lewis.

Either way, I like the offer and his potential.

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2 hours ago, NashvilleBilliken said:

“I was very honored a big time school like Saint Louis believes in me,” he said. “I’m a player who likes to win and the school is a winning program.”

Never thought I'd see the day a recruit called us a "big time school" and "a winning program". Times are changing in Billiken land!

If you knew nothing about College Basketball and took an official to SLU, superficially we look like a big time basketball program. That's why Travis is always quoted as saying our facilities match up with places in the Big 12.

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20 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

If you knew nothing about College Basketball and took an official to SLU, superficially we look like a big time basketball program. That's why Travis is always quoted as saying our facilities match up with places in the Big 12.

Ford ain't just blowing smoke here. Our facilities are incredible and punch well, WELL above our prestige historically as a program and, noting all the whining and moaning this board (myself included) does about the Athletic Department and our Board's focus on athletics, truly speaks to our University's focus on improving our basketball program. 

Until recently, our basketball facilities were WAY nicer than my hometown's University, the University of Arkansas, a school that has some fantastic athletic facilities across all sports. I think they just finished a dedicated basketball facility, so they are likely on par with us now. When it comes to wanting to play with the big boys, we have nothing to apologize, literally nothing, when it comes to the state of our facilities. 

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Basketball specific, SLU certainly compares with most programs (there appears to be a small number of hoops programs that are kind of on a different level than everyone else) and has really improved some of the support around the program that fans wouldn't necessarily see. Chaifetz Arena was a game changer and guarantees we are playing our games in a facility that puts us in the top tier for a long time with regards to the physical arena. And then the locker room upgrades probably put us past a number of "high-major" programs and I assume that would be one of the more prominent facilities a kid would be comparing across programs in addition to the Arena. I like how all of our basketball facilities are under one roof so to say. I think someone mentioned a dedicated training table and other offerings that ensure guys are eating right which is a small thing, but matters. I wouldn't say our facilities are incredible (I would note that I'm a huge college football fan and have toured Oregon's football facilities, so that is where you really see the high major programs show off their $ since football is currently where the $ is at and driving that network $), but certainly compare favorably with essentially any basketball program. Does basketball still use that shared weight room? That would be one facility that may not stack up. Although if just looking at basketball I think while most high major programs would have a weight room dedicated to the basketball programs, since it is for a team of like 15 players it isn't like you would see many crazy impressive basketball weight rooms. And then not having a dedicated practice gym, but that is really minor as well. A long way of agreeing with the above.

Where SLU gets dwarfed by a program like Arkansas is the rest of the athletic department and the facilities for the other programs. But an athletic department like Arkansas has so much more revenue coming in being in the SEC. So if we get into baseball or some of the other programs the discussion changes significantly, but hoops is certainly up with the big boys. And just think, 15 years ago West Pine was our primary athletic facility, so while some of the programs do not compare favorably with Chaifetz it is at least light years ahead of where it was with a basement weight room, training room, and locker rooms. Does anyone know whether there is some sort of master plan with regards to our athletics complex? I assume the footprint is large enough to do something really nice if the $ was there.

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20 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I think someone mentioned a dedicated training table and other offerings that ensure guys are eating right which is a small thing, but matters. I wouldn't say our facilities are incredible (I would note that I'm a huge college football fan and have toured Oregon's football facilities, so that is where you really see the high major programs show off their $ since football is currently where the $ is at and driving that network $), but certainly compare favorably with essentially any basketball program. Does basketball still use that shared weight room? That would be one facility that may not stack up. Although if just looking at basketball I think while most high major programs would have a weight room dedicated to the basketball programs, since it is for a team of like 15 players it isn't like you would see many crazy impressive basketball weight rooms. And then not having a dedicated practice gym, but that is really minor as well. A long way of agreeing with the above.

Where SLU gets dwarfed by a program like Arkansas is the rest of the athletic department and the facilities for the other programs. But an athletic department like Arkansas has so much more revenue coming in being in the SEC. So if we get into baseball or some of the other programs the discussion changes significantly, but hoops is certainly up with the big boys. And just think, 15 years ago West Pine was our primary athletic facility, so while some of the programs do not compare favorably with Chaifetz it is at least light years ahead of where it was with a basement weight room, training room, and locker rooms. Does anyone know whether there is some sort of master plan with regards to our athletics complex? I assume the footprint is large enough to do something really nice if the $ was there.

Agreed on all counts - except when I stated that "We have nothing to apologize for" when competing with major programs, I specifically meant basketball only. Much has been said about the need to improve many facilities across Billiken athletics. You also hit it on the head with your second paragraph, even a school like SLU, which is quite wealthy for its student population in terms of budget and endowment, simply cannot match the revenue brought in by major college football, it is what it is. 

Still, you have to consider context, if SLU is intending to compare itself to Big East programs (not trying to start another expansion thread, that simply is the goal of the program) you have to be happy with the progress. Our facilities would be top if not tied for top across the Big East. They already are the class of the A10. A revamped Dayton Arena and VCU's practice complex have tightened the field but SLU would still be considered more impressive in totality. 

How many basketball only schools can say they have all three: A state of the art ON CAMPUS arena, a dedicated basketball practice complex, and state of the art locker rooms comparable with high major programs? Xavier, maybe, I have no idea what their locker rooms are like. 

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29 minutes ago, prebilliken said:

Agreed on all counts - except when I stated that "We have nothing to apologize for" when competing with major programs, I specifically meant basketball only. Much has been said about the need to improve many facilities across Billiken athletics. You also hit it on the head with your second paragraph, even a school like SLU, which is quite wealthy for its student population in terms of budget and endowment, simply cannot match the revenue brought in by major college football, it is what it is. 

Still, you have to consider context, if SLU is intending to compare itself to Big East programs (not trying to start another expansion thread, that simply is the goal of the program) you have to be happy with the progress. Our facilities would be top if not tied for top across the Big East. They already are the class of the A10. A revamped Dayton Arena and VCU's practice complex have tightened the field but SLU would still be considered more impressive in totality. 

How many basketball only schools can say they have all three: A state of the art ON CAMPUS arena, a dedicated basketball practice complex, and state of the art locker rooms comparable with high major programs? Xavier, maybe, I have no idea what their locker rooms are like. 

Agreed.

Not that it matters to the overall point which holds (namely the arena and locker room certainly putting us on a level playing field with high-major programs and for the foreseeable future), but the practice complex isn't basketball dedicated, is it? I think that and the shared weight room (assuming that is still the case) are the two facilities which do not quite measure up, but that is pretty damn minor when looking at the overall picture. Having Chaifetz Arena on campus and coming out so nicely is huge since an arena is likely the hardest facility for a program to change. Like SLU improving the weight room or having a basketball specific weight room is a pretty easy thing to address, it is nice having that as the thing needing to be improved over an entire arena.

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4 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

Not that it matters to the overall point which holds (namely the arena and locker room certainly putting us on a level playing field with high-major programs and for the foreseeable future), but the practice complex isn't basketball dedicated, is it? I think that and the shared weight room (assuming that is still the case) are the two facilities which may not quite measure up, but that is pretty damn minor when looking at the overall picture. 

Poorly worded on my part, should have just said, "Dedicated practice facility," meaning, our team doesn't have to practice where it plays, it has a two court facility under the same roof as the actual arena where multiple drills can be run at the same time, but you're correct, sharing it with volleyball is pretty minor indeed. It also means that scheduling practice time between the men's and women's program is far easier. 

I've said this a thousand times and I'll say it a thousand times more, when it comes to just the structure itself (not atmosphere, history, lore, etc.) Chaifetz is one of the top facilities in all of college basketball, it is beyond reproach. I've been in many of the arenas of comparable size, specifically the Cintas Center, and Chaifetz single bowl, four screen setup is just plain better. Plus, when at capacity, it gets loud in that building! Furthermore, SLU has been improving it! The new lounge, the locker rooms, new scoreboards, SLU knows they have a game changing card and they are treating it correctly, rarely, if ever do I praise the SLU AD, but real has to recognize real. 

Chaifetz was ahead of its time as well, so many programs are moving to a "bigger is not necessarily better" mentality in terms of basketball. My graduate alma mater Texas is moving out of the TERRIBLE Frank Erwin Center and building a 10,000 seat arena, UCLA reduced the seats to improve fan experience at the cavernous Pauley Pavilion. I enjoy every moment in that building, it's just so well done.  

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36 minutes ago, prebilliken said:

Chaifetz was ahead of its time as well, so many programs are moving to a "bigger is not necessarily better" mentality in terms of basketball. My graduate alma mater Texas is moving out of the TERRIBLE Frank Erwin Center and building a 10,000 seat arena, UCLA reduced the seats to improve fan experience at the cavernous Pauley Pavilion. I enjoy every moment in that building, it's just so well done.  

I'm so glad we went with the 10,000 seat arena, such a perfect size and I would say the same for any program around the country. Wasn't that actually due to an oversight though? Here is what I found from a quick Google search, man I am glad we ended up with what we did over the original plan (the impact is far greater than had it just been the arena): 

In 2003, the university announced plans for a $70-million arena that would have seated 13,000. As fundraising efforts fell short and time went on, costs began to skyrocket.

In December, Fowler said the university revisited the original plan and made changes aimed at keeping the cost manageable. Seating was reduced, but a two-court practice facility, strength and conditioning and sports medicine areas, and offices for the university's athletic department were added. Overall, about 92,000 square feet were pared from the original project.

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16 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I'm so glad we went with the 10,000 seat arena, such a perfect size and I would say the same for any program around the country. Wasn't that actually due to an oversight though? Here is what I found from a quick Google search, man I am glad we ended up with what we did over the original plan (the impact is far greater than had it just been the arena): 

In 2003, the university announced plans for a $70-million arena that would have seated 13,000. As fundraising efforts fell short and time went on, costs began to skyrocket.

In December, Fowler said the university revisited the original plan and made changes aimed at keeping the cost manageable. Seating was reduced, but a two-court practice facility, strength and conditioning and sports medicine areas, and offices for the university's athletic department were added. Overall, about 92,000 square feet were pared from the original project.

That's the Luck of the Billiken if I've ever seen it. 

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It would be best if we were to beat KState! 

We are in that position now.  We have a great coach, great facilities, growing support from students, fans.  We now need to beat the Belmonts, KStates, Xaviers of the world.  Then when TF walks into a gym to talk to some 100+ players and Pistol puts them down as offered by SLU, we will pick up a few of them.

mhg

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6 hours ago, NH said:

Apologies, as I know this has been covered already in this thread, but is it fair to say the top local recruits for 2021 (heading into this high school season) are Kern, the Desmet bigs and Jordan Nesbitt?

Those appear to be the top four at this time, and Kelvin Lee, Jr. (Fort Zumwalt North) was at our game the other night and went to Mizzou in October. Nesbitt was there for the first home game, I think.

@3star_recruit also mentioned Ethyn Brown (Belleville East), Cole Farrell (Hazelwood Central), Jonathan Dunn (Hazelwood Central), and Tommie Williams (Belleville West) as the next tier.

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After reading some of the posts about the facilities we have in comparison with facilities available for basketball in other programs, I want to point out that, in my uneducated point of view, the most important factor of all is the coach. We now have a coach that is much better than a lot of them out there. The facilities are, to some degree (no one wants to play in a substandard facility) secondary to the coach.

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12 hours ago, Old guy said:

After reading some of the posts about the facilities we have in comparison with facilities available for basketball in other programs, I want to point out that, in my uneducated point of view, the most important factor of all is the coach. We now have a coach that is much better than a lot of them out there. The facilities are, to some degree (no one wants to play in a substandard facility) secondary to the coach.

Think about like this - the good coaches that the kids want to play for are at places with good facilities.  Chicken or egg thing.  Would Ford have coveted our job if our facilities were not good?  Would Ford have gotten the locker room redone so quick if he had not shown success?

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2021 Jordan Nesbitt had a breakout game, and turned some heads with 37 points in a 107-82 St. Louis Christian Academy loss to Prolific Prep (CA) at the Chambana Classic in Champaign, IL. It was 48-40 at half. For Prolific Prep, Top 5 National player Jalen Green had 32 and 7, Texas Tech commit Nimari Burnett had 29. (Pretty loaded backcourt there) Illinois commit Coleman Hawkins had 17 points and 10 rebounds. They also have post play and Georgia Tech commit Saba Gigiberia.

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On 11/14/2019 at 11:28 AM, cheeseman said:

Think about like this - the good coaches that the kids want to play for are at places with good facilities.  Chicken or egg thing.  Would Ford have coveted our job if our facilities were not good?  Would Ford have gotten the locker room redone so quick if he had not shown success?

Of course you are right, good coaches do not want to work in dumpy places, BUT that does not mean that we have to have the very best facility in the country to be able to attract a very good coach and very good players. We are doing fine as is.

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