Jump to content

Coach Ford on the Radio, 2020


Recommended Posts

Hard to believe Travis would keep Jacobs out of such a big game as St. B's because of a team rules violation. I wonder if this suspension might not have been taken out of Ford's bailiwick. Don't mean to imply this is anything like a Sit 2 or Sit 1, as I don't think he would have been sitting on the bench if it was, but it might well be some school or academic problem. A missed practice or being late for a bus ride wouldn't make sense for a coach to keep him out of a really key game. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 502
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

4 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Hard to believe Travis would keep Jacobs out of such a big game as St. B's because of a team rules violation

If you dont, you lose control. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My guess is Demarius missed the bus or practice (Perhaps not for the first time, idk) and Travis isn’t going to say he’s back until he’s actually back, which I expect to be the saint Bonaventure game. We shouldn’t read too much into it imo 

Box and Won likes this
Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Hard to believe Travis would keep Jacobs out of such a big game as St. B's because of a team rules violation. I wonder if this suspension might not have been taken out of Ford's bailiwick. Don't mean to imply this is anything like a Sit 2 or Sit 1, as I don't think he would have been sitting on the bench if it was, but it might well be some school or academic problem. A missed practice or being late for a bus ride wouldn't make sense for a coach to keep him out of a really key game. 

Jesus Smykowski, quit jumping to conclusions.

slufanskip likes this
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, cheeseman said:

 SLU has always said since the Upchurch issue that any player that meets the NCAA standards for admission meets ours. Has this changed?

I am not familiar with Upchurch or that case, but meeting NCAA standards is not a high bar.  Yes, our staff does a great job of helping, encouraging, tutoring and so on.  but a kid still has to have both desire and some decent preparation to succeed at SLU.  And it varies a lot from professor to prof, how much and how hard a kid must work for a C or higher.  But in small classes (all of them in my dept. but not all of them in every dept.), cutting a few unexcused or not turning in work on time gets noticed, pretty quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, DoctorB said:

I am not familiar with Upchurch or that case, but meeting NCAA standards is not a high bar.  Yes, our staff does a great job of helping, encouraging, tutoring and so on.  but a kid still has to have both desire and some decent preparation to succeed at SLU.  And it varies a lot from professor to prof, how much and how hard a kid must work for a C or higher.  But in small classes (all of them in my dept. but not all of them in every dept.), cutting a few unexcused or not turning in work on time gets noticed, pretty quickly.

Upchurch was  a case where he attended a summer program and was told he would need some help to make it through SLU classes, so he wasnt admitted. Went to Houston and if a I remember correctly was all southwest conference a couple of times.Set the program back quite a bit likely cost a tournament appearance or two. Been a long time so the details are a bit fuzzy. correct me if i missed something

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, dennis_w said:

Upchurch was  a case where he attended a summer program and was told he would need some help to make it through SLU classes, so he wasnt admitted. Went to Houston and if a I remember correctly was all southwest conference a couple of times.Set the program back quite a bit likely cost a tournament appearance or two. Been a long time so the details are a bit fuzzy. correct me if i missed something

Can we just agree to forget the past?  The upchurch fiasco makes my head hurt.  I need a SOMA.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Billiken Rich said:

Can we just agree to forget the past?  The upchurch fiasco makes my head hurt.  I need a SOMA.....

DR B brought up the upchurch fiasco, so i thought maybe he might want to know. You are certainly welcome to forget whatever you want or not read the post. your choice

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, dennis_w said:

DR B brought up the upchurch fiasco, so i thought maybe he might want to know. You are certainly welcome to forget whatever you want or not read the post. your choice

 

Cheeseman brought it up. I thought the issue was that he was told if he passed a particular summer course he would be eligible and after he did, they reneged on the deal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, dennis_w said:

Upchurch was  a case where he attended a summer program and was told he would need some help to make it through SLU classes, so he wasnt admitted. Went to Houston and if a I remember correctly was all southwest conference a couple of times.Set the program back quite a bit likely cost a tournament appearance or two. Been a long time so the details are a bit fuzzy. correct me if i missed something

Upchurch was told that if he completed the summer program successfully then he would be admitted.  He did as required but a dean - Father Gannon I believe - overruled it saying he was not satisfied.  Grawer was livid as was everyone else involved.  After that the school went to the  if you meet the NCAA standards then a player can be admitted.  

dennis_w likes this
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, cheeseman said:

Upchurch was told that if he completed the summer program successfully then he would be admitted.  He did as required but a dean - Father Gannon I believe - overruled it saying he was not satisfied.  Grawer was livid as was everyone else involved.  After that the school went to the  if you meet the NCAA standards then a player can be admitted.  

That was the start of Grawer’s downfall. He had gotten the best player out of the PHL(the league in St. Louis at the time) three years running and that killed his ability to recruit it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, kmbilliken said:

That was the start of Grawer’s downfall. He had gotten the best player out of the PHL(the league in St. Louis at the time) three years running and that killed his ability to recruit it.

Exactly. It went beyond the loss of Upchurch, as big a loss as that was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, kmbilliken said:

That was the start of Grawer’s downfall. He had gotten the best player out of the PHL(the league in St. Louis at the time) three years running and that killed his ability to recruit it.

http://www.stlamerican.com/sports/sports_columnists/inside_sports/year-anniversary-all-star-boys-basketball-team/article_1dc92ff0-c0a5-11e1-b24b-0019bb2963f4.html
Bonner graduated Vashon in1986 and Craig Upchurch graduated from Beaumont in 1987. Imagine both in a Billiken uniform along with Roland Gray and Monroe Douglas McKinley graduates in 1985. We were always one guy short of greatness.  One guy short of matching up against Xavier who had both Derek Strong and Tyrone Hill. Only 1 team made the NCAA Tournament every year. What could have been...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/6/2020 at 10:01 PM, Clock_Tower said:

http://www.stlamerican.com/sports/sports_columnists/inside_sports/year-anniversary-all-star-boys-basketball-team/article_1dc92ff0-c0a5-11e1-b24b-0019bb2963f4.html
Bonner graduated Vashon in1986 and Craig Upchurch graduated from Beaumont in 1987. Imagine both in a Billiken uniform along with Roland Gray and Monroe Douglas McKinley graduates in 1985. We were always one guy short of greatness.  One guy short of matching up against Xavier who had both Derek Strong and Tyrone Hill. Only 1 team made the NCAA Tournament every year. What could have been...

We would have had multiple NCAA berths and been able to attract Jahidi White, then Carrawell & Woods.  Cardinal Ritter coaching staff wanted their stars to go to SLU.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Coach Ford on KMOX this morning.  Talked about next year.  No new news.

He got about 100 texts yesterday when they were replaying the Duke -  KY 1992 game on TV.  He played, he thinks, 10 or 11 minutes that game.  KY went to the Final Four the next season at the Superdome, beating Majerus's Utah on their way. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
36 minutes ago, dlarry said:

Hopefully they discuss the Corona Virus thread from the board.

I believe the CDC is using the info from this thread, I saw a sources: Billikens.com on one of their many graphs. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Pistol said:

-Ford said they're coping well, all things considered. Doing anything they can to stay connected to the team. Doing Zooms with the players and coaches regularly, and also the women's staff to kick ideas around.

-He doesn't mind the players having a couple weeks off at the end of the season but now they need to get moving again. S&C coach is also doing Zooms with the players to get them exercising. "I don't think anybody can get ahead during these times, but you can certainly fall behind."

-Definitely anticipated French and Goodwin declaring. Had long conversations with both and their families. He supported and even encouraged it. Hates that it looks like workouts and combines won't be happening, so they're not getting the full evaluations they deserve. If they're ever expected to be first-round picks, they need to stay in the draft. That's guaranteed money.

-There are almost 700 names in the transfer portal but we haven't been in the pool since Hankton transferred, so we're late from that standpoint. Just taking it day by day and if Goodwin or French can go pro, we have to get busy in short order. It's a challenge but we're supporting everybody.

-Goodwin has things you can't teach - leadership, motor, energy - but he needs to work on ball handling, jump shooting, spacing. He keeps getting better every year and will continue to do so. He doesn't agree with the maxim that you are who you are as a shooter by age 20. Says guys get provably better, especially bigs. Everyone shoots threes now.

-The only recruiting we can do is on the phone - text, calls, FaceTime, Zoom, etc. We can offer guys and they can commit but signing dates have been moved back. "You're trying to get kids to commit who have never been to campus, seen the facilities, or met their teammates in person. Just through videos."

-He can't talk about Lorentsson at all. We technically have two scholarships because he hasn't signed but really one (not his words but implied via the back-and-forth with Frank).

-Transfers have already been through the recruiting process. They're older, they have an understanding of how it works. HS kids are more difficult because they want to take more visits, and who knows how long it'll be before we can do that again.

-Tough to build relationships just over the phone but we're doing our best.

-NCAA postponed the vote on immediate transfer eligibility until June. He thought it was going to go through but now is hearing that conferences might try to fight it. Not sure which ones or how valid the rumor is. He thinks the current numbers will double if it happens.

-They keep a close eye on the transfer portal. Every coach, everyday.

-"I know coaches with no scholarships available and are still calling recruits. We aren't doing that but it's the nature of the beast that you don't want to get behind in this...if you don't offer immediately, you're in a losing position. Recruits are asking about offers before the first conversation is over." Shared a story from his EKU days. A recruit committed the day after a home visit and offer. They pushed back and said you have to visit and meet your teammates first. The rest went well and he ended up being a starter almost his whole career. The insta-commitment hasn't happened since.

-"The further I get from the end of the season, the more I realize how great we were playing. Not only the large margins of victory, but those last 2 or 3 were huge games for both teams playing. Rhode Island could've gotten an at-large. Both teams had a lot on the line and it wasn't even a game. Then you have St. Bonaventure and we're both playing for the double bye. I guess we got up to 26 at one point. George Mason, we're down 1 at half and end up winning by 12-13. Games weren't even close. We were playing at a high level, as well as any team as I've coached down the stretch. I'm proud of how we finished and had a chance to do something special in the A10."

-It could be a great team if everyone comes back. Everyone's gotta be humble and hungry. And we've gotta get back together when all this is over.

Inject this right into my veins. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...