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I would like to see Fred Thatch given an academic/medical scholarship with walkon status to take pressures and demands off him but to allow him to play and contribute as much as possible but don’t believe this is possible.  Thatch, Goodwin and French not going anywhere. 

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13 minutes ago, Clock_Tower said:

I would like to see Fred Thatch given an academic/medical scholarship with walkon status to take pressures and demands off him but to allow him to play and contribute as much as possible but don’t believe this is possible.  Thatch, Goodwin and French not going anywhere. 

Yeah, I believe the only way a player can switch to academic scholarship is if they were offered it prior to accepting the athletic scholarship... or something like that anyway. Think that came up with Paul Eckerle (May have spelled the name wrong). He got the Pres Schollie, so didn’t use an athletic scholarship... but then he was technically a walk on and didn’t reap all the benefits of being on athletic scholarship. Maybe someone else can fill in the gaps. 

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23 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

Yeah, I believe the only way a player can switch to academic scholarship is if they were offered it prior to accepting the athletic scholarship... or something like that anyway. Think that came up with Paul Eckerle (May have spelled the name wrong). He got the Pres Schollie, so didn’t use an athletic scholarship... but then he was technically a walk on and didn’t reap all the benefits of being on athletic scholarship. Maybe someone else can fill in the gaps. 

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St. Louis University guard Paul Eckerle still has a year of basketball eligibility left, but when this season ends, that will be it for him as an NCAA athlete. At least, he's pretty sure.

Eckerle will be giving up basketball for medical school, though if there's any way for him to keep playing, he's game.

"I think I'm at a point in my academic career where med school is the right move for me," he said. "The thought creeps into your mind, is it possible to play in med school or not? I need to talk to more people about it, but the indication I've gotten from most people is that it's darn near impossible."

So barring a longshot series of events, when SLU (12-17, 6-9 and winner of four straight) faces Xavier (23-6, 14-1) at 1 p.m. today it will be the last game for Eckerle at Chaifetz Arena, though he's not going far away. Eckerle has been accepted at SLU's med school and expects to hear from Washington University's in the next two or three weeks, at which time he will decide which one he'll attend. He didn't even apply to schools outside St. Louis so he can be around the team. Coach Rick Majerus has already invited him to join the team for practices when he can.

"I wanted to stay close so I could be close to the guys," Eckerle said. "I'm really excited about what we can do next year."

Eckerle is the only player on the team from Majerus' first season. It's been four interesting seasons, starting with Eckerle's first game, when he fouled out in seven minutes. Eckerle was on scholarship his first three seasons (he didn't play last season because of a knee injury) because Majerus had extra ones available. When SLU needed a scholarship last summer for transfer Jake Barnett, Eckerle willingly gave his up. He now is attending on an academic scholarship and has to write the school a check to pay for training table meals.

Eckerle has seen his playing time drop as the team's talent level has risen. He averaged 18 minutes a game as a freshman and now is at 11, though that seems largely irrelevant to him.

"My role this year was being someone to show the freshmen how to do things," he said. "Not so much leading by example, but by coaching, encouraging, giving them support as a teammate. Letting my play be an example for them in terms of how hard, how intense you have to play on the court at all times."

Intensity is what Eckerle is known best for.

"It's never a dull day with Paul," teammate Kyle Cassity said. "He's the most upbeat guy you'll know. The kid plays his heart out; he doesn't take one play off, one second off."

"I don't like that kid," Majerus said. "I love that kid."

As Eckerle moves on, it's clear basketball has left a big mark on his life. In addition to his biology degree, he added a certificate in business administration so he could play another season. He took his two toughest labs in summer school so they wouldn't conflict with basketball practice.

"I always joke with my girlfriend that if medical school doesn't work out, I'm going to be a high school biology teacher and coach basketball," Eckerle said. "I think that would be a lot of fun. A big part of me thinks that might be a good thing to do, but right now I'm going to follow my other passion. If for some reason that doesn't work out, I think that would be a great life to live."

 

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1 hour ago, Clock_Tower said:

I would like to see Fred Thatch given an academic/medical scholarship with walkon status to take pressures and demands off him but to allow him to play and contribute as much as possible but don’t believe this is possible.  Thatch, Goodwin and French not going anywhere. 

Uh no...if he can play, don’t insult him with an academic scholly. There is pressure to play college hoops, either be able to play or move on.

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7 hours ago, gobillsgo said:

Yeah, I believe the only way a player can switch to academic scholarship is if they were offered it prior to accepting the athletic scholarship... or something like that anyway. Think that came up with Paul Eckerle (May have spelled the name wrong). He got the Pres Schollie, so didn’t use an athletic scholarship... but then he was technically a walk on and didn’t reap all the benefits of being on athletic scholarship. Maybe someone else can fill in the gaps. 

any players getting awarded an academic scholarship have to own the credentials of other saint louis university scholarshiped students.   considering the presidential scholarships at slu are for the extremely best and brightest students.  that isnt likely for one of our players.  eckerle was probably the only player in my fandom that had those kind of credentials.  

i have been on both sides of the presidential scholarships.   i was twice on the committee that interviewed the applicants and my daughter, who was validictorian at belleville west and scored a 33 on her act was an applicant.   i can tell you that my daughter did not get awarded the scholarship and i can tell you that the applicants i interviewed were simply brilliant and extremely impressive not only credentialwise but also in their self presentation to the committee.   like i said pretty special kids.

secondly, as academic scholarships or even pure walkons, the player concerned would be limited in a lot of the things they could use and be a part of with the team.   they would not get the room and board conditions, they couldnt eat with the athletc scholarshipped players, they could not participate in offseason workouts and team events like the overseas trips, etc.   

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6 hours ago, Slufan10 said:

Diarra commented on Okoro's instagram post with "Welcome bro" so Diarra probably isn't leaving.

Interesting.
Also interesting to read the connections with Hargrove and Yuri.

Anyone know more about the labrum injury?  Worse than the ankle injury?  

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1 hour ago, cheeseman said:

How do you get away with it when a player signs after the signing period?

That has nothing to do with a scholarship. A player signs a financial aid agreement that states the school has offered him an athletic scholarship. This is in place of not signing an NLI. Strictly an agreement between the player and school.

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10 hours ago, DeSmetBilliken said:

True. And if one of them committed, that would be cause for excitement. I hadn’t heard a whole lot about them to date with regard to SLU, so I hadn’t considered the possibility.

I’ve seen so much praise for Yaya as a teammate and kid who has battled adversity in his life, that he would be another local kid I would be on board with seeing in Billiken blue along with the other two posted about most frequently. As others have said, the fit might not be ideal for him here as far as the roster in his first few seasons, but maybe he is a guy who is willing to take a backseat in his first few seasons as he continues to develop and learn our system taking on an expanded role as an upperclassman.

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10 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

I would like to see Fred Thatch given an academic/medical scholarship with walkon status to take pressures and demands off him but to allow him to play and contribute as much as possible but don’t believe this is possible.  Thatch, Goodwin and French not going anywhere. 

I think that medical scholarship or other full rides a player can get who is moving off of an athletic scholarship requires the player to medically retire or no longer be a member of the team. Thatch being moved off of scholarship but staying on the team and playing as a walk on would really surprise me.

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2 hours ago, billiken_roy said:

i have been on both sides of the presidential scholarships.   i was twice on the committee that interviewed the applicants and my daughter, who was validictorian at belleville west and scored a 33 on her act was an applicant.   i can tell you that my daughter did not get awarded the scholarship and i can tell you that the applicants i interviewed were simply brilliant and extremely impressive not only credentialwise but also in their self presentation to the committee.   like i said pretty special kids. 

This is a very interesting point you are making here. When you have a group of extremely capable and intelligent candidates it becomes extremely difficult to choose the ones that will be given the award. Why is this? Simply because these kids are in a different plane, and it is extremely difficult to sort them out. Take Harvard, for example, a lot of kids at the top of their classes or with some specially attractive achievement are bundled together into an entering class. Then, as it happens everywhere, it is all sorted internally. A lot of these kids that would have been the at the intellectual and achievement top in most other schools become mediocre in relation to the other kids around them. Think of it, kids that could have been academic superstars at Mizzou or UMass, choose to be run of the mill at Harvard. The award of the top scholarships of a school has nothing to do with the actual identification of the superstars, sometimes the kids with the  big scholarships have to struggle to keep their awards for the 4 years, the competition can be that stiff once you are in.

The same thing happens in athletics. Kids that could be dominant in A10 teams, choose to attend top 25 teams like Kentucky and become bench warmers, there. The question is why? Because they buy into the idea that being at Kentucky is what counts, that somehow they get something of value there that they could not have anywhere else. This is illusion, of course. A lot of the bench warmers in the top 25 teams could be the top stars elsewhere and rise themselves to a much higher level than what they had when they signed up with Kentucky. By the way, the same thing happens with academic high achievers that choose Harvard over other schools where they would have been academic superstars, and remain academic mediocrities at Harvard. The concept of "being here is what counts" is real.

If we ever become a team like Gonzaga or Xavier, it is the image of the team, what it means to be a member of the team, that will attract top talent to the Bills, and also retain top talent in the Bills. I think we are well on the way to develop this image, time will tell.

 

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2 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

Interesting.
Also interesting to read the connections with Hargrove and Yuri.

Anyone know more about the labrum injury?  Worse than the ankle injury?  

 

38 minutes ago, mdscott24 said:

Labrum is in the shoulder; I think that's what JGood had in HS.

 

The labrum is not restricted to the shoulder, it is present in the hips and other major joints as well. The bony part of a joint is only strongest structural support of the joint. Bone rubbing against bone is not good. For a joint to work there is cartilage covering the bony articulating surfaces of the joints. In the shoulder joint the articulation surface located in the scapula is rather flat and incapable to keep the joint in place (not so in the hip), in the shoulder the cartilage portion covering the clavicular bony surface has a curved shape that provides the proper articulating surface for the arm to connect to. The hip's pelvic surface, the acetabulum, is also covered and protected by cartilage, the hip labrum. Both of these surfaces are covered by lubricating filled membranes in order to get the joint working properly/

Shoulder labrum injuries are more common because the bony portion they cover does not provide as much support as that of the hip. However, you can have labrum injuries in both shoulder, hip, and other joints as well.

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14 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I think that medical scholarship or other full rides a player can get who is moving off of an athletic scholarship requires the player to medically retire or no longer be a member of the team. Thatch being moved off of scholarship but staying on the team and playing as a walk on would really surprise me.

That would suck for him. I’d hope he’d go somewhere else. If no medical issues he could be a starter lots of schools

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