Signed Recruits' Thread

[ACE]

1 hour ago, Taj79 said:

According to Verbal Commits, and if Perkins doesn't count towards scholarship limits, we have 12 guys on scholarship right now --- Jones, Thatch Okoro, Linssen, Williams, Collins, Hargrove, Nesbitt, Jimerson, Strickland, Lorentsson and Traore.  Plus we have three verbal commitments from Parker, Kramers and Thames.  That's 15 scholarships.  We know Jones and Linssen are departing.  So that's 13 again but no accounting for Perkins.  So somebody or two is going to have to depart.  

I'd throw my speculation(s) out there but I learned to keep my mouth shut in the great Jordair Jett caper of 2011-12.  

I'm not at all worried about that. 

[Bills By 40]

I'm going to De Smet with a friend tonight to see Kramer play. Will anyone else be there?  

[dennis_w]

55 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

I'm going to De Smet with a friend tonight to see Kramer play. Will anyone else be there?  

i am anxiously awaiting a first hand report

[Bills By 40]

3 minutes ago, dennis_w said:

i am anxiously awaiting a first hand report

Word around town is that he would be a Top 100 prospect by now had he not committed already. I'm looking forward to seeing for myself. 

What excites me more than the promise he already shows is the opportunity he'll have to learn behind guys like Perkins and Jimerson. That's an understudy's dream

[dennis_w]

5 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

Word around town is that he would be a Top 100 prospect by now had he not committed already. I'm looking forward to seeing for myself. 

What excites me more than the promise he already shows is the opportunity he'll have to learn behind guys like Perkins and Jimerson. That's an understudy's dream

i have been told by those that know hoops that kramer is the best of the recruits and will see the floor right away,

[NH]

1 hour ago, Bills By 40 said:

I'm going to De Smet with a friend tonight to see Kramer play. Will anyone else be there?  

Just as an FYI I think the game is at SLUH not DeSmet

[Bills By 40]

10 minutes ago, NH said:

Just as an FYI I think the game is at SLUH not DeSmet

Good catch, thank you. Does that mean you're going as well?

[Pistol]

Senior night for Kramer and SLUH's last regular season game. He had a horrible night at CBC the other night, finishing with 9 points (1-12, 1-7, 7-11), so he could use a bounce-back game before the playoffs start. Rob Martin was excellent in that one, by the way.

Shane Ford is a senior for DeSmet. Brian Taylor is also a senior who will play at Milwaukee next year. I'm not sure if they have any other D-I prospects besides Taylor but they do have a handful of freshmen who play on varsity.

Will be curious to hear your report, @Bills By 40.

[cgeldmacher]

29 minutes ago, Pistol said:

Senior night for Kramer and SLUH's last regular season game. He had a horrible night at CBC the other night, finishing with 9 points (1-12, 1-7, 7-11), so he could use a bounce-back game before the playoffs start. Rob Martin was excellent in that one, by the way.

Shane Ford is a senior for DeSmet. Brian Taylor is also a senior who will play at Milwaukee next year. I'm not sure if they have any other D-I prospects besides Taylor but they do have a handful of freshmen who play on varsity.

Will be curious to hear your report, @Bills By 40.

Any chance that Shane comes to SLU as a walk-on?  Should get free tuition anyway since his father is a university employee.  Not saying I'm expecting him to be a contributor, but we only have Brandon Courtney this year, and will have no walk-ons unless we find them for next year.

[Cowboy II]

1 hour ago, cgeldmacher said:

Any chance that Shane comes to SLU as a walk-on?  Should get free tuition anyway since his father is a university employee.  Not saying I'm expecting him to be a contributor, but we only have Brandon Courtney this year, and will have no walk-ons unless we find them for next year.

-I guess there is always a chance but in the DeSmet games I have seen this season he has not played

[wgstl]

1 hour ago, cgeldmacher said:

Any chance that Shane comes to SLU as a walk-on?  Should get free tuition anyway since his father is a university employee.  Not saying I'm expecting him to be a contributor, but we only have Brandon Courtney this year, and will have no walk-ons unless we find them for next year.

speaking of, I thought we had a walk on that played decent ball in the Chicago area?

[Bills By 40]

 

On 2/18/2022 at 12:31 PM, Pistol said:

Senior night for Kramer and SLUH's last regular season game. He had a horrible night at CBC the other night, finishing with 9 points (1-12, 1-7, 7-11), so he could use a bounce-back game before the playoffs start. Rob Martin was excellent in that one, by the way.

Shane Ford is a senior for DeSmet. Brian Taylor is also a senior who will play at Milwaukee next year. I'm not sure if they have any other D-I prospects besides Taylor but they do have a handful of freshmen who play on varsity.

Will be curious to hear your report, @Bills By 40.

I didn't see what I expected to out of Kramer but I was pleasantly surprised in what I did. 

First of all, the kid looks like he's set to put on 30 pounds of muscle. Just looks like the SLU athletic training teams are going to sculpt him into a specimen. His game would benefit from the added strength as he has a knack for rebounding the ball and likes to attack the rim, create for others. 

While I noted he likes to create for others, (at least Friday night) that ability existed greater than the ability to create his own. I see this as more of a positive than a negative because he's a talented scorer that demands attention from the defense, so to be able to command that pressure and find the better opportunity created as a result of it is a vital asset. 

His stroke is so smooth. It's confident and consistent and when he isn't the best player on his team it's one that will surely make him a volume scorer.

While he only finished with 8 points, those points felt like a result of the team effort moreso than any of his own shortcomings. He contributed in many other ways on the court similar to what we see every game from Fred Thatch. Always had himself in a good position either with or without the ball, hustled every second on the court but not so much that it became an issue with spacing, defense, or stamina, rebounded well, was the secondary ball handler and had as much to do with running the offense as anybody, and had a great attitude the entire game even when it looked certain they were going to lose on his senior night. 

Surely there is plenty of developing to be done, but we've got the tools for that and I think it will come naturally. He showed so much of both Jimerson and Javonte's playing styles and I think learning from them will make him one hell of a player.

 

Shane Ford didn't see the court IIRC.  

[bauman]

19 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

 

I didn't see what I expected to out of Kramer but I was pleasantly surprised in what I did. 

First of all, the kid looks like he's set to put on 30 pounds of muscle. Just looks like the SLU athletic training teams are going to sculpt him into a specimen. His game would benefit from the added strength as he has a knack for rebounding the ball and likes to attack the rim, create for others. 

While I noted he likes to create for others, (at least Friday night) that ability existed greater than the ability to create his own. I see this as more of a positive than a negative because he's a talented scorer that demands attention from the defense, so to be able to command that pressure and find the better opportunity created as a result of it is a vital asset. 

His stroke is so smooth. It's confident and consistent and when he isn't the best player on his team it's one that will surely make him a volume scorer.

While he only finished with 8 points, those points felt like a result of the team effort moreso than any of his own shortcomings. He contributed in many other ways on the court similar to what we see every game from Fred Thatch. Always had himself in a good position either with or without the ball, hustled every second on the court but not so much that it became an issue with spacing, defense, or stamina, rebounded well, was the secondary ball handler and had as much to do with running the offense as anybody, and had a great attitude the entire game even when it looked certain they were going to lose on his senior night. 

Surely there is plenty of developing to be done, but we've got the tools for that and I think it will come naturally. He showed so much of both Jimerson and Javonte's playing styles and I think learning from them will make him one hell of a player.

 

Shane Ford didn't see the court IIRC.  

While you sugarcoat your report, his last two games (CBC and Desmet) don't have results that would seem to put Kramer in the top 250 , let alone the top 100 of incoming recruits.

[Bills By 40]

1 hour ago, bauman said:

While you sugarcoat your report, his last two games (CBC and Desmet) don't have results that would seem to put Kramer in the top 250 , let alone the top 100 of incoming recruits.

I expected to see someone who took an overwhelming % of his team's shots and didn't do much besides that. I was wrong. 

He's had a bad stretch of games, that doesn't discount his entire volume of work. 

[Pistol]

Thames had 34 (12-24, 0-4, 10-18) in a 63-61 loss to Parkway Central. He added 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 4 TOs. Pattonville (15-10) finishes the regular season against Ritenour tomorrow (Tuesday). Districts start a week from tonight and Pattonville is the 3-seed in Class 6, District 3, playing Francis Howell Central (6-seed) in the first round.

Parker had 21 (9-14, 1-4, 2-2) with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers in a 95-69 win over State Fair CC. The playoffs start this Friday vs. Three Rivers CC.

Kramer and SLUH are in District 1 in Class 6 and play Fox on Saturday morning. SLUH is the 1-seed, Fox is the 8-seed.

[DOC]

I saw a different game. Upside is that he gets to the basket and creates for his teamates. He can really pass and is unselfish. He's a smart player. His shooting form is very good. He rarely missed a shot in warm-ups.  However, he didn't work hard for the ball nor did much with it when it was in his hands. I think he took less than 5 2nd half shots (made one) when his team needed him to score, he passed. And I have no idea if he can play defense. He was 3 steps off his man and when he did jump the ballhandler he fouled. He is slow.  I'm also sure he's much better that what I saw or we wouldn't have signed him. I was thinking he might be sick. Based on waht I saw he isn't a top 250 player and he won't be taking anyone's place on the floor next year. He is a project, unless the Desmet game was just a really bad night.

 

 

[Pistol]

3 minutes ago, DOC said:

I saw a different game. Upside is that he gets to the basket and creates for his teamates. He can really pass and is unselfish. He's a smart player. His shooting form is very good. He rarely missed a shot in warm-ups.  However, he didn't work hard for the ball nor did much with it when it was in his hands. I think he took less than 5 2nd half shots (made one) when his team needed him to score, he passed. And I have no idea if he can play defense. He was 3 steps off his man and when he did jump the ballhandler he fouled. He is slow.  I'm also sure he's much better that what I saw or we wouldn't have signed him. I was thinking he might be sick. Based on waht I saw he isn't a top 250 player and he won't be taking anyone's place on the floor next year. He is a project, unless the Desmet game was just a really bad night.

With a couple down games in a row, it might be illness or nagging injury. I'd be more concerned if I didn't see him defend at a very high level in Nike EYBL play last year, going up against plenty of top-100 players in the 2022 class. With his size and the way I've seen him defend, along with getting on campus in a few months to get started with a college strength and conditioning coach, I'm not worried about him on that end.

His scoring is definitely down this season. Part of that is having a better supporting cast, but his usage rate and efficiency were both extremely high last season despite drawing the opponent's best defender every game. I don't have a full snapshot of this season's stats but he's down across the board. Again, I've seen him be really effective offensively with an excellent shot that he can get off quickly and in a lot of ways, so the ability is definitely there.

Hopefully he finds his offense again in the playoffs, which start this weekend.

[DOC]

I hesitated even posting anything based on what you just said. We don't recruit guys who can't play and Kramer was very productive on the Nike circuit.  

Btw...are those John Duffs kids? The older one #20 was the best player on the floor Friday night.

[Cowboy II]

-I went through this thread to accumulate stats on Thames, taking what Pistol posted there are 10 games with the  breakdown leading to the following slash overallfg/2pt/3pt/ft  57.2/65.2/12.0/59.7-- 25 3pta and 62 fta

[bauman]

6 hours ago, DOC said:

I hesitated even posting anything based on what you just said. We don't recruit guys who can't play and Kramer was very productive on the Nike circuit.  

Btw...are those John Duffs kids? The older one #20 was the best player on the floor Friday night.

I know John left the HC job at Nerinx when his youngest graduated and went to DeSmet as an Asst when his son enrolled there.  Some good blood lines.  His daughters at NH were both well above average with his youngest, I believe setting a new school record in scoring.  In addition, she starred on the soccer field, 1st team all state, and is at Clemson, a women's college powerhouse, on a soccer scholarship.

I'm not sure if he would help SLU in recruiting his son(s), since his daughter was heavily recruited by SLU but chose Clemson.

[Pistol]

2 hours ago, bauman said:

I know John left the HC job at Nerinx when his youngest graduated and went to DeSmet as an Asst when his son enrolled there.  Some good blood lines.  His daughters at NH were both well above average with his youngest, I believe setting a new school record in scoring.  In addition, she starred on the soccer field, 1st team all state, and is at Clemson, a women's college powerhouse, on a soccer scholarship.

I'm not sure if he would help SLU in recruiting his son(s), since his daughter was heavily recruited by SLU but chose Clemson.

So all three Duffs at DeSmet are his? Looks like Justin is a 6-4 junior, Dillon is a 6-3 freshman, and Owen is a 5-10 freshman.

Hard to say what Justin's level is right now but should have more clarity this spring/summer when he plays for BBE. He's being followed on Twitter by St. Bonaventure, Belmont, Cornell, Furman, EIU, SIUC, Chattanooga, Indiana State, UC-Irvine, Mercer, Drake, South Dakota State, Evansville, Milwaukee, Lipscomb, Tennessee-Martin, and SIUE.

[3star_recruit]

Kramer tore up the nets for most of the season.  He had 30 point games against Chaminade and Math and Science out of Philly.  But he's shot the ball poorly the last three games. It happens.

[Pistol]

I don't think I covered the last set of games yet.

Thames had 17 (8-13, 0-2, 1-3) in a 72-39 win over Ritenour to finish the regular season. He added 10 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, a block, and a turnover. It was a laugher from the start. 22-6 after 1, 42-11 at halftime. Pattonville is the 3-seed in the Class 6 District 3 bracket and hosts Francis Howell Central tonight at 6:30.

SLUH is the top seed in Class 6 District 1 and beat Fox by 50 in the first round. Kramer had 15. They'll take on Oakville in the district semifinals on Wednesday at home.

This was covered elsewhere but Parker had 26 (9-15, 4-7, 4-4) in an overtime win over Mineral Area College in the Region 16 playoffs. He had 9 of those points in OT and added 5 rebounds and a steal. He had 25 (9-14, 5-9, 2-3) the night before in a 77-76 semifinal win over Three Rivers CC. The bracket for the NJCAA D-I National Championship hasn't been released yet but I'll update here when their first game is known.

[A10Ref]

Potential 2022-2023 rotation:

Perkins (fingers crossed, but wouldn't blame him if he goes)

Yuri

Jnez

Okoro

Fred

Gibson

Parker

TJ

Traore

(another big from the portal, defense, defense, defense, is all we need)

(another PG from the portal)

Thames

Kramer

---

I am sadly expecting some players to leave the program... I would assume they'd be some combo of Williams, the swede, and Strickland... With that potential reality, if we're able to bring in the two big pieces above in a 4/5 and a backup PG, we are better next year (a lot better). I fully expect a huge Travis Ford offseason which, thus far, is by far the most fun part of being a billiken fan.

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by A10Ref
Forgot Traore - my b

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

15 minutes ago, A10Ref said:

 I fully expect a huge Travis Ford offseason which, thus far, is by far the most fun part of being a billiken fan.

 

Haha if this ain't the truth.