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Rebecca Tillett hired as Women's Basketball Coach


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18 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

Criticize away. Seems silly though to criticize decisions of which you have no knowledge of how they’ll turn out. You don’t know if the hires are great or not do you? If I’m wrong and you have some inside info on them, please tell. You weren’t on board with her hire from day 1. At least give her an opportunity to fail first

That's just not the case.

I don't have any information. But I'm not convinced what she's trying to do will translate to the A10 from the Big South. I'm a big proponent of diverse voices and experiences on your staff. Feels like she's insulating herself in a little bubble. I hate fuoking typing and you're going to continue to think I'm being unfair. So I'm just gonna leave it there.

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2 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

That's just not the case.

I don't have any information. But I'm not convinced what she's trying to do will translate to the A10 from the Big South. I'm a big proponent of diverse voices and experiences on your staff. Feels like she's insulating herself in a little bubble. I hate fuoking typing and you're going to continue to think I'm being unfair. So I'm just gonna leave it there.

I'm with skip here. Seems like some past relationships with Mrs Stone have soured some on this board initially to Mrs Tillett. She wants to start with her people to build something. Let's see what happens.

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7 hours ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

I'm with skip here. Seems like some past relationships with Mrs Stone have soured some on this board initially to Mrs Tillett. She wants to start with her people to build something. Let's see what happens.

I agree. Any coach is going to bring in people that they know and trust. They will just have to get out and meet the local people and start building relationships with people locally to recruit players.

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10 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

That's just not the case.

I don't have any information. But I'm not convinced what she's trying to do will translate to the A10 from the Big South. I'm a big proponent of diverse voices and experiences on your staff. Feels like she's insulating herself in a little bubble. I hate fuoking typing and you're going to continue to think I'm being unfair. So I'm just gonna leave it there.

You can prejudge every move Coach Tillett makes before she coaches a game.  Or you can give her a chance.  You can't do both.

Would I prefer a high major coach that moved down rather than a low major coach that moved up?  Sure.  Can it work either way?   Sure.  VCU hired Beth O'Boyle after a three-season turnaround effort at Stony Brook.  Basketball is weird.

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am i overthetop excited about Tillet's hire?   no   but there is no doubt that stone had plateaued and it sure didnt appear she was the final answer.   sure she took us to a higher level than any previous coach.   but we sure seemed stuck at a C+ to a B- level of sorts.   if ford has the same plateau happen the next couple of years, rest assured the same level of impatience will come out from the fandom.

is tillet the answer?   who knows.   as stated above i am not excited about it.   but the change was definitely needed.  she'll get the typical 5 year grace period that we all know so well and if she hasnt improved the lady billikens by then, we will start over again.   i'm not expecting much this next year, and who knows how much the stupid changes of college sports with the transfer situation and the seemingly corrupt nil b.s. will affect her ability to progress. but i got no problem with where the lady billikens sit right now.  

never lose sight of the fact that the BoT for saint louis university has shown no over the top want to be a overall sports power.   keep the apparent priorities and sensible (by college sports sakes) budgeting in mind.   to expect we were going to hire dawn staley is rediculous.   we were never going to hire a top notch already high achieving head coach.   i figured it would be an unknown reach.   it was.  give her a chance. 

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Reasons I am going to complain about the hire - 

There is no one from St. Louis on her staff - Stone didn't always have one either, she did have regional people on her staff and when she first got here she did have a local there.  No attempt by Tillet here.

She's reproduced her staff from Longwood - A HOF coach can bring all their people in to every stop, most don't do this though.  A coach at her level really can't.  She has though.  This also show that maybe she limited connections in the industry as well, not a good thing.

She's posted the team doing meditation during practice on social media - We have a set amount of time for player development every week, lets work on basketball skills instead of namaste, JMHO.

The one Asst coach she hired is clownish - Not making fun of looks here.  Her promotional photo she is wearing a bow tie and a mens suit jacket with the tags still on it.  I know the culture is different in womens Bball, but this is the equivalent of a man wearing random baseball hat with the sticker on the bill in his photo.  To some who say this is a cool look for young people and I'm too old, its not a cool look and I'm not that old.

Another Asst coach is from Chicago St - I know she worked with Tillet before but Chicago St is the worst run AD in D-1.  I'm not touching anyone they hire.

All the transfers she brought in are from Longwood - Again this shows a lack of connections and a lack of recruiting skill.  There are only so many players she can bring in from Longwood.

This hire reeks of SLU being cheap - This is out of Tillets control but they are all interconnected and this is my overriding concern.  I think MMP put it best, May made this hire because he thinks he can get more out of the program with the same level of commitment.  I thought SLU was past this level of thinking.  

 

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21 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Reasons I am going to complain about the hire - 

There is no one from St. Louis on her staff - Stone didn't always have one either, she did have regional people on her staff and when she first got here she did have a local there.  No attempt by Tillet here.

She's reproduced her staff from Longwood - A HOF coach can bring all their people in to every stop, most don't do this though.  A coach at her level really can't.  She has though.  This also show that maybe she limited connections in the industry as well, not a good thing.

She's posted the team doing meditation during practice on social media - We have a set amount of time for player development every week, lets work on basketball skills instead of namaste, JMHO.

The one Asst coach she hired is clownish - Not making fun of looks here.  Her promotional photo she is wearing a bow tie and a mens suit jacket with the tags still on it.  I know the culture is different in womens Bball, but this is the equivalent of a man wearing random baseball hat with the sticker on the bill in his photo.  To some who say this is a cool look for young people and I'm too old, its not a cool look and I'm not that old.

Another Asst coach is from Chicago St - I know she worked with Tillet before but Chicago St is the worst run AD in D-1.  I'm not touching anyone they hire.

All the transfers she brought in are from Longwood - Again this shows a lack of connections and a lack of recruiting skill.  There are only so many players she can bring in from Longwood.

This hire reeks of SLU being cheap - This is out of Tillets control but they are all interconnected and this is my overriding concern.  I think MMP put it best, May made this hire because he thinks he can get more out of the program with the same level of commitment.  I thought SLU was past this level of thinking.  

 

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Question:  If you put a hungry young coach with some success at the D-1 level in Chaifetz, will that coach make it to the NIT within 3 years?

Answer:  Probably.

If that is the rationale, I don't think May is wrong here.  Yeah, it's a cheap solution but so what?

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torch of course it's "cheap".   I am not sure why you expected different.  As i stated, look at the track record for the Saint Louis University BoT.   the only sport they spend even halfway generously on is men's basketball.   probably because they bring in the most revenue.   If the lady billikens ever expect to get such a budget, they need to win first.   start bringing in thousands more fans per game. 

sure that becomes a "chicken or the egg" dilemna, but it is what it is.  but until the lady billikens are producing the revenue to support big hires and spending, it just isnt going to happen.  that will either be accomplished by a "sugar daddy" all about the lady billikens with specific direction to spend on the lady billikens or it will be accomplished by winning and bringing in more fans and trips to the ncaa tourney.  

i dont see any other path and i begrudgedly accept.  when you and I get named to the BoT maybe then we can shake things up.  

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33 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Reasons I am going to complain about the hire - 

There is no one from St. Louis on her staff - Stone didn't always have one either, she did have regional people on her staff and when she first got here she did have a local there.  No attempt by Tillet here.

She's reproduced her staff from Longwood - A HOF coach can bring all their people in to every stop, most don't do this though.  A coach at her level really can't.  She has though.  This also show that maybe she limited connections in the industry as well, not a good thing.

She's posted the team doing meditation during practice on social media - We have a set amount of time for player development every week, lets work on basketball skills instead of namaste, JMHO.

The one Asst coach she hired is clownish - Not making fun of looks here.  Her promotional photo she is wearing a bow tie and a mens suit jacket with the tags still on it.  I know the culture is different in womens Bball, but this is the equivalent of a man wearing random baseball hat with the sticker on the bill in his photo.  To some who say this is a cool look for young people and I'm too old, its not a cool look and I'm not that old.

Another Asst coach is from Chicago St - I know she worked with Tillet before but Chicago St is the worst run AD in D-1.  I'm not touching anyone they hire.

All the transfers she brought in are from Longwood - Again this shows a lack of connections and a lack of recruiting skill.  There are only so many players she can bring in from Longwood.

This hire reeks of SLU being cheap - This is out of Tillets control but they are all interconnected and this is my overriding concern.  I think MMP put it best, May made this hire because he thinks he can get more out of the program with the same level of commitment.  I thought SLU was past this level of thinking.  

 

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torch let's say you got an interview with a program to be a head coach.  you just had an very good season at the program you are coming from.   you trust and like your staff you have and you have a few select players that got you to that point that you feel made quite a difference and could easily excel at a higher level.

the program you are interviewing at tells you how exactly you are going to build your staff and what players you can bring in to start off.  both dont include those assistant coaches and players that got you that interview.   do you think maybe that might make you pause on taking the job?  wouldnt you want to build the program you are taking over if you get the job your way?   you know that if you fail you will be out in just a few years regardless of how you have to approach the job.    i know i would want to have my start in my own hands and do it my way.   

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4 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

You can prejudge every move Coach Tillett makes before she coaches a game.  Or you can give her a chance.  You can't do both.

Would I prefer a high major coach that moved down rather than a low major coach that moved up?  Sure.  Can it work either way?   Sure.  VCU hired Beth O'Boyle after a three-season turnaround effort at Stony Brook.  Basketball is weird.

Absolutely disagree on your whole point. But first we're not pre-judging her moves we are observing and reacting. I can absolutely be skeptical of the moves she makes and still when push comes to shove give her teams a chance on the court.

3 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

Question:  If you put a hungry young coach with some success at the D-1 level in Chaifetz, will that coach make it to the NIT within 3 years?

Answer:  Probably.

If that is the rationale, I don't think May is wrong here.  Yeah, it's a cheap solution but so what?

May's whole messaging is that would should be making NCAA Tournaments pretty regularly.

 

The bottom line:

We're excusing a cheap solution to a "problem" that didn't exist. If you know you're not going to have extra cash to put into the program's coaching position, why not just ride with Stone?

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4 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

Question:  If you put a hungry young coach with some success at the D-1 level in Chaifetz, will that coach make it to the NIT within 3 years?

Answer:  Probably.

If that is the rationale, I don't think May is wrong here.  Yeah, it's a cheap solution but so what?

NITs aren't going to cut it.  That's not me talking that is Chris May.

I heard this all through the 80s and 90s.  Again I thought we were past it.  We have the finances and resources to significantly upgrade our most prominent womens sport and we don't. 

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14 hours ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

Seems like some past relationships with Mrs Stone have soured some on this board initially to Mrs Tillett.

I'll be 100% transparent that some of it is this for me. Stone just seemed like a rock (pun intended) and was a decent recruiter for a while. I think if you take away the covid and injury issues, we make the WNIT 1 of the last 3 years. That and under her tenure we had multiple team and individual records broken for the women's program. I understand wanting to elevate the program, but I'm skeptical of how it can work hiring a seemingly similar coach (one NCAA appearance notwithstanding).

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It was time to move on from Stone. Her progress stalled. Tillett may end up being the right choice but the events that have transpired since firing Stone don't align with May's comments. My fear continues to be that Tillett has less resources from the AD than Stone did. There is nothing wrong with a fan questioning what's happened. That's just how sports work. 

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1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

It was time to move on from Stone. Her progress stalled. Tillett may end up being the right choice but the events that have transpired since firing Stone don't align with May's comments. My fear continues to be that Tillett has less resources from the AD than Stone did. There is nothing wrong with a fan questioning what's happened. That's just how sports work. 

Spot on.

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1 hour ago, BrettJollyComedyHour said:

I'll be 100% transparent that some of it is this for me. Stone just seemed like a rock (pun intended) and was a decent recruiter for a while. I think if you take away the covid and injury issues, we make the WNIT 1 of the last 3 years. That and under her tenure we had multiple team and individual records broken for the women's program. I understand wanting to elevate the program, but I'm skeptical of how it can work hiring a seemingly similar coach (one NCAA appearance notwithstanding).

How much of the recruiting was down to Mike Geary, the level of recruits went down after he left.

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3 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

Absolutely disagree on your whole point. But first we're not pre-judging her moves we are observing and reacting. I can absolutely be skeptical of the moves she makes and still when push comes to shove give her teams a chance on the court.

May's whole messaging is that would should be making NCAA Tournaments pretty regularly.

 

The bottom line:

We're excusing a cheap solution to a "problem" that didn't exist. If you know you're not going to have extra cash to put into the program's coaching position, why not just ride with Stone?

I can think of one possibility. Because they're more optimistic about the upside of a 44 year old coach on the rise versus a 59 year old one coming off a losing season.

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7 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

Question:  If you put a hungry young coach with some success at the D-1 level in Chaifetz, will that coach make it to the NIT within 3 years?

Answer:  Probably.

If that is the rationale, I don't think May is wrong here.  Yeah, it's a cheap solution but so what?

Tillett isn’t a young coach.  She is 46.  She isn’t old, but she isn’t a young coach either.

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16 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

I can think of one possibility. Because they're more optimistic about the upside of a 44 year old coach on the rise versus a 59 year old one coming off a losing season.

There were a lot of younger coaches than Tillett available with longer and more impressive resumes, including assistants.

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11 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

There were a lot of younger coaches than Tillett available with longer and more impressive resumes, including assistants.

How does an Assistant who has never actually led a team to anything have a better resume than a coach who took a team that won 23 games total in the 4 years preceding her hire to the NCAA tournament in just 4 years. 

 

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3 hours ago, slufanskip said:

How does an Assistant who has never actually led a team to anything have a better resume than a coach who took a team that won 23 games total in the 4 years preceding her hire to the NCAA tournament in just 4 years. 

 

C'mon skip....You know the answer to this. The prime example out there is obviously a coach like Jackson-Durrett. Longer tenured at a higher level, experience recruiting at a high level, bench coaching at a high level, learning from the best coaches in the business.

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20 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

C'mon skip....You know the answer to this. The prime example out there is obviously a coach like Jackson-Durrett. Longer tenured at a higher level, experience recruiting at a high level, bench coaching at a high level, learning from the best coaches in the business.

I will be watching with interest what Jackson-Durrett accomplishes at UMKC.  The previous coach led them to a 23-9 record and an NIT appearance.

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58 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

C'mon skip....You know the answer to this. The prime example out there is obviously a coach like Jackson-Durrett. Longer tenured at a higher level, experience recruiting at a high level, bench coaching at a high level, learning from the best coaches in the business.

No actually I don’t. I’ve participated in the real world where actual experience leading a team counts more than 2nd fiddle experience.
As the Assistant coach  at UT for example you are recruiting at a big time level but you’re recruiting players to play for someone else. In someone else’s system and you have someone else to seal the deal. As the assistant it isn’t your system, you may have input but you don’t really have the say on what you do or don’t do. There’s a lot of responsibility you don’t have and have never shouldered. 
 

I’ve promoted many very good Asst’s who were never as good Mgrs as they were Asst’s. 
 

Jackson-Durrett may prove to be very good but so may Tillett. As far as Resumes go I’d have chosen Tillett easily. I’m sure they are both very impressive in an interview. 
 

 

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