Schedule - 2025-2026

[3star_recruit]

The only time we filled the arena is with a 1) A folksy grandfatherly figure and 2) hometown heroes.  In St. Louis, It's not just winning it's who you win with.  

[SLUMS81]

Been to a Cardinals game lately?  If so, then you should know the relationship between attendance and the quality of the product you are watching.

 During the Spoonball era, we enjoyed a combination of good teams playing in a strong conference against schools with national name recognition.  We won enough games to make life very interesting for the fan base. 

Majerus coached his players up to a high level, nationally recognized.  Even then,  I don’t recall any sellouts at Chaifetz. 
One way to boost attendance would be to stop televising home games.  Not so sure that would be a popular idea.

[Old guy]

10 minutes ago, SLUMS81 said:

 One way to boost attendance would be to stop televising home games.  Not so sure that would be a popular idea.

Remember the old saying "out of sight, out of mind." If you stop televising  the games the Bills will most certainly fit the "out of sight" category, and will disappear from the public eye.

[Lord Elrond]

28 minutes ago, Old guy said:

Remember the old saying "out of sight, out of mind." If you stop televising  the games the Bills will most certainly fit the "out of sight" category, and will disappear from the public eye.

If anything, we need to get games and other programming on free OTA TV, maybe on the Matrix (channel 32). They have some talk shows about Missouri football there. Not sure if we could put our men’s basketball teams games there due to the ESPN and other conference wide contracts, but maybe a talk show on basketball?  Maybe other SLU sports? Whatever raises the profile of SLU.

[WUH]

59 minutes ago, SLUMS81 said:

 During the Spoonball era, we enjoyed a combination of good teams playing in a strong conference against schools with national name recognition.  We won enough games to make life very interesting for the fan base. 

The quality of the schedule as a factor in attendance cannot be overstated.

I was surprised that SLU managed to draw 3,800 for a Monday night game against Jackson State.

 

[3star_recruit]

5 minutes ago, WUH said:

The quality of the schedule as a factor in attendance cannot be overstated.

I was surprised that SLU managed to draw 3,800 for a Monday night game against Jackson State.

 

SLU's nonconference back in the day was full of mid-majors and the house was still full.  Coach Spoon, Claggs and Highmark were the hometown heroes we didn't know we needed.

Here's the home non-con in the season where Spoonball started winning:
 

1	Sat, Nov 27, 1993	REG		Mercer	TAAC	-15.60	W	86	52		1	0	W 1	St. Louis Arena
2	Wed, Dec 1, 1993	REG	@	Southern Methodist	SWC	-3.69	W	90	85	OT	2	0	W 2	Moody Coliseum
3	Sat, Dec 4, 1993	REG		Cornell	Ivy	-15.18	W	84	47		3	0	W 3	St. Louis Arena
4	Mon, Dec 6, 1993	REG	@	Creighton	MVC	-9.79	W	78	71		4	0	W 4	Omaha Civic Auditorium
5	Wed, Dec 8, 1993	REG		Chicago State	ECC	-21.85	W	97	69		5	0	W 5	St. Louis Arena
6	Wed, Dec 15, 1993	REG		Augustana (IL)			W	97	64		6	0	W 6
7	Sat, Dec 18, 1993	REG	@	Murray State	OVC	3.83	W	92	89		7	0	W 7	Racer Arena
8	Mon, Dec 20, 1993	REG		Samford	TAAC	-9.01	W	70	68		8	0	W 8	St. Louis Arena
9	Thu, Dec 30, 1993	REG		Southern Illinois	MVC	7.09	W	100	87		9	0	W 9	St. Louis Arena
10	Sun, Jan 2, 1994	REG		Detroit Mercy	MW Coll	-0.05	W	91	77		10	0	W 10	St. Louis Arena
11	Wed, Jan 5, 1994	REG		Missouri State	MVC	0.15	W	81	48		11	0	W 11	St. Louis Arena

[TheBand]

1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

SLU's nonconference back in the day was full of mid-majors and the house was still full.  Coach Spoon, Claggs and Highmark were the hometown heroes we didn't know we needed.

Here's the home non-con in the season where Spoonball started winning:
 

1	Sat, Nov 27, 1993	REG		Mercer	TAAC	-15.60	W	86	52		1	0	W 1	St. Louis Arena
2	Wed, Dec 1, 1993	REG	@	Southern Methodist	SWC	-3.69	W	90	85	OT	2	0	W 2	Moody Coliseum
3	Sat, Dec 4, 1993	REG		Cornell	Ivy	-15.18	W	84	47		3	0	W 3	St. Louis Arena
4	Mon, Dec 6, 1993	REG	@	Creighton	MVC	-9.79	W	78	71		4	0	W 4	Omaha Civic Auditorium
5	Wed, Dec 8, 1993	REG		Chicago State	ECC	-21.85	W	97	69		5	0	W 5	St. Louis Arena
6	Wed, Dec 15, 1993	REG		Augustana (IL)			W	97	64		6	0	W 6
7	Sat, Dec 18, 1993	REG	@	Murray State	OVC	3.83	W	92	89		7	0	W 7	Racer Arena
8	Mon, Dec 20, 1993	REG		Samford	TAAC	-9.01	W	70	68		8	0	W 8	St. Louis Arena
9	Thu, Dec 30, 1993	REG		Southern Illinois	MVC	7.09	W	100	87		9	0	W 9	St. Louis Arena
10	Sun, Jan 2, 1994	REG		Detroit Mercy	MW Coll	-0.05	W	91	77		10	0	W 10	St. Louis Arena
11	Wed, Jan 5, 1994	REG		Missouri State	MVC	0.15	W	81	48		11	0	W 11	St. Louis Arena

And it took till the Dec 30 game vs SIUC for banners covering seats to be removed from the upper deck ends at The Arena due to a HUGE walk-up crowd.

[WUH]

1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

SLU's nonconference back in the day was full of mid-majors and the house was still full.  Coach Spoon, Claggs and Highmark were the hometown heroes we didn't know we needed.

Here's the home non-con in the season where Spoonball started winning:
 

1	Sat, Nov 27, 1993	REG		Mercer	TAAC	-15.60	W	86	52		1	0	W 1	St. Louis Arena
2	Wed, Dec 1, 1993	REG	@	Southern Methodist	SWC	-3.69	W	90	85	OT	2	0	W 2	Moody Coliseum
3	Sat, Dec 4, 1993	REG		Cornell	Ivy	-15.18	W	84	47		3	0	W 3	St. Louis Arena
4	Mon, Dec 6, 1993	REG	@	Creighton	MVC	-9.79	W	78	71		4	0	W 4	Omaha Civic Auditorium
5	Wed, Dec 8, 1993	REG		Chicago State	ECC	-21.85	W	97	69		5	0	W 5	St. Louis Arena
6	Wed, Dec 15, 1993	REG		Augustana (IL)			W	97	64		6	0	W 6
7	Sat, Dec 18, 1993	REG	@	Murray State	OVC	3.83	W	92	89		7	0	W 7	Racer Arena
8	Mon, Dec 20, 1993	REG		Samford	TAAC	-9.01	W	70	68		8	0	W 8	St. Louis Arena
9	Thu, Dec 30, 1993	REG		Southern Illinois	MVC	7.09	W	100	87		9	0	W 9	St. Louis Arena
10	Sun, Jan 2, 1994	REG		Detroit Mercy	MW Coll	-0.05	W	91	77		10	0	W 10	St. Louis Arena
11	Wed, Jan 5, 1994	REG		Missouri State	MVC	0.15	W	81	48		11	0	W 11	St. Louis Arena

I think there are a variety of reasons why attendance has declined since the Spoonhour era.

I am thinking more the current year attendance compared to what it could have been with a better schedule.

[Box and Won]

1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

SLU's nonconference back in the day was full of mid-majors and the house was still full.  Coach Spoon, Claggs and Highmark were the hometown heroes we didn't know we needed.

Here's the home non-con in the season where Spoonball started winning:
 

1	Sat, Nov 27, 1993	REG		Mercer	TAAC	-15.60	W	86	52		1	0	W 1	St. Louis Arena
2	Wed, Dec 1, 1993	REG	@	Southern Methodist	SWC	-3.69	W	90	85	OT	2	0	W 2	Moody Coliseum
3	Sat, Dec 4, 1993	REG		Cornell	Ivy	-15.18	W	84	47		3	0	W 3	St. Louis Arena
4	Mon, Dec 6, 1993	REG	@	Creighton	MVC	-9.79	W	78	71		4	0	W 4	Omaha Civic Auditorium
5	Wed, Dec 8, 1993	REG		Chicago State	ECC	-21.85	W	97	69		5	0	W 5	St. Louis Arena
6	Wed, Dec 15, 1993	REG		Augustana (IL)			W	97	64		6	0	W 6
7	Sat, Dec 18, 1993	REG	@	Murray State	OVC	3.83	W	92	89		7	0	W 7	Racer Arena
8	Mon, Dec 20, 1993	REG		Samford	TAAC	-9.01	W	70	68		8	0	W 8	St. Louis Arena
9	Thu, Dec 30, 1993	REG		Southern Illinois	MVC	7.09	W	100	87		9	0	W 9	St. Louis Arena
10	Sun, Jan 2, 1994	REG		Detroit Mercy	MW Coll	-0.05	W	91	77		10	0	W 10	St. Louis Arena
11	Wed, Jan 5, 1994	REG		Missouri State	MVC	0.15	W	81	48		11	0	W 11	St. Louis Arena

They also played Iowa State at home after the conference season started, but your point still stands.

[TheA_Bomb]

3 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

 

1	Sat, Nov 27, 1993	REG		Mercer	TAAC	-15.60	W	86	52		1	0	W 1	St. Louis Arena
2	Wed, Dec 1, 1993	REG	@	Southern Methodist	SWC	-3.69	W	90	85	OT	2	0	W 2	Moody Coliseum
3	Sat, Dec 4, 1993	REG		Cornell	Ivy	-15.18	W	84	47		3	0	W 3	St. Louis Arena
4	Mon, Dec 6, 1993	REG	@	Creighton	MVC	-9.79	W	78	71		4	0	W 4	Omaha Civic Auditorium
5	Wed, Dec 8, 1993	REG		Chicago State	ECC	-21.85	W	97	69		5	0	W 5	St. Louis Arena
6	Wed, Dec 15, 1993	REG		Augustana (IL)			W	97	64		6	0	W 6
7	Sat, Dec 18, 1993	REG	@	Murray State	OVC	3.83	W	92	89		7	0	W 7	Racer Arena
8	Mon, Dec 20, 1993	REG		Samford	TAAC	-9.01	W	70	68		8	0	W 8	St. Louis Arena
9	Thu, Dec 30, 1993	REG		Southern Illinois	MVC	7.09	W	100	87		9	0	W 9	St. Louis Arena
10	Sun, Jan 2, 1994	REG		Detroit Mercy	MW Coll	-0.05	W	91	77		10	0	W 10	St. Louis Arena
11	Wed, Jan 5, 1994	REG		Missouri State	MVC	0.15	W	81	48		11	0	W 11	St. Louis Arena

Pretty good non-con schedule, in State rival SMS coming off a NCAA appearance,  Murray State is regional and was coming off back to back to back NCAA appearances, Creighton was off in the 90s but regional and has history of success,  and SIUc was in the tournament 93 & 94.

So pretty good schedule from a quality standpoint.

So maybe quality opponents,  regional focus, winning team, likeable personalities and marketing are the recipe for attendance success. 

[Brighton]

16 hours ago, WUH said:

SLU is a large private school in the 30th largest Metro area, but one without an 30 NBA team.

I do think it makes sense to market to those who have no connection to SLU, but just want to see good basketball and if that is around a campaign about making SLU the St. Louis team, I support that.  No only to fill the seats in Chaifetz, but also to fill the seats in Cook Hall.

As far as I know, college basketball attendance is down nationwide, but maybe I am wrong.  I believe Spoonhour had some advantages there.

Avila was the most recognizable star last season, but it is hard to know how long that would have lasted at Indiana State or elsewhere.

24th

[WUH]

12 minutes ago, Brighton said:

24th

24th largest Metropolitan area, thanks.

I do still think SLU should continue to market themselves as the Division I school in the area, even with two others in the market.

[Brighton]

SLU put themselves in a deep hole by disregarding the program when college basketball was becoming more prominent nationally beginning in the mid to late 60’s. During that time, likeminded schools such as Villanova, Marquette, Creighton, Xavier, Cincinnati, etc began to take basketball seriously and left SLU in the dust for good.

[billikenfan05]

18 hours ago, WUH said:

SLU is a large private school in the 30th largest Metro area, but one without an 30 NBA team.

I do think it makes sense to market to those who have no connection to SLU, but just want to see good basketball and if that is around a campaign about making SLU the St. Louis team, I support that.  No only to fill the seats in Chaifetz, but also to fill the seats in Cook Hall.

As far as I know, college basketball attendance is down nationwide, but maybe I am wrong.  I believe Spoonhour had some advantages there.

Avila was the most recognizable star last season, but it is hard to know how long that would have lasted at Indiana State or elsewhere.

The problem is the marketing efforts have been nothing but inconsistent in both messaging and effort.

Look at those Majerus teams, they weren't marketed as St. Louis' team. The campaigns were Let Your Billiken Roar, The Roar is Back, Rise of the Billikens, etc. A good marketing effort does not have to be hamfisted pandering to St. Louisans. The SLU for the Lou stuff is nice, but what are you doing besides just saying it? Are you actually endearing yourself to the community? All I've seen is Schertz appearances at the MAC or other high dollar donor talks. This isn't just a Schertz thing, Ford did it too. They tried the St Louis Team thing to to varying levels of success under Ford. Guys like Jordan Goodwin and Yuri Collins as focal points certainly played a positive role in that. but again to what degree? Hard to say. But they never really got into the weeds of getting out in the community. You can't just say you're about the city and everyone will come running to cheer you on. Grass roots marketing is not SLU's forte.

There have been really good marketing ideas. But it's never been sustained, nor does it really seem to have long term planning behind it. They aren't so much campaigns as they are flurries of ideas that aren't ever followed through on over one school year, or even semester some times.
Ex: SLU started posting weekend schedules to twitter, for all sports. They just up and stopped doing it. Why? It was a really helpful and cool way to keep fans in the loop. This consistently happens. They have a good idea, they implement it and then get away from it within a month or two.

Ex: look at the Billiken App points. I remember when they first got the app, you could accrue points to get free . Which is awesome, that promotes loyalty and returning customers. I'd completely forgotten that existed until just now. I don't know even know if they are still a thing. Why? Because it's never come across the PA at Billiken games to check in to the event. They did it for like one season and gave up on it. If it's still a thing, that's even worse. (You know what, this might have been killed by covid?) But still like that's something that should have continued post rona, it was a really solid program.

What's my point here? I'm not even sure anymore.

SLU as a university has seemed to give up on recruiting locally, Lindenwood is dominating that space right now. Followed by Maryville.

[WUH]

1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

What's my point here? I'm not even sure anymore.

SLU as a university has seemed to give up on recruiting locally, Lindenwood is dominating that space right now. Followed by Lindenwood.

Very interesting post, thanks!

I do agree that St. Louis area players will help with ticket sales.

I wish SLU had landed Walsh.

[3star_recruit]

When It comes to high school guards, Coach Schertz has shown a preference for long, athletic scorers.  Principia's Quentin Coleman in the 2026 class fits that criteria.    And to top it off, he led his squad to a state championship the month after we offered.  

 

[gobillsgo]

52 minutes ago, WUH said:

Very interesting post, thanks!

I do agree that St. Louis area players will help with ticket sales.

I wish SLU had landed Walsh.

My understanding, from what I’ve heard, is that if we wanted Walsh, we would’ve gotten Walsh.  Someone can correct me if that’s wrong. 

[Billikenbooster]

26 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

My understanding, from what I’ve heard, is that if we wanted Walsh, we would’ve gotten Walsh.  Someone can correct me if that’s wrong. 

Have heard that multiple times from my buds at the Y…an unimpeachable source LOL

[billikenfan05]

33 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

My understanding, from what I’ve heard, is that if we wanted Walsh, we would’ve gotten Walsh.  Someone can correct me if that’s wrong. 

This is my read. Walsh wanted to be a Billiken. 

[HoosierPal]

So is this a schedule thread or a roster thread?

 

 

[WUH]

14 hours ago, gobillsgo said:

My understanding, from what I’ve heard, is that if we wanted Walsh, we would’ve gotten Walsh.  Someone can correct me if that’s wrong. 

Thanks, I did not realize that.

[billiken_roy]

14 hours ago, gobillsgo said:

My understanding, from what I’ve heard, is that if we wanted Walsh, we would’ve gotten Walsh.  Someone can correct me if that’s wrong. 

ive heard the same.   i got the opportunity to see walsh up close a lot last summer.   he shoots at 360 hoops in south county as does my grandson and thus i would get to watch him occasionally if their court time would coincide.   Walsh can shoot.   no doubt about it.   not sure about the rest of his game and not sure about his athleticism and size at the A-10 and above level.  that all said, walsh would have served us fine and the 5 out offense is made for shooters like him.   my only question and i am sure the same with schertz is does he have the quickness for the next level after high school?   personally i would have rolled the dice to see considering the way he shoots.  but for now, in schertz we trust.  

[Cowboy]

-if Luke Walsh or any local kid is good enough to play for us we can be their 3rd, 4th, 5th stop on their college journey

-I doubt CJS burned bridges

[3star_recruit]

The only benefit to SLU is if the local kid stays.  If he isn't good enough to be in the top 8 as a freshman (most freshmen aren't), he's just going to transfer.  The version of the player MBMs want is the guy that has played starter minutes 30-60 games somewhere else and is significantly better than he was in high school. 

You can only get that guy in the portal.  You're never getting that guy if he's stuck behind two upperclassmen as a freshman.

[VeniceMenace]

28 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

The only benefit to SLU is if the local kid stays.  If he isn't good enough to be in the top 8 as a freshman (most freshmen aren't), he's just going to transfer.  The version of the player MBMs want is the guy that has played starter minutes 30-60 games somewhere else and is significantly better than he was in high school. 

You can only get that guy in the portal.  You're never getting that guy if he's stuck behind two upperclassmen as a freshman.

6-11 Max Pikaar averaged a double-double and 40% from 3 for Sunrise Christian, CJS’s very first recruit on paper sounded every bit as impressive as Luke Walsh.