Alex Tyus update from PrepStars

[billiken_roy]

as tsuegnekillib pointed out the players i am sure you think romar "missed" on were late bloomers that werent considered by most high division one players. i am happy that the likes of gilbert, brooks etc had great success in college, but quite honestly, i wasnt considering them coveted players in high school and i am sure coach romar didnt either. as to missing out on miles, mckinney and lee, my guess has always been that had he stuck around those misses would have become hits eventually. of course we will never know, but again, i believe that coach soderberg is experiencing some of his success because of the inroads that coach romar made on behalf of slu.

[slufanskip]

I agree we should be able to get top 100 talent that is local ... but we also need to do a better job of evaluating the local talent that doesn't have the top 100 hype ... such as Darren Brooks

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[p diddy]

wouldn't you take joe ries over a ross varner or latimer or seyfert. I think everyone on this board would say yes.

brooks and gilbert weren't considered high major recruits coming out of high school. neither were erwin claggett, roland gray and anthony bonner, which happen to be three of our top five career scoring leaders.

gilbert was a a big-time shooter in high school playing alongside darius and brooks was a great all-around player who didn't play a lot of aau ball in h.s. he's said on radio that a lot of schools overlooked him because he choose to play baseball during the spring instead of aau. he did play some with the falcons, i believe. i know those people in the basketball community STRONGLY urged lorenzo to pursue these two young men. sloan wasn't a high-major recruit either, but he signed him and he had a very solid career. he went after mo baker, but his junior college coach was running interference for eddie sutton the whole time because he was best friends with sean sutton.

bad boyz for life

[davidnark]

Just curious, would you put Polk, Meyer, and Maquire into a similar category as Brooks and Gilbert. I suspect that you would.

Recruiting for SLU is a paradox of sorts. Do you try to reach for top talent so that you can achieve the success of the high-flyers in CUSA and the A10 or do you focus almost exclusively on high-quality 3-star recruits to build a strong and stable program (e.g., SIUC)? In other words, SLU has an identity crisis that it has not yet solved.

I suspect that Brad is now following a strategy similar to the one you have proposed. It appears that he has (i) offered one or two good--but not blue chip--local talents every season to build his base (e.g., Polk, Meyer, Maquire); (ii) limited recruiting of blue-chip talent to local players with whom he has had several years to build credibility (e.g., Lisch and Liddell and hopefully Tyus and Suggs); and (iii) used prep school, juco, and out-of-market recruits to fill specific needs or to use extra scholarships. He has also shown a willingness to look overseas to find talent.

[davidnark]

One other thing I like about Brad's recruiting process is that he would rather hold a scholarship than use it on a guy like Varner, Sekue, or Seyfert. Granted, he has the luxury of not having to deal with the 8/5 rule.

[Billikenbooster]

Skip

I agree. It seems, however, that whenever a local top 100 comes along, we all give him a pass to say, "How can you pass up a chance to play in the SEC, or the ACC?". Obviously it will be easier when we start winning, but can we win when we let our best local players leave us?

mhg

[p diddy]

history has shown us that that is they way to win at SLU. when you look at the teams that have won and gone to the postseason (under grawer, spoon, lorenzo and even brad's two winning teams), there is an area base of players. slu is one place that cannot afford to pass up local talent and expect to win on a consistent basis. until someone proves otherwise, it just doesn't happen here. coahces have tried it, but do not succeed. even when j-love took us on that miracle run in memphis, the supporting cast was the likes of baniak, tatum, redden, braun and robertson (all area guys).

lorenzo is easily one of the best recruiters in the country, but he strayed from the local formula and he struggled a bit after that first year. that point cannot be stressed enough. i think brad learned this lesson the hard way in his first two years on the job. he is now doing what needs to be done.

bad boyz for life

[cheeseman]

David - you are correct - the elimination of the 8/5 rule has made things alot easier when it comes to deciding how and who you recruit. In defense to those who brought in your above named players - they did not have that luxury so to knock them may not be totally fair. However, it is fair to ask why they did not get better fall back players.