What the Hell is Wrong with Our Recruiting?

[billikenmetz]

Our recruiting is horrible. Where do we recruit from? Do we have anyone outside a 50-mile radius of the city of Saint Louis on our radar screen? I know Brad Soderberg is under contract from Lou Fusz; here's an idea --- use that car to travel and recruit some quality players. I really don't care if Soderberg wants to recruit local players; that hasn't worked for a mid-major. I am sick and tired of losing players to SMS or Creighton or Xavier. What the hell is wrong with our coaching staff. They give up on players when Mizzou or SMS enter the picture. It's a giant poker game where players are chips and Mizzou or other programs have more chips than we do so they can bluff the hell out of us and we fold. Why can't we get quality players?

[billfan4life]

I agree 100 percent

[thetorch]

Could you cite some recent examples?

I believe the last couple years we have identified who we wanted and have got them. There is a ton of talent in the Jr, soph, and frosh classes in the St. Louis area. Maybe the strongest three years the area has ever seen. Brad has us set up to take more than our share. If Powell, Griffey, Suggs, etc all go elsewhere then you may have something.

[SShoe]

what non-local players did we lose out on to Xavier, Creighton, MO State?

Our recruiting lately has been fine. Brad is doing exactly what most of us have been arguing is the best way to build a strong program. Recruit the local talent. Everybody was critical of him and Zo for not doing that when SIU and Mo State both have made good livings off of local players such as Darren Brooks or Blake Ahearn. Do you really think we should be able to pull in kids from upstate Illinois or Indiana or OHIo where we'd compete with the likes of ILlinois, Indiana, OHio State, UC, UK, etc?

Is it smart to recruit outstate MO? There's really not that much talent there. I'm just not sure what you want from Brad right now. We've gotten in the past two years the best the area has to offer and have a young but promising team. I don't question what Brad has done recruiting wise lately, just his rigid game decisions.

[kshoe]

now you are making sense.

Next time the Bills are recruiting a local player and SMS expresses interest I hope Brad doesn't go home and cry because he know's he's just going to give up on that player. After all SMS could just be bluffing.

[billikenmetz]

We have two solid recruits on our team. That's it. Open your eyes. We lose Griffey Jr. or whatever his name is; Kramer, forget it. Daddy won't be on the bench very long....;Forget recruiting local; Biondi wants SLU to have an east coast presence, so let's go get some athletes from NYC or Boston or D.C. Forget St. Louis. We can't even get a boner like Hansborough to come to SLU.

[SShoe]

Why would a big time recruit or high talent kid from PHilly, NYC, or Boston come here? What does SLU have to offer a top recruit that Villanova, Syracuse, UCONN, or any of the other top east coast schools does not have? Hey, I'm going to pass up being on ESPN every week, playing for a hall of famer coach, in front of 30,000 fans each week, near my family and friends, against the best competition, in great facilities, for schools of great basketball and academic reputation so I can go 1000 miles to Saint Louis University and play on Charter, for a coach who has yet to prove himself, in front of 8,000 fans, away from family, against A-10 competition who are actually closer to me than SLU, in WEst Pine gym.

A guy like Hansborough is going to go anywhere he wants. And he's in fact not really a local guy. So again why would he choose us over even a Missouri or Kansas (which are both closer anyways).

By the way our previous coach tried recruiting nationally and had serious problems doing it. We came in second and third on a number of recruits and had to settle for back up plans. He goes on to a Pac-10 school and has succeeded in creating a top program and is recruiting top national talent.

[courtside]

Fabulous post SShoe. Fabulous!

[courtside]

On a practical level for recruiting right now. I see no reason Soderberg can't go into a Chicago and get talent that is under the radar, or late bloomers. In large markets, there sre pften times eventual great players who who can fall through the cracks...get a few...or even less talented but athletic kids who can improve....and add this to competing for the local top players in the STL area...and some central Il kids. Or find another spot in the region....and work your way out. Win win win.

Then get a conference tv contract, or get in a conference with a good tv contract eventually after a lot of winning.

Long long gone are the days of grabbing random NYC or wherever kids...The Big East Conference and other stook care of that when they formed over 20 plus years ago.

SLU's hope is that they can start winning some ball games, that the conference improves...gets some tv play...and once recruiting is established, then go get some big East coast market kids.

[billiken_roy]

i think the current sophomores and freshmen are the two best recruiting classes at slu since larry hughes was a freshman.

before that, soderberg was playing catchup due to academic woes from romar's teams, and the coincidental hit of the juco transfer rule which cost us two juco point guards. in basketball, 4 players in two years is huge to recover from.

we are still and will forever (or unless the rule changes) be handicapped by the juco transfer rule. hard telling what players that has cost us that could have reaped immediate benefits.

i am anxious about this class though. 4 available scholarships we only have a shooter (maguire) to show for it thus far and virtually no candidates to speak of in the rumor mill except for possibly lance stemler, who doesnt fit the profile of a power forward.

"hey rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" - bullwinkle.

[Nate Latsch]

Billikenmetz,

You realize you're talking about St. Louis U. and not a national powerhouse that can recruit wherever it wants?

SLU has to build around local talent first and fill in the blanks around those guys. I really can't see any other way the program will be successful in the long run. Kids in New York and on the East Coast couldn't care less about St. Louis University.

You have to built interest in the program among local kids, who grow up and want to play for the "home team." That way, you'll actually have a chance when a big-time recruit like Scott Suggs comes along. Otherwise, you'll continue to bring in players that other schools give up on or didn't want.

Dwayne Polk, Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch are a great start for building interest in the team in St. Louis.

I like what the staff is doing now in regards to recruiting.

- Nate

[billikenmetz]

Excuse me, but Coach Romar is a winner at any level, regardless of the conference. The aftershock of his departure is still being felt.

[billiken_roy]

metz, i was romar's top fan. however, even i admit that while he was so close it was a no cigar recruiting exactly as you wish. and because of that, he not only didnt get the second choice, he got the 3rd and 4th choices because by the time his top targets made a decision the next tier had also already committed. we were left with not much talent and a long road uphill.

soderberg made some of the same mistakes passing on people to go after what appeared to be better athletes or bigger stronger potential and missed out on players who could be very instrumental right now.

however, he has since focused on trying to grab the top local seniors and then filling in around that. he wanted a shooter for next year, by most accounts maguire is that man and is likely going to be a first team all metro player this year.

next year he is chasing powell and o'rear that we know of and both are reputed to be amongst the top juniors in st louis.

but to think they can just fly into new york, get in a taxi and buzz out to brooklyn and walk into a new york hs and get a commitment from a top 10 player, that is some sort of dream world. what color is your sky this morning?

[p diddy]

as was already stated, romar went after the national recruits and none of them came here. in the process, he ignored talented local players such as darren brooks, phillip gilbert and dan oppland. all of these young men have put up big numbers in division I college ball. instead of taking the likes or brooks, gilbert, oppland or even the ries kid from desmet, he went with randy pulley, floyd McClain, John seyfert and ross varner. those kind of mistakes kept lorenzo from enjoying the follow up success to that great tourney run in his first year.

when brad took over, he did the same thing in the first few years when he didn't take ahearn, cusworth or even some of these good in-state missouri kids who are popping up all over the valley on winning teams (tolliver, watts, richards, etx...)

brad has since started to turn things around with the last two classes and getting local (and Ian I may add), but we're still paying for the bad decisions of the previous three or four years. We have only one dependable frontcourt player on the roster and a bunch of young (albeit talented) guards. that is why we have such an inconsistent team that will struggle to have a .500 record this year.

Now, if the staff can follow up tommie and kevin with another solid class of players capable of contributing, we're in business for the future, even after ian graduates. if not, we have serious trouble ahead. what the staff does with the remaining three scholarships is of the utmost importance to the future of this coaching regime.

bad boyz for life

[Nate Latsch]

>Excuse me, but Coach Romar is a winner at any level,

>regardless of the conference. The aftershock of his

>departure is still being felt.

Romar is a good coach and a good recruiter. But he can get kids to go to Washington that would never even consider St. Louis University. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the kids Romar is recruiting have never even heard of St. Louis U.

And don't be surprised when Romar gets Scott Suggs out of Washington, Mo.

- Nate

[VTIME]

>Could you cite some recent examples?

>

>I believe the last couple years we have identified who we

>wanted and have got them. There is a ton of talent in the

>Jr, soph, and frosh classes in the St. Louis area. Maybe

>the strongest three years the area has ever seen. Brad has

>us set up to take more than our share. If Powell, Griffey,

>Suggs, etc all go elsewhere then you may have something.

Dont forget about Harrellson

[Taj79]

... billikenputz. So far, you keep rehashing items long discussed on here. You a journalist? Don't you do any research?

C'mon, bobby, stop trying to be a comedy writer will ya? This program is a journey, not a sprint. Take it from guys who have long been associated with it before we even got a passing whiff of the Big Dance smell. Anyone who started with this program in the mid- to late-90's and closer doesn't have a true understanding of where its been. To understand the future, one has to understand the past so zs not to repeaat the mistakes of that past. Romar's recruiting efforts and style were a huge mistake. His policy put us in the hole that Brad is only now making positive steps to escape from.

Varner was a California kid. Seyfert from Montana. McClain from Texas. Fisher from Washington. So one out of four ain't bad. But all were strangers to the St. Louis area. So why should the casual St. Louis fan spend his disposable entertainment dollars on a bunch of incompetent strangers? That'll pack the house for sure.

I'll give you an A+ for your enthusiasm and concern, but your topics are either old and stale, or vastly inane. Much like there's no "i" in "team," there's no "t" in Cusamano. The simplest thing in all of journalism ... okay maybe not but the most important thing for credibility's sake .. is getting the name correct!

[Quality Is Job 1]

...it's Cusumano, not Cusamano.

[Taj79]

... also means that I don't care .... my point being that if its that near and dear to your heart, wouldn't you get it right? Granted, I don't know how to spell it ... but I did know there was never a "t" in it to begin with. My point is that the putz is a putz.

[aj_arete]

that got away. I know one went to Wisc-GB, but can't recall where the other went. On hindsight, was it really a lost?

I know at the beginning that I questioned the JUCO point guard who went to Wisc-GB because he put up pedestrian numbers at the JUCO level. Plus, I knew he would have difficulty getting into SLU based on their stringent admissions standards.

[billiken_roy]

morris went to wisc-green bay and alexander went to new mexico state. however, alexander is no longer on their roster so i do not know where he ended up and why as he should be a junior this year i think. he played for the aggies last year with ok stats.

[kshoe]

it has absolutely nothing to do with SLU but I think highlights the issues SLU has recruiting non-local players.

From the Chicago Tribune:

St. Joseph's Turner hoping for ACC ride

BY BOB SAKAMOTO AND BRIAN HAMILTON

Published January 22, 2006

When Evan Turner entered St. Joseph three years ago, he was a promising 5-foot-10-inch point guard at a program that has produced playmakers such as Isiah Thomas, Brandon Watkins and Tony Freeman.

Growing 8 inches while retaining those point-guard skills has Turner rated among the top five juniors in the state and yielded scholarship offers from Iowa, Miami, Iowa State, Wisconsin, Marquette, Baylor, Notre Dame, Southern Illinois and Bradley.

But the offer he is hoping for could come in May when he visits North Carolina State.

"The coaches at North Carolina State have told me they will make an offer after my visit," said Turner, whose 14 points per game have helped No. 4 St. Joseph to a 16-1 start. "I like all the schools that have made offers, but N.C. State plays in the [Atlantic Coast Conference], the best in the country."

[StLouBlue]

I think Morris had grade issues at Wis-GB also and ended up sitting out his 1st semester senior year because of that. I never checked to see what he ended up doing the rest of that season though.