Open letter to outsiders and recruits!

[Sheltiedave]

Anyone challenging Billikan's overall analytical ability, or his basketball acumen, is a bushel cart full short of a bushel.

David, Brad has recruited the FOY the year in the conference, and the alternate FOY as well. He has closed some tough recruiting battles to our advantage. I have us slated to make the Big Dance next year.

I can't figure out whether you attach a double meaning to "athletic players" or not. Brad will not hesitate to pursue and sign solid athletes who are good people and good bball players. I also doubt anyone in the program will pursue a Mo Rice out of Philadelphia Christian Academy, or any other fly by night institution.

Horrible as it seems, Wisconsin and Illinois still practice defense first basketball, and come tourney time, the MVC does as well. It's ugly, boring, and the way to build an enduring winning program. If we were at the point of winning 20 games a season, recruits of all talents would have little problem committing to attend.

The long and short - Brad had a winning team this year, they'll improve next year - and he'll be around for at least five years.

[courtside]

I am not saying whether or not Soderberg will be around for 5 years, but I can say if he doesn't make the NCAA's next year or year after, hew ill not get a third season after that. No chance...or else SLU's commitment to winning doesn't exist.

[Taj79]

Please clarify ... five years or five MORE years? This is his fourth year, so do you mean one more for five total or five more for nine total?

[Schasz]

As I said before Billikan is one of the most ardent and loyal Billiken fans on this board. I would agree with both him and Sheltiedave that our team had a good year and at least in my case they exceeded my expectations. I really saw this as no better than a .500 year.

On the other hand, I also understand the other fans and most of them are loyal ones that are upset...primarly with the finish of the season with 3 straight losses. It is very tough especially when the team's offense was not very good in a few of the losses and scoring in the 30's should not be acceptable. I would have to believe that Coach Soderberg cannot be too thrilled with the performance either at the end of the year.

I think we have to see who the players are that we add to the mix and couple that with hitting the weight room and player development let's look forward to 4 or 5 more wins that should put us in the Big Dance.

No question that anyone coaching D-1 basketball has to be held accountable what with the salaries they make. Let's see what next year brings and I do think it is a key one for Coach Soderberg and I have to believe that he knows that too. While I don't know that it is make it or break it year...there will be much more rumbling if the team does not play beyond the regular season.

[Billiken75]

David,

For the record, what will your opinion of the Soderberg regime be - if we go to the Dance? and possibly win a game or two? Your opinion of the team changes more than any sportswriter I have seen. And I believe Brad's below .500 avg in four season is seriously skewed by last season - and the whole injury situation was mainly responsible for that subpar showing.

I think our recruiting is getting reasonably established locally and it takes time to make inways and the necessary connections.

I think Brad ink he is smart enough to evaluate himself and his team and make the necessary corrections. To change coaching at this junction would set the program back another 5 years - unless Huggins, or some other blatant cheater is an acceptable alternative. By the way, how do you think the Louisville crowd is taking their current situation?

[Billsboys]

>I did play ball but that is irrevant to this discussion. I

>have coached a number of different teams at different

>levels--never in college--but that is irrelevant to this

>discussion. I am sure you never played or coached anywhere

>but that is irrelevant to this discussion. What is relevant

>is the attitude of win or else and nothing is ever good

>enough. 16-13= Brad is a bum and a terrible coach. I thought

>this was a great year with a lot of promise for the future

>and yet you and others are totally negative. I find that

>people who have never had to fight to accomplish anything

>really significant-- not knowing how hard it is at a high

>level--find it easy to criticize--particularly from the

>confines of a computer screen.

You are wrong on all points. Coaching 6th grade girls kick ball does not really count in my book and neither does sitting the bench on your high school team. Good Try!

[billiken_roy]

sheltie said, "To change coaching at this junction would set the program back another 5 years - unless Huggins, or some other blatant cheater is an acceptable alternative."

sheltie you have hit on the key point in this whole changing of the guard thing. anyone that has been a longtime follower of saint louis university (not a fan necessarily just a follower) should know that slu is not going to hire the likes of a huggins or even any other established high profile coach. i.e. it is going to be a role of the dice second tier mid major coach looking for a chance to move up (see romar) or an up and coming assistant (see brad or even grawer) or a tired retread that likely isnt going to put in the effort to do all that needs to be done to do all the needed recruiting and training that it takes to overcome the built in slu hurdles (see spoon).

add to that the strong possibility that incoming recruits and current players will refuse to join the new regime, i hope everyone is seeing the pitfalls of changing ships midstream.

coach soderberg has definitely made recruiting errors. shaw vs grimes was a horrible focus. loading his roster with basically only serviceable guards except ian is haunting him right now. but the one thing that is obvious is that overall he isnt shortcutting the long range vision and he isnt jeopardizing saint louis university's identity to win games as hobbs apparently has done at george washington (btw, wonder where hobbs learned that. amazingly his mentor seems to get players to put his program in the final four with no effort.)

i do not want to settle for 500 either. and while davidnark says he doesnt hold the final four goal or expectation, i believe that if given the long term (4-5 MORE years minimum) time to build a system and program that coach soderberg can do that. programs like xavier and gonzaga are thrown out there all the time with statements like "if they can do it why cant slu?" of course no one wants to remember that neither gonzaga or xavier built that system overnite. gonzaga had a lot of years staying the course before they hit the jackpot in the late 90's. both few and monson were assistants for dan fitzgerald who coached for 15 years at gonzaga and prior to that the head coach was hank anderson who coached for 21 years at gonzaga. the school stayed the course with a program that was no where near the national power that it is now. it took baby steps and a lot of 2 steps forward 2 steps back years to get where it is today.

i just hope everyone realizes that a lot of positives have happened over the last 20 years to show that slu has in fact taken the baby steps forward. but of course the wrong move could also set the program back years. and that is my greatest fear. change is not going to be accompanied with hiring roy williams or rick pitino. and anyone that has visions that it is that easy is either naive or lying to themselves. change is going to involve a roll of the dice and starting over with blind faith. sure we might get an immediate surge when the incoming guard capitalizes on an existing player base (see spoon) but then what will be our guarantee long term that an up and coming coach will then speed up the process with their new program and vision?

for now, i'd say let soderberg have his way with the lisch liddell era. now if we are all sitting here in 2009 with a 4 guard offense and a 500 record and no signed recruits, then hell yeah. coach soderberg got his chance. but just when the program is seeing the light to make a change imo could be suicidal.

[Schasz]

Very good points Roy. I witnessed the start of the Zags run when I lived in the Pacific NW. What struck me about them was when Monson left for greener pastures at MN, their administration did not blink with elevating Mark Few to HC from the current staff...keeping continuity...something we have never did in the past until Brad was elevated. Of course, they had taken the steps you refer to so it was a bit easier. By the way, the Zags already have stated that they have Few's successor on the coaching staff, if Mark ever decides to leave.

The points you raise about finding someone to raise the program are all valid, as it will be a crapshoot and the meter starts running after the new HC takes the reigns. Meaning that we would not know exactly what we have for another 3-4 years. I have become a Coach Soderberg supporter, and this is coming from someone who was definitely not satisfied with him when he was announced. No, I am not going to blindly support him and I think he has to move this current group of fine recruits over the finish line aka the Big Dance. In order to do that, he will have to add some parts to the current mix. Next year is an important year for Coach and the Billiken team. It is resonable to have the Big Dance as a goal, so let's see how this unfolds.