VTIME Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Vashon's James Washington has given his verbal commitment to Western Illinois University. He is the second area play to give a commitment to the school joining Hazelwood Central's Mo Smith. He will be one of 4 former area players suiting up for Western Illinois along with Smith, former Alton forward Lorenzo Taylor, and former Belleville West and Purdue star, Xavier Price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I wouldn't go so far as to call Xavier Price a "star." Even in high school he was not the best player at West, that honor would go undoubtedly to SIU-E's J.B. Jones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Western Illinois is coached by former SLU assistant Derrick Thomas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 He will be one of 4 former area players suiting >up for Western Illinois along with Smith, former Alton >forward Lorenzo Taylor, and former Belleville West and >Purdue star, Xavier Price. Purdue star Xavier Price? He averaged like 2 points per game for a team that won 7 games. Get real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 >I wouldn't go so far as to call Xavier Price a "star." Even >in high school he was not the best player at West, that >honor would go undoubtedly to SIU-E's J.B. Jones. Yes, that's why one kid was a high-major, top 100 caliber player and the other is a very good, but not stellar division II player. When they played on the Eagles together price was the better player and Jones couldnt get off the bench. I have zero doubt that a player as highly touted as Price can light it up in the smaller conference. He has three years of eligiblity remaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Vtime, Price played his way out of the Purdue starting lineup. Dwayne shot his way out of the Saint Louis starting lineup. In college ball, it is all about how much you improve, not how much press or how glowing your rating was in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 J.B. had Division 1 offers to pick from. He simply chose to stay close to home in an environment where he could be the star right away and have ample playing time. The same argument could be stated in Edwardsville's case this year. Many people say that Stewart is the better player and he is going to Illinois Chicago yet Maguire is coming to play at SLU. Just because one signs to play at a lesser school to say, does not mean they are not a better player. In fact many people think J.B. was the best player in Belleville in 2003, even ahead of Lisch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Well, at least Western's coach has made some inroads on the recruiting trail, unlike our Fearless Leader...go Leathernecks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerts Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 JB is better than Price. Belleville West's coach has acknowledged this fact. Price is living off of the reputation that he gained by winning the Illinois slam dunk contest as a freshman. Price is the better athlete but as far as a basketball player, it is without a doubt JB. FUTURE Billikens.com sponsor of Kevin Lisch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Four words .... Meyer, Polk, Lisch, and Liddell. How can you say our fearless leader has not made inroads? I know you're the leader of the "Sack Brad" fanclub right now and that's your perogative but it would help if you made, at least, factual statements. Derrick Thomas had inroads in St. Louis long before he left. He is the one that brought Hughes, Tatum and Baniak into the fold for Charlie ... and when you throw in Heinrich, that's probably the best recruiting class SLU has ever had. For him to continue that connection no matter where he goes should be expected. Look at the Huggins story elsewhere on this page. Hugs steals Hill and gets Beardsly in the deal. He's positioned to hire Barnes and get Mayo and Walker in that deal. The deals are dirty; nonetheless I think the example further states what's been bantered about before .. kids choose schools based on the coach more than anything else. Second, I think, is the name on the front of the jersey. The rich get richer and reload. I really don't know if this is a fair statement or not but didn't Vee say Washington's only Division 1 offer was from Rice and no one else? I guess Western is Division 1 as well. But if that's the best offers given an all-metro player, there's got to be question begging an answer in here somewhere. I really don't think Western-vs.-SLU is fair comparison but that's just me. Again, only time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 .... I know you have, for the longest time, advocated keeping St. Louis players in St. Louis. I am assuming that that belief has some bearing in this post. James Washington might go off and have a stellar WIU career. But by doing that, I don't know you can say he'd have had the same numbers (hypothetical right now as they may be) playing for SLU in a larger, better conference (I am making this statement becasue of your follow-on statemnt about Price excelling "in a smaller ocnference")whether that conference were the old CUSA or new A-10. I don't think this is going to be settled for at least four years but I intend to watch and see how correct you are. The serious quesiton is this: why does Lorenzo Taylor even merit a mention here? Sure, he's from St. Louis but this is a guy who got in 24 games at WIU, never started a single one, averaged 7 minutes per appearance and averaged 1.7 points per game. Why does that bear mention? Surely you are not advocating that SLU should have offered a kid that didn't contribute much if anyhting in the tough Mid-Continent Conference, are you? I suspect this list is another way of espousing your main point .. that St. Louis kids should be kept in St. Louis. But mentioning some of these names seems to be padding the numbers to demonstrate a point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 >.... I know you have, for the longest time, advocated >keeping St. Louis players in St. Louis. I am assuming that >that belief has some bearing in this post. James Washington >might go off and have a stellar WIU career. But by doing >that, I don't know you can say he'd have had the same >numbers (hypothetical right now as they may be) playing for >SLU in a larger, better conference (I am making this >statement becasue of your follow-on statemnt about Price >excelling "in a smaller ocnference")whether that conference >were the old CUSA or new A-10. I don't think this is going >to be settled for at least four years but I intend to watch >and see how correct you are. > >The serious quesiton is this: why does Lorenzo Taylor even >merit a mention here? Sure, he's from St. Louis but this is >a guy who got in 24 games at WIU, never started a single >one, averaged 7 minutes per appearance and averaged 1.7 >points per game. Why does that bear mention? Surely you >are not advocating that SLU should have offered a kid that >didn't contribute much if anyhting in the tough >Mid-Continent Conference, are you? > >I suspect this list is another way of espousing your main >point .. that St. Louis kids should be kept in St. Louis. >But mentioning some of these names seems to be padding the >numbers to demonstrate a point. Taylor is not done, and is a 6'7 super-athlete that might have helped. He's not the only frosh to struggle. I didnt keep up with WIU, so I dont know his situation there. You say the fact that an all-metro player is only going to WIU is supposed to say something. The fact that he is 5'8 says something. It scares schools off. Washington has held his own against all the local SLU guards. With Liddell moving to pg, there is no need for Washington, but I think he's good enough to play at an A10 school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoat Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 >Taylor is not done, and is a 6'7 super-athlete that might >have helped. He's not the only frosh to struggle. I didnt >keep up with WIU, so I dont know his situation there. Yes, but quoting yourself here, how can you know that taylor is not done as an athlete, if you don't follow WIU's situation? Furthermore, how many games of WIU have you seen this year and if you havn't seen any, what position are you in to evaluate the fact that he "isn't done". And to reiterate, that there are plenty of people that might have helped, but if we take every person that "might" have helped, you and I could have been on the team. >Washington has held his own against all the local SLU guards. Please define this point more clearly with some statistics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 >>Taylor is not done, and is a 6'7 super-athlete that might >>have helped. He's not the only frosh to struggle. I didnt >>keep up with WIU, so I dont know his situation there. > > >Yes, but quoting yourself here, how can you know that taylor >is not done as an athlete, if you don't follow WIU's >situation? Furthermore, how many games of WIU have you seen >this year and if you havn't seen any, what position are you >in to evaluate the fact that he "isn't done". And to >reiterate, that there are plenty of people that might have >helped, but if we take every person that "might" have >helped, you and I could have been on the team. > > > >>Washington has held his own against all the local SLU guards. > > >Please define this point more clearly with some statistics. In saying he's not done, I mean he has 3 years of eligibility yet. How do you expect me to find the AAU stats? He was a sophomore giving way to the off guard Polk while in high school with most of those guys during the high school season where stats were kept on prepsports.stltoday.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoat Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 yes, but i would like you to address the fact of the "super-athlete" quote. When have you seen him play in the last season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoat Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 >He was a sophomore giving way to the off guard Polk >while in high school with most of those guys during the high >school season where stats were kept on >prepsports.stltoday.com If he was as you say "holding his own against the SLU guards", how was he doing this by "giving way to the off guard Polk". This makes it sound like he didn't see the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardball Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I am not sure you can read anything into Washington's only D1 offer being WIU. How many offers to Polk have. It is my understanding Polks only other offer than SLU was Valpo. Also if we are gong to start ratng players by what D1 schools have offered how many D1 offers did McQuire have other than SLU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 ... no more attacks from my end. But I've got to question some of the tie-ins you're making here. You said "Taylor is a 6'7" super athlete." And I don't know the WIU situation either but to me, a 6'7" super athlete has got to do more than 1.7 ppg and get more then 7 mintues a game with a 7 and 21 ballclub. In the Mid-Continent. It woudl seem to me that the kid isn't beating out the competitiono nhis own team, let alone the rest of the conference. And on a 7 and 21 ballclub. That would be my tie-in and we can agree to disagree. I didn't mean much of anything about an all-metro guard going to WIU or Rice. Hardball was the one who read something into it. I never suggested ranking players by who offers. I did bring up the Rice offer point. But I think that to a man, we'd all agree that Western Illinois and Rice are not the typical and usual destination for all star players, right? Neither frankly is Saint Louis University and I'll accept that counter. But it seems to me that you can get a feel for or some third party affirmation that your recruits are wothwhile by who else is courting them. Having competition with the likes of Illinois, Nevada-Las Vegas, Charlotte, Marquette, UAB, SIU, Creighton and others of that ilk tends to affirm the status of your recruit as opposed to the likes of Rice, Western, Valpo, Elon and others. Yes, yes .. I know now that Polk's only other offer was from Valpo. I admit I did not know that. And we did get Bryce to decommit from Elon, didn't we. And they have provided exactly what to this team in their combined four years? Are they flops? So far, I think one could stand on that side of the argument and have a fairly good chance of winning it. On Taylor, you say he's not the only frosh to struggle. Total agreement here. I owuld offer that struglling at Western cannot be coupled into the same breadth as struggling at SLU or struggling at Purdue or struggling at Duke or UConn. Hey, Bird struggled at Indiana and we all know what happened in Terre Haute. Again, if you weight the locales, it brings me back to how can a super athlete struggle at a sub-par location? Your opinion on Washington playing at an A10 school is warranted. But what bothers me is that there is no affirmation on it whatsoever. How many times does a kid sign with a school and then that schools comes back into his area and play games so the kid gets free trips home? A lot. Some examples are Robertson at Kansas and Hansborough at UNC or Florida kids going to Big East schools like Syracuse and Pitt for football becasue the Big East comes to South Florida every other year. I owuld ahve to believe that if Washington is as good as you say, then a St. Joes or Charlotte or Richmond could come into town and say go away to school with us because you'll still get trips home at least every other year. But those talent evaluators, who are in St. Louis playing the Bills, did not do that. Of course, its our first year so maybe this comes later down our affiliation road. I guess I stil have a way to go to get over St. Louis All_metro selections and just what they really mean. What you and I think doesn't matter in the overall evaluation scheme. Thank the good lord for that one on me. I don't understand how you can make the tie-in to Washingotn holding his own against all the current SLU guards if he was buried on the bench behind Polk during the years Lisch and Liddell were in the high school realm. I guess Washingotn matched up on some summer court against Drejaj, Brown and/or Meyer to further your statement but i don't think you can make general comparisons without some standard of measurement. Again, only time will tell and I wish Mr. Washington the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I wouldn't group Valpo with Elon or Rice. If you check out Valpo's recruiting classes over the last 4 years, they are about on par with Creighton. Their struggles recently have more to do with injuries and youth, not recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Valpo has also made seven NCAA appearances since 1996. I wish we could say the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 >I guess I stil have a way to go to get over St. Louis >All_metro selections and just what they really mean. What do the All-Metro teams mean? The All-Metro team is selected to recognize the area players that had the best high school basketball seasons during that particular year. It doesn't mean these kids are most likely to make the NBA or become college all-americans. These kids had the best seasons in the St. Louis area. That's all. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I've seen Washington play ... he is quick and shoots well on the High School level. I don't know whether he could play in the A10 ... but from only seeing him a couple of times ... I would say he would have a chance. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 >yes, but i would like you to address the fact of the >"super-athlete" quote. When have you seen him play in the >last season? 6'7 with long arms and well over a 40 inch vertical makes him super athletic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 >>He was a sophomore giving way to the off guard Polk >>while in high school with most of those guys during the high >>school season where stats were kept on >>prepsports.stltoday.com > > >If he was as you say "holding his own against the SLU >guards", how was he doing this by "giving way to the off >guard Polk". This makes it sound like he didn't see the >floor. He held his own in AAU against those guys. As a sophomore during the regular high school season, he started, but wasnt able to put up numbers because he was giving way to Polk, J. Hill, Daniels, Franklin, and Muse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoat Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 that is not what i asked you...when have you seen him play this last year...if you cannot answer this, i would propose that you do not have the right to comment on him as a player at WIU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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