Sludawg Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Got this article from Valley talk. I thought they changed the laws a few years ago regarding former players contacting recruits. Shaw picks SIU Painter nabs key recruit in Centralia High School star Ethan Erickson Daily Egyptian CENTRALIA - First-year SIU men's basketball head coach Matt Painter notched his most important verbal commitment of his short tenure. Centralia High School senior Matt Shaw ended months of speculation when, at a Wednesday afternoon press conference in his high school gym, he committed to the Salukis. The 6-foot-6, 210-pound forward, clad in a royal blue Adidas polo shirt, announced he was choosing SIU over Saint Louis after Painter relentlessly pursued him. "I just felt like SIU was going to work their hardest with me to develop my game to give me a chance to get to the next level," Shaw said. But Painter and his assistants were not alone in their pursuit of Shaw; much-needed help came from former Saluki star Kent Williams. Williams, who is from nearby Mount Vernon, spoke with Shaw for about two hours Monday night at Shaw's home. "He's a lot like me," Shaw said of Williams. "He's just a hard-nosed, hard worker. He just kind of explained everything to me, about the coaching staff even though they're kind of new. He knows Coach Painter's gonna be following in Weber's footsteps. He just really helped me out a lot in making my decision." Shaw is a muscular forward with a smooth jump shot from 15 feet and a knack for scoring in the interior, and he will give the Salukis some much-needed interior depth next fall. He averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds a game last year en route to being named second-team all-state. "I don't even think he's undersized for the Missouri Valley," first-year Centralia head coach Gus Gillespie said. "I think with 6-6 and his frame and some of the things he can do, he's gonna be pretty solid in the Valley." Gillespie is experienced in coaching Division I prospects. He was an assistant at Mount Vernon during Kent Williams' time in high school, and he sent two players to mid-major Division I programs last season when he was head coach at Robinson High School. "I think one of his strengths is he's a coachable kid and he's gonna listen and get better, and also his physical strength," Gillespie said. "He's a very strong and mature kid for a 17- to 18-year-old kid. "A weakness of his might be he just hasn't really had the time and the opportunity to face up on the perimeter. I think he can do it, he has the skill to do it and we're gonna do it some this year but he will get better and better with that." Williams also gave a solid assessment of Shaw's potential impact at SIU. "He's definitely a guy that's gonna step in and play as a freshman," Williams said. "If he keeps improving, he's got the kind of game where he's an inside-outside player, he could definitely be a big threat in the conference and be one of SIU's top players for the next four years." Shaw visited SIU last weekend, but he didn't grow up an SIU fan. His first taste of the SIU Arena on gameday came last season, when he attended several games. "It's a lot like here. That's what I like about it," Shaw said. "The fans get pretty riled up, which I like. The fans are really loyal down there." Shaw is expected to draw in more fans because of his local ties, just like Williams did during his four-year career. "The fans will welcome you in as being a local kid and pretty much root for you all the way," Williams told Shaw. Centralia has provided numerous quality players to SIU through the years, including Rick Shipley, who's No. 5 on the career rebounding list and finished his SIU career in 1991, and Dick Garrett, who spent five years in the NBA in the early 1970s and still holds SIU's single-game scoring record. A large sign commemorating Centralia as "America's Winningest Team" is hung from the north wall of the school's historic Trout Gym. The Orphans currently have 1,936 wins since 1906. Shaw is eligible to sign a national letter of intent finalizing his decision Nov. 12. The commitment, SIU's second of the fall semester, leaves Painter with two scholarships to fill for the 2004-2005 season. One of those could go to Belleville guard Mike Dale, who's currently on campus attempting to gain eligibilitySha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 i dont know the rule, however i do know that centralia and mt vernon are relatively close distance wise. (williams is from mt vernon). possibly they know each other and if there is any kind of previous relationship, that might explain an exception. i remember hearing it said in previous years that perry would play pickup ball with billiken recruits and then give the coaches feedback. is there a difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 We lost out on him and it's time to move on to what we all should hope will be something much better. No use crying over spilt milk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Do you think for a moment that Duke doesn't trot out its stable of former players? UNC? Kansas? If anyone talks to Jahidi ask if G-town ever ran Patrick, Alonzo or Dikembe by him .... talk is cheap. I didn't think it was illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 magic openly talks about conversing with mich st recruits all the time. i would imagine there is a drawn line what an alum can or cannot do. my guess is that talking is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Wouldn't it be nice if Larry the Legend helped Coach Soderberg with some of the local kids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Yeah, that sure would be nice. I know Larry comes back to campus from time to time to visit people and play pick-up games. So it appears he does some things with SLU...I'm sure UB could convince him to talk to a few kids. That would sure help with recruiting in STL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 If it's illegal, then it's further evidence of how ridiculous the NCAA can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Larry a legend in only two mind sets ... ours and (maybe) his. He's seems to be a good kid so maybe its only one ... ours. Frankly, I can't see what Larry's input would have .... what's the experience of one year worth? Besides that he never had an association with Sodes so there is no relativity there. Its not like we (SLU) regualrly produce NBA players much ... short of Larry and AB. I know I wasn't a part of what is now the campus, was he? Short of impressing a 18 year old with a second-tier NBA player, what's the big deal? Kind of like Dayton trotting out Hank Finkel in my book ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 if i would have had a farm, i would have been willing to bet that there would never be a hank finkle reference here. would have lost that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 You could be right Taj, as I am not a native St. Louisan. However, I would think seeing and talking to somebody like Larry could be very big. He came from the same lower income neighborhood as these kids, went to the local university and is now making millions of dollars playing in the NBA. Not to mention starring in a rap video for arguably the most popular artist in the country. I would be thrilled to meet any NBA player for a one on one discussion. And if that player had some good things to say about a university i was planning on attending, that may influence my decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 To the kid from Sante Fe New Mexico ... talking to Larry probably doesn't mean much ... but for local kids of course it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 I don't know for sure that LH came from a "lower income neighborhood". Having seen his mother on occasion, I would guess that he didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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