DeSmetBilliken Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Yeah, I caught the part with Maurice. Basically he said talked about how he likes to help the kids my acting as a mentor to them. Tommie is one of those kids. He wouldn't say where Tommie was going, but he did repeatedly make SLU references. One was that he said that SLU fans can compare him to a Reece Gaines-like player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 first, my gosh guys, lay off nate. nate has easily become a fabulous contact for us in the media. imo since he is somewhat of a regular here, i think he is the best. he was just doing his job in making the call to tommie. nate, if tommie isnt coming tommorrow, an awful lot of people with high credibilty are going to look foolish tomorrow. this is totally a guess, but judging by the fact i heard maurice scott twice today speaking in circles about tommie, it is obvious that maurice has become or was all along a close associate of the liddell family. i doubt seriously if the liddell's are going to give you the scoop when maurice is a writer for the st louis american. in the last week we have read our own board members with past right on comments, jalensdad and p diddy write it. we have read national recruiting experts clark francis, chris monter and bulleye write it. we have heard local media people circle around it, and today, maurice scott all at once is speaking all kinds of positives about the billikens after being a top program detractor for what seems like forever. i will be shocked to hear tommie say anything but slu tomorrow. i still say liddell is at least a poor man's larry hughes. not a great shooter, but a scorer when he needs to. fantastic court awareness and vision, pretty good handle for 6'5"ish. and a terrific athlete. i consider him without a doubt the best high school senior in the st louis area. grimes might have more potential, same with price, but they arent the player right now that tommie is. everyone go to bed tonite whispering "there is no place like billiken land, there is no place like billiken land, there is no place like billiken land........" it will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted October 3, 2003 Author Share Posted October 3, 2003 >nate, if tommie isnt coming tommorrow, an awful lot of >people with high credibilty are going to look foolish >tomorrow. this is totally a guess, but judging by the fact >i heard maurice scott twice today speaking in circles about >tommie, it is obvious that maurice has become or was all >along a close associate of the liddell family. i doubt >seriously if the liddell's are going to give you the scoop >when maurice is a writer for the st louis american. I agree. There are some athletes around town that would give me the scoops first -- and that has happened -- but Liddell, unfortunately, isn't one of them. You also won't see me linked to any programs liked some other "media" in St. Louis. >i still say liddell is at least a poor man's larry hughes. >not a great shooter, but a scorer when he needs to. >fantastic court awareness and vision, pretty good handle for >6'5"ish. and a terrific athlete. i consider him without a >doubt the best high school senior in the st louis area. >grimes might have more potential, same with price, but they >arent the player right now that tommie is. I agree with most of this. I think Liddell has as much potential as those other two. I think you also have to lump Terry Evans and Aaron Jackson in the "potential" category. Yes, I did write Aaron Jackson. Polk and Liddell have the potential to help Brad Soderberg turn the Bills into a tournament team year in and year out. There will be a lot of happy basketball coaches at West Pine gym tomorrow if Liddell picks SLU. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 he might turn into that, but tommie doesnt shoot anything like gaines. but for what it is worth, imo, tommie is a better passer and slasher right now than what gaines is now. of course gaines is much stronger though and like i said, tommie is not the shooter that gaines is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Well yes Nate, my salary is pretty laughable, but in a time when jobs are hard to come by, I was more than happy to accept it. Besides, I'm happy doing what I'm doing. Isn't that all that really matters in life? I doubt if I'll stick with it forever anyway. I'd actually really like to get a job at SLU someday. Perhaps everyone on this board would write me a letter of recommendation? "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 no scholarships to give? I also know MU stopped recruiting Tommie early in the summer but Crean did like him as a player (told me this himself without mentioning Tommie's name specifically). I think someone's playing with you and trying to keep the news on the DL until it's announced for in public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 Nate, having just moved to the Asheville, NC 2 years ago from Johnson City, which I spent the previous 8 years, I became quite familiar with Ed DeChellis and the East Tenn State Univ (ETSU) basketball program. Just prior to my arrival to Johnson City, ETSU was quite the power in the SoCon. Coached by Les Robinson, they had this flashy little guard named 'Mr Jennings'. Les, Jennings and company had very good 2 year run which they made some noise in NCAA's (one year beating Okla and another year I think they beat Arizona, both in the 1st round). Naturally they became the darlings of Johnson City. The Bucs average attendance for those years was around 15,000. Capacity for the Memorial Center. But with this success Les bolts for his alma mater, NC State. To replace Les, they hire one of his assistants whose name escapes me. In a very short period this coach literally runs the program into the ground. I mean it was rick bottom with attendance dropping to a average of 1500-2000. After 3 years of this coach, he gets canned. In enters Ed DeChillis, nice young bright assistant coach from PSU. The Johnson City and the university community immediately turn on Ed. Apparently these folks want a fellow named Patton, a local HS coaching legend. Patton won several Tenn state championships but has two. They are none of his players ever really cut it in D1 ball and he has an enormous ego. Kind of cut from the same cloth as that coach from Vashon. I mean it, these locals had bumper stickers, signs all over town and daily letters to the editor on getting Ed fired and hiring Patton. I remember going for a work-out at a local health club arguing with guys in the locker room the differences between a HS coach and a coach with D1 experience. I have to say, Ed over the years re-built the ETSU program and won over these locals. He recruited well and he coached well which resulted in So Con championship and a SoCon 'Coach-of-Year' honors. I will admit the SoCon is no Big 10, but this guy paid his dues. Also, I got to know Ed personally. He is a super nice gentleman. My son for several of the years we lived in Johnson City attended Ed's basketball camp. He took a liking to my son and on several occasions had him as a ball boy during the games. Also Ed used to run these father-son basketball camps (usually a Friday night and all day Saturday during the summer). These camps I think I enjoyed more then my son. I thought it was like a Brooklyn Dodger fantasy camp. Ed always took a great interest in the campers, always the gentleman and always willing to shoot the bull with you. Many a times for lunch break from work I used go over Krogers to hit the salad bar. Everyone once in awhile I see Ed with some of assistants, they always invite me over to talk some basketball. Just a nice guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 I saw East TN State in a 1st round NCAA Tourney game in Tampa. They lost a heart breaker to Wake Forest, and they played the game without their top scorer who was being disciplined. They appeared to be well coached to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 Schasz, being that I know DeChillis, I hope he does well at PSU. Unlike Gregory going to Dayton, he will have to start from the bottom with PSU. In the last few years the Lions have been the doormats of the Big 10. DeChillis is from the Pittsburgh area and coached HS ball in the Pittsburgh suburbs. He was also offered the Duquesne job a year earlier but understandably he declined that one. Ed did tell me the only advantage of that job was he be going home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted October 4, 2003 Author Share Posted October 4, 2003 I will give Ed a chance -- because he sounds like a nice guy. Jerry Dunn was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet; he just wasn't a very good basketball coach and didn't do a good job recruiting. I have nothing against Ed. I just wanted to see Penn State go outside the program for their new coach. At best, the Nits will be a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big Ten and will make the tournament once every three years. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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