walk on

[p diddy]

word on the street is that there is a walk-on guard from new york on campus. i heard he is from one of the prep schools on the east coast. don't know much else. maybe, one of our on campus moles can help with this one.

bad boyz for life

[Fredo]

He played for Bobby Hurley's dat at St.Anthony's in New York?

[MusicCityBilliken]

St Anthony's is in Jersey City, New Jersey. The same league as AD's Seton Hall Prep.

BTW, that No New Jersey Catholic League is probably the tougest HS league in the country.

[jjray]

Thanks for the info PDiddy. Maybe AD has paid an unexpected dividend. This kid might be Philip Hunt's successor ... or something more. I imagine the coaching staff is waiting until practice starts to evaluate what they have.

[NashvilleBilliken]

Interesting....Do you know if this guy went to SLU and walking on was an afterthought or if he really wanted to play for SLU and did not get an offer (maybe when we didn't have any schollies left). Anybody have any clue at all who this guy could be??

[jjray]

The logical explanation to my mind (but no info to back it up) is that Brad and the staff went on a mad last minute search for a extra point guard after the Morris debalacle. A connection to the program, possibly through AD, turns up this kid who was available for some reason (maybe a late qualifier just as AD had been the year before). There is not enough time to do a real evaluation, not even time for a campus visit, just recommendation maybe from AD who had seen the kid play, so he is brought in without a scholarship but probably with an aid package. The verbal agreement is that the SLU coaching staff will evaluate him when practice starts and keep an open mind about giving him a scholarship.

Pure speculation on my part. I can't think of another reason why a kid from NJ would walk on at SLU as opposed to closer to home.

[Lobo]

not bad speculstion, but what is an aid package?

[thetorch]

Aid package is just financial aid. You can only give schollies in a certain time frame, so if a player signs to late he can't get a scholarship perse, but instead the school will give him/her financial aid package that will pay for everything. I don't SLU had to do that this year but mizzou did with Linus Kleia because he signed after the signing period was over. It is pretty much a formality and you cannot do it unless there is a scholarship available. Say Duke cannot use all their scholarships up and give financial aid to other top players and have an 18 man team.

[Basketbill]

Kleiza committed after the Letter of Intent signing period, therefore he signed financial aid agreement which was non binding, but provided the funds to pay for school. This is similar to what AD and Izik did last year. The LOI has a sigining period, if you do not sign it within that time period then it does not count. Ie the school or the player could change their minds at the last minute. This allows a player to bolt if something changes prior to enrolling at school. Thus the specualtion that Kleiza might change his mind, and the sigh of relief that came out of Columbia when he actually enrolled.

Now most private school will also offer a financial aid package to students and slu does have the ability to give a sizeable scholarship based on need, but their are merit scholarships also. I know some walkons in other sports have had full ride based on merit and need together.

[BLIKNS]

Here are some names from the spring issue of Prepstars,uncommitted guards from the NY area,5-10 pg Ed Berrios from Bronx-Roosevelt,6-3 wg Jamal Dart from Brooklyn-Lincoln,5-11 pg Jason McKinney from Hargrave Military Academy,Chatham,VA,6-1 wg/pg Kojo Mensah from Brooklyn-Bishop Loughlin,5-11 pg Richard Payton from Amityville NY.