Disturbing....

[cheeseman]

Taja - Romar is successful at UW because he is recruiting the same kids he tried to recruit for SLU - what is different is that UW is on the west coast and SLU is not. This issue with Romar and his recruiting was never that he did not try to get the best players on the west coast but that those kids did not have any real interest in coming to the SLU in the midwest. As real estate brokers say - location, location, location.

[willie]

I don't agree that Romar was under fire. I think Billiken nation loved Romar and felt he would eventially break through. I know I was upset when Biondi couldn't keep him. It was only a matter of time before he landed top recruits and most of us were willing to wait.

[Billiken Rich]

I'm with Willie on this one. I don't think Billiken Nation turned on Romar till he left us holding the (empty) bag.

[NashvilleBilliken]

I thought the whole reason Romar left was to go back home and coach at his alma mater. I could have sworn Biondi offered a big contract and he turned it down to go back to Washington. I'm under the impression that there wasn't anyway we were keeping LoRo. Maybe I'm being naive, but it happens all the time. Look at Roy Williams.

[willie]

It might have all been BS but I remember Romar talking about what a tough decision it was. How he loved St. Louis and the U.. Washington was the only place he would have left for. YADA YADA YADA. And yes Biondi did try to keep him.

[Taj79]

Are you pointing a finger at the school, cheese? And not its acadmecis? I'd agree with that.

Would you say Romar was a failure as a recruiter at SLU? Went after the wrong kids (according to footsie, agreed upon by me) and never had a backup plan or Plan B (again agreed upon) and had to "settle" (footise's words but I'd agree as well). Plus, he left the cupboard more bare for Brad than was left for him by Spoon.

I'm not knocking Romar becasue he's doing great now. But again Vee seems to think its all Romar's doing and Brad's a failure at recruiting. But you're saying its location. I agree ... plus tradition, competition, recent history, major programs of study and a whole bunch of other thigns that a coach cannot control.

i am really curious to se ehow Huggs does in Hades .. er, Manhatten. The Big Twelve might be a draw andHuggs will be a draw. Time will tell ....

[kevinfootes]

I think it's important to remember that Romar is coaching at a bigger school in a higher-profile conference now. He SHOULD get better recruits. I'll tip my cap to him in that they've become a top team in the PAC 10. That said, Romar never had that kind of success recruiting at SLU. He had a nice run in the conference tourney to get to the big dance one time, but did he ever finish higher than 5th or 6th in the regular season?

[kevinfootes]

Romar went to coach his alma mater, and was about the 4th choice. They wanted Quin Snyder if you recall.

Romar wasn't fired and wasn't under much heat either. If you think the billikenboard represents pressure, then you really are part of the small-time approach that so many people in and around the SLU program have.

Romar, based on his tourney team, had at least two more years at SLU. I probably stated on this board that he should be under some scrutiny if they didn't show some improvement the next season (Brad's first, if LoRo were still caoching). I think some others shared my view, but I don't recall any mass pressure to dump him on this board, and certainly not by the media.

When was this "big recruit" going to come to SLU? How long were you willing to give Romar? Having success at Washington doesn't prove that it would have happened at SLU. It might prove that the apporach he takes is better-suited for a Sate U in a big conference, but nothing more.

[p diddy]

in addition to his national recruiting, romar went hard after local stars david lee, darius miles, jimmy mckinney and maurice baker, but they went to florida, st. johns (nba), mizzou and oklahoma state. if he was in washington and recruiting these same players if they were from seattle, he would probably get them. getting them to stay home in st. louis was another matter.

his mistake was not recruiting local players like darren brooks, dan oppland, phillip gilbert and joe ries.

bad boyz for life

[billiken_roy]

footes, your post backs up everything i was saying about the billiken fandom's attitude towards coach romar at the end of his billiken tenure. thank you.

[SluSignGuy]

Just wondering, whatever happened to Oppland and his brother?

[kevinfootes]

How many coaches have more security than that? The only thing I said was that the team had to improve. Not everybody is like you roy. You thought Jill was terrific and attacked people who called her out on the team's record.

Your blind faith in LoRo's recruiting is interesting. He never did land the big recruit and left the team in horrible shape.

Maybe you are correct. If a coach can't tolerate an expectation to win from about 5 people on the internet, he should immediately quit his job. Aren't you the one who said that people who are unhappy should quit?

What's with this coaching welfare system you support?

[VTIME]

>I think you mean the 2008 class is loaded. I believe only 2

>kids in the 2007 St. Louis class have D-1 offers at this

>point and the signing date is only 5 months away.

Who are the two kids? Has Brad offered either?

[cheeseman]

Taj - I am not sure what you mean by pointing figures at the school? What I am saying is that West Coast kids are not easliy convinced to come to the midwest - much less St. Louis as opposed to a Chicago lets say. Therefore, Romar trying to get them to do so was at best a long shot. If you live on the long shot you will lose more often then win - thus the term long shot as opposed to sure thing. Romar is successful at UW because the type of kids he recruits there and tried to recruit at SLU are the same - they are West Coast kids who prefer to stay there. Why do you think he did so well in such a short time at Pepperdine - West Coast school. SLU can attract good players - even great players but they have to be from the South, Midwest or even the East Coast to some extent might work out given we are now playing in the A10. Brad has figured this out Romar never did. Successful dog and pony shows do not work everywhere because factors at each location are different. As far as Romar's Plan B - he had Plan Bs but they just were not very good. Spoon did also but once again they were not very good. Brad does not seem to like that approach thus we have unfilled schollies. Do you need a Plan B - I think so but only if your Plan B has solid back up players. If they are stiffs then you are better off not signing anybody as Brad has done. Now you can question why he does not have adequate backup players and that is fair.

[tseugnekillib]

again, hindsight is the ultimate recruiting tool. With hindsight, every coach goes to the Big Dance every year! With hindsight there are no recruiting mistakes! With hindsight, no coach ever gets fired!

Brooks had ZERO D1 offers before he signed with SIU-C.

The Oppland's were the twins are nothing.

Gilbert turned out to be a gem for Bradley. I sat with Romar at

SIUE watching East Side and Miles. Romar liked Gilbert very much, but he liked Mo Baker more.....his words!

You have to be kidding about Joe Reis! Even with the benefit of hindsight, Reis was of no help.

Again, hindsight is not allowed when evaluating players of 3-4-5-6 years ago!

[tseugnekillib]

One brother did very well at Valpo....Dan, I believe.

His twin transferred from Valpo to D2 Truman State for more playing time.

[p diddy]

it is when you were talking to romar about it at the time. especially when the players in their place were the likes of randy pulley, john seyfert, floyd mcclain and ross varner, following him from pepperdine.

the folks in my group scoffed at those kids at the time they signed instead of some of these other local kids. baker would have been great to get, but his junior college coach and eddie sutton's kid were college roommates and best friends and he was running big-time interference for 0-state and the suttons. we had no chance at maurice baker.

people were in his ear the whole time about brooks and gilbert, especially. He would have looked like a genius. who cares if brooks had zero offers. just because everyone else was stupid, doesn't mean we had to join in on the stupidity. he had little interest because he chose to play baseball the spring of his junior year and did not play aau basketball. he played with the eagles the previous year. he also played in the bonner league while in high school and got stuff done. that's how we knew he could play.

one last point, rich grawer did not want erwin claggett. he had to have his arm twisted out his socket before he offered him a scholarship. Claggett had only one other offer at the time, which was northern iowa.

bad boyz for life

[tseugnekillib]

......"the folks in my group scoffed at those kids (pulley, seyfert, mcclain, varner) at the time they were signed"..... It is interesting that they "scoffed" without even seeing the kids play!

......"people were in his ear the whole time about brooks and gilbert"...... Congrats to those "people" as they knew more than any of the Big 10, Big 12, or C-USA coaching staffs! They should quit their day jobs and recruit as a full-time occupation!

btw, Jeff Kidder graduated from Kentucky and was a student assistant coach /student manager under Mr. Sutton. Mo Baker's slide to OSO was truly greased by the Kidder - Sutton relationship!

Peace!