VTIME Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Way to turn away a kid that wanted to come Brad. A legit center at that. By Nate Latsch SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH 01/05/2007 St. Charles' Josh Harrellson (left) shoots over St. Charles West's Michael Schrader in the second half Friday at St. Charles High. (Photo by Don Adams Jr.) ST. CHARLES — Twice earlier this season, the St. Charles Pirates had to watch as rival St. Charles West celebrated a victory. On Friday night, it was time for Josh Harrellson and Co. to rejoice. Harrellson had 23 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks and passed the 1,000-point plateau for his career as St. Charles got defensive to earn a 51-39 victory over St. Charles West in a GAC North Division game played before a packed crowd at St. Charles. "This is better than the championship at MICDS," said Harrellson, referring to the Pirates winning the MICDS Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29. Advertisement Harrellson, a 6-foot-9 center who will play at Western Illinois next season, has been outstanding in all three games against St. Charles West this winter. He had 37 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in the first meeting, and then 25 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in the second. The No. 7 team in the Post-Dispatch large-school rankings, St. Charles West (13-2 overall, 1-1 in league play) defeated St. Charles 74-71 in overtime on Nov. 22 and 56-46 on Dec. 8. On Friday, Harrellson had plenty of help. St Charles (9-4, 1-1) got 10 points from Dean Dillen, eight points, seven assists and five steals from Rudy Harper and outstanding man-to-man defense from Mark Halsell, among others. "I think all night long our defense was probably the key to the game," St. Charles coach Gary Wacker said. "They didn't get many open looks. I don't know what their inside game was, but I don't know if they had any inside game at all. They didn't get many 2-point shots." St. Charles West trailed 19-15 after one quarter and 33-24 at halftime, but the Warriors cut the deficit to 43-37 after three quarters. Kramer Soderberg scored 10 of his team-high 22 points in the third quarter. But the fourth quarter was a different story for both teams. That's when the Pirates turned up their defense and the Warriors went cold shooting the ball. St. Charles West made just one of 12 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter, a driving layup by Soderberg with 4 minutes 29 seconds left. "We didn't make any shots," St. Charles West coach Terry Hollander said. "When you don't make any shots, it becomes tough to come back." St. Charles, which was playing without forward Jeff Ellis (ankle sprain), made eight 3-pointers and five shots from inside the 3-point arc. Soderberg, who entered the night averaging 26.6 points a game, was the only West player to make a 2-point shot. "We didn't move very well tonight," Hollander said. "That's a tribute to their defense. We didn't do anything different tonight than we normally do offensively. They just did a good job defensively." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I mean that in no way offensive to Harrelson. If my young son grew up and got a D-1 scholarship, I would be proud as hell. However, I am assuming since he would up at Wester Il that he was not higly sought after by higher level programs. I mean if we had refused to recruit him and he wound up at Mizzou, Mo State, or SIU then we could question it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 >I mean that in no way offensive to Harrelson. If my young >son grew up and got a D-1 scholarship, I would be proud as >hell. > >However, I am assuming since he would up at Wester Il that >he was not higly sought after by higher level programs. I >mean if we had refused to recruit him and he wound up at >Mizzou, Mo State, or SIU then we could question it. With no Obi, no HD, no Ian and only AK and BH inside for next year, you cant question it? When 6'9 260 local centers that can play want to come, you have to offer. He's better than Obi ever was NOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I'm more upset about losing the Wisonsin transfer to a conference rival than I am about losing a kid to Western Ill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 I understand completely as the Wisconsin transfer did wind up at a conference rival. I'm still more upset losing a true center from the area who wanted to come just because there was no offer. He's a steal for Western Illinois. Kudos to DT for doing his research.Why does Brad always save scholarships and then when he does give them up its to the Newborne's, Obi's and HD's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Were you at the game? Do you know who guarded whom..etc.... I can say I have seen ALL of the top St. Louis side teams play more than once...and I can safely say there is a ton of parity team-wise....10-15 teams could beat each other. Sure a few are slightly better than others, but easily could lose on a given night to the lower part of that group. Team-wise, no elite teams, would be surprised to see a St. Louis area team win state in large schools boys. Individually, KS gets his pts every game. Most are off of screens for 3 or pump fake jumpers. He is excellent FT shooter. Teams have to work to guard him...left alone, he makes the open shot. He definitely would need an adjustment...meaning it took TL KL more than half a season for people to understand that there is huge jump to college....KS would need more than that...he would NOT make a contribution his first season...and it may only be a two year contribution if ...if he can play at SLU. He does bring the ball up a lot...but that would be a problem with pressure. The nice thing is he is a junior and he is going to SLU or somewhere less, so there isn't any pressure on recruiting him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I've been very critical of Brad coontinually saving scholarships, always waiting for something better to come along. I do think we have a better chance of hitting the jack pot by landing an up-and-comer in the fall prior to his high school senior season, rather than waiting until after the season in the spring. So maybe landing a kid like Harrelson in the fall before he really took off during his senior year would have been a good move. I don't know? I haven't seen the kid play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted January 7, 2007 Author Share Posted January 7, 2007 If Brad is still here I think Kramer will play right away. First off all, who is going to play ahead of him? Polk, Meyer, and Brown are all gone before Kramer would arrive. There are zero 2007 recruits. Tommie and Kevin are the only guards ahead of him. If Brad doesnt land a Suggs or a Femi John, or any of those talented 2008 guards, Kramer might have to start right away. He can definitely play. I've seen Kramer since his freshman year, and in this year's shootout I was so impressed with his progress. The opposition just couldnt stop him. He 27pts in 3 quarters. I forget what he ended the game with, but he scored those points without forcing anything. He's a heck of a player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Kraemer has been playing in West Pine pick-up games, etc., for at least the last 2+ years. He has been exposed to D1 talent. While some incoming freshman have to make both a mental and a physical adjustment to D1 bball.....KS adjustment period will be far less than most incoming freshmen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 It took Liddell and Lisch, two much more highly touted players more than half a season to adjust to the pace, strength, and mental grind of college ball. I would definitely have low expectations his first year if he comes, based on my observations. He can come off the bench, get some minutes and experience etc..but he isn't big enough, strong enough, or has the footwork to be given the keys to the car coming in. If he were a great athlete that would be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzig1103 Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 are you sure you have seen the kid play? I have watched him since his freshman year and each year teams are finding it harder and harder to stop him. Don't get me wrong, i am not trying to say that he is one of the top recruited kids out there but the kid can play. Saint CHarles High may have beat West the third time but west played without a starter and zach ring, one of last years starters. Without Jeff Ellis you cannot stop Harrilson. Since Ellis didn't play harrilson didn't have to work very hard. With all the palyers there west is unstoppable. you keep talking about brandonburg and all these other "great" player but kramer has played them and proved that he can stop them. the stopping doesnt go both ways in most games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 SLU missed out on Josh Harrellson. He's got great size and good all-around skills for a big guy. With the recent losses at the power forward position, the Billikens will regret missing out on Harrellson. I'm not going to say Harrellson would have been the savior at SLU, or a star player, but at work he would have provided some quality minutes off the bench at the four spot. He's kind of like a bigger (height and weight) version of Adam Knollmeyer. (I'll add that I believe Knollmeyer is probably a couple inches shorter than his listed height, and from standing next to both of them at different times Harrellson is much closer to his listed height.) As for Kramer, one of the advantages he'll have when he gets to SLU — if Brad is still the coach — is that he's been practicing against the team for a couple years now. Most kids don't have that opportunity, other than in pick-up games or summer leagues. I'm still not sure what kind of player Kramer will be at that level. He's definitely a good shooter with range that extends several feet beyond the arc (good thing for a shorter guard) and will knock down his free throws when he gets to the line. I'm not worried about his playing shooting guard for St. Charles West because that is not of necessity for his team and not because his game is limited to that. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 I agree with you Nate on Harrellson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 i believe that lucas o'rear would have been the better get for power forward. what lucas would have given up in size (couple of inches and 15 lbs) he would have far exceeded in athleticism and ability away from the basket. that all said, if soderberg would have known that obi and dixon were going to wash out as they did, i bet he would have recruited a power forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 fan Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I wonder if Derek Thomas is in any trouble at WIU. I HAVE ZERO INFORMATION, but the team has won only 2 games, has a 334 RPI and his record as their head coach is awful. Reading the WIU website, makes Thomas sound like one great recruiter, but his on the court results have been down right awful. The team has regressed from 8 wins his first year to where they are today. Wonder what Harrellson would do if Thomas is not at WIU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 They played SLU pretty tough, maybe they are just having problems getting motivated and losing Washington hurts more than many anticipated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satrap Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 it looks like the large orange and blue shadow from the east may be descending on Vashon: http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../701040380/1096 Who knows if it'll be enough to sway Floyd, but Leon will obviously getting high high major offers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 thanks for posting that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.