Harrellson: probably SLU or Kentucky
Among the interested observers at the Riverwar high school all-star game at Chaifetz Arena on Saturday was Josh Harrellson. He’s the 6-9 center/forward from St. Charles who played last season at Southwestern Illinois College and has finally gotten a release from the letter of intent he signed with Western Illinois.
Harrellson’s release isn’t yet official — he expects to get through the NCAA clearinghouse on Monday — but when it is, he said he’s looking at Kentucky, SLU, Missouri, Purdue and Indiana. He was going to make his SLU visit on Saturday, but had to push it back because he hadn’t been cleared yet. So he’ll go to Kentucky next weekend, then SLU the week after that. He said he wasn’t sure if he would make any trips after that.
He said he likes SLU because he wants to play close to home, but likes Kentucky because he thinks he can play at the top level. He likes Rick Majerus and he likes Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. (fixed the typo in his name; betting that happens to him a lot.) “I guarantee you it will come down between those two,” he told me. “I’ll make the decision based on what’s best for me.”
He was impressed by Chaifetz Arena and the potential teammates he was watching on the court.
SLU could use Harrellson because with so many freshmen coming in, anyone with any experience will be valuable, and Harrellson - who averaged 15 points and eight rebounds at SWIC – is a good talent to boot. He’ll have three years of eligibility left.
I asked him if SLU had recruited him out of high school. He said Brad Soderberg came to one of his games, but then no more. “I wish he would have come to more,” said Harrellson, who instead went to Western Illinois. It’s apparent from the schools showing interest that he has developed into a significant talent.
I’ll have more on the all-star game later. But it looks as if SLU has a decent shot at getting a pretty talented player.
Not to sound like a homer, because I really don’t care where Josh Harrelson goes, but I could have been coach at Kentucky and had a lot of those guys go to the NBA. The SLU program hasn’t exactly been raking in the McDonald’s All-Americans.
Gillespie has two in the NBA, Law and Wright.
21.
I don’t know much about SLU except for their weird mascot - but I do know that if you want to play college basketball and you have the skills to make it big (as apparently Josh does) there are a handful of schools that stand out above the rest: UCLA, UNC, Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas.
Rick Majerus is an awesome coach and a great guy - in fact, I find him hilarious, but SLU is nowhere near the level of thos other programs, with all due respect.
I would be very surprised if Josh doesn’t end up playing for Kentucky.
Josh we need you very bad at KY and you can play right beside patterson plus be on TV alot and have a chance maybe making it to the final 4! Go Big Blue!
I guess someone posted a link to this blog entry on the UK message board.
Josh, stay at home and be a part of building something special at SLU.
Thanks PAL for the answer to my question.
To Robbins, no Mottola did not stick on an NBA roster. Josh Grant and Byron Wilson are two others who played for Majerus at Utah, were drafted by the NBA and did not stick. Those who did were Miller, Van Horn, Doleac, and Bogut.
Here is another legit question. How close was the KY faithful to running Gillespie out of town the first half of the season? And his name has come up as a fall back candidate for OK State. Is he in tight with T. Boone? What are the odds he will remain at KY for the next three years?
Josh, SLU offers you..
A better education you could rely on for the rest of your life. A home near your home
and a basketball program that you would aid in its rise..
Thanks Billiken for the scare tactic. BILLY IS NOT LEAVING LEXINGTON BEFORE HE CUTS DOWN NETS!
Nothing to gain, especially at OSU!
Josh, you will be welcomed with open arms and be cheered for like a rock star! Midnight Madness is a BLAST!
Go Cats!
As a Big Blue Faithful stuck in pergurtory here in the St. Louis area do not listen to the so called SLU fans. They tried to run Rick out of town earlier this year when his team scored just over 20 points. The last time SLU basketball was relevant was when Larry Hughes played here and his signing was supposed to be the first block to building a program, and what has happened since. They couldn’t put 8,000 people in the seats the last few years so they go build a smaller areana that seats only 10k and change, so that it looks better when there is only 7,000 “fans” at a game. St. Louis fans are the biggest bandwagon fans in the country. Pay them no attention.
Come to Indiana, or don’t. We’ll win with or without you.