I was riding down in the elevator from the suite level with Dr. Chaifetz on Thursday. “How do you like it” he asked. “You got your money’s worth,” I told him.
The general public got its first up close look at Chaifetz Arena on Thursday at the dedication ceremony. I’d already seen it — though not with the floor in place — but for those seeing it for the first time, well, everyone seemed pretty happy. If there were people who saw it and were displeased, I’d be interested to know what they didn’t like.
The one thing people kept coming back to: It will give SLU a home-court advantage. The place will likely be filled most nights. It seats 10,600, SLU usually draws about 9,000, there should be more students and, for the first time in years, there’s an incentive for people to buy season tickets. Even if it’s not full, it will be close enough to make it noisy. The raucousness will depend on the students.
The acoustics were a little iffy sitting in the north stands, but AD Chris May said this was one of the first times the sound system had been turned on, and they have to figure out where to point the speakers. (The sound was apparently good on the floor. Majerus said he liked the acoustics.) The quality of the picture on the corner video boards was outstanding. It looked more like a television than a jumbotron.
“On May 1, I stood on this spot right here when it was still a bowl of dirt,” Rick Majerus said. “It’s kind of fun to be here now and see it and I never could have conceptualized it. I love the blue, love the ribbon around it, like the acoustics right now, I was very concerned about the acoustics for practice. I’m a big practice guy and I think acoustically it’s going to be a great thing.”
After a long, arduous basketball season, Majerus looked delighted throughout the ceremony and sat and signed autographs for a very long time. (He even seemed to be smiling during the 40 minutes of speeches at the opening ceremony.) Majerus and women’s coach Shimmy Gray-Miller said they already have seen benefits in recruiting — Gray-Miller said that a couple weeks ago for the first time since she’s been at SLU she showed a recruit their locker room and got a commitment a few days later.
Majerus said he wants his players to have access to the building 24 hours a day.
”I’m trying to sell that it’s going to be open all the time,” he said. “I’m going to make sure they have 24/7 access. I’m trying to recruit 24/7 players.”
He then pulled out his cellphone and hunted around to find a text message from incoming point guard Kwamain Mitchell. “I’m looking for these kind of guys,” Majerus said, who then read Mitchell’s message: “It’s going to take a lot of hard work but I am not a quitter so I know I can accomplish … it goes on and on.”
—–
Tommie Liddell had his foot in a boot. He had ankle surgery after last season and this year, he had a similar operation on the other ankle. (He has a bone spur problem.) He should be back in plenty of time. Anthony Mitchell was on crutches. He had knee surgery but is expected to be fine.
Luke Meyer, Danny Brown and Bryce Husak are all looking to play in Europe. (Don’t know about Polk.) Husak is making a trip to Europe with Athletes in Action in May.
And four SLU recruits — Thompson, Cotto, Cassity and John — are supposed to play in the prep all-star game on Saturday at Chaifetz. So they’ll get a game on the court before their teammates will.
And Brad Soderberg appears to be a finalist for the open jobs at Toledo and Detroit Mercy. Toledo has also interviewed former Providence coach Tim Welsh and an assistant at Notre Dame. Detroit Mercy would be interesting. They’re on SLU’s schedule for next year. Soderberg was also interviewed for the Oregon State and Loyola Marymount jobs, according to reports in both markets. Toledo could announce who it’s hiring on Friday. If neither of those pan out, there should be a new round of openings after Stanford and Providence hire their new coaches.