SLU picked to finish 12th in Atlantic 10
It’s Atlantic 10 Conference media day and, as part of a growing trend, the league is doing it all by teleconference because fewer and fewer people were going to the thing. That means the league releases its preseason poll, in which conference media and coaches pick SLU to come in 12th out of the 14 teams. This is consistent with the couple of preview magazines I’ve seen, and in fact it could be a direct response to those magazines. Personally, I think SLU will do a bit better than that, maybe 9th or 10th, but with so many freshmen, who knows? I’d feel better if one of those freshmen was Cody Ellis. (No update on his status. Still, there are some not very good at all teams at the bottom of the league, and I think SLU is better than some of them. If GW and Fordham are as bad as advertised, at least SLU’s spot in the A-10 tournament is safe.
Kwamain Mitchell was named to the preseason third team. No SLU player made the all-defense team or the all-rookie team, which is a bit surprising since SLU’s got freshmen who are good and who are going to play. I don’t know if Cody Ellis didn’t make the team because people didn’t vote for him or because if people didn’t vote for him because he’s still in Australia. If he was here, there’s no way he’s not one of the top five freshmen.
The preseason poll:
1. Dayton
2. Xavier
3. Richmond
4. La Salle
5. Duquesne
6. Temple
7. Charlotte
8. Rhode Island
9. UMass
10. St. Joe’s
11. St. Bonaventure
12. SLU
13. GW
14. Fordham
Media day can be watched online if for some reason you want to do that. Go to the league’s website, www.atlantic10.com, and they’ll show you the way. Rick Majerus’ stint in front of the video camera is at 11:10.
The BillikCAN’TS will be so young. Bubba won’t have any upper classmen and barely has enough players for practice. Yada, yada, yada. He lost a lot of fans by running off some of the local players (who would be srs./jrs.) and he has lost more by having two mediocre seasons. Lets see how long the great coach can keep milking that 1M/yr. salary if he doesn’t put a winner out on the court for another year or two…
Thanks for the update Tom. While there may be some naysayers out there, I for one am excited about this season. The team may not be very good, but it will be fun to watch all of the Billikids grow.
As for Rick running off local players and losing fans, I know as a Billiken fan I would rather have talent than local players. I think most real fans feel the same way. None of the players that have left SLU (left, not been “run off”) have even gone on to play at another Division one school. I think that shows that they did not have what it takes to contribute to the Billikens and it was best for them that they left.
Here’s hoping the NCAA pulls its head out of its you know where and clears Ellis soon. Go Bills.
Marcus Relphorde will be playing at Colorado this season. He’ll be the only ex-Billiken playing at another DI school.
Ruben Cotto, by the way, has moved back to Puerto Rico, I’m told. (After leaving the Philly juco to come back to a St. Louis area juco.) So it’s unlikely he’ll be playing at La Salle anytime soon.
Tom - whats the story with Ellis? I just don’t understand how a single class becomes an issue with the NCAA this late in the process? Thanks for any insight.
Ya Dan, you are a real fan and you obviously know all about talent. And you also must be an “insider” that knows that the two local young men (a sr. and a jr.) really left on their own accord and were not run off by
M-A-J-E-R-K-U-S. WRONG!
I think one of them might have been able to contribute to this mid-major Billiken team…
http://nkunorse.com/news/2009/10/6/MBB_1006095330.aspx
Crime Dawg,
I’m not an insider. I don’t really know what happened with the players who left, but I know that none came out and said they wanted to stay and were forced to leave. I also know that they probably enjoy getting playing time elsewhere at D-II (like NKU) or JuCo’s where they can contribute. I find it hilarious that you think because Dustin is excelling at a D-II school that he could have contributed to the Billikens. I’ve seen a lot of both D-I and D-II games. Even the best D-II teams are far inferior to mid-level D-I teams. There is ample evidence for this when teams transition to D-I and only win a few games their first few years at D-I (see SIU Edwardsville). Dustin was too slow to play D-I. He is a great shooter, but couldn’t get his shot off quick enough or play defense at the D-I level.
As for your Majerkus comment. Frankly, most coaches I’ve had experience with aren’t all daisies and sunshine. If Majerus can bring in good players and get SLU to the NCAAs (and I think he is on the right track), I don’t really care if he is not a media darling and people think he is a jerk.
BTW I’m not sure which “local men” you are even talking about. I assume Dustin is one and maybe Anthony Mitchell is the other? They were not Jr. and Sr. when they left. Dustin left after his So. year and Anthony after his Fr. year. Get your facts straight Crime Dawg.
Go SLU. Can’t wait for next Friday.