State of the Saint Louis University Billikens Basketball Program
By Paul Lamb
“We’re a long way from Indianapolis (site of 2015 Final Four), Billy”, Jim Crews whispers to his dog as he falls asleep following the team’s 28 point drubbing at the hands of George Mason, the worst lost in SLU history.
SLU fans feel like they’ve been hit by a tornado this year, and the team has played accordingly. Just a year ago, we were asking “What seed will the Bills be?” Now, it’s, “How did we get here, and where in the world are we headed?”
How we got here
Under unfortunate circumstances, Jim Crews took over for the late-great Rick Majerus, who took an absence from the game to focus on health concerns that eventually took his life. Fueled by talent and emotion, the Bills were one of the big stories in college basketball, rising to an A-10 regular/postseason championship. 2013-2014 continued the success, with the Bills capturing yet another A-10 regular season championship. Fast forward to the present, SLU’s a bottom-feeder.
After the 2014 season, the Bills were hit hard by graduation, losing stars like Dwayne Evans and Jordair Jett. Replenishing a lineup with only 4 returning players wouldn’t be easy by any means. Crews’ first true recruiting class was this year’s impressive “Billikids”. Yarbrough/Bartley/Roby have showed the most out of the class, and with two more talented prep-school bigs coming in next year, the recruiting ability of the coach shouldn’t be in question.
But how about the coaching of the coach? After the George Mason game, Crews blamed himself saying “They weren’t prepared, and that’s my fault.” Coaches often use this when they don’t want to overly-criticize their players. Yet, on multiple occasions this year, Coach himself has seemed under-prepared for games. Lineups thrown together at random, especially starting lineups. Coach Crews used 11 different starting lineups this year, with only one of them starting together over 5 times (Milik, Manning, Bartley, Ash, and Roby).
“They weren’t prepared, and that’s my fault”-Jim Crews
Crews made it clear from the get-go that “starting is for high school”, and that what matters more is minutes. However, the Bills were notoriously slow starters. Changing the starters this much suggests he gave up at one point, and just started picking names out of a hat almost. The only consistent piece was Davell Roby, who appeared in 10 of these 11 lineups.
The mantra that “it’s all about minutes” can justify the lineups, but doesn’t justify the numbers. Reggie Agbeko, the best all-around big man on SLU in my opinion, gathered only 13 minutes per game during conference play, despite shooting 64 percent from the field with 3 rebounds per game (3rd highest on SLU, which is a problem in itself). The same can be said for Austin McBroom. Unless there’s more behind the scenes (which I suspect), McBroom’s fall-off was fatal. After averaging over 10 points per game in non-conference, McBroom lost quality minutes and his spot in the common rotation, dropping his shooting percentage to 33%, and his points per at 3.5 in conference.
More from St. Louis Billikens
- Saint Louis Billikens’ Miller Hogan selected by Brewers in MLB Draft
- Saint Louis Billikens award final scholarship to Aaron Hines
- Saint Louis Billikens add Seton Hall transfer Rashed Anthony
- USF Transfer Luis Santos Commits to Saint Louis Billikens
- Austin Gillmann Withdraws from Saint Louis Billikens Basketball Program
Finally, the effort level peaked at VCU, and hit rock bottom against GMU. Lethargic, uninterested, sluggish, and every other synonym in the book describe it. How do you motivate a team that doesn’t have a vocal leader? Even more, how can a coach motivate a team that doesn’t trust him? It hasn’t been well-documented in the media, but this season saw two players leave the program under suspect circumstances (Grant Hollander, Grandy Glaze), and the star player find himself at the end of the bench under equally suspicious circumstances (Austin McBroom). Let’s not forget Jim Crews’ under-reported past.
Where we’re headed
Milik Yarbrough should be at least a 2nd team all-conference selection, and among the leaders in scoring average. Marcus Bartley and Davell Roby will be 4 year starters and solid players, while Agbeko and Crawford will finally have the chance to step into serious roles (as I’ve said all year *broken record noise*). Gillmann and Jolly are still developing, and both bring some interesting range and skill sets. With the additions of Welmer and Neufeld, the trend is to get bigger and bigger. They could use some wider, stronger bodies as well.
Although McBroom still has a year of eligibility left, there may be irreconcilable differences between him and the staff. Transferring out isn’t out of the question. Even if he does return, there’s a lot of maturing and trust that needs to be built between him and the staff. Tanner Lancona still retains a year as well, but lost playing time throughout the year, and disappointed all season. Him transferring out also isn’t out of the question, and 2015-16 season plans shouldn’t include him.
That dirty word “potential” comes back into play at this point. Earlier in the year, I talked about how “potential” can fill a team’s mind, tearing them apart with attempts to fulfill that. But, there’s a lot here. The tournament’s calling their name within 3 years, if the recruiting classes stay strong. There’s also more behind the scenes than the media’s reported, trust me on that. Get your tools out, Coach Crews. Rebuild this foundation, fortify the bridges burned. Your job’s on the line.
P.S. In the off chance this was our last season of Grandy Glaze and Austin McBroom, let’s not forget this classic.