CINCINNATI (OH) – St Louis Billikens Preview

Previous Record (Conf)
18-14 (8-8)

Key Non-Conference Games
Nebraska (18 NOV), Iowa St (27 NOV – Chicago Invitational), S Illinois (5 Dec)

Projected Conference Record (Finish)
4-12 (12th)

Conference Home-and-Home Partners
Richmond, Dayton, Duquesne

Outlook
Head coach Rick Majerus finally has a team full of his own recruits, but nary an upper-classmen to be found. Junior guard Paul Eckerle, a former walk-on, injured his knee and will probably miss the rest of the season. That leaves four sophomores, a red-shirt freshman and seven true freshmen. Majerus is laying the groundwork for next season and beyond and this is a crucial development year.

Last year the Billikens were awful on the road going 2-9 and that was with four seniors. This year Majerus loaded up on home games in the non-conference playing only at woeful Georgia and at Bowling Green.

The Billikens better pick up Majerus’ notoriously intricate system quickly, because they have a brutal conference schedule. St Louis may have the toughest home-and-home pairing in the league facing three of the five best teams in the A10. On top of that they will play six of their first nine conference games on the road – a brutal stretch for any squad, much less one with so little experience.

Majerus will try and build around all-Rookie point guard Kwamain Mitchell and potential all-conference center Willie Reed. The incoming class is talented and deep and could have St Louis in the mix for a league title in two years. Until then Majerus will slow the pace of the game to a crawl, try to limit turnovers and turn every possession into a steel-cage death match.

Spotlight On
Australian forward Cody Ellis (6-8 240) is a prototypical international forward. He moves will without the ball, has a good handle and has range out to the three-point line. Ellis played in the FIBA U-19 World Championships in New Zealand.

“Cody’s father, Mike, was a stalwart and a star for the Australian National Team as well as the Perth Wildcats, the premier professional league in Australia,” Majerus said. “Cody is the son of a coach and plays like one – smart, committed and passionate.”

Best Case Scenario
Ellis is cleared to play and immediately creates match up problems in the A10. Mitchell picks up where he left off last year and improves his decision making. Reed develops a reliable low-post move to complement his mid-range jumper. Two of the underclassmen prove capable perimeter threats easing the burden on Mitchell and creating space for Ellis and Reed in the paint. Even if it does play out this way, St Louis will still be hard-pressed to win eight league games. They will however surprise some very good teams along the way.

Worst Case Scenario
Majerus can’t find any consistent perimeter threats to complement Mitchell and keep opposing defenses honest. Mitchell over-compensates trying to adjust for the lost production of seniors Liddel & Lisch and tries to do too much. Ellis never suits up this season and Reed remains an inconsistent enigma. An unhappy recruit or two leaves the team mid-season leaving Majerus with fewer options on a wildly inconsistent team.