As Im sure most of you know, St. Louis has been trying to convince Majerus that he should come to SLU and coach basketball. This may have been discussed to death on here, but if it was I missed it. It was pointed out by the media in St. Louis that Majerus suggested SLU consider a move to the Valley, and that it was a more appropriate conference for the Billikans, and supposedly the SLU president said that was something they would look into if Majerus became their new coach. Well, I wasnt real sure how I felt about this. I was on valleytalk.net and came across this post from a SIU fan:
"As to SLU's advantages, yes, media market is near the top of the list. But, also (2) they have a new arena being built, (3) they are a good academic school with a good law school and a very highly rated medical school, a good business school, and lots of other good academic programs. Also, (4) they have a decent enrollment for a private school with a large alumni base, (5) they would be another Catholic school for Creighton to partner with, (6) they are at the heart of the Missouri Valley Conference location wise. Further, (7) their sports programs are down, but have been traditionally good. They would immediately be in the upper tier of the Valley simply because of the amount of money they are willing to spend to get better. (8) A new rival for SIU and MSU. PLUS, (9) there is some advantage simply to the fact that a team would leave the A-10 to come to the Valley. It is a long term move toward the legitimation of the Valley.
Besides the fact that their team has been down in the past couple of years, I really do not see any drawbacks to this move."
I like the points this guy makes, and it would be nice to pick up the St. Louis market. If we added SLU and Butler, we would add the St. Louis and Indy Markets. I also realy like the idea he points out about a team leaving the A10 for the valley. I know that this is A LOT of speculation and Majerus may just be shopping around to keep his name in the media, but I would love to see Majerus and SLU wind up in our conference.
Ryan
"As to SLU's advantages, yes, media market is near the top of the list. But, also (2) they have a new arena being built, (3) they are a good academic school with a good law school and a very highly rated medical school, a good business school, and lots of other good academic programs. Also, (4) they have a decent enrollment for a private school with a large alumni base, (5) they would be another Catholic school for Creighton to partner with, (6) they are at the heart of the Missouri Valley Conference location wise. Further, (7) their sports programs are down, but have been traditionally good. They would immediately be in the upper tier of the Valley simply because of the amount of money they are willing to spend to get better. (8) A new rival for SIU and MSU. PLUS, (9) there is some advantage simply to the fact that a team would leave the A-10 to come to the Valley. It is a long term move toward the legitimation of the Valley.
Besides the fact that their team has been down in the past couple of years, I really do not see any drawbacks to this move."
I like the points this guy makes, and it would be nice to pick up the St. Louis market. If we added SLU and Butler, we would add the St. Louis and Indy Markets. I also realy like the idea he points out about a team leaving the A10 for the valley. I know that this is A LOT of speculation and Majerus may just be shopping around to keep his name in the media, but I would love to see Majerus and SLU wind up in our conference.
Ryan
