Saint Louis Basketball: Takeaways from 3-0 start to 2021-22 season

Saint Louis Basketball is undefeated through three games. They’ve defeated Central Arkansas, Harris-Stowe and Eastern Illinois by a combined 150 points as warmups to their November 16th date with No. 14 Memphis.

Travis Ford’s team is playing without its best player and All-Atlantic Ten wing Jevonte Perkins. The 6’6 senior injured his left knee during the exhibition season and is out for the season. Three relatively easy victories have allowed Ford to see his players in a wide range of roles and break in newcomers.

The Memphis game will be an entirely different story.

There is starting experience on the 2021-22 roster and some extremely talented newcomers. Point guard Yuri Collins is one of the A-Ten’s assist leaders and a preseason all-defensive and third-team A-Ten honoree. Gibson Jimmerson is a proven three-point shooter. 6’8 junior Marten Linssen has played in 77 collegiate games, starting 33.

Transfers Jordan Nesbitt (Memphis), Francis Okoro (Oregon), and DeAndre Jones (Central Arkansas) are playing signific roles and returning role players abound. Terrence Hargrove and Fred Thatch are stepping into larger roles.

The loss of Perkins has created opportunities for Nesbitt and Hargrove. Both were high school stars in the St. Louis area as Ford has majored in landing high-level, local players and it is paying off on the scoreboard and in the stands.

During Ford’s first five seasons in St. Louis, the Billikens have won 91 games and have qualified for post-season basketball the last three seasons. Prior to Pandemic SLU was averaging well over 6,000 fans per game.