The team has also upped its game. Preseason polls had the Billikens placing no higher than 12th. It was either bad prognosticating or an overachieving team (or both), but the Bills went 20-10 overall and 11-5 in conference play to place fourth. The team earned a four seed and first round bye in the A-10 tournament and faces five seed Rhode Island March 12 in Atlantic City. (Update: since this story first appeared the Billikens lost in the first round of the A-10 tournament. It received a post season bid to the College Basketball Invitational where it has fought its way into the semi-finals by defeating Indiana State, Wisconsin Green Bay and Princeton. The Bills travel to Richmond, Va. to face Virginia Commonwealth March 29 in a best of two-out-of-three series. Games 2 & 3 would be played at home beginning March 31).
It is understandable that many people underestimated SLU this season. The team is so young that no one will be able to sneak away and legally enter an Atlantic City casino this weekend. It boasts only one upperclassman – a junior – on its 13-man roster. But Majerus’s little shavers were cautioned before the season not to use their inexperience as a crutch.
“Coach told us coming into the year that being young isn’t a reason to lose,” Cassity, sporting what might marginally be considered a beard, said. “We learned early in the season that we could be competitive with anyone.”
Cassity was referring to SLU’s game 6 matchup against Notre Dame where it kept pace with the Irish for a half before letting the game slip away.
“We were doing the things we were supposed to do and played them hard,” he said.
Cassity is an easy-going, aw-shucks kind of person (his teammates dubbed him “Small Town Cassity”. While mom Beth admits to being a basket case before every game she said it is hard for her to tell if her son shares the pregame jitters.
“He hides it well if he does,” she said. “If it is a big game I’m afraid to call him because I don’t want him to know that I’m nervous.”
Cassity said he simply enjoys the basketball lifestyle, especially the travel.
“It’s not a problem for me to be on the road. I like to get out,” he said.
The sports marketing major’s day starts early with all of his classes over by noon. At 1:30 p.m. practice begins. After dinner it’s time to hit the books. Cassity said he works just as hard off the court as on the court and it is paying off. Majerus proclaimed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last month that he believes Cassity will be named an Academic All- American. He holds a 3.6 g.p.a.
The coach is undoubtedly proud of this as he stresses the importance of all his players working hard for good grades.
Majerus has a reputation for being volatile and that concerned Beth when her son was being recruited. Michigan and West Virginia were also wooing the boy with the ever rosy-cheeks from Tamaroa. Cassity seemed unfazed by any of it. He chose SLU because of its proximity to his hometown.
“Being able to play in front of my Mom and Dad weighed heavily on my decision to come here,” he said.
As for Majerus he adds, “He is a tough coach but he knows his stuff. He has been a winner wherever he’s been. He turned us around.”
But even being only 80 miles from home, Beth feels removed from her son’s life.
“It doesn’t feel like he is ours anymore. We never see him except for home games,” she laments. “He called the other day and said he was having a problem with his wisdom tooth. He said the dentist cut something out of his mouth. Should I have known about that? That’s when momma should have been there.”
It’s an hour before tipoff and fans begin to filter into the sparkling Chaifetz Arena for the Billikens final home game of the season. At 6:10 p.m. (it has to exactly at this time, just ask her) Beth enters the arena. Cassity and his teammates are on the floor shooting around. They seem loose despite having lost a heartbreaker to 24th ranked Xavier three days prior.
Beth is superstitious and goes through the same ritual every game that includes walking the concourse, playing a dice game and talking to the same people. Of course, she had already sent her son the “don’t shoot the ball,” text message.
Her son didn’t heed the advice. He scored 8 points, had six assists and six rebounds that evening.
