Approximately 140 SLU students took part in the Fraternity and Sorority Life’s (FSL) dodgeball tournament on April 2. Phi Mu and Alpha Delta Gamma (ADG) won the tournament, defeating Delta Gamma (DG) and Beta Theta Pi (Beta) 2-1 in a hard-fought nail-biter championship series.

ADG President, Griffin Burk, scored the final out of the tournament. His teammate, Michael Brenner spoke about what playing alongside Burk is like. 

“Burk is an amazing teammate. That’s our president so he’s always there cheering us on. It’s great,” Brenner said postgame. 

Burk spoke highly of both his ADG and Phi Mu teammates.

 “It’s teamwork, it’s what it’s all about,” Burk said. “We were coordinated, collaborative and it showed”.

Phi Mu/ADG’s toughest competition came in the final round, against DG/Beta, who were led by dynamic duo Sam Van Cleve and Cooper Bergstrom. Van Cleve and Bergstrom combined for over 80 outs across the span of the tournament, with more than 20 catches between them. 

“[Bergstrom] is the first kid I met at SLU 101, and ever since then, we’ve had a special bond together,” Van Cleve said. “We’ve gotten used to each other, and we were able to carry that over onto the court today.”

“You can’t say we didn’t go out there and fight. This meant a lot to us. Those DG girls put it all out on the floor,” Bergstrom said after the final.

Other tournament standouts include Leonardo Cecere and Aleigha Schnable. 

Cecere was a defensive anchor for Kappa Delta (KD), Delta Phi Omega (DPO) and Phi Kappa Tau (Phi Tau). The team forced multiple overtimes in their first-round series against DG/Beta. Cecere led the stand in Game 3 of the series that forced a sudden-death second overtime. DG/Beta would win off a Van Cleve out.

Schnable was the standout star for Alpha Delta Pi (ADPi) and Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE), with her elusiveness frustrating Phi Mu/ADG’s firing squad offense in the semi-finals. Schnable was a woman alone against the volley but managed to survive for almost a minute, eight seconds short of forcing overtime. 

Phi Mu/ADG took first place, DG/Beta second and third place was given to ADPi/PIKE for losing to the eventual champions in the semifinals.

The Saint Louis University softball team extended its conference winning streak to 12 games on April 18 against the George Mason Patriots, setting a program record.

The streak began on March 29 against the St. Joseph’s Hawks, with an 8-3 win. Throughout  the streak, SLU outscored conference opponents 70-17, securing shutouts in half of the games.

With a 14-5 conference record, Saint Louis has risen to the top of the Atlantic 10 (A10) standings. They currently sit two games ahead of the Dayton Flyers. 

The Bills are second in the league in fielding percentage, while holding the second-lowest earned run average. During this streak, they have allowed only 1.42 runs per game. 

That defense is enough to put the team into championship contention, but paired with an offense that has scored 3 runs or more in each game during this streak, the Billikens are a monster of a matchup.

A10 fielders are allowing 7.17 hits per game against the Billikens. SLU’s superstar slugger Abby Mallo totaled 15 during the streak. Mallo leads the conference in Runners Batted In (RBIs) with 55, 20 of which came in this streak. Almost one-third of SLU’s RBIs during this stretch have come off Mallo’s bat.

First baseman Jane Kaniecki spoke about the team’s emotions surrounding SLU’s program-record streak. 

“It’s been awesome, we have the staff to do it. They’re really willing to go the distance,” Kaniecki told ESPN+’s Colin Suhre. “And then our offense can work. It gives our offense the comfort to be able to do our thing and not have to press and look to score runs”. 

Of course, the Billikens still score runs, at a clip of 5 per game, leading the A10. Against conference opponents, SLU’s average increases to 5.16 runs scored per game.

SLU will host their penultimate conference series starting on April 26 against St. Bonaventure.

The Saint Louis University Billikens won their softball series against the Fordham Rams this weekend, 2-1. The Billikens moved to a 2-4 Atlantic 10 record for sixth in the standings.

The weekend started strong on Friday evening March 21, with the Billikens routing the Rams 10-2 in six innings. Saturday afternoon featured a doubleheader, with the teams splitting the day. SLU took the first game in a six-run shutout while Fordham gathered a consolation win, achieving a 6-1 victory later in the day.

The series win comes a week after SLU was swept at Dayton, all losses by 4 runs or more, including a shutout. 

Junior shortstop Chloe Rhine commented on how the series win improved the team’s mood going forward.

 “We definitely took a sucker punch getting swept by Dayton, but I think the team did a really nice job just coming back. A lot of conference games left. Definitely on the up,” Rhine said.

Rhine held a 1.000 fielding percentage through the series. She has a .962 on the season, up from .935 last season. Over the series, she had 10 catches, 5 putouts and 5 assists. 

Junior catcher Abby Mallo, one of the A-10’s best hitters, saw 9 at-bats over the series. Mallo delivered 3 RBIs and was struck out twice. She is tenth in the conference in batting average and second in the conference in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage.

“Abby’s a great teammate, great bat all along. Playing alongside her is just awesome, since she is one of the girls from my class. Definitely a really big impact on the lineup,” Rhine said of Mallo after the third game. 

Junior Taylor Hochman pitched all 7 innings of Saturday’s first game, where the Rams failed to score a single run. Hochman had five strikeouts that game. She is fourth in the A-10 in earned run average (ERA) and the only member of the top 20 with more than 80 innings pitched.

“I definitely think having a big senior leader on the mound this year is just really awesome. She is one of the faces [of] the A-10,” Rhine said on what it’s like to share the infield with Hochman. 

The Billikens’ next series will be against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in Philadelphia on March 29- 30.

For the first time since 2019, every single member of the Sweet 16 is a member of a “power” conference. Six teams are a four seed or higher, meaning only four teams in the Sweet 16 have gotten there through an upset. 

The Sweet 16 is currently made up of seven schools from the Southeastern Conference, four from the Big Ten and Big 12, and one from the Atlantic Coast Conference. After the 2023 realignment, these four conferences, along with the Big East, have settled as the new Power Five conferences in college basketball. 

Some wonder if this sudden change is due to the implementation of Name Image and Likeness (NIL) deals in college sports. NIL has become a recruiting tactic nationwide to attract talented players (and some managers) to schools. Oftentimes, bigger programs, such as those in the power conferences, can offer better deals to players than low or mid-major schools.

The following statistics have been calculated by the University News.

A look at each Sweet 16 team’s starting five shows that the majority of players started their college careers at a different school, and what’s more, 32.5% of them started their careers at a school currently outside of the Power Five. 29 out of the 80 starters started their careers at their current schools. On average, each team’s lineup is 36.25% homegrown. 

In 2022, the Sweet 16 had 14 power schools, with 67.14% of starters playing at their school since their freshman year and 15.71% transferring at some point from a low or mid-major. In 2023 the numbers shifted: 60% of Sweet 16 power school starters began their careers at their schools, and 18.33% started at low or mid-majors. The trend continued in 2024, with 54.67% of starters coming from their original school and 25.33% coming from low or mid-majors. 

Then, NIL became commonplace in 2025, where 36.25% players came from their original school and a whopping 32.5% from low or mid-majors. In just a few years, the percentage of homegrown talent was nearly split in half, while the percentage coming from low and mid-majors more than doubled.

It is unclear if this rapid drop in in-house talent is due entirely to NIL, however, it is very likely one of the contributing factors. What is clear is that talented players are leaving low and mid-major programs for the power conferences. 

SLU’s own Larry Hughes II, Josiah Dotzler, Brooklyn Grey, Shun’teria Anumele and Marcavia Shavers have all entered the transfer portal.

Former Saint Louis University guard Yuri Collins made his NBA debut on Sunday, Feb. 23, playing for the Golden State Warriors against the Dallas Mavericks. He played 6 minutes, scoring 2 points and tacking on 1 assist, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Collins played four seasons at SLU, averaging 11 points and 10 assists in his final season. Collins led men’s NCAA Division 1 basketball in assists in back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023 with 7.9 and 10.1 respectively. He was also All-Atlantic 10 First Team and Defensive Team in those seasons.

The 5’11” guard went undrafted during the 2023 offseason but his playmaking and defense earned the attention of the Warriors. He signed with and played for the Warriors’ summer league team during the offseason. Collins then signed to Golden State’s G-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors where he played 34 games, and was in the starting lineup for three. 

Following his rookie year, Collins stayed with the organization through the 2024 offseason, going on to play in and start 20 games for Santa Cruz before receiving the call-up to Golden State on Wednesday, Feb. 19, inking a 10-day contract alongside former first-round pick Kevin Knox II. Collins averaged 16 points and 11 assists for Santa Cruz prior to the call-up.

Collins was on contract for the Feb. 21 game against the Sacramento Kings, but played his first NBA minutes in San Francisco against the Mavericks. Collins scored his first major league basket with just over a minute left in the game.

Collins showed off his famous handles, putting Olivier-Maxwell Prosper on a pair of skates before drilling a step-back jumper from below the elbow.

Collins is eligible to sign a two-way contract with Golden State, allowing him to play for either the major or minor league team until the playoffs begin. When Collins’ and Knox’s contracts expire, Golden State will have 14 days to reach the 14-player minimum for the roster. If Collins signs a two-way contract he will not count towards that 14-player minimum.

Former Saint Louis University guard Yuri Collins made his NBA debut on Sunday, Feb. 23, playing for the Golden State Warriors against the Dallas Mavericks. He played 6 minutes, scoring 2 points and tacking on 1 assist, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Collins played four seasons at SLU, averaging 11 points and 10 assists in his final season. Collins led men’s NCAA Division 1 basketball in assists in back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023 with 7.9 and 10.1 respectively. He was also All-Atlantic 10 First Team and Defensive Team in those seasons.

The 5’11” guard went undrafted during the 2023 offseason but his playmaking and defense earned the attention of the Warriors. He signed with and played for the Warriors’ summer league team during the offseason. Collins then signed to Golden State’s G-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors where he played 34 games, and was in the starting lineup for three. 

Following his rookie year, Collins stayed with the organization through the 2024 offseason, going on to play in and start 20 games for Santa Cruz before receiving the call-up to Golden State on Wednesday, Feb. 19, inking a 10-day contract alongside former first-round pick Kevin Knox II. Collins averaged 16 points and 11 assists for Santa Cruz prior to the call-up.

Collins was on contract for the Feb. 21 game against the Sacramento Kings, but played his first NBA minutes in San Francisco against the Mavericks. Collins scored his first major league basket with just over a minute left in the game.

Collins showed off his famous handles, putting Olivier-Maxwell Prosper on a pair of skates before drilling a step-back jumper from below the elbow.

Collins is eligible to sign a two-way contract with Golden State, allowing him to play for either the major or minor league team until the playoffs begin. When Collins’ and Knox’s contracts expire, Golden State will have 14 days to reach the 14-player minimum for the roster. If Collins signs a two-way contract he will not count towards that 14-player minimum.

Marlowe and Malena Valdeabella purchased their first HOTWORX studio in January 2023. In December 2024, the couple purchased a second franchise a block away from their alma mater. The Valdeabellas are committed to giving back to the SLU community and believe HOTWORX is an effective way to do it.

HOTWORX combines yoga with infrared sauna heat for a unique and effective workout. Founded in 2017, the company differs from traditional hot yoga by using dry heat via infrared heating as opposed to the traditional humidity commonly found in hot yoga saunas. The Valdeabellas explained that the added heat encourages sweat, helps remove toxins and aids in calorie burning.

The Valdeabellas have set up shop only a block away from SLU, across the street from the student-favorite, Alamo Drafthouse, and have been using their business’ proximity to campus to stay involved in the community.

Before graduating in 1995, Marlowe was a member of SLU’s Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) fraternity as well as the Filipino Student Association (FSA). He now acts as Pike’s Chapter Advisor and hosted their 24-hour Pike on a Bike Cycle-a-thon for their philanthropy week. He has also donated a gift basket and a free month-long HOTWORX membership, which would normally cost about $80, to the FSA’s upcoming showcase raffle.

Marlowe spoke on how he felt about using his business to give back to the organizations he was a part of as a student. 

“It was fantastic. I call it the serendipitous collision,” Marlowe said. “Supporting a chapter I had grown up in and had a good affiliation with at a university both my wife and I graduated from. It really was putting all these things together that really was the right place and the right time and the right moment.”

Malena graduated from SLU in 2001 and shares Marlowe’s ideal of giving back to the SLU community. She was a member of SLU’s Kappa Delta sorority and is hosting a sisterhood event for the sorority in the HOTWORX studio this weekend.

HOTWORX St. Louis currently serves over 160 members of all ages, with membership expected to rise in the coming months.

The NBA trade deadline season kicked off on Feb. 1 with news that Luka Dončić has been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team deal involving the Utah Jazz, per NBA Insider Shams Charania. The Slovenian Superstar was shipped away Saturday night alongside German big-man Maxi Kleber and veteran forward Markieff Morris. 

Upon hearing this news, the Dallas Mavericks did not receive the haul many fans would be hoping for. Dončić is a league-defining player who has already made the NBA Finals and was a finalist for the MVP award last season. 

The Lakers and Jazz had a wealth of assets to give up for Dončić. The Jazz had All-Star Lauri Markkannen and shot-blocking third-year Walker Kessler. The Lakers could offer fan-favorite wings Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht. There is also a stockpile of 14 first-round draft picks between the two teams. 

The Mavericks received aging All-Star Anthony Davis, third-year rotation piece Max Christie and LA’s 2029 first-round draft pick. 

NBA fans and media alike agree that this will go down as one of the worst trades in NBA history. This could be worse than Gail Goodrich to the Jazz for a first-round pick. This could be worse than Russell Westbrook to LA for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. This could be worse than Vlade Divac to the Hornets for rookie Kobe Bryant.

Not only has Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison sold the future of his franchise to the Lakers, he did it for pennies on the dollar of his own volition. Dončić did not request a trade out of Dallas, per NBA Insider Marc Stein. The Mavericks front office reached out to the Lakers offering the 25-year-old superstar.

The ramifications of this deal will impact the league for years to come. LeBron James and the Lakers now have at least two years of Luka Dončić under contract, making them instant threats to the Western Conference. This trade drastically impacts the league’s trade economy days before the trade deadline with multiple stars still on the hot seat.

The value of a first-round draft pick was most recently skewed in 2022 when Utah GM Danny Ainge sent Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverly, Leandro Balmero, Jarred Vanderbilt, Walker Kessler and five first rounders. 

Five players, three of whom with significant roles on the team and a fourth being rookie Walker Kessler, and five first-round picks in exchange for Rudy Gobert, who struggled in his first year in Minnesota. This trade brutalized the trade economy in the 2022 offseason. With Gobert fetching five firsts, each team increased the price of their borderline all-star. The first-round pick had been massively devalued. 

Later that season at the 2023 trade deadline, aging superstar Kevin Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline for five first-rounders, two seconds and three players including budding star Mikal Bridges. This trade would wreck the Suns as they had given up so much to acquire Durant that they could not put together a competent team beyond young stud Devin Booker.

The reverse has now happened. The Lakers were able to give up only one draft pick to steal Dončić away from the Mavericks. The prices for all-stars like De’Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine just plummeted, as they were likely candidates to be moved at this coming deadline, giving the Kings and Bulls chances to revitalize their franchises with the returns.

The situation is even more dire for the Miami Heat and Suns, who need to off-load former stars Jimmy Butler and Bradley Beal, who were already fetching low prices.

Rebecca Tillett has started her third season with the Saint Louis Billikens women’s basketball team 2-2, but fear not, this championship head coach is no stranger to slow starts.

Tillett and the Bills are coming off winning the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, defeating Minnesota 69-50 in First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois. The 2023-24 season started 3-1. 

In the 2022-23 season, Tillett cemented herself in NCAA basketball history as the second-ever coach to earn a bid to the Women’s March Madness in consecutive years with separate schools. The only coach before her was Lisa Bluder, who did so with Drake and then Iowa in 2000 and 2001. That season started 1-3.

Bills fans do not need to worry about the team’s slow start, instead, they should be excited about what these past four games, as well as the team’s two preseason games, have showcased.

Reigning WNIT MVP Peyton Kennedy has returned to SLU for her fifth and final season. Kennedy had a breakout season last year, averaging 16.9 points per game and starting every game. She improved to 19.8 points per game this season, good enough for third place on the Atlantic 10’s scoring leaderboard.

Senior guard Kennedy Calhoun has also returned in style, improving from 5.7 points per game to 10.8 on better efficiency, going from an already respectable 46.3% to 48.6%. Her playmaking also improved, rising from 3.1 assists per game to 4.5. Her assist-to-turnover ratio has also risen from 1.1 to 1.5. She’s leading the A10 in steals per game at 3.3, an improvement over last season’s 2.15. She’s tied with Richmond’s Rachel Ullstrom and Duquesne’s Megan McConnell.

Another bright spot comes from freshman Shun’teria Anumele. The 5’8” guard is averaging 12.3 points per game and has started all four games thus far this season. Anumele is second on the team in scoring and is also contributing 3.8 rebounds each game.

Tierra Simon and Brooklyn Gray round out the starting lineup. The duo combine for 16.3 points, 3 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game. Simon is ninth in the A10 for rebounds per game at 8.0, and sixth in blocks per game at 1.0.

The team is averaging 73 points per game, a slight improvement over last season’s 72.1. Following a 78-71 win against Illinois State University in their home opener, Tillett spoke about the versatility and lethality of the Billikens offense.

 “That’s what we want to be, right? We want to be a team that’s hard to guard. Have five women on the floor at all times that are hard to guard,” Tillet said.

The Saint Louis University’s Men’s Basketball team took the court for two exhibition games on Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 against Rockhurst and Maryville. Despite early woes, new head coach Josh Schertz is confident in the new-looking Billikens. 

Schertz’s career with the Billikens started with disaster when star junior transfer Robbie Avila was injured during a scrimmage. Avila’s sprained ankle kept him out of the Oct. 18 game against Rockhurst. The six-foot-10  center returned from injury to start against Maryville, delivering 12 points and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes and holding opposing center Francisco Espinosa scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting from the floor. Avila joined Schertz from Indiana State, along with sophomore guard Jaden Schertz and senior guard Isaiah Swope. Avila was named to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team along with SLU veteran guard Gibson Jimmerson. Swope was named to the Third Team.

SLU’s mettle was tested against Rockhurst. SLU finished the first half down 30-33 against the Division II Hawks. Due to Avila’s absence, sophomore guard Kellen Thames took the opening tip-off against Rockhurst’s Dan Carr, with junior forward Kalu Anya serving as Carr’s primary defender throughout the game. Carr put up 11 points and six rebounds against the Billikens in the first half, shooting 5-of-9 from the field. 

The five-foot-10-inch Swope struggled against Brian Hawthorne’s six-foot-two, 175 lbs. frame and physical defense. Every possession where Swope attempted to drive inside seemingly ended in either a turnover or a poor shot for the Billikens. Swope finished the first half with four points, three turnovers and zero assists, against Hawthorne’s four steals. 

Swope spoke after the game about his play during the first half. 

“I think I came out too lackadaisical, not playing with a sense of urgency,” Swope said. “I just gotta be better.” Schertz voiced his disapproval of Swope’s play during the postgame presser. “You can’t jog back in transition and give up two layups. On top of the turnovers,” Schertz said. 

Schertz spoke on how he motivated his players during halftime to produce such a shift in play.

“Yeah, nothing I can share in here though,” Schertz joked. “Most of the adjustments were mental and mentality adjustments.”

SLU would come back in the second half to blow out Rockhurst 86-65, with Swope putting together 10 points and three assists with zero turnovers. Other second-half heroes included senior guard Kobe Johnson and freshman guard Amari McCottry, who combined for 25 second-half points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Both showed out defensively, including McCottry rising up for a monstrous stuff block against Carr to preserve a SLU run. “[McCottry] and Kobe both can really give ball handlers trouble. And then they both have the size and physicality to switch,” Schertz said. 

Some players showed impressive potential during the exhibition games. Anya, McCottry and freshman forward Max Pikaar displayed talent that could be crucial for the Billikens later this season. 

Anya averaged 9.5 points and rebounds across the preseason, including a 12-point 11-rebound double-double in just 26 minutes against Rockhurst. Schertz praised Anya’s high motor and transition playmaking potential, calling his ability to grab the rebound and then push the ball up the floor while flowing seamlessly with the guards “a cheat code.” “When he’s got the rebound and he can push, that’s great’,” Schertz said. 

McCottry and Pikaar received high praise from Schertz. “I think Amari and Max are our most talented players,” Schertz said after the Rockhurst game. He expressed hesitation about their lack of experience but cited McCottry’s physicality and versatility and Pikaar’s highlight scoring as his reasons for being optimistic about the duo’s progression toward fulfilling their potential. Pikaar averaged 5.5 points per game during the preseason in only 10 minutes of floor time per game. During the Rockhurst game, he showed off his hops, putting six-foot-nine Arol Kacuol on a poster for SLU’s penultimate basket.