Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Marketing: 3 Inspiring Things About #12 St Louis

There's something (or things) that every program does a fantastic job of that we can learn from. In anything you do, if you can find the good in what someone does and do more of that and then avoid what you find to be less effective, you'll end up in a better place.

Thus far our journey through the Atlantic 10 has shown us #14 St Joseph's and #13 La Salle. Let's keep moving.

#12 Saint Louis

What the program is known for? The Billikens have been to the NCAA Tourney 4 times since 1994. They won a game twice - most recently in 1998 with Larry Hughes at the helm. Saint Louis has also had a series of great coaches running the show: Charlie Spoonhour, Lorenzo Romar, and now Rick Majerus. Whatever we see around the Billikens, I expect to see this tradition and leadership highlighted.

Why are they 12th? St Louis gives you a nice look into their facilities and into student life in general. But like others we've seen in the A-10, there's a tangible gap in learning and connecting with this team.

What inspired me about Saint Louis? (link here)

1. The Interactive Tour of Chaifetz Arena.

I think this tour is here because the arena is new and they are offering you, the fan, the ability to see the view from wherever you are sitting. But what if we think of these arena 360 degree tours a little differently?

To be specific, what's the view of the arena from the perspective of a player? What if you had views from anywhere on the court (or maybe from the tunnel, coming out) and the stands were packed? You would hear the sound, you'd see the color, and completely feel what it's like to play in the arena.

Something tells me we'll see this one day.

2. Ask the Docs

I hadn't seen anything like this before. St Louis actually gives you a chance to ask questions to their team physicians. It's part of a sponsorship with the group, but I think it touches on something exciting.

Injuries are a part of the game. But as a prospective student athlete (or the parent of one), you want to be certain you will be under good care if something were to happen. And what better way to show the expertise of that care than by elevating the individuals who offer it?

I'd like to see this grow. Go beyond taking questions on dealing with your own injuries and share with us the treatment, the stretching, and the rehab routines you develop for the current Billikens squads. That's powerful.

3. Being Billikens gives us a look into the personal side of student athletes.

As you can see here (or in the image above), St Louis wanted to give us an inside look into how student athletes spend their time away from the athletics facilities. This has a feel of a newsletter (maybe because it is?), and I mean that in a good way. There's something very personal. I think there's something powerful for a prospective student athlete to see what student athletes in all sports (not just their own) spend their time. The challenge, as we see here with St Louis, is to take this idea and make it consistently authentic and updated.

That's it. Come back tomorrow as we keep moving.

Andy