The University NewsA Student Voice of Saint Louis University Since 1921

BLIZZARD vs. Xavier3/5/2011 Chaifetz Arena

GAME DAY

“ I don’t like Paul. I love Paul. To me, Paul is the epitome of a student-athlete. He plays on heart. He’s inspi-rational. ”

— Rick Majerus, head coach of Saint Louis Billikens on RS junior Paul Eckerle

Dwayne Evans, Freshman, F

Players to Watch

Mike McCall, Freshman, G

Tu Holloway, Junior, G, Xavier

Vs.SAINT LOUIS XAVIER

R

“We’re playing great right now; we’re hitting shots, and we’re de-fending.You put that together, and we’re going to be a tough team to beat. ”

— Kyle Cassity, junior guard of the Saint Louis Billikens

PPG

OPPONENT’s PPG

FG%

3 PT%

FT%

RPG

APG

Turnovers

63.1

62.4

.437

.318

.652

31.6

13.5

13.2

73.2

65.4

.464

.336

.751

35.3

13.4

11.8

SLU Billikens vs. No. 25 Xavier Musketeers

Paul Eckerle will be the lone player not returning to the team next year. Instead of using his fourth year of eligibility, Eckerle will begin medical school. The long-time heart and soul of the Billikens, Eckerle and his exploits on the court as well as off of it have endeared him to Billiken faithful.

Eckerle excels on and off the hardwood

Kenny Frease, Junior, C, Xavier

Frease has been a nightmare for opponents in the paint all year, averaging nearly 12 points and 7 rebounds per contest. Frease is also tied for the team lead in blocks, averaging 1 per game.

Despite an uncharacteristi-cally poor showing against Charlotte on March 2, Hollo-way has been dominating the A-10. The front-runner for the conference player of the year, Holloway averages 20.5 PPG.

The reigning Atlantic 10 fresh-man of the week has been a machine on the glass, posting three straight double-doubles before ending the streak in a win at Dayton.

McCall had a career night in the Billikens upset bid of Dayton on March 2, dropping 17 points on 3 of 5 shooting from long range. McCall leads SLU in scoring at 10 PPG.

Ryan Giacomino / Photographer Ryan Giacomino / Photographer

By CHAD CARSONStaff Writer

After tearing his ACL and MCL prior to the start of the 2009-2010 basketball season, Paul Eckerle played an active role in supporting his team off the court.

In addition to his successes on the court, Eckerle has achieved a nearly 4.0 GPA studying Biology and taking pre-med classes. But what matters to Eckerle is bas-ketball, in which his goal is “to contribute in the most complete way possible to helping our team achieve its ultimate goal.”

Following the injury and tak-ing a medical redshirt for his junior year, Eckerle underwent a month of preoperative rehab before having surgery in August of 2009.

After surgery, Eckerle partici-pated in daily rehab and started to resume upper body weight training a month after surgery.

While Eckerle participated in rehab, he played an active role on the team off the court.

“I felt like I was still active and helping the guys out as much as I could,” Eckerle said.

Present at preseason practic-es, Eckerle eventually dedicated himself to knowing each of his teammates’ tendencies on the court and said he believes that “the true value of a teammate is not seen on the court during the game, but rather it’s the value that you can contribute every day at practice.”

“Even with his injury, Paul was one of the most positive guys to be around last year,” teammate Christian Salecich said. “We had a tough stretch, and he kept us positive the whole way. Paul’s been around forever; he’s like the old wise man. He knows anything and everything from the game itself to keeping us focused.”

During the season, he studied the opposing teams’ plays in order to call them out from the bench and remained focused on his rehab. This past summer, Eckerle returned to the court for the first time in a controlled scrimmage.

Because of his injury, Eckerle is currently a junior in terms of athletic eligibility but a senior in terms of academic eligibil-ity, with more than 150 credit hours.

In fact, he had the opportunity to graduate after three years with a degree in Biology but decided to try to play one more year.

In order to stretch out his time at SLU, Eckerle also earned a certificate in business.

He considered remaining for another year in order to play basketball, but “there’s not much left to do academically without being totally unproduc-tive,” Eckerle said.

The Washington, Mo., native has already applied to SLU, the University of Missouri at Columbia, and Washington University in St. Louis for medi-

cal school. So far, SLU has accepted him into

their program, but Eckerle is waiting to hear from Washington University.

“If I get into med-ical school, that would be a very dif-ficult thing to turn down since it’s so difficult to get in,” Eckerle said.

While at SLU, Eckerle has estab-lished an impressive academic record, which he credits to his time management skills.

“People always ask how I find the time, and the thing I have to say is that the time is there,” Eckerle said. “You just have to know how to use it

Paul’s been around forever; he’s like the old wise man. He knows anything and every-thing from the game itself to keeping us focused.

“”-Christian Salecich, teammate

efficiently.”“There may be some things that you

have to sacrifice, but the things that I gave up far out-weigh the opportu-nity cost. It’s so worth it in terms of being able to achieve the things I have academically and athletically,” Eckerle said.

In the meantime, Eckerle is all about basketball and his

team. “The guys here are special, and we

have a really good bond that causes me to want to win not only for myself, but also for them,” Eckerle said.

Ryan Giacomino / Photographer