Blue and white will be the colors of choice for nine new Billikens next year.

In the early signing period, nine recruits signed letters of intent to compete at Saint Louis University in men’s and women’s basketball as well as swimming.

The men’s basketball program will be fortified next season by the addition of two of the hottest basketball players in the country.

Joining the Bills from Pasadena, Calif. will be 6’11” forward Ryan Hollins. In just his third year of playing organized basketball, Hollins is a rising star who has already achieved the high honor of being rated the third-best center on the West Coast by Preps West.

Hollins helped John Muir High School advance to the semifinal round of the California Interscholastic Federation tournament last season, contributing mostly as a reserve.

“Ryan is a skilled big man with good quickness and an exceptional upside,” said coach Lorenzo Romar in a press release. “Our goal is to recruit players with size and the most quickness possible. Ryan fits that mold. He will help us continue in the direction that we want to go, which is to consistently finish in the upper half of Conference USA.”

Also joining the Bills next season is hometown hero Nick Kern. The 6’7″ swingman from Vashon High School averaged 16.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last season, earning All-State honors and leading Vashon to the Missouri 4A state championship.

“Nick is an extremely skilled player for his size, and his quickness, strength and athleticism fits the mold of successful players in Conference USA,” Romar said. “We’re excited to have another local player to join our program.”

Though Kern is only in his senior year of high school, he has already joined the ranks of elite basketball players across the country.

Last summer, Kern trained at the prestigious Nike Camp in Indianapolis. Kern has been recognized as one of the top 100 high school basketball players in the country and was named a Smith and Street’s high honorable mention All-American.

This week, the SLU women’s basketball team announced that St. Louis native LaKrisha Brown will join the Billikens next season. The 6’3″ center from Hazelwood West averaged 15.4 points and 16.0 rebounds per game, as well as 5.76 blocks per game in her junior season with the Wildcats. Last season, Brown was second on the team in steals with 43, and third on the team in assists with 39.

“LaKrisha will provide the needed height in the post,” stated coach Jill Pizzotti in a press release. “She has size, a good build and gives us a dimension down low that we have not had recently. Every year, we try to sign the best players in the St. Louis area, and we think LaKrisha is one of the top players in the city.”

Brown has proven to be one of the most noteworthy players in the St. Louis area and has been recognized as MVP of the Suburban North Conference, as well as a third-team All-Metro selection by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a member of the All-North first team.

Shortly before the Bills signed Brown, 5’9″ point guard Shea Kenny signed her national letter of intent to join the Billiken squad next season.

Kenny stood out as the point for Miller Place in Miller Place, N.Y., averaging 18 points, 6.0 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game as a junior.

Kenny proved her might as a team leader as she guided Miller Place to the Suffolk County League V championship in the 2000-01 season. Kenny was an All-County selection on the 1999-2000 team that won the Class B Long Island Championship and was a runner-up for the New York state championship.

“Signing Shea was important to us because we will have two seniors at the point her freshman year,” Pizzotti stated in a release. “She will have a chance to learn and earn valuable playing time as a freshman. She is a steady playmaker who handles the ball well and can shoot the three.”

The Billiken swim team will grow in size and in prowess next year and is expected to make a big splash in C-USA.

Five new members will join the Billikens from across the Midwest and are expected to have immediate impacts on the dynamics of the team.

Billiken newcomers include Alice Altepeter (St. Louis/Marquette) Bryan Beischel (Cincinnati/St. Xavier), Christopher Johansen (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South), Marisa Mackos (Cincinnati/Ursuline), and Kelly Tessar (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan).

An accomplished sprinter and relay swimmer, Altepeter will join the Bills and her former coach Jim Halliburton after swimming for the Marquette team and the Rockwood Swim Club for five years. Altepeter was an integral factor in the Marquette team earning back-to-back state championships in 1999 and 2000.

Beischel will come to SLU with a long list of accolades, including a second place finish in last year’s Long Course Nationals with the Powell Crosley Junior YMCA club team.

With his club, Beischel competed as a finalist in the 50m breast. At St. Xavier, Beischel was a dominant member of the 2000 prep national champion team.

Johansen is expected to provide strength to the Billiken squad as a middle and distance freestyler. Twice named the team captain at Bloomington South, Johansen boasts two sectional titles, as well as advancement to the state meet. In addition to receiving high honors as a swimmer, Johansen is set to graduate first in his class of 403 at Bloomington South.

Also a long distance freestyler, Mackos led Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati to three state titles.

As a leader on the Ursuline team, Mackos has already posted times lower than SLU record times in the 500, 1000 and 1500 free. With the Blue Ash YMCA club, Mackos is a four-time national swimmer and two-time state qualifier.

Tessar joins the Bills as the most accredited recruit of the group. Not only did Tesser win a sectional championship in the 400 IM, she was the state runner up in all four events last year.

Additionally, Tesser claims the honor of qualifying for the U.S. Open. An All-American and Scholastic All-American, Tessar has also already slashed Billiken record times in five different events.

“I’m happy with the signing of these five swimmers as a good start for us in the early signing period,” said Halliburton in a press release. “In the pool, they will help us compete in Conference USA. Marissa and Kelly have already posted times that break nine of our 14 school records, so the signing of these swimmers shows what direction our program is headed.”