As legend has it, a Billiken is a small elflike creature that brings three kinds of luck – good, better and best - and young Tall Blacks centre Rob Loe hopes some of that rubs off as he embarks on his US college career with St Louis University.

The lure of a coaching legend has seen Loe sign a letter of intent with the SLU Billikens, ending months of speculation over which school the exciting Kiwi prospect would attend in the next phase of his career.

“It was a very difficult decision and I visited some very good schools,” says Loe (18). “In the end, it came down to St Louis having a great coach with a reputation for developing NBA ‘bigs’ and players that gelled very well as a team.”

SLU head coach Rick Majerus has never had a losing season over a 23-year career that previously saw him in charge at Marquette, Ball State and Utah. He has a 456-176 (72.2%) record and in the 2009/10 season - his third at St Louis - his team went 23-13 before finally losing to Virginia Commonwealth University in the College Basketball Invitational final.

He was an assistant coach with the US “Dream Team II” that won the 1994 FIBA World Championship for Men and led University of Utah to the 1998 NCAA Final, the same year he was named John Wooden Coach of the Year in American college basketball.

During his tenure at Utah, Majerus had players selected in the first round of three consecutive NBA drafts – Keith Van Horn in 1997, Michael Doleac in 1998 and Andre Miller in 1999. In 2000, Hanno Mottola became the first Finnish player drafted, albeit in the second round.

He also coached Australian star Andrew Bogut for much of his freshman year with the Utes, until standing down for health reasons.

“Any discussion about Rob Loe has to begin with what a high-character young man he is,” says Majerus. “He is all about team and will be an excellent fit with our players.

“Rob genuinely cares about people, respects his parents and plays the game for all the right reasons. Rob gives us a strong ‘four’ man and has the versatility to play on the perimeter, off the elbow or down low.

“Rob’s passing prowess and unselfishness really appealed to me and my assistant coaches. He is going to be a terrific addition off and on the court … we believe Rob is a jewel of the Pacific because of his temperament, competitiveness and skill set.

Loe was the individual star of New Zealand’s 2009 Junior Tall Blacks programme that saw him average 18.8 points (fifth) and 7.0 rebounds at the 2010 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men in Auckland. At 17, he subsequently toured Europe with the Tall Blacks, one of the youngest ever selected for the NZ national men’s team.

He wound up the year with MVP honours as his Westlake Boys High School won the NZ Secondary Schools Championship and was also part of the World Team that took part in this week’s Nike Hoops Summit in Oregon.

Loe will find some familiar faces and accents at St Louis. Assistant coach Chris Harriman is Australian and his presence undoubtedly helped SLU recruit NZ-born Cody Ellis and Christian Salecich, both of whom were on the Aussie Emus roster at last year’s world junior championship