Those who watched Wade at MU

[jeffreyweee]

When did you know he'd be a special college player?

When did you know he'd be a special NBA player?

[WarriorFan]

I knew he'd be special when the NBA players visiting the old Gym for pick up games when he was a freshman prop-48 redshirt referred to him repeatedly as the best player in the gym.

[The Lens]

I knew he'd be special when the NBA players visiting the old Gym for pick up games when he was a freshman prop-48 redshirt referred to him repeatedly as the best player in the gym.

88 points in 1 day in HS (2 games, Christmas tourney) was one
That East Carolina dunk was another

[Dawson Rental]

I knew he'd be special when the NBA players visiting the old Gym for pick up games when he was a freshman prop-48 redshirt referred to him repeatedly as the best player in the gym.

Agreed.  Those comments pretty much answered both questions, college and NBA.

[MUfan12]

His first game against Loyola at the BC. His movement, his athleticism, he was everywhere. Knew we had something special on our hands, and then he went off in Alaska and the rest is history.

As far as his pro career... the playoffs his rookie year.

[77ncaachamps]

Agreed.  Those comments pretty much answered both questions, college and NBA.

Yup.

Lots of Rosiak's chatter about Wade made him the best player on the team but wasn't eligible to play.

When you read and heard his name mentioned more than some of the starters, you knew he was special.

[Brewtown Andy]

His first game against Loyola at the BC. His movement, his athleticism, he was everywhere. Knew we had something special on our hands, and then he went off in Alaska and the rest is history.

Yup, same here.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

His first game against Loyola at the BC. His movement, his athleticism, he was everywhere. Knew we had something special on our hands, and then he went off in Alaska and the rest is history.

As far as his pro career... the playoffs his rookie year.

Ditto on both accounts.

[warriorfred]

My wife and I were recently married and would sometimes scrounge MU tickets at Goolsbys before the game.  In December 2001, we got tickets from an alum that were lower level seats near the court.  It was an early season game (I think it was North Texas State, or some team like that), and there was already a buzz about Wade. 

Somewhere in the first half he put on a delayed dribble, split two defenders, and postered two other defenders with a thunderous, one-hand dunk.  Our seats put us about 3 feet above the rim, and I swear the basketball was eye level.  I saw Jordan play at the MECCA early in his career, and it was like seeing Jordan in a Marquette uniform.

Second best dunk I've seen in person, Tyrone Baldwin had a perfectly timed put-back dunk against the Badgers in 1988, but as nice as that dunk was, Tyrone had no where near the athleticism of Wade.

[Rudy]

Over the years I have had several moments where it was obvious someone was going to be not only a pro, but a very good one. Back in the day, Terry Cummings comes to mind. He put the Blue Demons on his shoulders at the Milwaukee Arena. When we would run another player at him, he would calmly turn a 20 foot shot into a bank shot or fake and take a relaxed jumper. He just had the ability to slow the game down. He would shoot on the way up. He would shoot on the way down.

Rod Strickland is another. He was a tool. Down in Rosemont, I had very good seats. He was taunting the MU players and the fans the whole game, even though Depaul was behind. In the last 5 minutes of the game, he took over and we lost. Total cocky confidence and he backed it up. This was a game that Mike Flory really had a great game.

Back to Wade. I knew he was special based on other's accounts. I saw him early in the season and said "wow". I really knew he was more than at another level when we played Wisconsin and they had 6 players on the court for a good part of the game (one of them was wearing black and white stripes). 

With all I had heard and all I had seen (mostly on a 10" black and white tv with rabbit ears for an antenna in Minocqua), I knew he was very good. I remember the times I said to myself that he is even better than I thought. It happened several times, even after he bacame a pro. I remember MU playing Louisville at the Bradley Center. He was giving Louisville fits.  I sit pretty much opposite end of the floor to the band. About 6 rows up. The players come in right by our seats. On the left baseline at the 3 line, Wade had the ball in his right hand. He faked a behind the back dribble toward the baseline. 4 Louisville players went for this fake. His guy and another guy actually ended up on the ground at the baseline. He cuffed it and brought it back to his right hand and went right to the hoop for a huge dunk. Took him about a millisecond.

Of course, the Kentucky game in 2003. He was all over that game. He had a great game against Missouri and Pittsburgh too. I remember watching Pitt foul him. He was in the lane about 3 feet north of the block on the right side. He followed through for one of the best three point plays I have ever seen. It was a hard fould. (Aside: Makes me want to pop the punks who I play against who shout "and one" every time they shoot a layup. One kid said it every time he shot. I actually called a timeout (not allowed) and told him that an "and one" had to have a foul involved.) 

When he went to Miami, it appeared to be Shaq's team...then it wasn't. Wade had one of the best Finals performances in the history of the NBA.  He did more with less of a supporting cast, including an aging Shaq, then any superstar ever.  ESPN agreed with this assessment. I don't know how to link it, but if you Google "greatest NBA finals performances" this comes up. I tried to past the link below.

Yes, he was special. Still is.

Uhttp://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012/story/_/page/FinalsPerformances-1/greatest-finals-performances-no-1

[Avenue Commons]

I knew he'd be special when the NBA players visiting the old Gym for pick up games when he was a freshman prop-48 redshirt referred to him repeatedly as the best player in the gym.

Heard the same. Didn't believe it.

To this day Wade is the best college player I've ever seen in person.

[bilsu]

I realized it the first game he played. I think the country realized it during the first game in the Alaskan Shootout where he destroyed Tennessee. I do not think Tennessee had a clue about how good he was.

[NersEllenson]

What made Wade so good beyond the physical talent, was he had/has a cerebral feel for the game.  HIs basketball IQ is off the charts.  Saw the floor incredibly well, could anticipate teammates reactions to his penetration, and truly made everyone around him better.  Wade, while explosive, also realized that playing with rhythm is more important than playing with just flat out burst.  Wade was always in control - contrast that with a DJO (who I loved), yet DJO played at one speed, and one speed only, and it often led to him being out of control.

I saw some similar potential in Deonte last season - like Wade - Deonte can get to anywhere on the floor he wants.  Not many guys have that ability.  Which is why I'm so excited to see Deonte play these next couple of years.  Feel he will be best player at MU since Wade.

[drbchilds]

For me it was the very first game he ever played.  I stayed up for the midnight tip of MU vs Tennessee in the Great Alaska Shootout.  I was so excited after watching him almost post a triple double, that I couldn't sleep all night. 
I woke my wife up at 6 in the morning and said excitedly "you are not going to believe me, but somehow Michael Jordan was reincarnated and he now plays for Marquette and his name is Dwyane Wade"  She said "yeah ok......let me go back to bed".

[Daniel]

I was at one of his first games still the BC and he was right of the top of the key then made some moves and was at the rim laying it in. And I remember saying to my friend next to me " very Jordan-like moves."  Was a special player from the get-go.

[Skatastrophy]

I thought he was a good college player, but it blew my mind when he got drafted so high. I had no clue he'd make that big of a splash in the league. I mean, he was just so skinny!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/eGDeb7dzmwM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/eGDeb7dzmwM</a>

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

The crazy thing about Wade was that he over-delivered on the chatter from the year he sat out and always got exponentially better.  It is so rare someone does better than the hype -- then goes out and gets better the next year.  So cool to watch that happen.

[4th and State]

Yup.

Lots of Rosiak's chatter about Wade made him the best player on the team but wasn't eligible to play.

When you read and heard his name mentioned more than some of the starters, you knew he was special.

Wasn't much of the same said for J. Wilson when he sat out his first year at MU?

[Lennys Tap]

Wasn't much of the same said for J. Wilson when he sat out his first year at MU?

 Jamil  had an entire freshman season under his belt when he came to MU - and that season was decidedly underwhelming. He was a "workout warrior", but the idea that he was a phenom had already been dispelled before he got here.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Was rosiak on the beat then, or was it still Lori Nickel?

Anyways, I was in school Wade's frosh year. The managers had been talking him up and said he was legit.

I knew he was going to be a good college player the first couple of games. I knew he was going to be REALLY good when I saw his ability to change speeds, go left, use the glass, and land a perfect bounce pass. Not many uber-athletic guards have that kind of refinement to their game as a soph. Very impressive player.

I thought he'd have a solid NBA career, but obviously I underestimated him. He was far quicker than I ever imagined, and his strength and body control is almost second to none. A lot of guys are quick and explosive (Vander), but are they strong enough to stay under control when they start moving at those explosive speeds.

If you want to try it yourself, SPRINT as fast as you can from 1/2 court (without dribbling) and see if you can make a lay-up. Not everybody has the strength to control their body at high velocity. Wade was one of the best ever at it.

[thebigjake]

I saw him play a high school game against Hillcrest High in the south Chicago suburbs. It was Wade vs Odartey Blankson's team after they had both committed.  Hillcrest had Blankson and 2 other D1 players, both bigs and one of them was very highly ranked (don't remember his name but he didn't do anything in college).  Wade's team had no one other than him.  Wade's team lost the game but Dwyane dominated.

Prior to that point I had never been so excited for the future of MU hoops.  I even wrote a long message board post about it the next morning. I think that was back in the Mike Juno/Geo Cities board days.

Of course I had no idea he would end up being a top 5 all time NBA shooting guard, but I thought we had an All American on our hands for sure.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

I thought he was a good college player, but it blew my mind when he got drafted so high. I had no clue he'd make that big of a splash in the league. I mean, he was just so skinny!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/eGDeb7dzmwM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/eGDeb7dzmwM</a>

I remember watching that game on TV.  Early on, the Tulane student section was chanting "overrated" when Wade had the ball.  That was all the motivation Wade needed to flip the switch and turn into one of those unstoppable action movie heroes.  I believe this game was adapted to make the 2004 movie "Man on Fire" with Denzel Washington playing the role of Wade.

[Silkk the Shaka]

His first game against Loyola at the BC. His movement, his athleticism, he was everywhere. Knew we had something special on our hands, and then he went off in Alaska and the rest is history.

As far as his pro career... the playoffs his rookie year.

Absolutely! He was the only reason they were in most of their games that playoffs. Hit that game winner against the Hornets, then was on a tear against the Pacers the next series. In game 6, he was in absolute killer mode in the 4th quarter (as a ROOKIE no less). They literally just had to give him the ball and get out of the way, he was going to win them that game (and I'm convinced ultimately the series as well). However, Eddie Jones was out to prove that it was still "his" team, and he took stupid shot after stupid shot as Wade was begging for the ball. I remember screaming at the TV every time Jones touched the ball that game. I've hated him ever since. Here's the box score from that game. Keep in mind this was game 6 of the 2nd round of the playoffs, and he was a rookie.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?id=240518014

Look at the lineup they trotted out. Such a hodgepodge, and Wade almost took them to the conference finals year 1. That's insane, and one of his most overlooked accomplishments. Here's his game log from that playoffs (and season).

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/1987/year/2004/dwyane-wade

Remember at this point he was VASTLY overshadowed in the media hype machine by LeBron and Carmelo. He had to earn it with his play, and earn it he did. Still annoys me that 'melo gets mentioned in the same breath as Wade as a "superstar." And LeBron had to learn the killer instinct from Wade. If he hadn't gotten injured in the '05 playoffs or the '07 season, I suspect he'd have another championship or two. It will take an INCREDIBLE player at MU to match Wade.

[TFlegend]

I was on a project team with David Diggs in the spring of 2001 and asked him how things were looking for next year.  He said Wade was a "pro prospect" and I didn't really believe him.  Obviously, he was right.

Sitting in the student section in the fall of 2001, about 10 rows up in the corner (about eye level with the basket) Travis Diener was on a fast break and threw a lob pass that looked like it was heading right for me.  I thought "who the hell is he throwing it to??"  Then out of my peripheral vision D-Wade comes FLYING in, catches it with two hands and throws it down.  I was stunned...I hadn't seen athleticism like that up close. 

Even still, when he was drafted I thought he would be a solid pro, not a hall of famer.  He could get anywhere on the court effortlessly in college, but I figured he wouldn't be able to do that in the NBA.  It doesn't LOOK like he is moving that fast.  When I saw him his rookie year doing all of the same things he did in college, I was ecstatic.  I knew it was going to be a blast to watch him the NBA for the next 10+ years.

[MDMU04]

I saw him play a high school game against Hillcrest High in the south Chicago suburbs. It was Wade vs Odartey Blankson's team after they had both committed.  Hillcrest had Blankson and 2 other D1 players, both bigs and one of them was very highly ranked (don't remember his name but he didn't do anything in college).  Wade's team had no one other than him.  Wade's team lost the game but Dwyane dominated.

The real shame is had ODB stayed at MU, we probably win the title in 2003.