Great article on Crean

[Wade-A-Minute]

Collegehoopsnet.com  has a great article on the Big East's younger coaches and how they will soon become the face of the BE. Below is the blurb on TC.
Nice to see Mbakwe and Williams mentioned.


Big East Coaches: The Next Generation
December 6th, 2006Georgetown, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Villanova
By Eric Silver
When college basketball fans think of coaches in the Big East, the two names at the top of the list, and deservedly so, are icons Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Jim Calhoun of Connecticut. Both Hall of Fame coaches have had stellar careers - including three national championships between them. Future Hall-of-Famer, Louisville’s Rick Pitino, in his second stint as a head coach in the Big East, has also won a national championship as well as a reputation as one of the nation’s top recruiters. In terms of national name recognition, Pitino is right up there with Boeheim and Calhoun.

Yet the recent successes of a quartet of conference coaches, all in their early to mid-40s, may play as great a role in the league’s future as the venerated triumvirate of Boeheim, Calhoun, and Pitino. Three of the four have revitalized programs that were, for the most part, headed nowhere. The fourth continued a trend forged by his predecessor but has taken his program to even greater heights.

Here’s a look (in alphabetical order) at each of the four “forty-something” coaches who have already made their mark in the conference:

Tom Crean (Marquette):

Only 40 years old, yet in his eighth season at Marquette, Crean had a record of 141-65 heading into this season for a winning percentage of .650. Led by last year’s marquee NBA player Dwyane Wade, Crean guided Marquette to 53 wins in two seasons, the latter of which included a trip to the Final Four. However, almost as impressive was his team’s performance in its initial season in the Big East. Picked to finish anywhere from 11th to 14th in various national publications, Marquette surprised the analysts by going 10-6 in conference play and earning a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

During his tenure in Milwaukee, Crean has shown the ability to recruit highly-ranked high school players, such as Travis Diener, Steve Novak, and his present trio of sophomore guards - Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews, Jr. He’s already landed commitments from other Top 100 players - Trevor Mbakwe and Nick Williams - in the 2007 and 2008 classes, respectively.

He’s also displayed a knack for recognizing some “under-the-radar” players, exemplified in the extreme, of course, by Wade. Marquette’s staff was the only high-major team in the Midwest, let alone the nation, to offer the future all-pro a scholarship early in the recruiting process. Obviously, their vision paid off. Similarly, Crean offered present freshman Lazar Hayward a scholarship long before the former prep school standout became a national recruit who eventually attracted the attention of both Boeheim and Calhoun, among others. And Crean’s latest “steal” may be freshman David Cubillan, who already has national media types mentioning him as the fourth guard when praising MU’s elite backcourt.

However, Marquette is not necessarily the right place for any player as Crean has taken some gambles in recruiting that haven’t panned out. All four of his recruits in the Class of 2003 transferred within two years, for various reasons, as did two players in the Class of 2002 and one in the Class of 2004. Prospective playing time was an issue in some instances, as it often is in transfer situations, but others simply were unwilling to put forth the consistent effort that Crean demands.

Crean has also demonstrated that he can develop talented players to play at the next level. None of the three former MU players now in the NBA was projected as a future pro when he started college, yet Wade is the prevailing public face of the NBA, Diener has made the most of limited minutes with Orlando, and Novak has a chance to become a major contributor down the road at Houston. Present sophomore guard Dominic James will likely be a first-round pick either this year or next.

Besides attracting and developing players, however, Crean has improved as both a practice and game coach. He has earned a reputation as being extremely demanding during practices, but players who have bought into his vision have helped Marquette establish a reputation for physical and mental toughness. Teams facing Marquette both last season and this season know they are in a battle from opening tip to final horn as Crean’s players have become the epitome of the term “warriors,” the school’s former nickname.

Despite its recent upset loss to North Dakota State, Marquette has reestablished itself as a major player on the national scene under Crean’s leadership. If James sticks around for another season, Marquette fans could see their team make another Final Four appearance sooner rather than later.

[Harrison]

Eric Silver is a MU fan that frequently posts on the Scout board.  I love Wade, don't get me wrong but I will forever laugh at the now urban legend that Wade was not highly regarded.  He was a top 40 player coming out of HS!!! The only player that Crean has ever signed as highly rated as Wade has been Dominic James!!  The reason he was not heavily recruited is due to his academic situation, had he scored a higher test score every blue blood in the contry would have been after him.  The gurus knew, as did the coaches.  Crean signed him because he saw him as a way to help instantly elevate the program.  He took over  a below .500 team that did not project to be very good while he sat out any way.  Does Crean deserve some credit for that?, absolutely, but for God's sake the legend that Crean discovered him in the depths of the rainforest or that he saw in him an unbelievable ability that no one else could see is stupid.  Also, this Silver's writing is atrocious, he writes articles about MU basketball, my favorite subject, but I struggle to get through his 4th grade writing and often cannot make it to the end.

[rocky_warrior]

You might know the author of that article by "SilverWarrior" over on scout, or as "PhantomWarrior" back on Rivals.

Despite having some obvious biases towards Marquette, he does a great job writing semi-neutral articles

[Harrison]

Great fan, terrible writer.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Great fan, terrible writer.

Harrison, you again are wrong.  Only ONE recruiting source had him in the top 40.  The RSCI did not have him in the top 100 for crying out loud.  We've gone through this time and time again.

One guy does not a consensus make, so it is hardly "urban legend" as you describe.  The recruiting experts flat out missed on him and so did most major universities.  We didn't.  Your hatred of Crean continues to get in the way of a lot of things for some reason.

I will post AGAIN the RSCI for that year in which case Mr. Wade is not found ANYWHERE by the major services

Baseline, you can continue with your protestations, but the facts are not on your side.....final RSCI below

http://home.nc.rr.com/rsci/rsci100-00_final.TXT

[Wade for President]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Wade 7th in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting?!?

[Harrison]

First of all I do not hate Crean at all.  But by you adding that to your post apparently you beleive it adds credence to your statement, which by your own admission is wrong.  All the basketball programs are subscribers to all the recruiting services.  therefore, the very fact that he was in even one gurus Top 40 list would warrant significant interest.  However, top major programs in the area say an Illinois, a MSU, A Kentucky, a Kansas or Iowa are not typically going to recruit a kid that has to sit out a year becuase they can go get another top 100 kid or higher that is instantly eligible.  Schools typically do not offer kids until they have qualified and in most cases go a different direction when it looks like they may not.  Crean did not Kudos to him he was also in a nothing to lose position that many other coaches could not consider.  Also, Bullseye which is by far the most repsected recruiting service out of Illinois and all coaches subscribe to their service had long touted his abilities and had him ranked as the #2 player in the state behind only Darius Miles, who went directly to the NBA.  I do not hate Crean but feel free to throw that against the wall if it helps you argue everything I state.  Use your RCSI as your end all, I recall and only need to look at my media guides to see the services that ranked him very highly.  he was by no means an unknown commodity.  Kennedy at Depaul recruited him and during that time he was putting together a string of some of the best recruiting classes in the country.

If the Sid Finch type legend makes it all the better for you than great I was heavily involved in AAu basketball at the time and tend to know a great deal better. Argue away.  Does you not being on the Scout board anymore mean you will need to be endured over here more.