@TheRecruitScoopAlex Kline
Zach Auguste, a 2012 PF from New Hampton (NH), down to Florida, Georgia Tech, West Virginia & Marquette, with a spot open for a 5th.
http://www.tigernet.com/view/recruit_update.do?id=2465
Really glad to hear this, especially since it seemed Notre Dame was the favorite. Auguste would be a great get with our last schollie.
We made a cut to four. Great, hes got like twenty offers.I still like the 7-footer.
Why would you want a 7'0" prospect that is rated below the 6'10" one? Do you think those two inches make a significant difference?
They both look good to me, and it sounds like they both need to get stronger and tougher.
I'll take either one and the rankings are subjective at this point.
If the 6'10"er fits our program and style of play more than the 7'0"er, then let's go get him.
The same would apply if the recruits were reversed in the above example.
We missed out on the top-50 types like Cleare, Poythress, and Hammons. Depending on the service, both Auguste and Mbargorba are right around that #100 rating with potential. Buzz has done great with lesser regarded recruits like Otule and Gardner, I'd be happy to land either of these two.
EDIT: I think it's awesome we can debate over which guy we'd rather have. According to ESPN, Mbargorba is a 4-star and #98 overall prospect, Auguste is a 3-star and just outside the top 100 (#25 PF, the #24 PF Charles Mitchell is #100 overall). According to Rivals, Auguste is the top-100 prospect at #94 while Mbargorba hasn't been rated. And according to Scout, both are 3-star prospects and 4 position spots outside the top-100 (Auguste #25 PF, #21 PF Wannah Bail is #97; Mbargorba #27 C, #23 C Chris Washburn is #100).
Regardless, we are in good position with a pair of quality big men ranked right on the fringe of the top-100, if we are able to get either of them, it will be great for the program. Buzz has come a long way from the days of Dwight Burke and Lazar Hayward at center in just a few years. I can't wait to see what he can do as the years go by.
Do we know when he will decide?
My guess is that he is going to be making all of his official visits (which is why he says he has room for a fifth school.) They start in September. So my guess is that when we know his visit schedule, it would probably be between the end of his final visit and the November signing period.
Quote from: msbjim on August 29, 2011, 08:48:41 AMDo we know when he will decide?
Auguste said he'd make a decision within the next few months. My guess is we'll know by the early signing period.
Would love to have him. The larger question becomes, would you rather have a 6'10, spot-up 4, or a 7' raw center? Approximately equally ranked. What a great conundrum to have. I will happily take either.
Quote from: tower912 on August 29, 2011, 09:40:45 AM
Would love to have him. The larger question becomes, would you rather have a 6'10, spot-up 4, or a 7' raw center? Approximately equally ranked. What a great conundrum to have. I will happily take either.
Both.
It's only awesome if we sign one of them.
Auguste would be my choice of the prospects MU seems to be in on at this point and this is nothing against other players.
Built along the lines of Scott Merritt with a somewhat similar skill set to Scott, I think Auguste is a better athlete and may be a little longer than Scott. Has the type of body that could put on 10-15 pounds and not lose quickness and he seems to understand the game well from game video's.
His New Hampton coach, Peter Hutchins, played ball at New Hampton with Todd Townsend and prior to coming back to New Hampton, Hutchins was an assistant to Wausau native and current Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen at Williams College.
Auguste mentor, Togo Palazzi, was a former Boston Celtic and played at Holy Cross, a Jesuit school and Marquette is the only private school currently on his list. Does Togo know Doc Rivers well?
I'm reaching for positives for Marquette I know, but this young man may be just what MU needs in this class. A versatile 4/5.
Schools like to schedule officials around football weekends and both West Virginia and Georgia Tech have done that. Florida will only have September dates available in football with September 17th being a strong option as Tennessee is in town and look for MU to push for the Madness weekend.
Phillip Nolan is another borderline top 100 we are on....like it or not. Nolan actually would be my preference. Any way you cut it, MU has a great chance of landing our highest rated big guy in a decade.
Quote from: DomJamesToTheBasket on August 30, 2011, 10:15:11 PM
Phillip Nolan is another borderline top 100 we are on....like it or not. Nolan actually would be my preference. Any way you cut it, MU has a great chance of landing our highest rated big guy in a decade.
I only know what I read on these boards and there have been several posts saying we are no longer recruiting Nolan.
Nolan is playing his senior year in Milwaukee. My bet is the staff will be monitoring him and he'll be seeing a lot of coverage of Marquette in the Journal Sentinel. ;)
Auguste would be a great get. Reminds me of Bo Ellis and a player from Al's era Larry McNeil. Both could run and play the game. Let's go for Nolan also. Even if we would be over by one.
Auguste is set to visit next weekend.
Quote from: Earl Tatum on September 10, 2011, 12:44:08 PM
Auguste would be a great get. Reminds me of Bo Ellis and a player from Al's era Larry McNeil. Both could run and play the game. Let's go for Nolan also. Even if we would be over by one.
Buzz won't oversign in the fall, even if he could get both 2 of Auguste, Mbargorba or Nolan. If one remains unsigned he would probably monitor him, but you wouldn't see anything unless someone decides to leave in the spring.
Quote from: TedBaxter on September 10, 2011, 01:53:22 PM
Buzz won't oversign in the fall, even if he could get both 2 of Auguste, Mbargorba or Nolan. If one remains unsigned he would probably monitor him, but you wouldn't see anything unless someone decides to leave in the spring.
Are you stating your opinion or do you actually know he will not oversign?
I'm stating an opinion based on what is going on with the athletic department.
Whether you people like to believe it or not, oversigning is not a popular avenue to go with many fans, alums, boosters and especially people within a university and this program has been scrutinized lately enough without bringing more negative attention to itself.
As of right now there are no players on the roster who would entertain leaving early for the NBA and without even starting the year, you don't oversign expecting someone to leave. Now, when it becomes next April when you pretty much know the intentions of your returning players, signing someone in the spring isn't oversigning in my book if you know a player isn't coming back.
Quote from: TedBaxter on September 10, 2011, 05:43:40 PM
I'm stating an opinion based on what is going on with the athletic department.
Whether you people like to believe it or not, oversigning is not a popular avenue to go with many fans, alums, boosters and especially people within a university and this program has been scrutinized lately enough without bringing more negative attention to itself.
As of right now there are no players on the roster who would entertain leaving early for the NBA and without even starting the year, you don't oversign expecting someone to leave. Now, when it becomes next April when you pretty much know the intentions of your returning players, signing someone in the spring isn't oversigning in my book if you know a player isn't coming back.
+1 What he said!
I agree with Ted. Had we landed Dunn and Cleare, I think we would have gladly oversigned simply because you don't pass on a top-40 PG and C. These guys are good prospects, but they aren't the borderline five-star guys we were rumored with. I think you take any one of the three but don't put yourself in an awkward position by oversigning without expecting anyone to leave.
We did not oversign last year and we ended up with two open scholarships we could not fill in the spring. Falll siging date is the middle of November, by that time Buzz will have somewhat of an idea how happy the three freshmen are. I think whether we oversign or not Buzz will keep recruiting upto the fall signing period. Even a current recruit could change his mind. Therefore even if Augustine committed I would still expect Buzz to try and get Nolan and Blaise to visit.
Maybe, but I think he only signs 4 recruits this fall and doesn't sign 5 to go one over the limit because of what I mentioned previously.
Quote from: TedBaxter on September 11, 2011, 09:37:59 AM
Maybe, but I think he only signs 4 recruits this fall and doesn't sign 5 to go one over the limit because of what I mentioned previously.
I understand that and that is a good reason to base your conclusion on.
I just wanted to know if you were stating inside info (such as Buzz told you he would not oversign) or it was your personal opinion. Nobody likes oversigning, because it could ending resulting in taking away a scholarship. However, Unfortunately it is rare if we do not have a transfer out of the program. So you are damned if you do and damned if you do not. I do believe our current recruiting is going to keep us in the middle 8 teams in the conference and I would only oversigned to get two bigmen. We are targeting three (that I know of)and we probably will be lucky to get one of them.
I think what Ted said earlier makes sense though. Don't oversign in the fall...but keep recruiting so that in the Spring if we do have a transfer we have someone lined up in the late signing period.
Quote from: bilsu on September 12, 2011, 07:28:10 AM
I understand that and that is a good reason to base your conclusion on.
I just wanted to know if you were stating inside info (such as Buzz told you he would not oversign) or it was your personal opinion. Nobody likes oversigning, because it could ending resulting in taking away a scholarship. However, Unfortunately it is rare if we do not have a transfer out of the program. So you are damned if you do and damned if you do not. I do believe our current recruiting is going to keep us in the middle 8 teams in the conference and I would only oversigned to get two bigmen. We are targeting three (that I know of)and we probably will be lucky to get one of them.
That's actually been one of my thoughts of late. It feels like a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario. We need the next level of recruits to make the jump, guys like Quincy Miller, Anthony Bennett, Mitch McGary, BJ Young, and Branden Dawson. But to get those guys in, it seems we first need to make the jump to convince them that we have a good thing going here.
I have to think that guys like Wes, Lazar, and JFB going to the NBA will help. But more than anything, some 25+ win seasons, Big East regular season or tourney titles, and Final Four appearances will help us. The only question is if we can get there with our current level of player. Buzz has done a damn good job, but it'll take another 2-3 years of high level success to bring in those top-20 type talents that we are getting oh-so-close on right now. Either that, or one of those top-20 talents deciding to take the chance of coming here and lifting us to that high level success.
Regardless, we've come a long way in the past 3 years, but still have a long way to go as well.
I'm not certain we need the next level of recruits to make the jump. My opinion is that we need the current batch of Top 100 recruits to start producing on the court.
So far for Buzz, none of his Top 100 recruits have been significant contributors on the court. After losing the Amigos, the contributors have been from the JUCO ranks (Butler, DJO, Crowder). However, the roster of Top 100 recruits is getting continuously larger. This year's team has five (one upperclassman) and next year's team will have eight (four upperclassmen). Last year's team had four Top 100 recruits (not including Jamil Wilson), and no upperclassmen.
The talent is there and it is increasing... now we just need those players to begin producing.
Good players want to play with good players. The more Top 100 kids that are on campus, the better recruiting will happen. Al proved that for 10 years, got George Thompson then Dean
the Dream and so on. Players recruit players, Buzz has to get them to visit, hopefully the players can sell another top player to come play with them. Auguste brings size and with Steve
Taylor 2 power players to take over for Crowder, MU then will be in great shape for many years at all positions. Competition for playing time will be there. Have to bring your game to practice everyday, that is how you improve as an individual player and a team.
Two keys for the Zach Auguste recruiting right now.
1). The obvious is to have a good visit this weekend to Marquette. The typical stuff of getting a good idea of the school academically and how he fits with the players, coaches and style of play. To me anyway, the basketball aspect is a strong positive with the conference affiliation, facilities and history and it may be a big plus that MU has made him the #1 priority, or so it seems, with one scholarship left and the need for a 4 or a 4/5.
2). The big question is where does Marquette sit with Zach compared to the likes of Florida, Geogia Tech and West Virginia? I'm not going to do any school analysis since this is Zach Auguste's decision and he and his family will have certain priorities The one thing I will say is that the one school that hasn't set up an official visit with him that I know of, Florida, might be the team to beat. The question for Florida is if Billy Donovan can land a kid like Kyle Anderson or Mitch McGary as they are at the 13 man scholarship limit already for 2012-2013. Anderson or McGary would make it 14, so a player would have to leave and with Anderson deciding early next week after a visit to Florida this coming weekend, we should know more about Florida's intentions with Zach in a week.
This is a big recruit for MU and we haven't done well with these lately when we've had to go against the big boys.
I have to wonder how attractive West Virginia would be to Auguste. They signed 3 Power forwards and a center last year and have a verbal from a PF already this year.
At Marquette with Crowder leaving there are aton of minutes if not a starting opportunity immediately available with the departure of Crowder.
Alot of other factors involved in making a decison but in the category of immediate available playing time Marquette is atremendous opportunity.
Quote from: TedBaxter on September 14, 2011, 05:46:48 PM
Two keys for the Zach Auguste recruiting right now.
1). The obvious is to have a good visit this weekend to Marquette. The typical stuff of getting a good idea of the school academically and how he fits with the players, coaches and style of play. To me anyway, the basketball aspect is a strong positive with the conference affiliation, facilities and history and it may be a big plus that MU has made him the #1 priority, or so it seems, with one scholarship left and the need for a 4 or a 4/5.
2). The big question is where does Marquette sit with Zach compared to the likes of Florida, Geogia Tech and West Virginia? I'm not going to do any school analysis since this is Zach Auguste's decision and he and his family will have certain priorities The one thing I will say is that the one school that hasn't set up an official visit with him that I know of, Florida, might be the team to beat. The question for Florida is if Billy Donovan can land a kid like Kyle Anderson or Mitch McGary as they are at the 13 man scholarship limit already for 2012-2013. Anderson or McGary would make it 14, so a player would have to leave and with Anderson deciding early next week after a visit to Florida this coming weekend, we should know more about Florida's intentions with Zach in a week.
This is a big recruit for MU and we haven't done well with these lately when we've had to go against the big boys.
Like your analysis Ted - though we've beat Georgia Tech and WVU on recent recruits in Derrick Wilson and Mayo. Florida....to me is the challenge like you mention. They've been pounding Zach with their history of sending big guys to the NBA - Noah, David Lee, etc...and you can't argue that. Think Donovan is a very good coach - but they haven't really performed very well the last 3-4 years. There is no doubt Buzz will get the best out of a player's potential - and in trying to read between the lines - it seems Zach has a desire to play in the Big East. Would love to see Zach in an MU uniform!
There's been a study of commitments at D1 schools over the years. The highest percentage of commits come just after either the first or last campus visit. This is Zach's first visit so I like Buzz's chances. Florida has not made him the priority that that the Marquette staff has. Also New England has been pretty good hunting grounds for Buzz and COmpany.
Wondering .. is Al's Run a recruiting positive? It's a cool event, and MU does a nice job with hosting a party that morning .. then getting the players out, high-fiving 15,000 people.
If it's good weather, Wisconsin Ave. is a true spectacle, wall to wall people for a mile long parade.
Al always said he wanted the first or last visit.
Florida has 6-9 junior Erik Murphy, 6-9 sophomore Patric Young, 6-7 sophomore Will Yeguete, 6-9 redshirt freshman Cody Larson (ineligible right now) and 6-9 freshman Walter Pitchford.
Georgia Tech has 6-11 sophomore Daniel Miller, 6-10 sophomore Nate Hicks, 6-8 sophomore Kammeon Holsey and 6-7 freshman Julian Royal.
West Virginia has 6-9 Junior Deniz Kilicli, 6-8 junior Dominique Rutledge, 6-10 redshirt freshman Kevin Noreen, 6-11 freshman Pat Forsythe, 6-8 freshman Tommie McCune and 6-10 Aaric Murray, the LaSalle transfer who will be a junior in 2012-2013 after sitting out. WVU also received a verbal from a 6-8 high school junior from Morgantown.
Based upon Ted Baxter's post, I can see why some expect us to get him to commit, if the visit goes well. I sure hope so, as it will be nice to focus on 2013 and 2014.. with a little recruitment of 2012 in case of a transfer. Buzz has never had the luxury of having time to recruit and focus on a few guys instead of scrambling.
Quote from: GOO on September 15, 2011, 01:27:18 PM
Based upon Ted Baxter's post, I can see why some expect us to get him to commit, if the visit goes well. I sure hope so, as it will be nice to focus on 2013 and 2014.. with a little recruitment of 2012 in case of a transfer. Buzz has never had the luxury of having time to recruit and focus on a few guys instead of scrambling.
I honestly don't think kids are often deterred from going to schools that have older players in front of them or recruits in the same class. Most pick a school because of a number of different reasons and roster depth isn't always one of them and may not be for Zach Auguste as I mentioned in other posts. Remember Trey McDonald last year and MU had the hammer spot in his recruiting as his last visit on Marquette Madness weekend.
Marquette will get the first crack at landing Auguste when they host him on the weekend of September 16th.
"I love Buzz Williams, his teams are just like him and play hard," said Auguste. "They are in the Big East which is good. I've built a great relationship with (Williams) and Aki Collins the assistant coach there."
The second planned visit is to West Virginia on the weekend of September 30th.
"West Virginia, they were 2010 Big East champs and that speaks for itself," said the four-star prospect. "Bob Huggins is a well known coach. They also have some big men that are leaving so there is room to play."
The next visit goes to Georgia Tech. The rambling wreck will host Auguste on the weekend of October 7th.
"Coach Brian Gregory is good, they are in the ACC which is also a great conference," said Auguste. "I've built a great relationship with them. He's a new coach who is trying to build the program and I could help him out."
Finally, there's the Florida Gators. A visit date hasn't been locked in just yet, but that should happen soon.
"Coach Billy Donovan, I've built a great relationship with his staff," said Auguste. "They are very well known for getting big men to the next level.
"The list of guys they've had goes on and on."
While he won't rule out the possibility of making a decision before finishing his visits, Auguste's plan is to make it all the way through the visit process.
He does, though, know what he's looking for and isn't afraid to pull the trigger once the feeling is right.
"The one that makes me feel the most at home," said Auguste of what he's looking for. "The place that I have the best relationship with the coaches and it seems right with the players. Just the whole atmosphere."
hope he enjoys the visit, would be a great get!
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1266057
Florida hosting Kyle Anderson and Kansas City big man Willie Cauley this weekend.
some people are saying Florida would be Auguste's choice but they aren't recruiting him as hard, I guess he may be a little bit farther down their list. So lets hope they get their targets.
Why would anyone play for Billy Donovan after what he did to his entire recruiting class 3 or 4 years ago--the Jonathan Mitchell class. He told them all to leave after their 1st or 2nd year. I am uncertain but I believe the reason was competence, not discipline.
Quote from: Gato78 on September 16, 2011, 02:55:31 PM
Why would anyone play for Billy Donovan after what he did to his entire recruiting class 3 or 4 years ago--the Jonathan Mitchell class. He told them all to leave after their 1st or 2nd year. I am uncertain but I believe the reason was competence, not discipline.
2006 and 2007 would be a couple reasons for me
"They are very well known for getting big men to the next level. The list of guys they've had goes on and on."
...from Zach Auguste's own mouth
Quote from: BrewCity on September 16, 2011, 04:10:36 PM
"They are very well known for getting big men to the next level. The list of guys they've had goes on and on."
...from Zach Auguste's own mouth
Big, small, it really does not matter, if the kid has any talent, any coach can get the talent out of a talented player. Wes, Zar and Jimmy all got to the pros because they worked hard but
really they all had talent. If Auguste, wants to get to the pros, it will be up to him to do it, not Billy Donovan or Buzz. Dominic had talent, was he to stubborn to learn how to shot the ball,
same with Vander. Both have talent, but did they work hard enough to change there shooting techniques?
Found this today.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/852587-marquette-to-push-agressively-for-recruit-zach-auguste-this-weekend
Quote from: ken8406 on September 17, 2011, 03:16:10 PM
Found this today.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/852587-marquette-to-push-agressively-for-recruit-zach-auguste-this-weekend
"Welcome Bleacher Report users, my name is Chris Chavez. I currently reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a freshman at Marquette University studying Journalism."
What an insider!
Quote from: ken8406 on September 17, 2011, 03:16:10 PM
Found this today.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/852587-marquette-to-push-agressively-for-recruit-zach-auguste-this-weekend
The Bleacher Report is the legitimate bottom of the barrel in internet sports.
Anyone hear how the visit is going? I really like this young guy and with him aboard we could have a well rounded team with depth next year at every position for the first time in ages..
.
Zach Auguste officially visits Notre Dame starting today and I'm not very confident at this point. Hope I'm wrong.
The schools who pop in late often land the recruitand Notre Dame has kind of reappeared on Zach's group of schools and moved fast on this one after they went up to New Hampton to watch him.
Quote from: HOOP24/7 on September 17, 2011, 07:18:24 PM
Anyone hear how the visit is going? I really like this young guy and with him aboard we could have a well rounded team with depth next year at every position for the first time in ages..
Heard the visit went well and to expect a decision sooner rather than later. As Ted said, he's headed to ND today, but that may end up being his last visit. Really hope they don't try to use this conference reshuffling ahead of us. Everyone knows that ND has their pick of the ACC and Big 1? if they want it.
Quote from: TedBaxter on September 21, 2011, 06:10:08 AM
Zach Auguste officially visits Notre Dame starting today and I'm not very confident at this point. Hope I'm wrong.
The schools who pop in late often land the recruitand Notre Dame has kind of reappeared on Zach's group of schools and moved fast on this one after they went up to New Hampton to watch him.
Seems like ND really stepped up after Grant turned them down last week. I'm sure they've pulled out all the stops and Brey knows he needs something like Auguste to make up for whiffing on a current player's brother.
Seriously, Notre Dame basketball means nothing, a basketball school vs. football school?
Quote from: brewcity77 on September 21, 2011, 06:50:14 AM
Heard the visit went well and to expect a decision sooner rather than later. As Ted said, he's headed to ND today, but that may end up being his last visit. Really hope they don't try to use this conference reshuffling ahead of us. Everyone knows that ND has their pick of the ACC and Big 1? if they want it.
Is this (IWB) where you are getting your info?
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=415&f=2850&t=7959888
Quote from: TedBaxter on September 21, 2011, 08:51:37 AM
Is this (IWB) where you are getting your info?
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=415&f=2850&t=7959888
That thread and others from that site, but have heard elsewhere that Florida's interest isn't as strong as rumored. I definitely get the feel he likes Florida more than Florida likes him (at least until their other recruits go elsewhere).
Quote from: tower912 on August 29, 2011, 09:40:45 AM
Would love to have him. The larger question becomes, would you rather have a 6'10, spot-up 4, or a 7' raw center? Approximately equally ranked. What a great conundrum to have. I will happily take either.
Put it another way, would I rather have Jerome Whitehead or Craig Butrym.
Al answered that in 1976!