[Rosiak's Blog] Recruit wrapup: Dwight Buycks

[ToddRosiakSays]

Recruit wrapup: Dwight Buycks
               

Dwight Buycks wasn't physically at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho, watching his future team take on the Missouri Tigers in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

But his heart sure was.

Listening to the Milwaukee native and odds-on favorite to become MU's starting shooting guard next season talk about watching the game on TV in his dorm room at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, the phrase 'buying in' quickly came to the forefront.

"I was up in my room watching the game. I’ve got a lot of people from Missouri on my team, so in their brackets they had Missouri over Marquette and I had Marquette over Memphis," he said Wednesday night, in the midst of a spring-break trip back to his hometown. "We were cracking jokes during the game – they’re saying Missouri’s going to win, I’m pulling for Marquette. It was all fun and games because they’re from Missouri and they’re going to root for their home town.

"But when Marquette started fighting back and they made their run and took the lead I was in my room going crazy – jumping up and down, beating on the walls. I just can’t wait to get in that atmosphere, just so ready to provide help to my team and make them better. It was giving me tingles in my body. It felt like I was already there. That’s how much I was into the game. I can’t wait to get here. I’m just so competitive."

It was that competitiveness, along with plenty of physical talent, that helped pave the way for a 30-3 season for Indian Hills this season. Considered one of the favorites to win the NJCAA Division I title, the Warriors fell short of their goal when they were upset at home by Southeastern Community College, 81-80, in overtime on March 6.

Buycks, who scored a season-high 32 points in the loss, had a chance to win it in the closing seconds, but his layup rolled off the back of the rim and out. Needless to say, it was not the gift Buycks had in mind on his 20th birthday.

"They hit a buzzer-beater shot with five seconds left," Buycks recounted. "I tried to get the ball up as fast as I could, I went in there and I got a quick shot off. I got fouled, but I didn’t really care about that because I got a good shot off, then it rolled off the back of the rim. I couldn’t be mad. I was happy that we came back.

"But to know that we lost, that we had one thing on our minds – a national championship – to a team we beat by 28 one game, it hurt. It took me a good week and a half, two weeks to get over it. That’s something I’ll never forget – getting put out my sophomore year on my birthday."

Heartbreaker aside, Buycks enjoyed a memorable sophomore season at Indian Hills.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard averaged 17.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game playing mostly out of position at the point for the Warriors, whose starter at that spot was bothered for a good portion of the season with a groin injury.

Buycks also shot 54.0% from the floor (177 for 328), 41.1% from the three-point line (30 for 73) and 80.3% from the free-throw line (122 for 152).

A surefire choice as a first team NJCAA All-American, Buycks also ranks as the top player Jeff Kidder, now in his 13th year in the junior-college ranks, has ever coached.

"I haven’t seen all the guards in the country, but I can tell you in the years I’ve coached, he’s the best player I’ve ever coached," said Kidder, who also counts Marcus Banks of the NBA's Miami Heat as one of his former products. "If there’s a better guard out there this year, I’d like to see him. I think he could step into any program in the country – and Marquette’s one of the elite programs in the Big East.

"I don’t think they got a steal; they know exactly what they got: a terrific basketball player and a great kid, and I’m just happy he’s going to be able to go home and play in front of his family and friends. I think Buzz (Williams) is going to be great for him. It’s going to be a great match."

For a team like MU that is going to be playing in the Big East for the first time ever next season without Dominic James, Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal, Buycks appears to be the perfect fit at the perfect time.

He'll be expected to bring not only physical talent but also experience, leadership, heart and intensity with him from Indian Hills, which is perennially one of the top junior-college programs in the nation.

"He has that ‘it’ quality that everybody talks about," Kidder said. "He loves the game of basketball, but he’s very talented. He had a really good freshman year for us, but he had a breakout this year as far as being an elite player, and a lot of that has to do with him. He spent a lot of time in the weight room. We have a pretty good system here for junior-college kids as far as how we work them out. He embraces individual workouts, and we have a shooting machine that he wears out constantly.

"But if there’s a game going on, whether it’s 1-on-1 or 5-on-5, Dwight’s going to be in the gym. We have to run him out. Great players just out-work people. It’s not just God-given ability; he works at it. He loves to play, but more than that, he loves to compete. He has that quality a lot of great guards have. I’ve seen kids that you think have a lot of potential, but you want to see how big their heart is or how much work they’re willing to put in, and that’s where a lot of kids fall short. But Dwight doesn’t fall short in any of those areas.

"He’s got great size for a guard, and he’s getting bigger and stronger. He can just will your team to win. I call him a shot-clock maker; when the shot clock winds down and the play’s busted and you’ve got to go get a basket or get fouled, he’s just going to do it. It doesn’t matter against who. He’s just one of those really special kids, and I’m really anxious to watch him play at an elite level in the Big East and for Marquette, and I’m not going to be surprised by anything that he does."

Because of their similar heights, builds and styles of play, Buycks has drawn comparisons to McNeal, who arrived at MU back in 2005 as the least-heralded of the Golden Eagles' 'Big Three' backcourt but left as one of the greatest players in school history.

Obviously, Buycks hasn't even set foot on campus yet and will have only two years to make his mark compared to McNeal's four. But Kidder's scouting report on Buycks and his makeup leads one to believe the players may be cut from the same type of cloth.

"I see the physical qualities. (McNeal's) a pro. He’s going to make money playing, and obviously he played for four years," said Kidder. "Dwight is going to be an elite guard – I really believe that – in the Big East. Now, there’s going to be a process he’s going to have to go through at Marquette, a new coach. But he’s a kid who makes you a better coach. I’m sure he made his high-school coach better, he made me better, he’s going to make Buzz better.

"The thing about Dwight Buycks is he’s a fantastic teammate with no ego. He’s all about winning. He’s a terrific, terrific passer. He scored almost 20 a game for us and he could have scored 30 a game. After a lot of games where he’d be running the point, the first thing he’d want to know is how many assists he had. It put a smile on his face to get the ball to people on time. He just has a very, very high IQ for the game of basketball. He’s only, what, 20 years old, but he loves the game of basketball.

"He’s long, he’s got big hands. If you were going to chisel a guard, that’s the kind of kid that you want. That’s what I think. I just think that he’s got an explosive first step. He’s got several gears, he’s got a great pace to his game, he has total command of the ball. He’s a great teammate, he can score the ball, he can shoot it, he can drive it. I think last year he wasn’t a great free-throw shooter as a guard, I think right around 70%. This year he was over 80%. He’s improved on every aspect of the game, and I just think he’s going to be terrific."

Statistically speaking, the only part of the statistical line Buycks put up at Indian Hills this season that doesn't necessarily stand out is the fact he knocked down only 30 three-pointers in 33 games.

But Kidder said there's a couple good reasons for that.

"We asked him to do so many things. We also had the all-time three-point shooter in Indian Hills history, Dwight Hardy," he said. "Those two guys were like Batman and Robin. Buycks would just set him up for a lot of three-point opportunities. We’d set a ball screen for Dwight and really spread the floor. We wouldn’t get complicated because we had a great player. Dwight could just drive the ball to the rim. So when he started playing the point, now he was more of a driver, slasher and scorer, and then he would penetrate and throw it over to Hardy for threes.

"The things that he’s going to work on he’s good at right now. I tell him, ‘The worst thing you can do is not work on your weaknesses.’ You can always be a better ball handler, you can always be a better defender on and off the ball, you can always be a better three-point shooter. He listens. I’ve had a lot of really good players, and he’s the best I’ve ever had. It’s been a lot of fun coaching him.

"The thing I think people are going to enjoy about Dwight is how hard he plays. He just puts it in a different gear. Any kind of effort play – charges, diving on the floor. That’s what special about Dwight – he’ll punish his body. He’s very durable – doesn’t get hurt. A physical guard who loves contact. He’s an anomaly when it comes to certain positions. Dwight just pins his ears back and attacks defensively and offensively. Teammates really, really enjoying playing with him because he has no ego and he’s all about winning. And he’s the best player on the floor most of the time."

Buycks, who will graduate from Indian Hills on May 14, will arrive in time for the early summer session at MU. He's looking forward to not only getting his feet wet with regard to his school work, but also to diving in head-first and helping set the pace with his new teammates.

"I’ve been watching and keeping updated with the recruiting wires. I’m just ready to be there and provide instant help, lead by example and just let everybody know how important it is to be on the same page," he said. "We have to take every day serious, every single practice serious and everybody’s got to try to lead – even if they’re not comfortable with it – because we’ve got a lot of freshmen coming in.

"Me being a junior, I’ve got experience. Mo, Hayward, Cubillan, they’ve got experience too. I’m going to follow in their footsteps, but at the same time I’ve been a leader by example and keeping my team together all my life playing basketball on every single team I’ve played for. So it’s not going to be anything new to me."

And one person who will be watching closely from afar will be Kidder, who believes there are some big things in store for Buycks in the coming years.

"You can’t forecast the future," said Kidder. "But I wouldn’t bet against him playing in (the NBA) someday, I can tell you that."
               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/42743242.html
               

[Blackhat]

If this wrap up doesn't get you pumped up for the future of MU I don't know what will.   Talk about high praise, sounds like Buycks made quite an impression on his coach. 

[wadesworld]

The coaches of both Maymon and Buycks have said that they averaged 17 a game but could have averaged 30 a game if they wanted to.  Hopefully they can do that at Marquette

[MUfan12]

If this wrap up doesn't get you pumped up for the future of MU I don't know what will.   Talk about high praise, sounds like Buycks made quite an impression on his coach. 

But he's not from Chicago!  

I do like what I read though.

[Blackhat]

But he's not from Chicago!  

I do like what I read though.

Guess I'm the Chicago guy now.  And I was born and raised in Milwaukee!

[MarquetteDano]

This article does get me excited.  This isn't your typical coach speak saying his player is good.  He is clearly stating this is the best guard he has ever coached.  That's good news since, assuming he spends most of his time at the two, he will be filling the shoes of a second team all-american.

[VegasWarrior77]

"I haven't seen all the guards in the country, but I can tell you in the years I've coached, he's the best player I've ever coached," said Kidder, who also counts Marcus Banks of the NBA's Miami Heat as one of his former products.

I saw Marcus Banks play for UNLV in person.  If Dwight is as good as Banks I would be ecstatic!  Banks was lightening quick and when his outside shot was falling he was virtually unstoppable!  Granted, that was against Mountain West competition - but talent is talent!

[NCMUFan]

Great to see how Marquette is perceived by Coach Kidder- "Marquette's one of the elite programs in the Big East."  Hopefully other coaches around the country have the same perception.