Highest Recruits?

[iammartino]

Obviously, where a recruit is ranked isn't a definitive measure of future success...but could a smart scooper run down some of the top recruits MU has gotten in the past 25/30 years?  Is Ellenson the highest 'get'?

[Tugg Speedman]

Obviously, where a recruit is ranked isn't a definitive measure of future success...but could a smart scooper run down some of the top recruits MU has gotten in the past 25/30 years?  Is Ellenson the highest 'get'?

I thought I read he is the highest ranked recruit since Doc Rivers ... and that is because they were not that precise back then (as Doc might have been #1 in the country).

[Dawson Rental]

I thought I read he is the highest ranked recruit since Doc Rivers ... and that is because they were not that precise back then (as Doc might have been #1 in the country).

Doc was not number 1 in the country, or even close to it.  IIRC, he wasn't in anyone's top ten.  He got into the discussion very quickly after the top ten, though.  BTW, I believe that at least two ranking services don't rank Ellenson in the their top tens, either.  ESPN ranks Henry highest at #4.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Doc was not number 1 in the country, or even close to it.  IIRC, he wasn't in anyone's top ten.  He got into the discussion very quickly after the top ten, though.  BTW, I believe that at least two ranking services don't rank Ellenson in the their top tens, either.  ESPN ranks Henry highest at #4.

Correct. I find 247's composite rankings to be the most accurate. Which has Henry at #10.

[PJDunn]

Can't leave Kerry Trotter out of the mix.  He was our last Mcdoodoo.

[Dawson Rental]

Obviously, where a recruit is ranked isn't a definitive measure of future success...but could a smart scooper run down some of the top recruits MU has gotten in the past 25/30 years?  Is Ellenson the highest 'get'?

Although it's outside your time frame, the highest ranked recruit I can remember MU getting was Bernard Toone who was ranked number 2.

[Dawson Rental]

Can't leave Kerry Trotter out of the mix.  He was our last Mcdoodoo.

Good memory.  IIRC, Kerry was ranked nationally in the 30's, yet still made the Mcdonald's cutoff.

[The Equalizer]

Good background here:

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/05/look-back-marquettes-history-with-top.html

Doc was not number 1 in the country, or even close to it. IIRC, he wasn't in anyone's top ten.  He got into the discussion very quickly after the top ten, though.  BTW, I believe that at least two ranking services don't rank Ellenson in the their top tens, either.  ESPN ranks Henry highest at #4.

He was first team Street & Smiths.  Don't know if they had 5 or 10 on their first team, but that's at least one service that had him there.

[tower912]

Herb Harrison was a pretty high recruit.   

[Lennys Tap]

Herb Harrison was a pretty high recruit.   

Did Herb like the herb?

[Goose]

Toone was highest rated recruit that I can remember. Doc was highly rated but this is bigger deal by long shot.

[The Lens]

We were in the mix for Brittany Spears in the late '90s but it didn't pan out.

[tower912]

Did Herb like the herb?

He was aptly named. 

[MU82]

Herb Harrison was a pretty high recruit.   

I was gonna say Oliver Lee!

[Bricky]

Can't leave Kerry Trotter out of the mix.  He was our last Mcdoodoo.

Or walter downing.

[AZWarrior]

I was gonna say Oliver Lee!

Mr. VISA, if I recall.....

[Boone]

And Mike Davis

[jsglow]

Not sure if ratings went back deep into the 70s but Toone, Doc, Trotter, Downing all come to mind.  Of that group, Glen was of course the best.  Toone may have been Al's greatest frustration but was a very good player.  Trotter was very solid in a declining era.  Downing somewhat struggled both at DePaul and MU.  Rankings only mean so much.  

[Dr. Blackheart]

A couple of reference resources:
http://statsheet.com/mcb/teams/marquette/recruiting
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/05/look-back-marquettes-history-with-top.html
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/05/look-back-marquettes-history-with-top_15.html
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/05/look-back-marquettes-history-with-top_20.html

[🏀]

Highest?

Mo or Jerel.

[keefe]

I was gonna say Oliver Lee!

Beat me to it, 82. Together with Sudden Sam, he went through MU in a daze

[Texas Western]

I thought I read he is the highest ranked recruit since Doc Rivers ... and that is because they were not that precise back then (as Doc might have been #1 in the country).

Your correct Doc was the number one. Featured in many magazines and newspapers far and wide. No internet , very little cable in those days. Word of mouth and going to games.

[Dawson Rental]

Good background here:

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/05/look-back-marquettes-history-with-top.html

He was first team Street & Smiths.  Don't know if they had 5 or 10 on their first team, but that's at least one service that had him there.

Since my mother didn't raise a fool, it's only with great trepidation that I would dispute John Pudner, but my recall of the purpose of Street and Smith's All-America teams was to name the best high school players for the high school level it was never meant as a prediction of who would be the best at the college level, and therefore be the most sought after recruits.  Clearly, Doc was both, but Doc was not top five on any list that I was aware of that ranked players on the basis of their desirability as recruits.  Just like a collegiate All-American football team would not serve as an accurate predictor of where players will be taken in the NFL draft.  At that time I was a very close follower of such rankings and the gold standard at that time was Bob Gibbons who sold his newsletter to virtually every college athletic department that had a Division I basketball program.  IIRC, Brick Oettinger was also making a name for himself at the time as one of the pioneers of high school basketball scouting newsletters.  I kept my rankings stuff in a file cabinet in a basement that flooded some time ago, so I'm going by memory, but the best that I can recall is that Doc was ranked around 20 and Marc Marotta was ranked around 61.

[Dawson Rental]

Your correct Doc was the number one. Featured in many magazines and newspapers far and wide. No internet , very little cable in those days. Word of mouth and going to games.

Nope, the number one ranked player was Earl Jones a 7'0'' 210lb center from Spingarn High in the District of Columbia who shocked everyone by enrolling at University of the District of Columbia.  I have a vague recollection of my shock.  Keefe, that was your stomping ground.  Any recollection of this dude?

See more at: http://prospect-central.blogspot.com/2012/09/high-school-basketball-fifty-years-of-1.html#.VDdn5vldWSo

My recollection was that Doc was not even the top rated player from the Chicago area.  That honor went to Russell Cross a center from Manley High School and fellow McDonald's All-American who went to Purdue.  Cross won the MVP award for the McDonald's All-American game that year.