Rosiak Interview w/ Roseboro's HS Coach

[MUfan12]

Looks like their site redesign eliminated the RSS feeds for the individual blogs.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/33420694.html

Looking at Brett Roseboro
Had a chance tonight to catch up with Brett Roseboro's coach at Quakertown High School, Kevin Keeler.

Roseboro, Keeler's first Division I recruit in 26 years at Quakertown, averaged roughly 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots per game as a junior, while shooting 49% from the field and 65% from the free-throw line.

Keeler estimated Roseboro knocked down about 10 three-pointers as well.

According to Keeler, it was MU's battle to lose as far as Roseboro's recruitment almost from the outset 3-4 weeks ago. Temple was prepared to offer a scholarship but was basically told by Roseboro's mother that no decisions regarding other schools would be made until after his visit to MU.

Keeler added that Villanova and West Virginia showed a great deal of interest in Roseboro, but that both schools were talking of him redshirting as a freshman because of their depth at that position in 2009-'10. "But it never got to that point because we told them all that we were waiting on Marquette," he said. "The connections, the ties were there."

Here's the rest of the interview with Keeler:

Brett's experienced a pretty quick rise over the last month or so. Can you talk a little bit about his progression as a player? I've been telling people that last year at this time when we looked at Brett, I was hoping Division II, to be honest with you, maybe low Division I because he's 6-9. But definitely I thought a Kutztown, a Westchester, some of our state schools out here. But there were signs of him, things there that if he worked at it there was potential. I just wasn't sure if it was going to come out in time. But he just blew up these last two months.

What were your impressions of his play over the last two months? I think that happened was that he got involved in some of the -- and he did this as a junior, too -- high-profile AAU tournaments. Then this last year I know he was noticed out at one of the basketball camps, the Eastern Invitational, when he played well there. That was the first one that got him (noticed by) the low-major schools and the mid-majors. Then he went out to Vegas, and I got some phone calls from coaches out there, and he played really well against some good competition. So that's where it started rolling. I think late summer. And he started feeling it, you know, 'I can play against these guys.' Then toward the end of the summer, actually my son played with him down at Temple in a game that I got to see him play. He ate 'em up. That was the best I'd seen him play. He showed me he had jumped up a couple notches. Then finally, this IS8 Tournament came out and he went out and I guess he ate up some big-time recruits from the bigger schools. He was stepping out shooting threes, posting up and running the court, jamming some tip-ins. Just this whole evolution of Brett, basically, to where these last couple weeks were crazy with Division I coaches -- Temple, West Virginia, Villanova, St. John's. You know, it was just crazy. But there wasn't one coach that left his workout scratching his head. Every single guy said he can play.

It sounds as though MU got in good with Brett very early in the process, which ultimately helped in landing him. Is that accurate? Actually Aki Collins was the first guy to come down to Quakertown to see him. He was here with a lot of other coaches, but he made a real strong connection. Marquette's got a great reputation, obviously. When you talk about Marquette basketball in this area you think Dwyane Wade, you think some major ball, but that's pretty far away for a Pennsylvania kid. They just stuck with him. They just sort of honed in on Brett. I think the quote Aki made was, 'We found a diamond in the rough.' So they were all over him and Brett sort of really connected with that whole staff.

The scouting report on Brett is that he's a hard-nosed, blue-collar kind of player. Would you agree with that? Yeah, and that's something that we've been working on with him. He was a little soft as a sophomore. He grew from his eighth- to ninth-grade year. In 15 months he went from 6-2 to 6-8, and he wasn't with us then. He moved to Florida. His dad was ill, and they thought the warm weather would be better for him. He grew down in Florida like six inches, and then he came back to Quakertown at 6-8. I never knew of him in my program as an eighth-grader. He was a 6-2 kid who shot threes in middle school. So he came back with these size 19 shoes and these big paws, and was just sort of a gangly kid. He averaged 6 and 6 as a sophomore. The biggest thing Brett has is his vision, his goal to play major-college basketball. That was always there. To be honest with you, I would have never predicted this. But his willingness to go to all these camps, the tournaments, the AAU stuff, it just made him better and better, harder and tougher and more confident. It's unbelievable. I tell the local coaches around here that saw him play early summer and they go, 'God, it's hard to believe how far he's come.'

What are his strengths and weaknesses as a player at this point? His strength obviously is his versatility. Obviously as a high-school kid, we love him on the block. He's got the left hand, which coaches love because he goes back to his left. But he uses his right hand, too. He can step out and shoot the 15-footer, and like I said, he's stepping out and knocking down some threes. He's a great passer out of the post because on our level he gets triple-teamed, and he goes to the ball. He's an aggressive kid who goes to the ball for rebounds. I would say his biggest weakness is -- he's only 17; he really could be a junior in high-school -- is handling adversity early. Dealing with a couple rough fouls or some no-calls, the typical mental stuff that young kids have to go through. The emotional things. He's getting better with that. He's realizing that he's a marked man, they're going to send some kids to rough him up and get him out of the game, that sort of thing. That's the stuff that I think he'll get better at.

What kind of competition does Brett play against in high school? We're in a very, very good conference. We're in District 1 down here, which is Kobe Bryant and John Salmons. This is District 1 Pennsylvania, which is right outside of Philly. The league we're in actually changed. We're in a big-school league with some good schools and some good kids, from what I hear. It's a new league so I'm not quite sure who we're going against, but they're some really, really good schools. It's going to be some great basketball. I know one team has a 6-8 and two 6-7 kids, another team's got a 6-9 kid, so it's going to be a great challenge. It's not going to be like he's running amok against 6-1 kids. And actually, to be honest with you, Brett plays better against kids his size. His worst games last year were the games against the 6-2 guy that ran around or took him outside. He's not going to see that in college. He is a lot more focused. He played against this 6-11 kid that's going to Temple in the summer league, and he played awesome. He plays better against the better competition, the bigger kids.

What kind of kid/student is Brett? That's what we're working on. He has gotten better. He's re-taking his boards. He's a B-C student right now. He was very immature as a sophomore. He picked it up as a junior, and he's got to finish strong as a senior with his grades. Again, his love is basketball. Aki would ask me, 'Is he going to get better? Can he handle someone who's in his face?' I'm a pretty aggressive guy, the AAU coach he played for is a real intense guys. It's not like he's been coddled. He wants that. He wants the challenge of someone making better. He was at practice (last week) and I asked him, 'Well, what do you think of Coach Williams?' He said, 'He's hands-on.' He loves that. He wants to be the best that he can possibly be. He's not a kid that thinks he's too good. He knows he has to improve at a lot of aspects of the game. He's thrilled about Marquette. Brett and Mrs. Roseboro had nothing but awesome respect for Coach Williams when they talked to him. They loved him.

Brett said he weighs about 220 pounds now. How's his strength level, and do you expect him to pick up some more weight before he arrives at MU next summer? Oh yeah. That's the thing, that's where his body is a great body. He can easily put another 15-20 pounds of muscle on when he gets into a strict lifting program. I have a strength coach that works him out, and he's gotten stronger. That's why he's getting better, too, and that's another thing -- this is the best condition he's been in, the strongest his body's been in a couple months. He's starting to run the court like they do in the Big East. He's doing the things that the big-time coaches want him to do. But on a scale from 1-10 he's about a 7.5 right now. It's not like he's peaked. He's got tons of ability in him yet to be brought out.

[Pardner]

Toni Kukoc type?  Ex-guard, inside, outside.  Steps back for the three.  Let's hope for a diamond. 

With the 2009 class, Buzz really recruited a well-balanced team--each player fitting a role.  I don't see where Buzz overrecruited at any spot.  From looking at this class, Buzz looks like he is all about his recruits and players.

[4everwarriors]

I'll go out on a limb and say this kid's development and career at MU will go a long way in determining Buzz's success as Marquette's head coach. Meaning this; if Roseboro progresses to the point that he becomes not only a starter, but also an integral component of the offense, other more accomplished big men will follow.
It is a big man's game and has to start somewhere folks. Unfortunately the departed never did figure it out. Buzz, at least, gets it and I like his style thus far more than the past used car saleman who tried to sell all sizzle, but no meat.

[rocky_warrior]

Looks like their site redesign eliminated the RSS feeds for the individual blogs.

Crap - that was their best feature!  Thanks for the heads up.  We'll look into it.

[MUfan12]

Crap - that was their best feature!  Thanks for the heads up.  We'll look into it.

No prob. I had the MU and Brewers blog on my feed, and realized they stopped showing up. They have a general sports blog feed, but it was polluted with Rodent droppings.

[nola03]

The two things I took out of this:

1) It seems more and more like this is a "thin line" recruit. On one side, you've got the feeling that Roseboro is an intriguing prospect whose a late bloomer and on the rise. On the other side, this day in age with all the tournaments and all the internet hype you wonder how a 6'9'' kid from an hour outside Philly went under the radar so long. His development will straddle that thin line during his four years.

2) You have to be pleased with the fact that Collins made such an impression in a short time. I think we all can agree that Benford is well versed on the recruiting trail with Layer working on the game with the current roster but it's great to see the impact Collins has had, and will have, on our recruiting.

[MR.HAYWARD]

Kids can still go undiscovered very easily.  if you are not on a big time travelling AAu team or have an injury during a very short window you can get missed all together.  With limited time for these coaches to get out and evaluate players every thing becomes condensed.  This very article describes the fact that he was unknown until he played well in vegas and then topped it off at IS8.  common denominator two big time, pardon the pun, tournaments that bring all the coaches to see all the players over a few short days.  Had he not gone to those tournaments or made a AAu team that went to them he could be the next Sid Finch and no one would still know about him.  If that were the case he would most likely have made his name for himself during his senior year and been a spring pickup by a major with schollies and a need. \

what i find intriging is the answer that we may never know is how does he satck up against the kid from North carolina, lithuanian if I recall that supposedly had a similar game and by last account was coming to MM too.? did he come?  Was it a case of Roseboro was flat out better or Roseboro commited first?  we will never know. 

[Big Papi]

The two things I took out of this:

1) It seems more and more like this is a "thin line" recruit. On one side, you've got the feeling that Roseboro is an intriguing prospect whose a late bloomer and on the rise. On the other side, this day in age with all the tournaments and all the internet hype you wonder how a 6'9'' kid from an hour outside Philly went under the radar so long. His development will straddle that thin line during his four years.

I dont know how good this kid will be down the road but I wouldn't attribute his rise to internet hype.  It sounds like the kid has a huge desire to get better and that means a lot.  In other words, I would take a Roseboro or a Maymon over a Bryce Webster and to a lesser extent a Jamil Wilson anyday.

He did have a huge growth spurt within the last 2 years and maybe at 6'3" he wasn't anything to write home about but sprouting to 6'9", all of a sudden his ball handling skills, shooting, good hands and soft touch stand out a lot more against other bigs.  Then add to the fact that he has played very well against other very good bigs, and his potential all of a sudden looks a whole lot better.

I don't expect him to be a huge contributer his freshmen or soph year but I do have high hopes that with good coaching, this kid could more than hold his own against other 4s in the conference and help our offense become more dynamic at some point in time during his career.

[Big Papi]

what i find intriging is the answer that we may never know is how does he satck up against the kid from North carolina, lithuanian if I recall that supposedly had a similar game and by last account was coming to MM too.? did he come?  Was it a case of Roseboro was flat out better or Roseboro commited first?  we will never know. 

I have a feeling that Buzz was looking for a 3/4 and a combo guard to wrap up this class.  He got his 3/4 in Roseboro which means in all likelihood Wilson and the Serbian kid from NC will no longer be recruited.  Now Buzz is concentrating on that guard position with hopes of getting Snaer or Colvin.

[MR.HAYWARD]

You missed my point.  I realize we in all likely hood are no longer eecruitng the european kid.


As others have stated I am very happy with this signing.  W ill he pan out and be the next Chris Crawford?  who knows I am simply happy we signed another percson 6'9" or taller.  Bottom line and i have said it over the last 5-6 years as crean went year fater year without signing anyone of size that the best way to do it is to sign one every year. It is what every other school does.  Sign a 3 star big every year, if you can land one higher rated great, but do not go 1, 2, 3 years and not sign any!!  by signing one every year you do not force him into service.  The junior and senior get the bulk of the playing time all things being eqiaul and the soph and fresh get preconference and mop up minutes.  in certain situations you may even redshirt one.  But the bottom line is you have the guys in the program and they are developing.  look at a barro, the problem we had was he was a 3 year starter, had we anyone in the classes aahed of him we would have been a better team.  last year we had Barro as a senior and Burke as a junior but where are the soph and freshaman that we could have been using this yeare to help Burke?   Please do not use Mbakwe and Hazel  those guys are 6'7" and are not BE 4/5 types.  they are 3/4 types at best.  unless I am wrong the only guys 6'9" or bigger that crean signed out of HS in 9 years were Merritt and Grimm.  Pathetic,  he screwed the 3 amigos big time.

[bma725]

what i find intriging is the answer that we may never know is how does he satck up against the kid from North carolina, lithuanian if I recall that supposedly had a similar game and by last account was coming to MM too.? did he come?  Was it a case of Roseboro was flat out better or Roseboro commited first?  we will never know. 

He did not come to MM.  Whether that was a case of him backing out and not wanting to come or MU telling him not to come because of Roseboro is anyone's guess.

[Kramerica]

Wasn't the Colonel about 6'9"?  I'm not saying that Terry Sanders was anything more than a role player, but that would count I think. 

That being said, I'm very pleased with the signing, I think it could turn out well.  Hopefully if Otule and McMorrow both progress and have the ability to put together decent minutes at the 5, we could finally have something resembling a post game for the first time since the final four year. 

[Big Papi]

Wasn't the Colonel about 6'9"?  I'm not saying that Terry Sanders was anything more than a role player, but that would count I think. 

That being said, I'm very pleased with the signing, I think it could turn out well.  Hopefully if Otule and McMorrow both progress and have the ability to put together decent minutes at the 5, we could finally have something resembling a post game for the first time since the final four year. 

He was listed as 6'8".  I don't see how an inch makes a difference but Kinsella, Lott, Amo, Marcus Jackson, Robert Jackson and Terry Sanders were all 6'8" or taller that were recruited to man the post positions, in addition to Merritt and Grimm.  (Oh and I won't bring up Novak and Fitz who were 6'9" due to the fact that they weren't considered 4/5s)  The problem was that almost none of these recruits made as big an impact as we needed them to make in the post.  Were they miscast? Never lived up to potential? Not developed properly?  Not skilled enough?  I am sure the answer is probably all of the above but I know that TC is considered the devil here.  He could do no right and it was a shock that even recruited anyone taller than 6'5".   

[MR.HAYWARD]

He was listed as 6'8".  I don't see how an inch makes a difference but Kinsella, Lott, Amo, Marcus Jackson, Robert Jackson and Terry Sanders were all 6'8" or taller that were recruited to man the post positions, in addition to Merritt and Grimm.  (Oh and I won't bring up Novak and Fitz who were 6'9" due to the fact that they weren't considered 4/5s)  The problem was that almost none of these recruits made as big an impact as we needed them to make in the post.  Were they miscast? Never lived up to potential? Not developed properly?  Not skilled enough?  I am sure the answer is probably all of the above but I know that TC is considered the devil here.  He could do no right and it was a shock that even recruited anyone taller than 6'5".   

Not saying Crean is the devil, personally i just thought he was an absolute dick from my dealing with him.  my biggest beef with him outside of his personality was his lack of willing ness to recruit size, now the apologist can say we were new to the BE.  well size got us destroyed by many of those same teams in the C-Usa too.  the names that you throw out there are are window dressings.  in no way shape or form are those guys true bigs.  again, my criteria was 6'9' or bigger out of HS.  Now in 5 years both Mike deane who was a woeful recruiter and KO was was a great one9 far btter than crean) signed many more than crean did.  thes guys you list were either not out of HS or were not 6'9" in many cases they were neither.  Robert jackson shows what can happen wehn you actually signe one boy what i would do to have someoen like him this year.  Amo, lott, jackson, sanders were all in the 6'7 to 6'8' range typically giving up significant height and weight to their counterparts.  Kinsella was the 2000's version of rod grosse etc, these guys you mention were not 6'9" nor were they in the program to devewlop over the course of 4-5 years ala merrit or OOze.  additonaly they were undersized to compete against the tru bigs at memphis, cincy, louisvuille, and the other BE teams, heck even depaul has had a better big collection.  to then name a guy like fitzgerald is just plain silly. 
your argumnet is simply playing devils advocate and has not real basis, not to mention simply watching the games over the last 4-5 years and seeing us be undermanned has been tough.  pick up any Mu preseason and that is all they talk about.  it is clear to everyone including the national types that most have to argue are not crean haters.  it is undeniable how badly he failed in this area.  in fact i do not think it is a stretch to say if he had not gotten an absolute F in his recruitment of big men he might have a BE title or two and a sweet sixteen or two before he left.