[Cracked Sidewalks] The offseason snooze

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

The offseason snooze

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (Tim Blair)

Basketball withdrawal is settling in on Warrior Nation but have no fear, soon enough more substantial news is bound to trickle out of the program.  The spring signing period begins on April 14 and we expect Marquette to formally announce the signing of 6'6" junior college All-American Jae Crowder and 6'4" guard D.J. Newbill from Philadelphia at that time.

Yet despite what appears to be a full roster for next season Buzz Williams and his staff are actively recruiting for next year's team.  Illinois Prep Bulls-eye reports that Marquette is involved with 6'6" power forward James Siakam from Carbondale, Illinois. 6'8" Davante Gardner (Kings Fork HS, Virginia) visited Marquette several weeks ago and is also considering USF, Ball State, and Virginia Commonwealth.  Gardner was named first team all-state this season after averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds per game for the 24-3 Bulldogs.

Marquette is also mentioned with 6'9" Reggie Murphy from Los Angeles (Westchester HS).  Murphy led the Comets to the California state title last week finishing with a record of 32-3.   Marquette, TCU and Arizona are all said to be in pursuit of Murphy.  Marquette is also pursuing 6'4" Patrick Swilling, 6'6" former Louisville commit Josh Langford, 6'10" power forward Gorgui Dieng from Huntington, West Virginia and 6'8" strong man Godwin Okonji from Findlay Prep in Las Vegas.

I'm sure these names are just the tip of the iceberg for MU's spring recruiting push.  Given the range of skills Williams is actively recruiting could MU sign two more kids next month?  We should expect roster attrition from the program in the next 60 days.

A few more noteworthy items

• Congratulations to Lazar Hayward for being named an honorable mention Associated Press All-American.  Hayward is the 27th Marquette player to earn All-American honors from the AP.
• Buzz Williams drew rave reviews for his work as an analyst with CBS last week.
• 2010 commit D.J. Newbill and his Strawberry Mansion teammates came up short in their bid for the Pennsylvania AA State Title, falling 49-47 to South Fayette.
• 2010 signee Reggie Smith will play in the Chicago High School classic on April 9 at the Gentile Center at Loyola University.
• Marquette's all-time assists leader Tony Miller was named an assistant coach to former MU coach Kevin O'Neill at USC.
• Planning ahead?  MU will play at the CBE in Kansas City in November -- details and discussion here.
  

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2010/03/offseason-snooze.html

[PGsHeroes32]

wow, if we sign to more guys who do we get rid of?

[damuts222]

Reading over these biographys I can't help but be excited that we get a talented player above 6'6". Yet maybe the talk about Smith not being academically eligible are true..I hope their not but Buzz is sure keeping his options open, either that or someone is transferring.

Hope thats not the case, but I'm interested to see what happens. Buzz might end up getting his choice of players, which is good and bad.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

I'm sure Buzz has this worked out. great problem to have. Anybody out there filing adoption papers?

[Thomas' Danish Delight]

West coast ballin'...nice.  I am a new MU fan (well, graduated this past December, but before then, I knew NOTHING of college basketball, and now, my knowledge is still limited but I am definitely an avid fan)..where was I?

Oh, right...I'm a fairly new MU fan and I'm wondering when the last time we had a player on the roster from west of Minnesota?  I'm sure I could wiki it or whatever, but I'd rather ask y'all.

[ATWizJr]

To me, the most interesting part of this is the mention that there will be "roster attrition in the next 60 days."  Obviously, 1 to 2 are going.

[bma725]

West coast ballin'...nice.  I am a new MU fan (well, graduated this past December, but before then, I knew NOTHING of college basketball, and now, my knowledge is still limited but I am definitely an avid fan)..where was I?

Oh, right...I'm a fairly new MU fan and I'm wondering when the last time we had a player on the roster from west of Minnesota?  I'm sure I could wiki it or whatever, but I'd rather ask y'all.

Matt Mortensen in 2005-06.  That's the last one unless you want to count the Texans since most of their state is west of Minnesota.

[Marquette84]

I'm sure Buzz has this worked out. great problem to have. Anybody out there filing adoption papers?

Probably not. I did raise the question about whether a transfer of guardianship would work.

If I recall, Ousmane Barro's HS coach was his guardian, so I tossed out the thought that a quick administrative paperwork change might qualify Barro to receive Crean's employee tuition benefits.

As it turns out, the rules have changed since the days of Allie McGuire--the bottom line is that a player using employee benefit would count toward the scholarship limit anyway.

In fact, a player can't even switch to an academic scholarship if he's recruited to a program.   Once you're recruited, you count toward the scholarship limit if you receive any institutional aid--athletic scholarship in another sport, academic scholarship, employee or spousal tuition waiver, etc.

So the answer to your question is, no, nobody will be filing adoption papers.

One of the other ideas was that a player would pay his own way. Of course, that was equally ridiculed at the time.  No player would ever pay for his education.

Well, maybe only if you were playing for Washington State or Texas--but paying for a Marquette education would be completely ludicrous.  

More likely, though, is that we'll see another player transfer or otherwise leave the program--a development which has become far less of a concern for some folks than it was from 2000 and 2007.  

I wonder what changed to cause people to think that transfers were evidence of a douchebag coach or other serious underlying issues to being a "great problem to have?"  Other than hypocrisy.

Oh, right...I'm a fairly new MU fan and I'm wondering when the last time we had a player on the roster from west of Minnesota?  I'm sure I could wiki it or whatever, but I'd rather ask y'all.

West of Minnesota?  Most of Texas meets that description.

Yousosopha Mbao (Simi Valley, CA)
Erik Williams (Cypress, TX)
Jimmy Butler (Tomball TX)
Joe Fulce (Plano TX)
Chris Otule (Sugarland TX)

Technically, Cadougan is from Ontario, but he played HS ball in the Houston area.

[Thomas' Danish Delight]

Matt Mortensen in 2005-06.  That's the last one unless you want to count the Texans since most of their state is west of Minnesota.

doh!  

Good lookin' out bma [and Marquette84].  Silly me. I didn't think of TX because of think of them as The South, but they're obviously west of Minnesota, and my brain definitely flatulated on that one.

I didn't really realize where Mbao went to school, I just associated him with Senegal.

Anyways...no idea what's going on with the roster and recruiting, but definitely excited about what will be seen mid-April.

[GB Warrior]

Not to suggest ESPN's accuracy is any good, but Siakam is listed on ESPN as a 2011 recruit.

[NYWarrior]

Not to suggest ESPN's accuracy is any good, but Siakam is listed on ESPN as a 2011 recruit.

he was reclassified to 2010 -- the first link in the blog posting has details