Quincy Miller has Marquette on his list

[dmjt4160]

Kentucky just landed Kyle Wiltjer. Their 2011 class is stacked like no class since.........their 2010 class. Or maybe even their 2009 class. Seems less likely that Q Miller would choose them when theres already two highly regarded recruits signed there who play the same position, Wiltjer and Anthony Davis.

I'm trying not to get too excited about this left-field development of Miller adding us...

Miller is going to Louisville. Id be surprised if he even made it out of his official visit next weekend without announcing.

[MarkCharles]

I'll take Bello any day. Who cares if he might be a bit of a project, we wouldn't need much from him his freshman year anyways. Watching that dunk mixtape, he reminded me of Vince Carter. His superlong arms, the confidence he has to go up with one hand (he must have huge hands), and the way he can let loose a huge vertical leap from any position are just like VC.

On another note, however slim our chances for Miller are, has a recruit this highly ranked ever looked at Marquette? It seems like we've had plenty of guys in the 20s-30s nationally give us a look, but I can't remember a consensus top-5 guy looking twice at us. (I've only been closely following recruiting for a few years though.) And a big guy no less!

If Buzz can land this guy, Marquette basketball will have arrived on a level we could only hope for, and Buzz will have taken us there faster than any of us could have imagined.

[GGGG]

I'll take Bello any day. Who cares if he might be a bit of a project, we wouldn't need much from him his freshman year anyways. Watching that dunk mixtape, he reminded me of Vince Carter. His superlong arms, the confidence he has to go up with one hand (he must have huge hands), and the way he can let loose a huge vertical leap from any position are just like VC.

On another note, however slim our chances for Miller are, has a recruit this highly ranked ever looked at Marquette?

Hmmm....Joe Wolf?

[avid1010]

No it's a terrible thing.  Jennings was a one and done, NBA talent.  Cothron is not.

While he might not be able to afford prep, two years of JUCO would be fine.

I'd like to see how much he's getting paid before I decide just how terrible it is.  I know very little about the development that takes place in college compared to overseas, but it sure didn't seem to hurt Jennings....hard to tell if it helped, although Jennings seemed to think so.

[GOMU1104]

To have a positive experience overseas, it is essential for the kid to be mature and have a strong support system. By all accounts, LC does not have much of either. It should be interesting to see how this plays out. Latavious Williams could not qualify last year, so he went to the D-League and eventually got drafted.

There were (and still are) questions about Jennings' maturity but when he went over for that year, his brother and mother went with him.

Jeremy Tyler's overseas experience has been rough, to say the least. 

[Tugg Speedman]

On another note, however slim our chances for Miller are, has a recruit this highly ranked ever looked at Marquette? It seems like we've had plenty of guys in the 20s-30s nationally give us a look, but I can't remember a consensus top-5 guy looking twice at us. (I've only been closely following recruiting for a few years though.) And a big guy no less!

If you're asking if any recruit has ever been rating in the top 10, by any service at anytime in his high school career has considered or signed with MU ....  off the top of my head (in no particular order) ....

Vander Blue?
JP Tokoto?
Jamil Wilson?
Glenn Rivers?
Joe Wolf?
Walter Downing?
Butch Lee?
Maurice Lucas?

[muball]

moses malone

[avid1010]

To have a positive experience overseas, it is essential for the kid to be mature and have a strong support system. By all accounts, LC does not have much of either. It should be interesting to see how this plays out. Latavious Williams could not qualify last year, so he went to the D-League and eventually got drafted.

There were (and still are) questions about Jennings' maturity but when he went over for that year, his brother and mother went with him.

Jeremy Tyler's overseas experience has been rough, to say the least. 

I understand all that, I guess I just find it hard to judge.  If he would have qualified, and then ended up playing four years at Louisville without getting drafted, he's now lost out on four years of income.  I have to question if someone who is not mentally tough or mature enough to handle playing overseas would have a chance at making it to the NBA anyhow. 

[willie warrior]

Miller is going to Louisville. Id be surprised if he even made it out of his official visit next weekend without announcing.

Can't see this guy going to Louisville, unless they get a Karen Sypher protege spread eagled on the Italian restaraunt table to seal the deal for him.

[GOMU1104]

I understand all that, I guess I just find it hard to judge.  If he would have qualified, and then ended up playing four years at Louisville without getting drafted, he's now lost out on four years of income.  I have to question if someone who is not mentally tough or mature enough to handle playing overseas would have a chance at making it to the NBA anyhow. 

Going overseas is very tough, espcially for an 18/19 year old...tougher than going into the NBA at the same age.

You are going to a foreign land, dont know the language or culture, you are pretty much alone. Playing for coaches, teammates, fans that resent you.  Will you even get a regular paycheck?  Not to mention the style of play is different than what he was playing in America.

It's rough...not for everyone.

[GGGG]

I'd like to see how much he's getting paid before I decide just how terrible it is.  I know very little about the development that takes place in college compared to overseas, but it sure didn't seem to hurt Jennings....hard to tell if it helped, although Jennings seemed to think so.

Jennings was a consensus top 10 player coming out of high school.  He went to Europe instead of a one and done.  I really doubt it helped him basketball wise, and he had the maturity to use Europe as a learning experience.

But Jennings is unique in that regard.  Cothron isn't one and done talent.  IMO, he is going to languish on the bench and basically would have killed his college eligibility for the sake of a quick buck.

[avid1010]

Jennings was a consensus top 10 player coming out of high school.  He went to Europe instead of a one and done.  I really doubt it helped him basketball wise, and he had the maturity to use Europe as a learning experience.

I'll let you argue that one with Jennings.  He has stated many times that the road was tough, but it made him a better basketball player.

[avid1010]

Going overseas is very tough, espcially for an 18/19 year old...tougher than going into the NBA at the same age.

I understand that it's tougher than going to the NBA, what I'm stating as my opinion is that if you can't handle going overseas, and you're not an NBA talent out of high school like Jennings...if you can't hack it overseas I'm not sure you have what it takes to make it to the NBA.  Such a small percentage of players get drafted, that in my opinion, if you aren't unbelievably talented you better be extremely mature and hard working to earn a spot in the league.  Whether he goes overseas or stays in the states, I'm not sure he'll ever put in the work that a Diener, Novak, Hayward did to get into the league...I am sure he'll get paid next year.

[MarkCharles]

If you're asking if any recruit has ever been rating in the top 10, by any service at anytime in his high school career has considered or signed with MU ....  off the top of my head (in no particular order) ....

Vander Blue?
JP Tokoto?
Jamil Wilson?
Glenn Rivers?
Joe Wolf?
Walter Downing?
Butch Lee?
Maurice Lucas?

No, thats not what I'm asking at all. I said consensus top 5, not players like Blue, Wilson, or Tokoto who were over-rated by a particular service in their freshman or sophomore years, but then fell back to the 20s-40s range by the time they were more fully analyzed. I'm talking the true studs that there is no disagreement about. No question one-and-done talents.

You'd probably know better about the guys from Al's era as that was before my time. Those are more the guys I was talking about. By the way, I had no idea Glenn Rivers gave us a look.

[martyconlonontherun]

Jennings was a consensus top 10 player coming out of high school.  He went to Europe instead of a one and done.  I really doubt it helped him basketball wise, and he had the maturity to use Europe as a learning experience.

But Jennings is unique in that regard.  Cothron isn't one and done talent.  IMO, he is going to languish on the bench and basically would have killed his college eligibility for the sake of a quick buck.

I don't know how being forced to play in a tough Italian league where he had to fight for minutes with grown men in a style of basketball that forced him to play a team style ball didn't make him better. He also had a lot of free time to work on his game since he didn't have a lot of friends over there and spent a lot of time in the gym.
Compare that to a year in Arizona where he would of been top dog on the team and constantly hanging out with friends and chasing tail. At the very least, it made him more humble.

As for Luke, I don't know how you could go wrong with making hundreds of dollars a year. At the very worst, he has a horrible two-year experience but made a ton of money. On the bright side, most people grow to love Europe and is seeing the world at a young age and getting a fresh start. I like this option for players. We just don't like it cause we love college basketball.

[MarkCharles]

Miller is going to Louisville. Id be surprised if he even made it out of his official visit next weekend without announcing.

Maybe. I haven't been following this kid much at all since I don't really pay much attention to guys we have no shot with, but even to me Louisville has seemed like the leader the whole time. I've seen a bunch of articles to that effect. If he comes away from his trip to Louisville next weekend and is still looking, then I will really get excited.

For those thinking he is just expanding his list to leverage whatever school into taking Deuce Bello, why Marquette? Seems to me like if he was just doing this as a ploy, he would pick a school that made a little more sense? (i.e. a place that makes more sense in terms of geography, experience with players like him--UNC, Florida, etc.). And with already having a list like Baylor, Louisville, Kentucky, Wake Forest, Kansas, UCLA, Oklahoma, and Duke, does he really need Marquette as more leverage? I think Pitino, Self, or Coach K would see through those tactics immediately. I just don't by that theory, it seems a little fishy to me.

Call me naive, but I have a feeling he wouldn't have added us so late unless he had at least some genuine interest in Marquette.

[Daniel]

Impossible to know what this all means.  We can guess, but I have a feelign we will know soon.  This recruiting thing is tough on us fans, but I was thinking yesterday, can you imagine what the coaches go through? 

Soon we will know something . . . and the pieces will start to fall in place.  End of August already, so time is marching ahead and so will decisions.  GO MARQUETTE!!!

[GGGG]

As for Luke, I don't know how you could go wrong with making hundreds of dollars a year. At the very worst, he has a horrible two-year experience but made a ton of money. On the bright side, most people grow to love Europe and is seeing the world at a young age and getting a fresh start. I like this option for players. We just don't like it cause we love college basketball.

"Hundreds of dollars per year"???  Do you mean hundreds of thousands?

What makes you think that Cothron is going to make anywhere near that?  There are limited foreign spots available on each team and I doubt a top level team is going to use one on him.

[Chili]

Jennings was a consensus top 10 player coming out of high school.  He went to Europe instead of a one and done.  I really doubt it helped him basketball wise, and he had the maturity to use Europe as a learning experience.

But Jennings is unique in that regard.  Cothron isn't one and done talent.  IMO, he is going to languish on the bench and basically would have killed his college eligibility for the sake of a quick buck.

Jennings couldn't get into Zona and that is why he went overseas.

[NersEllenson]

Impossible to know what this all means.  We can guess, but I have a feelign we will know soon.  This recruiting thing is tough on us fans, but I was thinking yesterday, can you imagine what the coaches go through?  
Soon we will know something . . . and the pieces will start to fall in place.  End of August already, so time is marching ahead and so will decisions.  GO MARQUETTE!!!

This is a point that doesn't get made enough.  Whether it was Tom Crean, Buzz, or any other coach NOT at UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke...the amount to time, energy and effort put into recruiting is tremendous..that generally results in being told "no," more frequently than 'yes."  As we have seen, MU has made 23 offers to kids thus far for 2011 - ultimately only 3 will commit to MU..and those 3 may not even be from the currently list of 3.  Recruiting obviously is the lifeblood of a program, thankfully we Buzz is a tireless worker, and connects well with people.  Hopefully, soon...the program will reach a few Elite 8's and Buzz gets known as a guy who can coach kids up, help them get to the NBA...and soon MU will become a program on the level of the above named schools..and MU/Buzz name will practically recruit/sell itself.

[Tugg Speedman]

No, thats not what I'm asking at all. I said consensus top 5, not players like Blue, Wilson, or Tokoto who were over-rated by a particular service in their freshman or sophomore years, but then fell back to the 20s-40s range by the time they were more fully analyzed. I'm talking the true studs that there is no disagreement about. No question one-and-done talents.

You'd probably know better about the guys from Al's era as that was before my time. Those are more the guys I was talking about. By the way, I had no idea Glenn Rivers gave us a look.

Quincy Miller still has to play his senior year and we don't know where he is final ranking will be.  You're assuming he will not fall in the final rankings next spring.  So, we do not know for sure he is "one and done"talent."  (BTW, go see the many post by BMA725 and others that have studied these rankings and concluded they are not that precise.  "Top 5" or "Top 20" is really not a meaningful difference.)

What we know now is he is ranked after his Junior year.  That ranking is similar to what Jamil Wilson, J.P. Tokoto and Vander Blue had after their Sophomore and Junior years.

Now regarding your comment about Rivers "giving us a look" which I bolded above.  I'm going to assume that you wrote this wrong and it is not what you meant.  Tell me you know where Rivers went to college.

[esotericmindguy]

Duece Bello could actually be a SF at 6'3" becaue of his vert. his videos were crazy

Umm, he's 170 pounds at 6'3...to say that's skinny would make Mbao chubby.

[avid1010]

I don't know how being forced to play in a tough Italian league where he had to fight for minutes with grown men in a style of basketball that forced him to play a team style ball didn't make him better. He also had a lot of free time to work on his game since he didn't have a lot of friends over there and spent a lot of time in the gym.
Compare that to a year in Arizona where he would of been top dog on the team and constantly hanging out with friends and chasing tail. At the very least, it made him more humble.

For a guy like Cothron, that's likely not a one-and-done, there's also the issue of school.  College isn't for everyone, and while certain schools can obviously get players through with minimal effort, seeing the time MU players put into classes and studying is a reality.  If that time was spent on the court, or in the weight room, it could give a competitive advantage.  

[GGGG]

I'm going to assume that you wrote this wrong and it is not what you meant.  Tell me you know where Rivers went to college.

Well, Glenn Rivers was a decent player, but his twin brother Doc was so much better.

[GOMU1104]

Word is that Cothron will not be going to Italy.

In other news...Justin Coleman will be going to Marshall as a partial qualifier.