[Cracked Sidewalks] Recruiting disappointments mount but fear not

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Recruiting disappointments mount but fear not

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

With the national signing period approaching, Marquette's remaining tier one targets made their decisions this week, each choosing programs other than MU.

Earlier this week Rodney Hood cast his lot with Mississippi State after considering MU, Alabama, Florida State and Louisville.  Today 6'8" Mike Shaw pledged to Illinois, while 6'5" shooting guard Nick Faust opted for his home state Maryland Terrapins.

Coach Buzz Williams earned the basketball equivalent of the Golden Sombrero, going 0-4 on top 50-ish recruits for the 2011 class.  D'Angelo Harrison, Mike Shaw, Nick Faust and Rodney Hood all looked closely at MU and ultimately passed.   Predictably, there's a bit of angst in the fan base over MU's inability to breakthrough with the country's more elite talent this time around.  We think that angst is unwarranted.

A deep roster dramatically alters the dynamics of recruiting, which explains why Buzz was so committed to pursuing high-end talent like never before.  Fact is, the existing roster is talented and it will take high-grade talent to break into the rotation.  MU went big game fishing and came up empty, but we applaud the process.  Nevertheless, MU should recognize itself -- at least for now -- as a landing spot for quality players who will see significant minutes immediately - if not in their freshman year, at least by their sophomore year.

Consider 2011-2012.  While Jimmy Butler, Joseph Fulce and Dwight Buycks are all seniors who expect to log big minutes this season, the current roster already has their replacements lined up.  Erik Williams, Jamail Jones, Reggie Smith, Vander Blue and Jamil Wilson all figure to earn big minutes next season regardless of which players sign with MU next month or in the spring.

For the Chicken Little crowd (or even those who are mildly frustrated by being so close and yet so far away), realize that Junior Cadougan and Jamil Wilson were consensus top 50 recruits while Erik Williams was top 75 for the class of 2009.  Vander Blue was a top 50 recruit last year while Jamail Jones was in the top 75.  Attracting nationally ranked talent to Milwaukee is less of a concern now than it's been in decades at Marquette.

Also, these rankings don't account for Marquette's best players, Darius Johnson-Odom and Butler, as well as the productive Fulce or much-anticipated Jae Crowder, each of whom arrived at MU out of junior college and did not factor into many recruit rankings.

Buzz Williams' track record indicates that talent will find its way to MU next fall, ranked or not.   MU's lone verbal commit, 6'6" Californian Juan Anderson, is  the top wing player out West for the 2011 class according to Scout.com. Anderson looks to be a good fit for MU, possibly replacing some of the minutes to be vacated by Fulce and Butler, as well as being complimentary to the Blue, Jones and Wilson signings.

Despite the talent on the roster, additional needs exist.  Marquette is mired in a decade-long, fruitless pursuit of a skilled power forward, which remains a gap on the roster and an embarrassment for the program.  However,  it is debatable that Shaw is or will become a true power forward. The 2011 class is light on players who fit the description of a classic power forward and MU has adapted its style of play and roster composition to mitigate this need somewhat.  The program also needs another skilled marksman.

Regardless of the decisions made by recruits this week the overall talent on the current roster is as great as it has been since the 2003 Final Four squad. In the past three years Marquette has strung together strong recruiting classes, which have reshaped the program. As Buzz told an audience of alumni earlier this month in New York City, the roster is beginning to look more like a Big East roster.  Look for that roster transformation to continue in the next 12 months.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2010/10/recruiting-disappointments-mount-but.html

[SalsaMan]

Buzz has definitely dispelled Mike Deane's of "You Just Can't Recruit to Marquette Theory." There are those who will gnash their teeth today at the swings and misses but think back to the shame of the Deane years. Buzz Williams has Marquette in the hunt. Mike Deane never left the lodge.

[The Lens]

Buzz has definitely dispelled Mike Deane's of "You Just Can't Recruit to Marquette Theory." There are those who will gnash their teeth today at the swings and misses but think back to the shame of the Deane years. Buzz Williams has Marquette in the hunt. Mike Deane never left the lodge.

Why would he ever leave the lodge...that's where all the drinks were.

[Marquette65]

EW to get big minutes new year?  NOT with what he has shown so far.

[NersEllenson]

EW to get big minutes new year?  NOT with what he has shown so far.

Suprise Surprise..Marquette 65 with another snide remark.  Get a life.  But to comment on your post - EW will see a decent amount of minutes next year.  I wouldn't expect you to be any better at evaluating talent, than you are at life.

[mviale]

When there is too much talent, HS seniors will look elsewhere.

[Golden Avalanche]

When there is too much talent, HS seniors will look elsewhere.

There is a lot of talent at Illinois and Shaw was eager to join up with it so I'm not sure you want to go down the road that Marquette suddenly has too much talent to land a top 75 player.

[94Warrior]

Shaw who????  I want God's Gift.

http://www.zagsblog.com/2010/10/06/gods-gift-will-sign-in-april/

[MUWarrior4Life]

God's Gift sounds like a pretty "heavenly" recruit

[Lennys Tap]

There is a lot of talent at Illinois and Shaw was eager to join up with it so I'm not sure you want to go down the road that Marquette suddenly has too much talent to land a top 75 player.

Have to agree with you on this one Golden. Both Illinois and MU have an opening at Shaw's position and solid talent elsewhere. We may miss on a perimeter player due to a logjam of talent, but not on a power forward.

[john_cocktoasten]

we need another novak.... some guy that can give us 10 min a game just stand behind the 3 point line and drain 3s.  I thought Frozena was going to be that guy

[mosarsour]

we need another novak.... some guy that can give us 10 min a game just stand behind the 3 point line and drain 3s.  I thought Frozena was going to be that guy

Really?? You were counting on a walk-on to be that guy????? WOW!! 

[Lighthouse 84]

we need another novak.... some guy that can give us 10 min a game just stand behind the 3 point line and drain 3s.  I thought Frozena was going to be that guy

Does Don Smolinski have any more eligibility?

[mu-rara]

Does Don Smolinski have any more eligibility?

SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Lennys Tap]

Really?? You were counting on a walk-on to be that guy????? WOW!! 

Um, I'm guessing he was making a joke.

[PBRme]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[ChicosBailBonds]

When there is too much talent, HS seniors will look elsewhere.

We've shown a willingness and attitude that it doesn't really matter.  The "no vacancy" sign is never on.

[Lennys Tap]

We've shown a willingness and attitude that it doesn't really matter.  The "no vacancy" sign is never on.

How does a swipe at Buzz for over signing even relate to mviale's point?

[mu-rara]

We've shown a willingness and attitude that it doesn't really matter.  The "no vacancy" sign is never on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=5729730

I noticed that you ignored this article.

[Mr. Nielsen]

EW to get big minutes new year?  NOT with what he has shown so far.

The season hasn't even starter, what have you seen?

[rocky_warrior]

We've shown a willingness and attitude that it doesn't really matter.  The "no vacancy" sign is never on.

Bullcrap!  You insinuate that Buzz is out there telling every recruit that they will have a starting spot at MU.  Please prove this.

[avid1010]

We've shown a willingness and attitude that it doesn't really matter.  The "no vacancy" sign is never on.

What does this have to do with the subject you were responding to?

[bilsu]

The season hasn't even starter, what have you seen?

The quote did not include the original post "EW to get big minutes new year? NOT with what he has shown so far.

I know what I observed. That is neither one of you can read and write.

As far as EWill the article was clearly talking about his playing next season versus this season. The article was talking about replacements for Butler, Fulce and Buyckes, which is the season after this one. Further clarification can be deduced from the fact that EWill and Wilson were mentioned in the same sentence.

As far as writing it would be next instead of new and started not starter.

EWill has the whole season to improve.

[brewcity77]

We missed out on some big names, sure, but consider what we were up against:

Quincy Miller: Wanted to play with Bello, wanted to make a big splash. For a player of his caliber, it's nice to be in the running. My guess is Baylor's recent success being a bit more prolific than ours helped put them over the top.

Mike Shaw/Nick Faust/Rodney Hood: Three high-profile recruits that we seemed to be hot and heavy with for a long time. All chose their own state schools, teams with a decent pedigree for success. Is it tough to lose them? Yes. But the choices they made make sense. Of course we don't like the result, but recruiting out-of-state players against a high major state school is always going to be tough.

D'Angelo Harrison: This one was tough because we seemed to be right there, then Lavin swooped in and snagged him from under our nose. But with so many graduating at St. John's, and the bright lights of New York City, it's a great opportunity for a high-profile recruit. Again, I'd rather see him in blue and gold, but right now what Lavin can offer is going to make them tough for anyone to recruit against.

Yes, in all the cases it sucks. It'd have been much nicer to win one or two of those recruiting battles. But every year, there will be more guys we are after that we don't get than that we do. It's just the nature of the business. So this was the year that we struck out on all but one of our major targets. We still have plenty of recruiting successes over the past couple years, and there's no reason to think this won't turn back for us next year, and possibly even as soon as the spring signing period. Add in a kid like God's Gift Achiuwa and maybe a solid three-star like Derrick Wilson or Chris Bryant and suddenly this class looks pretty promising.

[avid1010]

The season hasn't even starter, what have you seen?

From watching the Pro-Am, E-Will was one player that I could tell improved parts of his game over the summer.  His shot from 15' out is much improved.  I think he's still a year away from playing big minutes, and being BEAST tough, but Frozena did mention him as a surprise player this year.  I think he was suggesting something like 10 min. per game?  My thought was that he can hit the open shot, and in another year hopefully he'll feel comfortable attacking the rim off the dribble, and he'll be a solid defender, rebounder, shot blocker.  He certainly has the athleticism to do so.