[Rosiak's Blog] Erik Williams will transfer

[brewcity77]

Kudos to Erik for analyzing his situation and acting on it. That said, his transfer doesn't hurt MU from a basketball perspective one bit.

I'm not sure about that. Crowder will likely be the 4 next year, but when he leaves, that position will either be filled by a freshman or an out-of-position 3 like Wilson or Anderson. Williams was in a perfect position to take that role in 2012-13, and could have held it down for two years if he had been granted a medical hardship waiver this year to rehab his shoulder.

I wish him the best, but I could see this definitely impacting us on the court for at least one, if not two seasons. He showed flashes last year, and I was eager to see him get the chance to build on that.

[Slim]

Good luck EWill. We will be keeping an eye on your carreer and rooting for you.

My hope next year is that JJ earns p.t., gets p.t., then delivers so we are not talking about him like this.

GTST

[4everwarriors]

BeerBunch, I'd seen enough of Ewill to conclude we needed to enhance his spot anyway to be a major player in the Big East.
Folks are all kumbaya about the dude leaving, but the fact remains not every kid is starting material. For sure, Erik was on the slow end of the learning curve. Good move by him, better result for Marquette.

[Pakuni]

I'm not sure about that. Crowder will likely be the 4 next year, but when he leaves, that position will either be filled by a freshman or an out-of-position 3 like Wilson or Anderson. Williams was in a perfect position to take that role in 2012-13, and could have held it down for two years if he had been granted a medical hardship waiver this year to rehab his shoulder.

I wish him the best, but I could see this definitely impacting us on the court for at least one, if not two seasons. He showed flashes last year, and I was eager to see him get the chance to build on that.

I'll withhold judgment on the impact for now, but I don't see E. Williams as being any less of an "out-of-position" three than Wilson or anyone else. I definitely don't see him having a lock on the four after Jae leaves.
His biggest problem, besides his defense, is he's very much a tweener in the Big East. Not big or strong enough to be even an undersized four, and not enough of a perimeter game to play the wing.

I don't think Erik would be eligible for a medical redshirt. If I'm not mistaken, to qualify for a medical redshirt, one's injury must have occurred during the first half of the season for which the redshirt is sought. Erik's injury occurred last season, and his surgery took place this spring, about seven months before the season even begins. The injury also has to be such that it would prevent a player from missing most of his team's games that season. I'd be surprised if Erik's recovery were such that he absolutely could not play next season.

Anyhow, you hate to lose depth like this, but it's hard to fault Erik for wanting to make the move.  If he transfers, he'll have a chance to go somewhere closer to home and start for two seasons. At MU, he's looking at another season mostly on the pines and then a chance to compete for starting job his senior year.

[jsglow]

I think this might end up as a very good decision by EWill.  He'll need to sit out next year which will give him the chance to get healthy for his return to D1 hoops in the Fall '12 when he'll have 2 years to contribute to his new team.  His current level of play coupled with his inability to practice this summer was going to limit his role with MU next year leaving him only one more year beyond that.

Good luck Erik.  You've been a credit to the program.  Hope you enjoyed your time at Marquette and will look back at the experience fondly.  And good luck on finals this week.

[dwaderoy2004]

I'd be willing to bet that Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Nova, Georgetown, Arizona - basically any perennial top 25 school - averages at least one transfer per season.  At least.  It's just the way college basketball works, especially when your team is stocked with talent.

[esotericmindguy]

Exactly, and people will inevitably compare the program to Madison but the truth is most of the bench players in Madison weren't highly recruited players.....Bo Ryan is just a great coach.

[bilsu]

Eric did not need a medical rdshirt. He just could of redshirted. Medical redshirt applies, if you have already played some games in the season. The best thing for Eric would be to redshirt this season to get his shoulder 100% healthy and to work on his game. He gets this by transferring. He could of had this at MU, if Buzz was willing to let him redshirt and we do not know if Buzz had a problem with him redshirting. The biggest reason kids (who consider transferring) do not transfer is because they do not want to sit out a year.  Given Eric's surgury, the best thing for him is to sit out a year, so that removes that having a sit out a year from the equation. We all liked  Eric and could see his natuaral ability. However, he did not play alot for two reasons. One was defense and the other was he did not know the offense well. Buzz mentioned several times in post game shows that Eric and Joe Fulce never fully grasp the offense and had to be directed by Butler where they should be.

[bilsu]

Exactly, and people will inevitably compare the program to Madison but the truth is most of the bench players in Madison weren't highly recruited players.....Bo Ryan is just a great coach.

I think the two biggest reason UW does not have many transfers are that Bo redshirts a lot of freshmen and the players really want to go to Wisconsin. Redshirting has two benefits. The first being a freshmen that is redshirting is not unhappy about playing time, since he cannot play anyways. The other is that once you redshirt, you actually would lose a year of playing time if you transferred after that. I also think Bo recruits players that are just happy to be at Wisconsin. Buzz recruits players who want to play in the Big East. It is not hard to imagine them being unhappy when they find out they are not good enough to play in the Big East. Look at it this way. Juan Anderson is from Califorina and problably did not even know where MU was until Buzz started recruiting him. If he does not play much the odds are that he will transfer. Gasser grew up dreaming of playing for Wisconsin and waited for a chance to get a scholarship. He is very unlikely transfer even if Bo recruited over him.

[MUCam]

Erik stuck with Marquette and Buzz when TC flew the coop. For that, he'll always be a favorite of mine. I think he could've provided solid minutes here but nothing is for sure, especially in light of the potential talent coming in, and the surgery no doubt slowed him down.

Best of luck to him wherever he goes. I'll root for him....

[Ari Gold]

Its too bad. On a personal level I never really want to see a player transfer, especially EWill. I was a fan of his. I'm bummed because EWill would have had some nice opportunities to play this upcoming year and in his senior year. However if it was in his best interests to leave, I seems like it was then I totally understand I wish him the best.

However when it comes to the program as a whole, this speaks to the level of skill buzz is recruiting. I feel like this sort of thing is going to happen when we have a program that is quickly rising through the ranks. Buzz is going to recruit the best players out there and if that means recruiting over players to improve the team then so be it. Its the growing pains that come with good recruiting.

I hope EWill has some success at whatever school he transfers to.

[jsglow]

Eric did not need a medical rdshirt. He just could of redcrapred. Medical redshirt applies, if you have already played some games in the season. The best thing for Eric would be to redshirt this season to get his shoulder 100% healthy and to work on his game. He gets this by transferring. He could of had this at MU, if Buzz was willing to let him redshirt and we do not know if Buzz had a problem with him redshirting. The biggest reason kids (who consider transferring) do not transfer is because they do not want to sit out a year.  Given Eric's surgury, the best thing for him is to sit out a year, so that removes that having a sit out a year from the equation. We all liked  Eric and could see his natuaral ability. However, he did not play alot for two reasons. One was defense and the other was he did not know the offense well. Buzz mentioned several times in post game shows that Eric and Joe Fulce never fully grasp the offense and had to be directed by Butler where they should be.

I'd like to follow-up on this point.  Obviously the transfer year allows EWill to get healthy and then still contribute 2 years to his next school graduating in May 2014.  Had he asked Buzz to redshirt at MU to get healthy and better athletically, Buzz would still be using up his scholly this year and not have a player for those minutes.  So it might make sense that if EWill were to have stayed, his only option from Buzz was to use his 2 remaining years of eligibility up in exactly 2 more years, not 3 so as to free the scholly up for the 2013-14 season.  Am I understanding the rules correctly?

[6746jonesr]

Exactly, and people will inevitably compare the program to Madison but the truth is most of the bench players in Madison weren't highly recruited players.....Bo Ryan is just a great coach.

and. Bo typically red shirts freshman, at least the bigs, giving them more time to develop.

[NersEllenson]

Erik stuck with Marquette and Buzz when TC flew the coop. For that, he'll always be a favorite of mine. I think he could've provided solid minutes here but nothing is for sure, especially in light of the potential talent coming in, and the surgery no doubt slowed him down.

Best of luck to him wherever he goes. I'll root for him....

Well said.  I certainly hope the best for Erik.  He seemed like a really good kid, and definitely has some basketball talent too. 

[mu_hilltopper]

Obviously not surprising, but .. odd for Erik.

Erik never struck me as a guy with fire in his belly to gain maximum playing time.  He was a minor bench player and on an upward trend, heading for 10-12 mpg and maybe 20 his senior year, if he showed progress.   Is 20 mpg on a BE contender, better than 33 mpg on a mid-major scrapping for an NIT bid?

[MarquetteDano]

Assuming that there was not a personal issue or the like, I think this speaks a lot to how good Jamil Wilson must be.  You figure with Jimmy gone EWill's time would have increased quite a bit with the only returning forwards with experience being Crowder, Wilson, and Jones.

I really hate transfers but this one does not surprise me.  My guess is that this will be best for Erik Williams.  For Marquette next season, this again proves why we so desperately need a "4" (forget a switchable please) next season.  We are an injury away now of being in big trouble at the "4" spot.

[buckchuckler]

Hope he gets to go somewhere where he gets the PT he wants.  Good Luck Erik.  Thanks.

[fanofTR]

Wow usually when a player transfers, it is a total bash fest on a message board. Think Reggie's case was of that variety. But you guys are saying some great things about EWill. Refreshing to see in a way. Seemed like a great kid who just got a bit unlucky. Hope he has great success in the future at a Texas school.

[We R Final Four]

His name is Erik, not Eric.  I don't think that is asking too much.

[MikeyT42]

I agree with a lot of people here that this transfer makes sense. I don't really agree that I saw it coming. It's not like I look at the roster and say, yah this kid will transfer. This transfer makes a ton of sense in 2 ways. (as mentioned above)

-Sitting Out a year gives him a chance to rehab the shoulder and be 100% in 2012-13.
- With Wilson coming in, and the improvement of Gardner and Otule, minutes upfront will be limited. With 80 availible minutes at the 4 and 5. The three mentioned above, as well as crowder, deserve 20+ minutes a game.

With this transfer I see Buzz going to get another 4. I would love a 6-8 shooter who has a knack for rebounding.

Where do you folks see E will going? I could see him at a C-usa or A 10 school and having quite a bit of success.

[We R Final Four]

Without knowing the school's situations, I would guess SMU, Rice or Houston--somewhere close to home.

[jsglow]

Will Wilson be getting any minutes at the "4"?  I break 3-4-5 down this way:

5 - Otule/Gardner 25/15
4 - Crowder 30
3 - Wilson 30 (with maybe 5-10 of those at the 4.)

But as others have said, that's an injury away from real trouble.  Be interesting to see Buzz' next LOI.  PT is available.

[Golden Avalanche]

Assuming that there was not a personal issue or the like, I think this speaks a lot to how good Jamil Wilson must be.  You figure with Jimmy gone EWill's time would have increased quite a bit with the only returning forwards with experience being Crowder, Wilson, and Jones.

I don't think it has anything to do with Wilson. Two separate entities.

Best of luck to Erik. It seemed he would be one who constantly mystified the fans. Looking for stability is never a bad thing.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

This does seem to make a lot of sense for Erik.  Seemed like a good guy.  Good luck to him.

[HouWarrior]

I agree with a lot of people here that this transfer makes sense. I don't really agree that I saw it coming. It's not like I look at the roster and say, yah this kid will transfer. This transfer makes a ton of sense in 2 ways. (as mentioned above)

-Sitting Out a year gives him a chance to rehab the shoulder and be 100% in 2012-13.

I have a question from my simple ignorance.
One can freshmen redshirt at inception, and defer one's 4 years of eligibilty.

But,...Once you start your play and eligibility, must you continue straight through it at that school?
Or better stated, here,....Could Erik and MU have simply had him continue on scholly, and medical redshirt/sit out  next year, adding an extra year of eligibility on the back end?
Sort of like spending next year on the injured reserve-ineligble to play list, but giving him the back end ability to play as a 5th year senior.

It seems fair to everyone...which why I'm guessing y'all are going to tell me NCAA doesn't allow this...lol.