Could Milwaukee Recruiting be a top-down directive?

[GB Warrior]

This thought crossed my mind once McKay committed - could recruiting locally be part of the school's approach to clean its image in the local community? First off, a disclaimer - there are a ton of reasons to recruit locally (the top being that it should be easier). Milwaukee has plenty of talented recruits to keep this a top-notch program, and you should always seek these players out when they're there. That solves the competitive side of things. But we'd be fooling ourselves if we said that this program hasn't had its share of issues over the past couple of years, even with kids that are "good kids." Playing in the limelight changes a kid at least a little. I wonder, though, if recruiting "good kids" from your own backyard might keep things in check. These guys will be playing and living right in front of their families' noses, and you would have to think that this, paired with the media attention to any missteps, might make for a cleaner program.

I don't want to join the conspiracy theorists and suggest that the admins have their hands in basketball affairs, but it's something that could pay off handsomely for everyone.

[wadesworld]

No.

[bilsu]

I do not think so.

[CTWarrior]

I would argue that bringing in local kids would increase the likelihood of off-the-court issues, as various and sundry local friends and hangers-on who don't end up in college are more likely to lead a local kid astray.  I think the benefits of recruiting local kids (increased local fan base, top dog for talent in a big city, local goodwill, etc.) far outweigh any negatives, but I don't think this will decrease likelihood of trouble/bad public press at all.

[Goose]

CTWarrior
Agreed completely. Do not think it is anything other than the amount of local talent out there right now.

[BCHoopster]

look at 30 years of recruiting, not just now and the next few years.  The quality of players in Milwaukee is way above average.  This is not the norm.  Besides Steve Novak from Brown
Deer, how many pros have there been?  I like to see more kids from the area that are top echelon type of players, unfortunately it does happen.  Allie McGuire and Jim Chones,  Macilvane,
Key and Logterman.  That is only 2 years in the last 40.  Next year, 3 again.  All 4 star players, not bad.

[NersEllenson]

look at 30 years of recruiting, not just now and the next few years.  The quality of players in Milwaukee is way above average.  This is not the norm.  Besides Steve Novak from Brown
Deer, how many pros have there been?  I like to see more kids from the area that are top echelon type of players, unfortunately it does happen.  Allie McGuire and Jim Chones,  Macilvane,
Key and Logterman.  That is only 2 years in the last 40.  Next year, 3 again.  All 4 star players, not bad.

Van Exel, Sprewell, Caron Butler to name a few...there have been some good MKE kids that went and played college ball elsewhere....Calvin Rayford to Kansas comes to mind, Quemont Greer, DePaul, Robert Jackson, etc...but yes, all in all, the level of talent in this 2 year window with Burton, Wilson, Stone, Looney...probably is unrivaled..

[Goose]

This is best local talent I have ever seen. Our stay focused on local talent makes a ton of sense and will pay big dividends down the road.

[Dawson Rental]

This thought crossed my mind once McKay committed - could recruiting locally be part of the school's approach to clean its image in the local community? First off, a disclaimer - there are a ton of reasons to recruit locally (the top being that it should be easier). Milwaukee has plenty of talented recruits to keep this a top-notch program, and you should always seek these players out when they're there. That solves the competitive side of things. But we'd be fooling ourselves if we said that this program hasn't had its share of issues over the past couple of years, even with kids that are "good kids." Playing in the limelight changes a kid at least a little. I wonder, though, if recruiting "good kids" from your own backyard might keep things in check. These guys will be playing and living right in front of their families' noses, and you would have to think that this, paired with the media attention to any missteps, might make for a cleaner program.

I don't want to join the conspiracy theorists and suggest that the admins have their hands in basketball affairs, but it's something that could pay off handsomely for everyone.

If MU were taking kids a notch below what the team had, you might be onto something.  But the kids they're getting are as good of prospects as the school has gotten in quite some time.

[martyconlonontherun]

I would argue that bringing in local kids would increase the likelihood of off-the-court issues, as various and sundry local friends and hangers-on who don't end up in college are more likely to lead a local kid astray.  I think the benefits of recruiting local kids (increased local fan base, top dog for talent in a big city, local goodwill, etc.) far outweigh any negatives, but I don't think this will decrease likelihood of trouble/bad public press at all.

That's exactly what I I was going to write. I don't think Caron Butler would have been the same person he is today if he went to MU. Would've stayed with the same crowd that got him in trouble in HS. Maymon probably would have been better off going to Tenn from the start to get away from his dad. There's been unsubstantiated rumors for the same with Vander. Luckily, the kids we are recruiting from Milwaukee seem to be top notch on and off the field so we shouldn't have problems.

[Tugg Speedman]

So the only thing holding us back from getting 4-and 5-star recruits is a "top down directive?"

It would have never occurred to Buzz to park the plane and recruit local guys unless he was ordered too?

Is this the premise of this thread?

[tower912]

No.   Buzz/MU is playing a style of  basketball that is attractive to athletic guards/wings/switchables.   There is a plethora of D1 talent coming out of Milwaukee, more than there has been in years, many of whom are athletic guards/wings/switchables.    It really is nothing more than a fortuitous coincidence. 

[brewcity77]

I don't think there's any directive, like tower said I think it's a fortuitous coincidence. However, I could see these guys having the positive impact from a PR perspective that the OP describes. By all accounts, this is a great group of kids with their academics in order. If Milwaukee's Best has success on and off the court, I could easily see them being embraced well beyond the campus borders. Other than Sundays, there's a massive gap in the Milwaukee sports landscape from November through March. A successful bunch of Milwaukee guys could change that.

[Lennys Tap]

So the only thing holding us back from getting 4-and 5-star recruits is a "top down directive?"

It would have never occurred to Buzz to park the plane and recruit local guys unless he was ordered too?

Is this the premise of this thread?

Yeah, think of all the the absolute studs from Milwaukee Buzz has missed out on over the last 4 years. There's Tokoto and umm...

[Dawson Rental]

Yeah, think of all the the absolute studs from Milwaukee Buzz has missed out on over the last 4 years. There's Tokoto and umm...

Umm's a hell of a player, but I just can't see him getting playing time where he went.  Look for a transfer to MU after he sits on the end of the bench for a year or two.

[GGGG]

So the only thing holding us back from getting 4-and 5-star recruits is a "top down directive?"

It would have never occurred to Buzz to park the plane and recruit local guys unless he was ordered too?

Is this the premise of this thread?

It is the premise of the originator of the thread...the rest of us think he is off-base.

[Litehouse]

Van Exel, Sprewell, Caron Butler to name a few...there have been some good MKE kids that went and played college ball elsewhere....Calvin Rayford to Kansas comes to mind, Quemont Greer, DePaul, Robert Jackson, etc...but yes, all in all, the level of talent in this 2 year window with Burton, Wilson, Stone, Looney...probably is unrivaled..

You could count Diener.  He was from Fondy, but played with Milwaukee AAU teams.  Devin Harris too, even though he chose the dark side.  Jerry Smith and Korie Lucious are also up there with the other players you mentioned.

[mileskishnish72]

This being done solely to cut down on the cost of the private jet!

[BrewCity83]

Don't forget Tosa East's Tony Smith.  That's going back 25 years, though.

[Pakuni]

Umm's a hell of a player, but I just can't see him getting playing time where he went.  Look for a transfer to MU after he sits on the end of the bench for a year or two.

Ummm wanted to go to UW (like every kid in Wisconsin), but Bo cooled on him. Plus, he couldn't cut it academically in Madison and his parents are awful human beings.

[Tulsa Warrior]

It's the luck of the draw on the recruiting front.  SE Wisconsin is experiencing the best level of D1 talent in the history of the area.  Marquette under Buzz has established a signature style of play and the top talent is noticing.  Buzz had to go the JUCO route to band-aid years of inconsistent recruiting, he had to go to the four corners of the country to find overlooked talent.  Now he is beginning to harvest the success of the past four years.  Remember right after Williams was hired when Bob Hurley was saying he wouldn't trust Buzz to coach Tyshawn Taylor?  Now Buzz's name is being mentioned as one of the top five college coaches in the country.

[Lennys Tap]

It's the luck of the draw on the recruiting front.  SE Wisconsin is experiencing the best level of D1 talent in the history of the area.  Marquette under Buzz has established a signature style of play and the top talent is noticing.  Buzz had to go the JUCO route to band-aid years of inconsistent recruiting, he had to go to the four corners of the country to find overlooked talent.  Now he is beginning to harvest the success of the past four years.  Remember right after Williams was hired when Bob Hurley was saying he wouldn't trust Buzz to coach Tyshawn Taylor?  Now Buzz's name is being mentioned as one of the top five college coaches in the country.

+1000. If I were Buzz i'd never even look at a player coached by Hurley in the future, but he's a much better Christian than me - and Hurley does have some really good players

[Tugg Speedman]

At the time Buzz was an unproven talent.  I think what Hurley did was reasonable.  He never said he did not like Buzz, he just said he was not sure about Buzz because he was not proven.  Their is nothing wrong with that stance.

My guess is Hurley is now sure about Buzz and would not hesitate if any of his kids were interested in MU.

[Pakuni]

At the time Buzz was an unproven talent.  I think what Hurley did was reasonable.  He never said he did not like Buzz, he just said he was not sure about Buzz because he was not proven.  Their is nothing wrong with that stance.

My guess is Hurley is now sure about Buzz and would not hesitate if any of his kids were interested in MU.

In all fairness, Hurley was simply running interference - taking the bullet, so to speak - for his player who used Crean's departure as an opportunity to take a better offer. As soon as Kansas came calling - which probably occurred about 30 minutes after Crean took the IU job - Taylor wanted out. And Hurley was happy to play the bad guy to help his player.

[Lennys Tap]

In all fairness, Hurley was simply running interference - taking the bullet, so to speak - for his player who used Crean's departure as an opportunity to take a better offer. As soon as Kansas came calling - which probably occurred about 30 minutes after Crean took the IU job - Taylor wanted out. And Hurley was happy to play the bad guy to help his player.

This is exactly what happened, though I still think Hurley was over the top with his criticism of MU for allegedly dragging their feet on Taylor's release.