2017 SG Phillip Flory commits to Marquette

[Markusquette]

We are not getting Stone. The people closest too him don't know where he's going, but almost all of them say it isn't Marquette. Sure, he still takes the comp tickets to MU games, etc., but there is a lot more at play. These are things I've heard. Diamond wants to be his own man and get out of Duane's shadow (there's so much more to this). Stone's dad doesn't like Buzz's "schtick." Stone's dad runs the show and wants to get offers "from every school" before making a decision. Stone prefers WI over Marquette (it hurts to even type this). Stone should have played up with Ray Allen Select since 15U and they would have been arguably the best AAU team in the country, but his dad turned it down every year because he wants an offense that runs through Diamond. As a result, they have a good AAU team, but get pounded by guard pressure in national tournaments because the guards on the team are good, but not great, or on the same level as RAS. One guy mentioned they like Georgetown and thought they have a good shot at him because of their development of bigs. But I've heard from more than a few people that he really does like Wisconsin, which blows my mind.

If his family doesn't even know, where are you getting all this intel, and why are you so confident MU is out of the picture?  How is Diamond in Duane's shadow when he's a consensus top 10 recruit and potential NBA draft pick after his freshman season?  Just the age factor throughout high school?  Sounds like another Jmay case with the dad here....

[Eldon]

If his family doesn't even know, where are you getting all this intel, and why are you so confident MU is out of the picture?  How is Diamond in Duane's shadow when he's a consensus top 10 recruit and potential NBA draft pick after his freshman season?  Just the age factor throughout high school?  Sounds like another Jmay case with the dad here....

Sounds to me like he's saying "We [Stone's family] don't know where he's going, but we do know where he is not going--Marquette."

[4everwarriors]

Losing Wolf was a HUGE blow to the program back in the day.  It would be interesting to see how the next 10 years might have been if he had decided to attend MU.

Majerus would probably still be here. Probably shoulda had more orders of Saz's ribs sent up to Kohler, hey?

[Markusquette]

Sounds to me like he's saying "We [Stone's family] don't know where he's going, but we do know where he is not going--Marquette."

Yeah, I picked it up.  Just don't want to face it if true, ha.  And it's according to a poster here with questionable credibility (or is there some accurate prediction shared by this poster previously?)  We'll see what happens

[ChicosBailBonds]

If his family doesn't even know, where are you getting all this intel, and why are you so confident MU is out of the picture?  How is Diamond in Duane's shadow when he's a consensus top 10 recruit and potential NBA draft pick after his freshman season?  Just the age factor throughout high school?  Sounds like another Jmay case with the dad here....

Careful, you're about to have the same 4.5 people here in an outrage that you mentioned a father of a recruit.......

[ChicosBailBonds]

Since Jim Chones in 1969 (44 years ago), Wisconsin has produced two (2) top 10 rated big men: Joe Wolf and Brian Butch. Majerus lost Wolf to UNC and Crean lost Butch to UW. The other players you list (post Chones) were nice players but not in that categogory. And some of the players we "lost" we never recruited.

Agree we didn't recruit all of them.  Butch was never going to MU regardless of who the coach is.  If that means someone "lost" him, then whatever.  He was a UW lifer from the womb.

[Freeport Warrior]

Sounds like another Jmay case with the dad here....

Wrong on the Jmay thing. His dad is simply driving the bus and heavily involved in his recruiting. Nothing wrong with that. IMO and many others, he should have been playing with RAS and all of their D-1 guards, but again, that is their call.

Sounds to me like he's saying "We [Stone's family] don't know where he's going, but we do know where he is not going--Marquette."

I would say this is true, except I'm not saying it's his family it's more of his inner circle of coaches, teammates, parents of teammates who are saying this.

And it's according to a poster here with questionable credibility

I'm getting my "questionable intel" from the intel fairy, of course. I'm just telling you what I have been hearing for the last couple years on the AAU circuit. I know kids on his teams, parents, coaches, etc. I know kids that have played with Duane and their parents. I know the RAS coaches, players and parents. I know people in the MU and UW athletic depts. And when you spend every summer weekend at AAU bball tournaments you get to know basketball people -- I'm just telling you what I've been hearing. I'm sure I'm wrong and he's really going to MU.

[Markusquette]

I appreciate you sharing your information.  Not meaning to knock at all....my guess is it still could be a big surprise in the end even if he doesn't decide to pick MU.  Like I said, I don't want to face the facts, if indeed they are true.  Again, thanks for sharing.  But only time will tell.  This is a tough one to wait on.   

[Lennys Tap]

Agree we didn't recruit all of them.  Butch was never going to MU regardless of who the coach is.  If that means someone "lost" him, then whatever.  He was a UW lifer from the womb.

You're too funny. We "lost" guys we never recruited but didn't lose Butch, who we recruited hard.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

So...how about that Phillip Flory? Pretty neato....

[Jay Bee]

Stone will be a tough get, all good players are.  MU has gotten their share of quality in staters for many years, and more than their share from Milwaukee. We'll see where it goes.

Lost our fair share as well....Dekker, Portman, Landry, Harris, Jerry Smith, Tokoto, Wolf, Bennett, Van Exel, Porter, Sprewell, Stiemsma, etc

Don't forget Luke Fischer, right?! Maybe the massive buyout (currently approximately $14 million, was $16 million) Indiana would owe Crean for early termination over the next few years were a factor in getting Fischer. Knows the head coach should still be there.

[Dawson Rental]

I'm not the one that said the younger Wisconsin players love Marquette. I am the one that said we should not continue to offer excuses why we cannot land a stud big every 10 years or so, especially ones that are in our backyard. But I know, we are not Duke or Ky. By the way, I see Providence got a commitment from the #5 Center the other day. Last time I looked, Providence is not Duke or Ky. either.

Gee Willie, the way you whine and cry, I bet the mascara is just running down your face.

[brewcity77]

I appreciate you sharing your information.  Not meaning to knock at all....my guess is it still could be a big surprise in the end even if he doesn't decide to pick MU.  Like I said, I don't want to face the facts, if indeed they are true.  Again, thanks for sharing.  But only time will tell.  This is a tough one to wait on.   

Losing Stone would be a big blow. Buzz would overcome and manage fine, I'm sure, but we seem to have invested a ton in his recruitment. The staff has been very active and following him all summer long. The reason losing Looney doesn't really hurt is because we put so little into recruiting him. Over the past year or so, the staff has put no more resources into following Looney than they have Theo Pinson, another top-15 that we never really had a chance with.

Stone, on the other hand, we've pursued as hard as any recruit in recent memory. There's a lot of time, work, and money that's been spent trying to get him here. Between that and the Hiroshima ( ) level meltdown willie would have if Stone decided to matriculate elsewhere, this would be a big fish to slip away.

[willie warrior]

Losing Stone would be a big blow. Buzz would overcome and manage fine, I'm sure, but we seem to have invested a ton in his recruitment. The staff has been very active and following him all summer long. The reason losing Looney doesn't really hurt is because we put so little into recruiting him. Over the past year or so, the staff has put no more resources into following Looney than they have Theo Pinson, another top-15 that we never really had a chance with.

Stone, on the other hand, we've pursued as hard as any recruit in recent memory. There's a lot of time, work, and money that's been spent trying to get him here. Between that and the Hiroshima ( ) level meltdown willie would have if Stone decided to matriculate elsewhere, this would be a big fish to slip away.

Yeah, I'm the only one who would be disappointed if we did not land Stone. Many others would offer up the usual excuses why it did not happen. I simply believe that with the surrounding talent we have, adding Stone would be our best bet to get to the FF.

[willie warrior]

Gee Willie, the way you whine and cry, I bet the mascara is just running down your face.

Not whining, just the facts, Ma'am.

[kmwtrucks]

We landed the top 2 2013 from the state, the 2nd best in 2014, the 2nd best in 2015 and the best in 2017 at this point. 

I'm OK with our in state recruiting at this point. 

[Aughnanure]

Losing Stone would be a big blow. Buzz would overcome and manage fine, I'm sure, but we seem to have invested a ton in his recruitment. The staff has been very active and following him all summer long. The reason losing Looney doesn't really hurt is because we put so little into recruiting him. Over the past year or so, the staff has put no more resources into following Looney than they have Theo Pinson, another top-15 that we never really had a chance with.

Stone, on the other hand, we've pursued as hard as any recruit in recent memory. There's a lot of time, work, and money that's been spent trying to get him here. Between that and the Hiroshima ( ) level meltdown willie would have if Stone decided to matriculate elsewhere, this would be a big fish to slip away.

Losing Stone would hurt for sure, but we'd be fine. Losing Stone to UW would be devastating.

At some point, we gotta close a top-15 player - esp one in our own backyard. But we especially cannot let the Badgers get him.

[wadesworld]

Losing Stone would hurt for sure, but we'd be fine. Losing Stone to UW would be devastating.

At some point, we gotta close a top-15 player - esp one in our own backyard. But we especially cannot let the Badgers get him.

I would not be scared of Diamond Stone on Wisconsin one bit.  When's the last time you've seen a Wisconsin post player actually playing in the post and dominating down low?  I am not at all worried about Stone being a stretch big, and that's what Bo makes his bigs into.  Bo doesn't change his system, it's the same thing he's always been doing at Wisconsin.  I would be much more worried about Looney at Wisconsin than Stone at Wisconsin.

[Brewtown Andy]

I would not be scared of Diamond Stone on Wisconsin one bit.  When's the last time you've seen a Wisconsin post player actually playing in the post and dominating down low?  I am not at all worried about Stone being a stretch big, and that's what Bo makes his bigs into.  Bo doesn't change his system, it's the same thing he's always been doing at Wisconsin.  I would be much more worried about Looney at Wisconsin than Stone at Wisconsin.

That's not what Bo says.

http://college-basketball.si.com/2013/08/19/wisconsin-badgers/

[jesmu84]

That's not what Bo says.

http://college-basketball.si.com/2013/08/19/wisconsin-badgers/

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

[GGGG]

Losing Stone to UW would be devastating.

No.  It wouldn't.  We'd be fine just like we were when Tokoto left...and will be when Looney leaves.

And remember that Stone's cousin went to UW too.  It could happen.

[Aughnanure]

I would not be scared of Diamond Stone on Wisconsin one bit.  When's the last time you've seen a Wisconsin post player actually playing in the post and dominating down low?  I am not at all worried about Stone being a stretch big, and that's what Bo makes his bigs into.  Bo doesn't change his system, it's the same thing he's always been doing at Wisconsin.  I would be much more worried about Looney at Wisconsin than Stone at Wisconsin.

I'm not talking about "on the court" devastating. But just that losing a Top 5 player to your in-state rival out of your territory will hurt a lot.

[wadesworld]

I'm not talking about "on the court" devastating. But just that losing a Top 5 player to your in-state rival out of your territory will hurt a lot.

I personally don't really care if we're seeing top ranked players slip away from our back yard, as long as we continue to have success on the court that's all that really matters.

[Markusquette]

I'm not talking about "on the court" devastating. But just that losing a Top 5 player to your in-state rival out of your territory will hurt a lot.

Yeah, but we're stealing their traditionals 

[Dawson Rental]

That's not what Bo says.

http://college-basketball.si.com/2013/08/19/wisconsin-badgers/

The article does say:
"When a coach is with a program for as long as Ryan has been at Wisconsin (he's entering his 13th season), a statistical 'footprint' of how he likes to coach usually becomes clear. And in Ryan's case, there are certain inarguable tenets in the way he approaches the game. For example, .... They also play extremely slowly in terms of possessions, with last season's pace of 61.7 possessions per game (318th in Division I out of 347 teams) the fastest of the last half decade of Badgers basketball."

But, the overall approach has not been completely consistent.  ....the fact that the past several Wisconsin teams had big men more comfortable facing up than banging down on the block, created a shift in the way the Badgers executed out of Ryan's standard "Swing offense." The Badgers have still been using the positional concepts of the system, which (in very loose and simple terms) creates triangles on the ball side, with both big men and guards taking turns posting up after initial runs/cuts to the basket, but the strengths of the point guards combined with the type of big men Ryan had led to fewer field goal attempts off post-ups and more kickouts. Hence, more three-point attempts, even with the deeper arc."

So, the pace remains the same, and the offense remains the same, but the type of shots which predominate out it changes.