Chris Carrawell

[sv48]

Is on the same fight as me going to Raleigh. Had a chance to talk to him a little bit, he seems excited about next season. Couldn't come up with many good questions to ask, anyone got one?

[4everwarriors]

We recruitin' any non-Jewish brothers?

[Goose]

4ever

+1

[wadesworld]

You send Chew his Christmas card for taking a $300k paycut to go live in the middle of nowhere and allow you a few $100 grand raise yet?

[Boone]

I imagine we're done recruiting for '14, but can you ask anyway?

[sv48]

Yep done recruiting for the 2014 season, apparently we were after 2 juco centres, but one picked Huston and other picked wake forest. He is excited to see gabe Levin play

[keefe]

Which Scoop poster has provided the coaching staff with best insight on hoops and life?

[JakeBarnes]

I ran into Lovell while marshaling at the Encompass Championship and was lucky to get a few minutes of talking time with him. Loved hearing him gush about Wojo and his recruiting abilities and standards. Sounds like the team and admin was really energized by the hire.

[Boone]

The jury is still out on Wojo the recruiter.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Yep done recruiting for the 2014 season, apparently we were after 2 juco centres, but one picked Huston and other picked wake forest. He is excited to see gabe Levin play

The Wake Forest commit is probably Darius Leonard. We knew Wojo as on him.

The Houston commit is probably Bertrand Nkali, committed just a few weeks ago. I don't think anyone here caught that one. Nkali isn't very good....averaged 2.9 and 3.4 at the juco level...

[keefe]

I ran into Lovell while marshaling at the Encompass Championship and was lucky to get a few minutes of talking time with him. 

What did he think of Tom Hanks in Apollo 13?

[MU82]

The jury is still out on Wojo the recruiter.

Six years in, many in the jury were saying Buzz couldn't recruit bigs, PGs or 3-point shooters.

Nine years in, many in the jury were saying Crean couldn't put consecutive good recruiting classes together.

So this is a revelation, that the jury is out on Wojo the recruiter 2 months into his coaching career? Wow.

[Boone]

Both Buzz and Crean came to MU with reputations as very good recruiters. Don't know that Wojo has the same reputation.

[Sharpie]

Both Buzz and Crean came to MU with reputations as very good recruiters. Don't know that Wojo has the same reputation.

There was a recent article - forget the source (I think espn) that claimed Wojo as one of best assistant coach recruiters and if my memory serves said he was "both feared and respected" in recruiting/coaching circles. So I'd say he is known as a good recruiter. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

[NotAnAlum]

There was a recent article - forget the source (I think espn) that claimed Wojo as one of best assistant coach recruiters and if my memory serves said he was "both feared and respected" in recruiting/coaching circles. So I'd say he is known as a good recruiter. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

When Wojo surfaced as a serious canidate for the MU job there was an SI article that lised him as the 16th best recruiting assist C in college basketball.  That is hardly a big endorsement since he was recruiting to Duke.  Wojo doesn't have the rep that Crean or O'Neill had as a top recruiter.  Wojo's rep was more that he was the most ready to become a Head Coach having sat behind Coach K for sooo long.  Buzz didn't have a rep for much of anything frankly when MU hired him so Wojo is a safer hire than Buzz was.
I'm very optomistic about Wojo as a bench coach and team preperation etc.  I'm a little more on the fence as to if he can bring in the same talent level as Buzz did to compete with Jay Wright and GT3 who both have reps as solid recruiters.

[Nukem2]

When Wojo surfaced as a serious canidate for the MU job there was an SI article that lised him as the 16th best recruiting assist C in college basketball.  That is hardly a big endorsement since he was recruiting to Duke.  Wojo doesn't have the rep that Crean or O'Neill had as a top recruiter.  Wojo's rep was more that he was the most ready to become a Head Coach having sat behind Coach K for sooo long.  Buzz didn't have a rep for much of anything frankly when MU hired him so Wojo is a safer hire than Buzz was.
I'm very optomistic about Wojo as a bench coach and team preperation etc.  I'm a little more on the fence as to if he can bring in the same talent level as Buzz did to compete with Jay Wright and GT3 who both have reps as solid recruiters.

Actually, Buzz had a good rep as a recruiter and did well recruiting for MU during that year under TC.

[NersEllenson]

When Wojo surfaced as a serious canidate for the MU job there was an SI article that lised him as the 16th best recruiting assist C in college basketball.  That is hardly a big endorsement since he was recruiting to Duke.  Wojo doesn't have the rep that Crean or O'Neill had as a top recruiter.  Wojo's rep was more that he was the most ready to become a Head Coach having sat behind Coach K for sooo long.  Buzz didn't have a rep for much of anything frankly when MU hired him so Wojo is a safer hire than Buzz was.
I'm very optomistic about Wojo as a bench coach and team preperation etc.  I'm a little more on the fence as to if he can bring in the same talent level as Buzz did to compete with Jay Wright and GT3 who both have reps as solid recruiters.

Agree.  Well said. I had some real concerns about his hire from a recruiting perspective...yet from the early returns am optimistic - largely based on how he's connected so well with existing players on team, none of them asked for transfer out of program.  Think he's the exact opposite of Buzz....not nearly as colorful..probably not quite as charismatic in the in-home visits....but....think Wojo has a lot he can sell, and will do so in a very straight forward, and direct approach.  Like his focus on skill development..and think that will resonate with kids and their families.

[4everwarriors]

Wojo's is gonna recruit a different student athlete than the past 2 dudes. Doesn't have to be a bad thing. Folks had a woody for Smart 'cuz, rightly or wrongly, we all felt he could recruit better than the departed schmucks.

[GGGG]

I think it's probably best to see what transpires between now and the November signing day before we throw the new coach under the bus from a recruiting perspective.  As of now, he manage to keep everyone around and landed two transfers who had interest from decent programs.  That's a good start.

Keeping Nick Noskowiak around is another positive sign.  Let's see how the next few months pan out.

[Texas Western]

Agree.  Well said. I had some real concerns about his hire from a recruiting perspective...yet from the early returns am optimistic - largely based on how he's connected so well with existing players on team, none of them asked for transfer out of program.  Think he's the exact opposite of Buzz....not nearly as colorful..probably not quite as charismatic in the in-home visits....but....think Wojo has a lot he can sell, and will do so in a very straight forward, and direct approach.  Like his focus on skill development..and think that will resonate with kids and their families.

I think you are correct about the skill development being a recruiting too. I think a good example of where that has worked for about 40 years is Michigan State. First under Jud Heathcoate and now under Izzo. Neither was noted as a recruiter, yet they were able to attract solid players and develop them into winners and the NBA. I think Wojo has a chance to come out of the gates with a good team the next two years and he can build off of that.  The other thing he has going for him is a well developed sense of our basketball history at Marquette.  He knows we have a great platform and he is communicating  that as well. We are much further developed at this point in our history than Duke was at the time Coach K took over. So I think he has seen first hand how things can be developed with the proper focus.

[Tums Festival]

Our last few head coaching hires have come in with either the rep of being good recruiters (O'Neill, Crean, Brent) who weren't so good as bench coaches, or solid a bench coach (Deane) who was too lazy too be a good recruiter. Wojo seems to have a solid bench coach rep, yet has the energy and skill to be a solid recruiter as well, even though that's not what he's known for. As another poster mentioned, lets see what happens between now and the November signing period before we pigeon-hole our new coach's skill set.

[NotAnAlum]

I think it's probably best to see what transpires between now and the November signing day before we throw the new coach under the bus from a recruiting perspective. 

Hard to see how admitting that Wojo didn't get the job at MU BECAUSE he was a known great recruiter is throwing him under the bus.  I remember when O'Neill first got here and immediately landed a top 15 class the response was "ya but can he coach".  that didn't end because they beat their first bunny in November.
Buzz did very well especially recruiting high major talent, up until he his departure most would have said hasn't been seen since Al left.  That's a high bar.

[BCHoopster]

Our last few head coaching hires have come in with either the rep of being good recruiters (O'Neill, Crean, Brent) who weren't so good as bench coaches, or solid a bench coach (Deane) who was too lazy too be a good recruiter. Wojo seems to have a solid bench coach rep, yet has the energy and skill to be a solid recruiter as well, even though that's not what he's known for. As another poster mentioned, lets see what happens between now and the November signing period before we pigeon-hole our new coach's skill set.

He recruited some pretty good assistants, I think the following year you might see inroads on better players once the assistants have a chance to get involved.  Team effort.

[GGGG]

Hard to see how admitting that Wojo didn't get the job at MU BECAUSE he was a known great recruiter is throwing him under the bus.  I remember when O'Neill first got here and immediately landed a top 15 class the response was "ya but can he coach".  that didn't end because they beat their first bunny in November.
Buzz did very well especially recruiting high major talent, up until he his departure most would have said hasn't been seen since Al left.  That's a high bar.

You downgraded his SI recruiting ranking because he was at Duke.  Essentially you said "he's an overrated recruiter" without really seeing any evidence to suggest that's the case.

[MU82]

As another poster mentioned, lets see what happens between now and the November signing period before we pigeon-hole our new coach's skill set.

Apparently, after less than eight months on the job we will have all the information we need to label Wojo's recruiting ability.