Recruiting as of 5/15/25

[muguru]

And Gard has been "pulling in better players."  But almost all of them are in-state.  Do they count? 

I am so confused.

Davison and Ruevers are in state?? Who knew?? Have Wojo's "great" recruiting classes produced any NCAA tournament wins, let alone appearances?? When was MU's last NCAA tourney appearance?? I'll hang up and listen for your answer.

[jsglow]

What I'm surprised about is that none of you chose to engage chick over her gif a couple hours ago.

Cowards.

[WarriorPride68]

And Gard has been "pulling in better players."  But almost all of them are in-state.  Do they count? 

I am so confused.

Isn't Herro the first Wisconsin player to commit under Gard?

[GGGG]

Davison and Ruevers are in state?? Who knew??

Last I checked, "almost all" does not mean "all."

Have Wojo's "great" recruiting classes produced any NCAA tournament wins, let alone appearances??

No, the one recruiting class that has played as freshman last year did not produce a tournament appearance. 

[4everwarriors]

Lol ....our first McDonald's all American in 30 years doesn't count because he is " in state"

Ok.....sounds good......totally fair.

I'm not fer sure on dis, but Bucky didn't sign Henry, or did dey, hey?

[real chili 83]

Glow likes it when you talk dirty.

[muguru]

So...who HAVE been program changing in the past 20 years? Surely not any three stars, which rules out Wade and all the JUCOs. Not Diener, Novak, Matthews, or Blue, since they're all in state and don't count.

Who does that leave? Dom and Jerel? Arguably two of the best players we've had since the 1970s? Maybe no one we have will equal them, though Cheatham and Howard will have the chance to equal them, certainly as good a chance as similarly rated flops like Junior Cadougan and Dameon Mason.

Quite simply, we could have program changing players. Certainly on par with any of the players we've seen in the past twenty years. But none of them (not even Hank) had a four year future NBA player on the roster like Novak, so I think we can give them a pass on not making the tourney yet.

I never said Novak, Deiner, Matthews etc don't count...it's just everyone makes such a big deal out of henry being an all american and use Wojo landing him as their basis for "proving" he can recruit. Sure he landed him, but are you seriously going to dismiss the fact that he was an in state kid not making that a bit easier for him?? Let's see Wojo land a kid like Jabari Parker, or a Ben Simmons or a Stud like that from out of state sometime...THEN we can annoint him a great recruiter..IMO. By no means has he been bad(I said that before), it's just he came to MU with a reputation of being a phenomenal recruiter...phenomenal recruiters consistently land top 20 recruiting classes, no?? Then again, if Wojo doesn't start winning...like NOW, he won't be around to even see his current Freshman class graduate. Or at least he shouldn't be.

[cheebs09]

Big Daddy Cain is a great screen name!

I remember when we recruited a Big Daddy Kane (Deandre I think). I wanted him just for the name.

[tower912]

muguru, I think you are jumping the gun.   Exactly one of Wojo's recruiting classes has actually seen the floor.   It was a top 10 class and won 20 games playing in the Big East with freshman playing a boatload of minutes.    Winning 20 games relying as heavily on freshmen as we did last year is a reason for optimism, not pessimism.      Are IE or TJ program changers?    Perhaps not.  And it is going to take them time to adapt to college ball, just like nearly every freshman.   But they are athletic 6'9 players with upside.    Please name the last time MU had two athletic 6'9 players in the same class.   

Wojo has room to grow as a game coach.   As does anybody when they move into the big chair.   At least he is getting himself some nice blocks to build with. 

[brewcity77]

I never said Novak, Deiner, Matthews etc don't count...it's just everyone makes such a big deal out of henry being an all american and use Wojo landing him as their basis for "proving" he can recruit. Sure he landed him, but are you seriously going to dismiss the fact that he was an in state kid not making that a bit easier for him??

Yes. That's crap. You use whatever positives you can. Diamond Stone and Kevon Looney were in state and didn't stick around. Neither did many other top tier Wisconsin kids. Landing a McDonald's All American is impressive, no matter where they're from.

[muguru]

Last I checked, "almost all" does not mean "all."

No, the one recruiting class that has played as freshman last year did not produce a tournament appearance. 

Which, when you consider the fact that class had an all american and a one and done NBA talent, that wouldn't be a good thing, would it?? Sure would be nice of Wojo would hit the Juco ranks a little more...there is no quicker way to turn around a moribound program then Jucos if you get the right ones(see, Williams, Buzz).

[4everwarriors]

I remember when we recruited a Big Daddy Kane (Deandre I think). I wanted him just for the name.

Figurin' Big Daddy Grandstaff woulda been a sight ta see, ai na?

[GGGG]

Which, when you consider the fact that class had an all american and a one and done NBA talent, that wouldn't be a good thing, would it?? Sure would be nice of Wojo would hit the Juco ranks a little more...there is no quicker way to turn around a moribound program then Jucos if you get the right ones(see, Williams, Buzz).

OK.  Just be unhappy.  No skin off my nose.

[GGGG]

Figurin' Big Daddy Grandstaff woulda been a sight ta see, ai na?

For you maybe.

[tower912]

Which, when you consider the fact that class had an all american and a one and done NBA talent, that wouldn't be a good thing, would it?? Sure would be nice of Wojo would hit the Juco ranks a little more...there is no quicker way to turn around a moribound program then Jucos if you get the right ones(see, Williams, Buzz).

Wojo doesn't have the contacts or the experience with JUCO's that Buzz has.   And, for better or worse, he was hired to be the opposite of Buzz from a recruiting and style of program perspective. 

[Silkk the Shaka]

Mark, you're a smart guy...are you going to sit there and tell me it's not easier for a home state school to pull in a recruit like Henry then it would be to pull in one from say Texas?? When Wojo can land an all american from another state or recruit a class like the amigos...THEN I think we can talk about how great of a recruiter is. Problem is, if he doesn't win, he won't be around long enough to have that chance...nor should he be. The clock is ticking...for him...the losing is on him..he better figure out real quick how to change that.

Howard just won a gold medal on team USA, and he's from Arizona. Relax my man.

[muguru]

Wojo doesn't have the contacts or the experience with JUCO's that Buzz has.   And, for better or worse, he was hired to be the opposite of Buzz from a recruiting and style of program perspective.

Well, then i would say the administration doesn't value a winning BB program as much as they once did. Buzz won...and won big..he didn't break any NCAA rules. Isn't college BB at the highest levels all about winning and playing by the rules?? If that's not what you value as an athletic department/administration(from your #1 revenue generating sport) then quite frankly, maybe being an administrator at a school like MU, doesn't fit you. I'd sure think when you spend the kind of $$ that MU does on it's program, you'd want the results to justify that type of spending, wouldn't you?? Buzz got them. period.

[tower912]

Well, then i would say the administration doesn't value a winning BB program as much as they once did. Buzz won...and won big..he didn't break any NCAA rules. Isn't college BB at the highest levels all about winning and playing by the rules?? If that's not what you value as an athletic department/administration(from your #1 revenue generating sport) then quite frankly, maybe being an administrator at a school like MU, doesn't fit you. I'd sure think when you spend the kind of $$ that MU does on it's program, you'd want the results to justify that type of spending, wouldn't you?? Buzz got them. period.

I was and am a huge fan of Buzz and what he accomplished at MU.   For better or worse, that ship has sailed.   Be patient. 

[muguru]

muguru, I think you are jumping the gun.   Exactly one of Wojo's recruiting classes has actually seen the floor.   It was a top 10 class and won 20 games playing in the Big East with freshman playing a boatload of minutes.    Winning 20 games relying as heavily on freshmen as we did last year is a reason for optimism, not pessimism.      Are IE or TJ program changers?    Perhaps not.  And it is going to take them time to adapt to college ball, just like nearly every freshman.   But they are athletic 6'9 players with upside.    Please name the last time MU had two athletic 6'9 players in the same class.   

Wojo has room to grow as a game coach.   As does anybody when they move into the big chair.   At least he is getting himself some nice blocks to build with.

To be fair, Duke a couple years ago had a top ten class in which they had a ton of Freshman play integral roles in the ACC and they won a national Championship, led by those Freshman.

[tower912]

To be fair, Duke a couple years ago had a top ten class in which they had a ton of Freshman play integral roles in the ACC and they won a national Championship, led by those Freshman.

And who were the upperclassmen and how long had they been in the same system?   You're not wrong, but you are not looking at the whole picture.   Those freshmen played because they were better, not because there was no choice.   Also, you are failing to differentiate between a once-in-a-generation class (even for Duke) (and for Kentucky a couple of years ago) and an approximately top 10 class.    A good class, but not transcendent.
  MU/Wojo was forced to play HC at point.    How many of those Duke/Kentucky freshman classes forced someone to play PG for the first time?    Henry had to play an insane amount of minutes.    How many of those Duke/Kentucky freshmen averaged over 30 mpg?     When Henry went out, he was replaced by his brother or Cohen.    Who came in off of the bench for those other guys?
   See the whole picture.    Be patient.   

[GGGG]

To be fair, Duke a couple years ago had a top ten class in which they had a ton of Freshman play integral roles in the ACC and they won a national Championship, led by those Freshman.

Yes.  The four freshmen were all McD All Americans.  Just like everyone else on the active roster for Duke that season.

[MuMark]

To be fair, Duke a couple years ago had a top ten class in which they had a ton of Freshman play integral roles in the ACC and they won a national Championship, led by those Freshman.

So you're saying Wojo,isn't Coach K and MU isn't Duke?

Finally some common ground.

Now go look up Duke's record during K's first 3 seasons and relax before you have a heart attack.

[jsglow]

For you maybe.

Well played sir.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Look, John might be a fine player for MU and I hope he is, but let's not act like he's the next coming of Ben Simmons or something. Wojo has pulled in some decent recruits(I don't count Henry because he was in state), but the reality is, none of them have been "program changing" recruits(yet anyway) and quite obviously, none of them have been so good that MU has made the NCAAs because of them. More simply put, none of them combined have been equivalent to "the three amigos". When he starts pulling in those type, then I will be more impressed. Not that i think his recruiting has been bad...it just hasn't been as great as one would tend to think it might be(or should be) with his Duke pedigree etc. In fact, I'd argue Greg Gard has been pulling in better players than Wojo has..that should NEVER happen. But it has been because MU hasn't been winning...that's the biggest issue right now.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Not true.  Wojo has done a great job recruiting.  Marquette will beat Wisconsin again in December.  The Badgers are a great football school but pale in comparison to the Warriors.  Fortunately they play basketball in an easy conference of slow ball.  Ring out ahoya!