Recruiting as of 5/15/24

[PointWarrior]

Nice call on this one...

My guess is that Harvard is in the lead right now . The young man has articulated  how he values the Ivy League opportunity. 

The theoretical Harvard lead can be offset with NIL. I speculate that MU and Rutgers are most likely fighting it out over NIL dollars .

Appears to be the kind of player that would do well in the physical Big East games . Hopefully the Weiner Meter is pointing in the right direction

[muwarrior69]

With predictions like this, we're gonna have to start calling you Small Mommy 48.

C'mon, Herman is not a real Wizard so give him a break. Besides If MU does not work out for Tre there is alway Harvard.

[Hards Alumni]

My guess is that Harvard is in the lead right now . The young man has articulated  how he values the Ivy League opportunity. 

The theoretical Harvard lead can be offset with NIL. I speculate that MU and Rutgers are most likely fighting it out over NIL dollars .

Appears to be the kind of player that would do well in the physical Big East games . Hopefully the Weiner Meter is pointing in the right direction

I love scoop

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I love scoop

Did we expect better from the guy that set up a sock puppet to agree with his own takes?

[jfp61]

Saying that a player who has been quietly committed to Marquette since his visit in April was going to Harvard instead was very very very Scoopy.

[jfp61]

An odd statement.   Why do you think that?  What does he have that you feel is lacking elsewhere?

1. He has offense and defense for starters. Only other guard who might be proficient on both ends of the court is Kolek IMO. And he didn't show the offense last year. Kam Jones is all O. Stevie is all D. Saying Sean Jones might would be a guess, but as fast as he is he might be too short to be an elite defender.

2. It appears as if he can actually drive.

3. It appears as if he can rebound at a high level for his size.

4. He has patience, and a strange gam  in and around the basket that will provide different looks and a more genuine inside out game.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Stevie played the role he was assigned last year. He was a pretty proficient scorer in HS, I suspect he could be at least adequate if that was asked of him. Kam (eye test warning) made the effort last year IMO, but he played the 4/5 in HS, so he was being asked to take a big step up guarding the perimeter last year.

[jfp61]

Marquette has offered Bryce Dortch. He was a sf, but is probably a 4 now. He is 6'9" and still growing. Another player from Boston and the NE leagues.

https://twitter.com/BryceDortch4/status/1568750679769944064?s=20&t=92mdxhvQKg3D0DWTcvjCYg

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Marquette has offered Bryce Dortch. He was a sf, but is probably a 4 now. He is 6'9" and still growing. Another player from Boston and the NE leagues.

https://twitter.com/BryceDortch4/status/1568750679769944064?s=20&t=92mdxhvQKg3D0DWTcvjCYg

Currently unranked 2024 prospect. We appear to be his second high major offer after....the fighting Buzzes

[tower912]

6'9 200 lb sophomore.   MU is ahead of the curve.   

[MU82]

Unranked? Stoopid Shaka obviously doesn’t know as much as interwebs dudes.

[Pakuni]

@WisBBYearbook: Coaches from Marquette and Southern Illinois stoped by Saint Thomas More this week to check in on juniors Sekou Konneh and Amari McCottry.

[war1980rior]

Stevie played the role he was assigned last year. He was a pretty proficient scorer in HS, I suspect he could be at least adequate if that was asked of him. Kam (eye test warning) made the effort last year IMO, but he played the 4/5 in HS, so he was being asked to take a big step up guarding the perimeter last year.

I have a nephew who was in his conference in HS, and he said Stevie scored at will when he wanted to.  I think he knew his role was defense first and played that role.  In addition, anytime you take that step up in competition, you need some time to adjust to facing significantly better talent.  I think (hope?) he'll be fine this coming year.

[withoutbias]

@WisBBYearbook: Coaches from Marquette and Southern Illinois stoped by Saint Thomas More this week to check in on juniors Sekou Konneh and Amari McCottry.

Man, it'd sure be nice to start competing with other high major for kids instead of the Browns and Southern Illinois's of the world.

I know what the slurpers will say.  "TAMU came in for this kid we got!  Xavier is offering that kid we're offering!"  But those are one off programs in a list of mid (at best) majors.  I want players who are listed with the Kentuckys, Kansases, UNCs, and Dukes of the world, not the Salukis.

[tower912]

So, you don't believe in culture and development.

[withoutbias]

So, you don't believe in culture and development.

I believe in winning basketball games.  I don't care if the players are best friends with each other.  Kobe and Shaq hated each other.  They also won.  KD and Draymond hated each other.  They won.  I want kids who don't harm others, who don't fail their classes (a small ask given all the support they get) and who are incredibly good at basketball.  They can go to Southern Illinois and stink if they want to be best friends.

[Pakuni]

So, you don't believe in culture and development.

Culture/development and top-tier talent are not mutually exclusive.

[tower912]

Jones, Ross, Gold.    Lowery, Norman, Amadou.   4 guards, two long, versatile forwards.   The 23 class has two 4 stars and a 3 star.   The 22 class is lower because nobody knows what MU has with Gold.

It feels like a complaint in search of a problem.

[JWags85]

Man, it'd sure be nice to start competing with other high major for kids instead of the Browns and Southern Illinois's of the world.

I know what the slurpers will say.  "TAMU came in for this kid we got!  Xavier is offering that kid we're offering!"  But those are one off programs in a list of mid (at best) majors.  I want players who are listed with the Kentuckys, Kansases, UNCs, and Dukes of the world, not the Salukis.

They stopped by to check out local kids in their backyard.  They didn't fly to South Carolina to watch unranked kids being recruited by UNC Asheville and Winthrop.

Tre Norman is a top 100 recruit.  I don't care who his other offers were.  He had significant high major interest.  He's not a 2 star that was down to Marquette and Brown.

Amadou is a borderline top 100 guy who had significant ACC interest, plus other Big East interest.

Lowery is a late bloomer who wasn't even a full time basketball player 2 years ago but still had B10/B12 offers.

This class has Sean Jones who chose Marquette over 2 other "high major" offers and was good enough to be on OSU's radar until they got commitments elsewhere.

Chase Ross had close to a dozen high major offers and took SEC/B10 visits.

Not sure where this "not getting high major" kids is coming from.

In the 2022 draft...

Keegan Murray went #4, his other offer besides Iowa was Western Illinois.

Ivey went #5, he was ranked lower than Norman, other top schools were Butler and ND.  Good programs, but not the blue bloods you stress about.

Mathurin from Arizona went #6.  Wasn't a top 100 guy.  Until Zona and Baylor got involved late, he was mainly target by Washington State.

Thats just the top 6.  Not even counting Sochan who was fringe top 100 or Agbaji who was a 3 star that was also considering Wisconsin and A&M before Kansas.

Maybe don't stress over lower ranked 16 year old kids just getting a glance from Marquette when Shaka has a track record of success recruiting and his current classes have garnered plenty of interest from major programs.  And that's not using nebulous metrics like culture or whatnot

[rocky_warrior]

It feels like a complaint in search of a problem.

Eh, I'm also not overly impressed with Shaka's recruiting at Marquette so far.  However, if he can get "culture" to win a bunch of games, I'll be all in.  Only time will tell.

[Pakuni]

Jones, Ross, Gold.    Lowery, Norman, Amadou.   4 guards, two long, versatile forwards.   The 23 class has two 4 stars and a 3 star.   The 22 class is lower because nobody knows what MU has with Gold.

It feels like a complaint in search of a problem.

Like you, and presumably everyone else here, I hope all these kids develop into outstanding players at MU.
But it's not unreasonable to raise an eyebrow over the fact that in two recruiting cycles we've brought in zero top 50 recruits, zero top 75 recruits and only one top 100 recruit (per the 247 composite).
There's more than one way to win in college basketball, but the easiest and most likely way is to recruit better players than your opponents. Winning by developing lesser talent and "hidden gems" isn't impossible, but it's harder. That's not a complaint. That's a fact. And it seems like a wholly uncontroversial statement to me. Top programs don't pay huge salaries to assistant coaches and create huge recruiting budgets because #recruitingnomatta.

Anyhow, back to the original point ... you can develop culture and develop players while also landing highly regarded recruits.

[JTJ3]

We also havent even offered those 2 STM kids.  And theyre both potential P6 recruits, especially Konneh, so of course we're going to go check on them to see how theyre progressing.

[tower912]

I would like a widebody and 6'6 freak athlete.    I will learn to live with my disappointment.   

It is clear that he likes mobile, versatile forwards with length.   And athletic guards.

Coach smart has already landed more athletic guards in 18 months than Wojo did in 7 years.   

[Dr. Blackheart]

Man, it'd sure be nice to start competing with other high major for kids instead of the Browns and Southern Illinois's of the world.

I know what the slurpers will say.  "TAMU came in for this kid we got!  Xavier is offering that kid we're offering!"  But those are one off programs in a list of mid (at best) majors.  I want players who are listed with the Kentuckys, Kansases, UNCs, and Dukes of the world, not the Salukis.

So you don't believe in advanced analytics in diagnosing keys to games and quantitative insights into teams' strengths and weaknesses....but you believe in recruiting rankings as the word?  You confuse me.

[Shooter McGavin]

Eh, I'm also not overly impressed with Shaka's recruiting at Marquette so far.  However, if he can get "culture" to win a bunch of games, I'll be all in.  Only time will tell.

Perfect summation of my thoughts.  This season will be very interesting.  If they are as good as some here think, I’ll be all in. 

 I do like the upside of the players he’s bringing in.   If this method of accumulating talent and developing it works, Shaka will be here for a long time.