Jayce Johnson to Marquette

[Cheeks]

Also, I watched him a dozen or so times last year.  He's tall.

Really?  How?

[jonny09]

This is great.  Same people will be on this thread next year at this time saying we will win an NCAA game in year 7.   You bring players in to help you win in the tourney.  Our last 3 transfers have done nothing to help that.  Are you not tired of losing??  Don't you see you just keep on pushing out expectations?   How fun has not winning a tourney game in 5 years and internal team chaos been for you? 

[GoldenEagle323]

Morrow is going to run the point

So Howard can play off the ball?

[TallTitan34]

Really?  How?

Great question. Did you purchase a sports package that has the PAC 12 network?

[Cheeks]

This is great.  Same people will be on this thread next year at this time saying we will win an NCAA game in year 7.   You bring players in to help you win in the tourney.  Our last 3 transfers have done nothing to help that.  Are you not tired of losing??  Don't you see you just keep on pushing out expectations?   How fun has not winning a tourney game in 5 years and internal team chaos been for you?

24 wins is losing?  Hmm.  I thought losing is when you lost more than you won...oh, you mean not winning certain games. I see.  Our last three transfers have helped in other ways, including helping to get to the postseason.  I think you will enjoy Koby a great deal and he help d us this year in practice.  Ed Morrow didn't help us get to the NCAA tournament this year?  Rowsey didn't help?  Reinhardt didn't help?  Sure, JC wasn't great and neither was Harry, but some of your statements seem a bit overboard.

Internal team chaos seems to have be n solved with the two people leaving...do you know how much team chaise we had under O'Neill, Buzz, Crean, McGuire.....all the time.  Just like many schools, sorry but that is way more often than people care to admit.

[Cheeks]

Great question. Did you purchase a sports package that has the PAC 12 network?

I cannot wait to hear his answer on the dozen times he saw him play.

[D'Lo Brown]

I cannot wait to hear his answer on the dozen times he saw him play.

Jonny must have seen him play, how else would he know he's tall?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

One possibly optimistic stat I found. Johnson was recovering from a foot injury that slowed him down. He seemed to get healthier and stronger as the season went on and it showed in his numbers. Over his last 12 games, he averaged 8.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and shot 59.7% from the floor. Could mean that with another offseason to heal, his numbers could look better than the season averages.

[1SE]

Morrow and Chartouney.   Chartouney was an absolute travesty.  Morrow was not good last year.  Under Wojo MU has become the land where transfers go to die.

Yeah, Rowsey was terrible

[NorthernDancerColt]

Welcome, Jayce. I hope he's more productive than the Aussie.

I saw his game at Kentucky, and he just has a knack for positioning his body to rebound. It's apparent how boxing out is so instinctual to him. He has a couple good, aggressive post moves. No comparison to Froling, who for some reason, was just really hesitant as a player.

On a side note, Jemarl Baker entered the same game late and immediately flashed some perimeter moves and sank back-to-back long range threes. Would love for us to bring him aboard.

[mug644]

Couldn't agree more that offensively Ed cannot play more than 24 inches from the basket. He is NOT a 4. This signing gets us back to 15 fouls at the 5 as Ed and Theo are capable of both fouling out in the first half. Should also send the message that unfortunately Ike will never play for MU.

This is potentially a key insight. If Ike was really on a path to playing this year, would we need Johnson? Maybe his bulk and experience, as compared to Ike being a project, makes it worth it, but there is little chance that there would be enough playing time for 4 guys at the 5.

[ATL MU Warrior]

This is potentially a key insight. If Ike was really on a path to playing this year, would we need Johnson? Maybe his bulk and experience, as compared to Ike being a project, makes it worth it, but there is little chance that there would be enough playing time for 4 guys at the 5.

Jayce is here for a year. Ike is (hopefully) going to get his first game action for MU this year so Ike most likely wasn't going to be a huge contributor this year anyway.  Hopefully he is healed and can play a little

[Galway Eagle]

Jayce is here for a year. Ike is (hopefully) going to get his first game action for MU this year so Ike most likely wasn't going to be a huge contributor this year anyway.  Hopefully he is healed and can play a little

Plus next year he'd only be behind theo

[4everwarriors]

Hopin' ta bee pleasantly surprised, rather dan bitterly disappointed, aina? Translation=knot expectin' much, hey?

[The Sultan]

This is great.  Same people will be on this thread next year at this time saying we will win an NCAA game in year 7.   You bring players in to help you win in the tourney.  Our last 3 transfers have done nothing to help that.  Are you not tired of losing??  Don't you see you just keep on pushing out expectations?   How fun has not winning a tourney game in 5 years and internal team chaos been for you? 

WTF has any of this to do with Jayce Johnson?

[The Sultan]

The timing and maturity were off for Harry Froling at both SMU and MU. Ed Morrow didn't fully recover from groin surgery until late in the season.  Morrow will open some eyes in the coming season. I think it would have done Joseph Chartouny a world of good to have spent the past summer on campus rather than with the Lebanese National team. Katin Reinhardt, Andrew Rowsey and Matt Carlino were pretty solid transfer additions.

I admire your optimism, but I don't think that mattered a bit.  He was holding his own against the cupcakes, but when the BE rolled around, he largely struggled. I don't think a summer would have changed that.

[SaveOD238]

10.3 rebounds

Rebounding was probably the biggest question mark without with the Hausers and we found a guy who can rebound.  Good.

I don't expect him to play enough to average 10 boards, but if he can give 15-20 and 5 boards, that's good.  It will interesting to see if Wojo trots out the Morrow+Theo or Morrow+Jayce (or the twin towers of Theo+Jayce).  Did Morrow and John ever see the floor together last year?

[wadesworld]

The offense would have to drastically change, but Xavier had success down the stretch of the season last year playing both Hankins and Jones together down low, neither of which could shoot outside of 3 feet from the hoop and neither of which had much quickness laterally to defend a 4 on the perimeter.  Not to mention our perimeter shooting with Markus, Koby, and Sacar should be much better than theirs was with Scruggs, Marhsall, and Goodin.  They just got after it on the offensive glass, which is something Marquette would be able to do if you're going 5'10", 6'4", 6'8" and lanky, 6'8" and beefy, and 7'.

[MU82]

The offense would have to drastically change, but Xavier had success down the stretch of the season last year playing both Hankins and Jones together down low, neither of which could shoot outside of 3 feet from the hoop and neither of which had much quickness laterally to defend a 4 on the perimeter.  Not to mention our perimeter shooting with Markus, Koby, and Sacar should be much better than theirs was with Scruggs, Marhsall, and Goodin.  They just got after it on the offensive glass, which is something Marquette would be able to do if you're going 5'10", 6'4", 6'8" and lanky, 6'8" and beefy, and 7'.

Yessir. This signing gives Wojo some options, some ability to match up with other tall teams, and some ability to force other teams to match up to our size. It also gives depth and more fouls to use at the 5.

If I could have hand-picked a grad transfer, I'd have taken Blackshear, followed by a guy who could shoot 3s, defend and rebound a little. But we obviously aren't able to get Blackshear, and there are very few of the latter. So I'm glad Wojo brought in Jayce, and I look forward to him being another solid role player to surround Markus and whoever else emerges as scorers.

[StillWarriors]

Yessir. This signing gives Wojo some options, some ability to match up with other tall teams, and some ability to force other teams to match up to our size. It also gives depth and more fouls to use at the 5.

If I could have hand-picked a grad transfer, I'd have taken Blackshear, followed by a guy who could shoot 3s, defend and rebound a little. But we obviously aren't able to get Blackshear, and there are very few of the latter. So I'm glad Wojo brought in Jayce, and I look forward to him being another solid role player to surround Markus and whoever else emerges as scorers.

I completely agree. I'm surprised by some of the responses questioning why we made this move. As I've stated before, going into the season with Theo and Ed as the only big bodies would have been flirting with disaster in the absence of those who jumped ship. Heldt's role was small but significant on the occasions we needed him this year. Sure someone like Blackshear would have been fantastic, but not many like that around. Jayce can definitely contribute to this team and I don't see a downside with him being immediately available for a one year slot. I think this was an important get for depth purposes.

[frozena pizza]

I was really hoping for this.  Don't think this drastically changes expectations or anything, but this is a no-brainer signing and really gives us some front court depth and options.

Most importantly for me is that we needed some good news in the worst way and at least this is something positive.  Welcome aboard.

[bilsu]

I believed for a long time that a team needs three scorers and two complimentary players that are willing to do all the dirty work. Morrow does not need to score. He needs to understand his job is to defend and rebound.

Ike was a project player when we recruited him. He has basically misses 2 years of practice. There is no reason to believe he can make a significant contribution if he can even get on the court.

[Coleman]

Good news. Welcome Jayce.

My expectations for this team are still the same...make the NCAA tournament. After that anything can happen. We made the Sweet 16 as an 11 seed in 2011.

I think this will help, although not drastically. I do see Ed getting a chance at earning the starting spot at 4 and if he can do that we will be better for it.

At this point I'll take whatever good news we can get.

[MomofMUltiples]

I believed for a long time that a team needs three scorers and two complimentary players that are willing to do all the dirty work.

Do the complimentary players just stand around and tell the others how great they are?

Oh, and another pet peeve of mine, Bilsu - it's would have, should have, could have.  Or you could just use the contraction, should've.  Or even Brooklynese - shoulda.




Thanks for letting me get this off of my chest.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Yeah, Rowsey was terrible

Well, to be fair, on one end of the court he was.  But I loved the 3 from the logo!