I'm always amazed how Marquette does fairly well on the court.......

[duanewade]

In spite of how dumb our fan-base and university leadership is. 

I love how many of the board bullies/boobs are down on UConn re-joining the Big East if this is somehow a bad thing.  Somehow getting a school with 4 men's basketball championships in the last 30 years while being located in the heart of our geographic footprint is pause for concern. 

Yet getting smoke-in-mirrors Gonzaga, which is located in ho-bunk Washington and plays in a gym the size of my high school, is really the desired get.     Gonzaga has to stack their non-conference every year with at least 7 good teams so the rest of the nation doesn't fall completely asleep on them before they get an undeserved seed and quickly exit from the NCAA tournament in most years.  In spite of this they are an "exciting" program with sustainable appeal regardless if they never won a championship, have a small fan base, a poor geographical location for recruiting and present horrible travel logistics for all other sports and members in the Big East. 

While were on roll hurting the AAC lets also get Memphis to park football elsewhere and join the Big East to round out our number to 12.  Then wait and see if Boston College eventually drops football due to their small stadium and tepid football fan-base.  Maybe ND wants to park all their sports in the Big East again too if the ACC pushes them too much on the revenue sharing front.  Perhaps then we can be part of a conference with lots of top 50 recruits again as Penny Hardaway has been tearing it up on the recruiting front.  Meanwhile as the attached link below illustrates the Big East is sucking wind on the 2020 top 50-100 recruiting front as every "Big" East team stunk in both postseason tournaments last year.  Well actually Marquette has the best shot of having a good class within the conference and is mentioned with the most top players but at the end of the day we'll finish 2nd or 3rd with the ones we really want and end up with a couple top 75 to 100 players.  Of course if past history is any indication of the future then one of them will transfer after one year any ways. 

All this talk about staying with other "catholic" basketball schools is laughable.  If anyone has been around DePaul's current student body lately they might think they took a wrong turn and ended up in the United Nations.  One of my friend's took his daughter for a campus tour at DePaul and not once during the tour did they even mention they are a catholic school.  They have distanced themselves from their catholic roots as getting a large paying student body is tantamount.  In fact DePaul now has such a large Palestinian faction of students that they have regular anti-Israel meetings in the student union that I witness as I cut through there on cold winter days on the way to their gym. 

So the bottom line is basketball clout, geography and money is what will drive the future membership of the Big East.  Duke used to pretend like academics ruled their world too but when all the McDonald's All Americans started going to college for just one year they adapted and have become a one and done haven no different than Kentucky which has no academic reputation to protect.  Because of this we have just as much in common with Memphis as we do with our current Big East members and that being great basketball which generates lots of free publicity and money to help keep the lights on at each member university. 

Marquette has a lot to sell with amazing facilities including the nation's premier luxury home arena that draws even 17,000 fans when playing a mid-major like Buffalo.  With $25MM in annual basketball revenues we can pay great salaries to draw top assistants and head coaches and recruits alike.  However the enablers have allowed an incompetent Wojo to linger around with non-stop excuses for the program's lack of progress.  So that will no doubt hurt our ability to have a great recruiting class this year that we normally should be able to get as top recruits don't want to have the Henry Ellenson or Romeo Langford effect of having their stock drop by being associated with a poorly coached team for their one year in college.

A smart program, which MU is not, would have moved on from Wojo this off-season and got a hot mid-major coach or given Stan Johnson a three year contract to see if he could bring fresh life into the program.  Instead MU double downed on stupid and will continue to pay the price for this.  Hopefully Wojo pulls a Buzz and leaves by his own volition within the next two years to save the program any more hardship. 

https://247sports.com/Season/2020-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I love how many of the board bullies/boobs are down on UConn re-joining the Big East if this is somehow a bad thing.  Somehow getting a school with 4 men's basketball championships in the last 30 years while being located in the heart of our geographic footprint is pause for concern. 

https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=58839.msg1140091;topicseen#new

[Herman Cain]

In spite of how dumb our fan-base and university leadership is. 

I love how many of the board bullies/boobs are down on UConn re-joining the Big East if this is somehow a bad thing.  Somehow getting a school with 4 men's basketball championships in the last 30 years while being located in the heart of our geographic footprint is pause for concern. 

Yet getting smoke-in-mirrors Gonzaga, which is located in ho-bunk Washington and plays in a gym the size of my high school, is really the desired get.     Gonzaga has to stack their non-conference every year with at least 7 good teams so the rest of the nation doesn't fall completely asleep on them before they get an undeserved seed and quickly exit from the NCAA tournament on most years.  In spite of this they are an "exciting" program with sustainable appeal regardless if they never won a championship, have a small fan base, a poor geographical location for recruiting and present horrible travel logistics for all other sports and members in the Big East. 

While were on roll hurting the AAC lets also get Memphis to park football elsewhere and join the Big East also to round out our number to 12.  Then wait and see if Boston College eventually drops football due to their small stadium and tepid football fan-base.  Maybe ND wants to park all their sports in the Big East again too if the ACC pushes them too much on the revenue sharing front.  Perhaps then we can be part of a conference with lots of top 50 recruits again as Penny Hardaway has been tearing it up on the recruiting front.  Meanwhile as the attached link below illustrates the Big East is sucking wind on the 2020 top 50-100 recruiting front as every "Big" East team stunk in both postseason tournaments last year.  Well actually Marquette has the best shot of having a good class within the conference and is mentioned with the most top players but at the end of the day we'll finish 2nd or 3rd with the ones we really wanted and end up with a couple top 75 to 100 players.  Of course if past history is any indication of the future then one of them will transfer after one year any ways. 

All this talk about staying with other "catholic" basketball schools is laughable.  If anyone has been around DePaul's current student body lately they might think they took a wrong turn and ended up in the United Nations.  One of my friend's took his daughter for a campus tour at DePaul and not once during the tour did they even mention they are a catholic school.  They have distanced themselves from their catholic roots as getting a large paying student body is tantamount.  In fact DePaul now has such a large Palestinian faction of students that they have regular anti-Israel meetings in the student union that I witness as I cut through there on cold winter days on the way to their gym. 

So the bottom line is basketball clout, geography and money is what will drive the future membership of the Big East.  Duke used to pretend like academics ruled their world too but when all the McDonald's All Americans started to going to college for just one year they adapted and have become a one and done haven no different than Kentucky which has no academic reputation to protect.  Because of this we have just as much in common with Memphis as we do with our current Big East members and that being great basketball which generates lots of free publicity and money to help keep the lights on at each member university. 

Marquette has a lot to sell with amazing facilities including the nation's premier luxury home arena that draws even 17,000 fans when playing a mid-major like Buffalo.  With $25MM in annual basketball revenues we can pay great salaries to draw top assistants and head coaches and recruits alike.  However the enablers have allowed an incompetent Wojo to linger around with non-stop excuses for the program's lack of progress.  So that will no doubt hurt our ability to have a great recruiting class this year that we normally should be able to get as top recruits don't want to have the Henry Ellenson or Romeo Langford effect of having their stock drop by being associated with a poorly coached team for their one year in college.

A smart program, which MU is not, would have moved on from Wojo this off-season and got a hot mid-major coach or given Stan Johnson a three year contract to see if he could bring fresh life into the program.  Instead MU double downed on stupid and will continue to pay the price for this.  Hopefully Wojo pulls a Buzz and leaves by his own volition within the next two years to save the program any more hardship. 

https://247sports.com/Season/2020-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

Thanks for taking the time to put these solid thoughts together in one post. As always , appreciate your  views on the key issues as they related to Marquette Basketball.

I would give Xavier some credit for picking up Dwon Odom though . His stock is rising rapidly and he just did very well at the NBPA top 100 camp

https://247sports.com/college/basketball/recruiting/Article/Xavier-commitment-Dwon-Odom-North-Carolina-pledge-DayRon-Sharpe-and-five-star-Dawson-Garcia-shined-on-day-two-at-the-NBA-Top-100-Camp-132856829/

[Cheeks]

I didn’t make boob status on this one....which I am happy for.....except could not agree with you less on the Wojo part or Memphis.

[Uncle Rico]

Thanks for taking the time to put these solid thoughts together in one post. As always , appreciate your  views on the key issues as they related to Marquette Basketball.

I would give Xavier some credit for picking up Dwon Odom though . His stock is rising rapidly and he just did very well at the NBPA top 100 camp

https://247sports.com/college/basketball/recruiting/Article/Xavier-commitment-Dwon-Odom-North-Carolina-pledge-DayRon-Sharpe-and-five-star-Dawson-Garcia-shined-on-day-two-at-the-NBA-Top-100-Camp-132856829/

Yup, he’s got trolling down to an art

[Johnny B]

Thanks for taking the time to put these solid thoughts together in one post. As always , appreciate your  views on the key issues as they related to Marquette Basketball.

I would give Xavier some credit for picking up Dwon Odom though . His stock is rising rapidly and he just did very well at the NBPA top 100 camp

https://247sports.com/college/basketball/recruiting/Article/Xavier-commitment-Dwon-Odom-North-Carolina-pledge-DayRon-Sharpe-and-five-star-Dawson-Garcia-shined-on-day-two-at-the-NBA-Top-100-Camp-132856829/

No offence but you sound like a robot sometimes herman:p

[GooooMarquette]

I’m amazed that anyone really thinks basketball success has any connection to the intelligence level of the fan base.

[duanewade]

Thanks for taking the time to put these solid thoughts together in one post. As always , appreciate your  views on the key issues as they related to Marquette Basketball.

I would give Xavier some credit for picking up Dwon Odom though . His stock is rising rapidly and he just did very well at the NBPA top 100 camp

https://247sports.com/college/basketball/recruiting/Article/Xavier-commitment-Dwon-Odom-North-Carolina-pledge-DayRon-Sharpe-and-five-star-Dawson-Garcia-shined-on-day-two-at-the-NBA-Top-100-Camp-132856829/

Great minds think alike Mr. Cain....unfortunately we’re in short supply in the MU basketball community.

Xavier’s new coach is a good recruiter and does the best he can with the limitations Xavier has. Hopefully the other programs start to recruit better as well. However Patrick Ewing is a solid game coach but doesn’t light up kids eyes on the recruiting front like they hoped he could. Most the kids he recruits don’t even remember him playing in the NBA. So right now Villanova and Marquette are the only two potential recruiting powers in the conference. UConn could be the third.

Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall and Xavier will get some kids here and there but none of them will be top 50.

St John’s made a smart hire and will get some local kids that are between 75 to 200 who are still very good players and could move up and land better talent with success on the court.

DePaul somehow has started to recruit well but we’ll see if it translates on the court.

Butler and Creighton will continue to be Hoosier type programs that don’t dazzle you with athletic ability but try to spread you out and beat you with five guys who can all shoot from three.

[Cheeks]

You didn’t think a new arena for DePaul was going to benefit them?  Of course they are going to pick up recruiting.

[muguru]

You didn’t think a new arena for DePaul was going to benefit them?  Of course they are going to pick up recruiting.

Maybe but when you consider it's still DePaul, regardless of where the play, and their history of finishing last in the BE.

[dgies9156]

There's a secret sauce to being an elite college basketball program.

1) Start with a name that has some national recognition from the past (i.e., Indiana Georgetown, Us, UCLA etc.)

2) Recruit a big-time name athlete and let him be the face of the program for two years.

3) Begin to win and reach the NCAA tournament.

4) Leverage your first NCAA tournament appearance into better recruits, more four-star and eventual Burger Boys.

5) Go deep in the NCAA two years or more.

6) Sign your coach to a long-term contract and shower him with so much love and affection he never leaves.

7) Maintain a regular presence in the NCAA Sweet 16 or better.

We got the first three down with Wojo. Got part of the way down item 4 and skipped over 5 to 6. We're waiting for 5 and 7.

Until we get to 7, we're not elite. We have a great program, great arena, wonderful fans and a mediocre record for the past six years.

[willie warrior]

Oh boy wade. You are about to get a horsewhipping from the Wojo excuse makers for your classless and mean critique of Wojo.

[duanewade]

Oh boy wade. You are about to get a horsewhipping from the Wojo excuse makers for your classless and mean critique of Wojo.

Nope. 95% of this board has me on ignore as they prefer to hide from reality with their head in the sand. So my posts are only read by 50 or so users and only Herman admits he likes them.

[Galway Eagle]

Nope. 95% of this board has me on ignore as they prefer to hide from reality with their head in the sand. So my posts are only read by 50 or so users and only Herman admits he likes them.

Because your posts are idiotic and you just hid for months till you post your next inaccurate absurdly long rant.

[TedBaxter]

Call me a Wojo apologist or maybe someone who looks a little deeper and am much more patient than most posters.

Hasn't MU been to 3 straight post-seasons and 2 of the those NCAA berths? This year they are predicted to be a potential top 25 team after losing 2 unexpected transfers?  Compare Marquette to what Smart, Martin and Howland have done and those were the other finalists back when Wojo got the job.

Sorry, but when I see schools hanging on to guys who might be breaking NCAA rules and who haven't done a hell of a lot better than Wojo has done, if they have been better, I'm not going to call for someone's head.

[Newsdreams]

Nope. 95% of this board has me on ignore as they prefer to hide from reality with their head in the sand. So my posts are only read by 50 or so users and only Herman admits he likes them.[\b]

This shows how excellent and credible your posts are.

[Herman Cain]

There's a secret sauce to being an elite college basketball program.

1) Start with a name that has some national recognition from the past (i.e., Indiana Georgetown, Us, UCLA etc.)

2) Recruit a big-time name athlete and let him be the face of the program for two years.

3) Begin to win and reach the NCAA tournament.

4) Leverage your first NCAA tournament appearance into better recruits, more four-star and eventual Burger Boys.

5) Go deep in the NCAA two years or more.

6) Sign your coach to a long-term contract and shower him with so much love and affection he never leaves.

7) Maintain a regular presence in the NCAA Sweet 16 or better.

We got the first three down with Wojo. Got part of the way down item 4 and skipped over 5 to 6. We're waiting for 5 and 7.

Until we get to 7, we're not elite. We have a great program, great arena, wonderful fans and a mediocre record for the past six years.

Right now MU is performing at a level that would be acceptable at Creighton.

In fact, if the post Doug McDermott record of Creighton is compared to ours it is pretty similar. A couple of tournament bids, some NIT. The one good team they had was stymied when Maurice Watson Jr tore ACL , prior to that injury, they were ranking in top 10 and looking very good.

The only difference in the programs now is that MU plays in actual NBA arena , they play in one the same size and fill it.

[Cheeks]

Right now MU is performing at a level that would be acceptable at Creighton.

In fact, if the post Doug McDermott record of Creighton is compared to ours it is pretty similar. A couple of tournament bids, some NIT. The one good team they had was stymied when Maurice Watson Jr tore ACL , prior to that injury, they were ranking in top 10 and looking very good.

The only difference in the programs now is that MU plays in actual NBA arena , they play in one the same size and fill it.

Omaha has no NBA team to compete with, no MLB team or NFL team....Marquette has to deal with all of those.

 Maurice Watson also had legal issues and pled no contest for assaulting a woman after having sexual assault charges dropped.

Creighton has had stability with coaching, yet so many here cannot wait to be unstable again....makes zero sense.  McDermott has been there since 2010 and he got to cut his teeth for years at lower levels as head man.

[79Warrior]

Omaha has no NBA team to compete with, no MLB team or NFL team....Marquette has to deal with all of those.

 Maurice Watson also had legal issues and pled no contest for assaulting a woman after having sexual assault charges dropped.

Creighton has had stability with coaching, yet so many here cannot wait to be unstable again....makes zero sense.  McDermott has been there since 2010 and he got to cut his teeth for years at lower levels as head man.

How does MLB interfere with MU?  How does the NFL?? We have what, one maybe two Sunday games? Many argue an NBA team is a plus for MU. Don’t buy your comparisons.

[Galway Eagle]

How does MLB interfere with MU?  How does the NFL?? We have what, one maybe two Sunday games? Many argue an NBA team is a plus for MU. Don’t buy your comparisons.

I think maybe he means for the general public's entertainment dollar? Seems like the only way that'd make sense.

[Cheeks]

How does MLB interfere with MU?  How does the NFL?? We have what, one maybe two Sunday games? Many argue an NBA team is a plus for MU. Don’t buy your comparisons.

Easy answer.  When I ran marketing for athletics at MU we surveyed Milwaukeans and season ticket holders multiple times.  Did outside research as well with a firm.  There are large cohorts of people on budgets that pick and choose where their entertainment budget goes.  They may buy a 10 pack of Brewers games, or go to one Packers game...that’s what they can afford.  They have an interest in MU basketball, but not the budget when offered other choices.  Omaha doesn’t have to deal with those extra options to the same degree.  The comment Herman made was about attendance, but that doesn’t just mean overlapping seasons with MU on the calendar....it also becomes an economic choice for people and what options there are in the market.

Simply put, there are many more competing high level sporting options for MU fans than Creighton fans.  I’m not even factoring in Chicago an easy drive or minor league options (which yes, Omaha has some, too).

[Cheeks]

I think maybe he means for the general public's entertainment dollar? Seems like the only way that'd make sense.

That’s exactly what it is, and reams of data to support it. 

[Herman Cain]

Right now MU is performing at a level that would be acceptable at Creighton.

In fact, if the post Doug McDermott record of Creighton is compared to ours it is pretty similar. A couple of tournament bids, some NIT. The one good team they had was stymied when Maurice Watson Jr tore ACL , prior to that injury, they were ranking in top 10 and looking very good.

The only difference in the programs now is that MU plays in actual NBA arena , they play in one the same size and fill it.

Omaha has no NBA team to compete with, no MLB team or NFL team....Marquette has to deal with all of those.

 Maurice Watson also had legal issues and pled no contest for assaulting a woman after having sexual assault charges dropped.

Creighton has had stability with coaching, yet so many here cannot wait to be unstable again....makes zero sense.  McDermott has been there since 2010 and he got to cut his teeth for years at lower levels as head man.

Omaha has no NBA team to compete with, no MLB team or NFL team....Marquette has to deal with all of those.

 Maurice Watson also had legal issues and pled no contest for assaulting a woman after having sexual assault charges dropped.

Creighton has had stability with coaching, yet so many here cannot wait to be unstable again....makes zero sense.  McDermott has been there since 2010 and he got to cut his teeth for years at lower levels as head man.

All valid points. However, they do not really address the basic point made, that being MU and Creighton performance pretty much the same.  I could be wrong, but I think MU fan base expects more. Creighton getting all they can get out of their assets, MU basketball is not.

Also here is the actual detail of Maurice Watson Jr. case.
https://www.omaha.com/news/crime/prosecutors-drop-rape-charge-against-maurice-watson-ex-creighton-player/article_30ff9328-9fb3-11e7-ab49-8f82624c17cf.html

[Cheeks]

All valid points. However, they do not really address the basic point made, that being MU and Creighton performance pretty much the same.  I could be wrong, but I think MU fan base expects more. Creighton getting all they can get out of their assets, MU basketball is not.

Also here is the actual detail of Maurice Watson Jr. case.
https://www.omaha.com/news/crime/prosecutors-drop-rape-charge-against-maurice-watson-ex-creighton-player/article_30ff9328-9fb3-11e7-ab49-8f82624c17cf.html

Aware of Watson, felt like I stated it correctly.

I believe our trajectory at MU the past few years has been very good.  Let Wojo continue to work to build on that trajectory.

[jesmu84]

Aware of Watson, felt like I stated it correctly.

I believe our trajectory at MU the past few years has been very good.  Let Wojo continue to work to build on that trajectory.

Not Herman. He wants wojo out and MU to have to start all over again