Local kids or bust

[THEGYMBAR]

If Wilson, Lacy or Maymon are not signed the hiring of Buzz will do down as a BUST!!!! Three local kids that are impact players and we have to get them. If not, MU made a mistake they will live with for a long time. Everyone on here gets pissed at me for my thoughts. Trust me, I want Buzz/Mu to succeed.

If Buzz can get these local studs we have little chance of a great recruiting season. I would rather stress positives and say Buzz/MU can deliver these kids. He needs to know what the stakes are if he fails. I have no grudge with Buzz but he is no lose situation. He is making more money next season the he would would in five or six years as an assistant. First year or twelve year coach HE HAS TO DELIVER.


Guys...don't believe these kids, especially Wilson, cannot be had. KState got Beasley because the coach went and got him. Forget TX and recruit players of stature. If we cannot get these guys why would we believe that E. Williams will come here.

Buzz has to perform today not tomorrow.

[MarkMiller]

Two of the three locals may not qualify. The third is being pursued by schools all across the nation.

Bottom line is Buzz Williams needs to get the players he feels will help keep Marquette in the upper half of the Big East Conference. While it would be nice to get some local players on the MU roster, where the recruits in the class of 2009 come from isn't as important as getting the right players. Buzz is off to a tremendous start with Erik Williams.

[bleedbluegold03]

While it would be nice to get some local players on the MU roster, where the recruits in the class of 2009 come from isn't as important as getting the right players. Buzz is off to a tremendous start with Erik Williams.

On the contrary Mark i think where we recruit makes all the difference. I doubt that Buzz will be able attract many out of state talents to come into a system that looks up in the air in '09 with a very inexperienced head coach at the helm.

For their to be success with recruiting class we need to stay within Wisconsin almost exclusively (except for Donte Hill at SG) if we hope to succeed. We are offering playing time to kids who grew up liking MU or UW and right now Madison is out of scholarships for the '09 class leaving the state wide open to us. This also may set the president down the line that MU recruits well instate as well as in other states and Chicago (See my post Thoughts on Buzz's Recruiting Strategy for '09 for a much more indepth look).

Let me be the first to state this and may it go down in the archives: Lacy will come to MU and I give it a better than fifty percent chance that either Maymon or Wilson come here as well (my money being highly on Maymon). The '09 class will be made up mostly of Wisconsin recruits setting Buzz on a great track for years to come with Wisconsin recruits  as well as prove to out of state recruits that he can make NBA talent as well. All in all I think Buzz's '09 class will come away with three four star prospects: E. Williams, Lacy, Maymon (and Donte Hill as a high three low four).

[MarkMiller]

Landing the local guys might look good, but there are players outside of Wisconsin who might be better fits. Remember Buzz Williams and his staff have recruiting ties across the country so they are definitely not limited to Wisconsin and/or Chicago. Also remember ...

Maymon is super talented, but he needs to qualify. Still has a ways to go.

Lacy is a 5-11 guard who can score, but he also needs to qualify. Still has a ways to go.

Wilson remains a high priority and shoud qualify.

[Tugg Speedman]

Also, define "local"?  MU is not a state school.  Yet, everyone is making a big deal about 6' 11" Evan Anderson "getting away."  Eau Claire is 200 miles from MU.  

6' 11" Kyle Rowley is from Lake Forest, only 45 miles away.  MU offered him a scholarship and he committed to Northwestern.  Yet, I hear little belly aching about this "local" kid getting away.

Again, MU is not a state school so their is nothing magical about the state line.  It does matter more to UW because the people within the state line pay taxes to operate UW.

In the end if Buzz wants to establish "local cred," he be better off getting kids 80 miles away from Chicago than 200 miles away from the hinterlands of Wisconsin.

[bleedbluegold03]

Landing the local guys might look good, but there are players outside of Wisconsin who might be better fits.

Who are better fits that Buzz is recruiting?

[bleedbluegold03]

Again, MU is not a state school so their is nothing magical about the state line.  It does matter more to UW because the people within the state line pay taxes to operate UW.

So you think we all should be bears fans because Chicago is less far than Green Bay. State lines count my friend, a bad school can get a commit because he has liked the school all his life

[Pakuni]

So you think we all should be bears fans because Chicago is less far than Green Bay. State lines count my friend, a bad school can get a commit because he has liked the school all his life

Here's a crazy thought: Marquette should recruit and sign the best kids it can, regardless of their zip codes.

[bleedbluegold03]

I agree, but what out of state kid wants to come to Marquette in '09? Realistically outside of the Houston area im banking on very few to none. Once Buzz proves his ability to coach, sure bring back the nation. But if you were a recruit from out of state in '09 who had scholarships to Pitt, Tex, Ken, Vill, and Mar tell me why you would think for a second to go play under a coach that has nothing to hang his hat on. People are very ignorant if they think that recruits think "o he worked under tom crean so he must be as good as tom crean". Right now he isnt. He isnt even close. Give him a couple of years

[Tugg Speedman]

So you think we all should be bears fans because Chicago is less far than Green Bay. State lines count my friend, a bad school can get a commit because he has liked the school all his life

Racine and Kenosha have tons of bears fans.  Same for Northwest Indiana.  Downstate Il has tons of cardinal fans.  Lots of Vikings fans in Northwest Wisconsin.  Shall I continue?


If you poll people in Wisconsin as to which is the better school, MU or UW.  UW probably wins.  But the further you get from wisconsin the better MU does.  Do the poll in Boston or San Diego and MU does much better in a poll than UW (I know I have).  My point is MU is a "national" school.  It should recruit nationally, more so than UW.  The only thing that holds back its national recuriting is the weather, or preception of the weather.

Worrying about landing a kid 200 miles away as it might look bad to "local" recruiting is something state schools have to worry about, not private institutions.

Lastly, you think the ND boards are worried about Mike Brey's ability to recruit Indiana now that Crean took the IU job?

[bleedbluegold03]

So you say that having Wilson, Lacy, and Maymon instate is the same (if not worse) if they were in say utah or virginia?

[Pakuni]

I agree, but what out of state kid wants to come to Marquette in '09? Realistically outside of the Houston area im banking on very few to none. Once Buzz proves his ability to coach, sure bring back the nation. But if you were a recruit from out of state in '09 who had scholarships to Pitt, Tex, Ken, Vill, and Mar tell me why you would think for a second to go play under a coach that has nothing to hang his hat on. People are very ignorant if they think that recruits think "o he worked under tom crean so he must be as good as tom crean". Right now he isnt. He isnt even close. Give him a couple of years

Why do you believe that a kid from Janesville (for example) is any less likely to have those concerns about Buzz than a kid from Chicago or Minneapolis or wherever else? That's a perception Buzz is going to have to deal with, regardless of where a recruit lives.

Also, I think you're making far too much of that particular issue. Will it hurt with some kids? You bet. Will it be as crippling as you claim? I doubt it. As has been proven at MU (and many other schools), a good recruiter can overcome that issue. Bob Dukiet and Mike Deane came to Marquette as "proven" head coaches. Tom Crean and Kevin O'Neill didn't. Which ones did the better job recruiting their first couple years?

[77ncaachamps]

All I know is, the kids MU gets from other parts of the country better like cold, snowy winters and hot, muggy summers!

[THEGYMBAR]

Recruit both in state and out of state. This coming class we should be recruiting in state very hard. We really need every position after this season. How would the in state kids not fit in? I really cannot believe that anyone could or would be saying that getting these three is not of major importance for the program.

[Tugg Speedman]

Recruit both in state and out of state. This coming class we should be recruiting in state very hard. We really need every position after this season. How would the in state kids not fit in? I really cannot believe that anyone could or would be saying that getting these three is not of major importance for the program.

You seem to be saying that if Buzz got three other guys of equal talent from different parts of the country that somehow this would represent a failure.  I don't think anyone else thinks believes this to be the case.  Get the best available regardless of what state they live in.

[bleedbluegold03]

His best chance is getting kids within the state

[THEGYMBAR]

AnotherMU---Take away the top five programs and every other program wants to get in state kids first. Calipari is coaching in Memphis for a reason....top talent in state every year. Getting the best in state kids makes a statement. In addition, the in state kids are the building blocks.

Of course you need out of state kids and some years out of state are better than in state. Again, it is far easier for Buzz and Co. to be Maymon or Wilson's games than games in TX for fourth team all state players.

IMO in state or local players means within a couple hundred miles. THat is where I would start from and then if program gains in stature you move further away.

[Chili]

His best chance is getting kids within the state

You are wrong.

[RawdogDX]

His best chance is getting kids within the state

Well if there are 3 kids from WI who can play at a big east level and buzz has a 30% chance of landing each of them and 120 kids nationwide and buzz has a 5% chance of getting each i'd hope that he'd talk to the 120.  Wisconsin doesn't produce enough talent to field 8 BE quality players when you are competeing against UW-mad and the rest of the country who doesn't seem to respect state lines like you all do.

Mu84 is dead on +1 to everything he wrote on this thread.

[THEGYMBAR]

Rawdog---Recruiting local kids is based on familiarity. The more you see a kid the more you know if he is the "right" kid. There is no way you can become familiar with 120 kids. Unfortunately MU is an elite program, but the elite one's target certain kids around the country and get them. Scattergun recruiting is for losing programs in my opinion.


FYI---I agree that not every year is BE in state talent year. This upcoming season happens to be one. So lets get it done. I would say that every year there is 1-2 BE players locally.

I also wonder why, including me, all of us make judgements on kids, grades, character or their big mouth Dad's. It seems to me we are making excuses on why we cannot get someone. I want MU to hold themselves to high standard but come on we are not Duke, Northwestern or Stanford. We need to roll the dice from time to time. If DWade was not good case study then there never will be one.

[Pakuni]

His best chance is getting kids within the state

That may or may not be the case, but it's irrelevant to the initial point: that landing in-state talent is necessary for MU's recruiting success.
I'm not even sure that MU has a better chance with in-state kids than it does with kids from other parts of the Midwest, but I do know that landing those kids will not determine the fate of Marquette basketball. UW needs to keep kids in state because that's always been its talent base. Wisconsin kids never have made up the bulk of Marquette's roster.

[THEGYMBAR]

Pakuni--Agreed. Our two best performing teams over the past 15 years did have WI kids on them. KO's sweet 16 team and the Wade FF squad. On both teams the WI kids were very important part of the teams. They built the foundation.

Go back to 1977 team and while the studs were from out of state do we win championship without Jim Dudley's play against against KState? Do we win without Rosenberger outside shooting or Neary's role?

WI or Chicago kids are needed.

[bleedbluegold03]

You are wrong.

chili, your statement is more valid if you give me an example of what a better idea. And dont say Mu is a big east team so recruit the nation. In '09 who could Marquette ligitimately convince to come here from out of state?

[bleedbluegold03]

You seem to be saying that if Buzz got three other guys of equal talent from different parts of the country that somehow this would represent a failure.  I don't think anyone else thinks believes this to be the case.  Get the best available regardless of what state they live in.

I am not saying that because they are from Wisconsin they are a better option. I am saying that we have a much much better chance of getting instate talent because they have incentive to play close to home. Those from out of state have very little incentive to come here. I don't care what state they come from if we land four stars. Four stars are four stars. Im not biased but realistic. Buzz will have a hard time recruiting from out of state next year.

Have an idea: Lets have a conversation, you play Buzz and I play recruit. Sounds dumb I know but I want to see what you think Buzz can put on the table as a recruiter.

[bleedbluegold03]

FYI---I agree that not every year is BE in state talent year. This upcoming season happens to be one. So lets get it done. I would say that every year there is 1-2 BE players locally.

Exactally