"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Marquette announces recruiting class

Tonight Buzz Williams introduced his first recruiting class as head coach at Marquette University. The five-member class is regarded as one of the deepest and most balanced classes in years at MU, highlighted by three consensus national Top 100 players.

Here's a bit on each player who will hit the floor for MU next season:

Dwight Buycks, 6-3, 185 pound combo guard, Milwaukee, WI (Indian Hills Junior College, IA)
"Dwight is able to help immediately replace what we are losing on the perimeter," coach Buzz Williams said. "Jeff Kidder is one of, if not the best, junior college coaches in the country and the 200 practices and 70 games Dwight will have already been a part of when he arrives, allows him to add an element of experience that is desperately needed." A NJCAA Division I Preseason First Team All-America selection at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, under head coach Jeff Kidder in 2008-09, the Warriors also topped the national team rankings in the preseason.


Junior Cadougan, 6-1, 195 pound point guard, Toronto, Canada (Christian Life Academy, Humble TX)

"As I have said before, we want to recruit really good players, who have the ability to pass, dribble, and shoot and display a level of toughness that is evident on both ends of the court on every possession," coach Buzz Williams said. A consensus top-75 player by nationally recognized recruiting services, Cadougan is currently ranked 12th by HoopScoopOnline.com, 27th by Hoopmasters.com, 50th by Scout.com (5th-best point guard), 60th by Rivals.com and owns the 65th position in the ESPNU.com 100.



Jeronne Maymon, 6-6, 230 pound forward, Madison, Wisconsin (Memorial)
"Jeronne was the second player to commit in this class, but the first commitment once I was hired as the head coach," coach Buzz Williams said. "We want to recruit from the inside out and having him commit so early in my tenure allowed those words to become reality and we will forever be grateful for that." A consensus top-100 player by nationally recognized recruiting services, Maymon is currently ranked 23rd by HoopsScoopOnline.com, 46th by Rivals.com, 65th by Hoopmasters.com, 75th by Scout.com and 76th in the ESPNU.com 100.



Brett Roseboro, 6-10, 230 pound center, Quakertown, PA (Quakertown)
"Looking at my career path, it is not difficult to figure out that I like people who have had to `play from behind,'" coach Buzz Williams said. From my initial meeting with Brett and his family, I knew right away that he would be another important piece to this class, because of the obstacles he has had to overcome not only as a player, but also as a person. I am completely convinced that Brett will have great success here, and will represent many of Marquette's core values, not only in how he plays, but in what he will bring to our institution as a student."



Erik Williams, 6-7, 200 pound wing forward, Cypress, TX (Cy Springs)
"Erik was the first commitment in this class when I was an assistant and stayed true to his word from start to finish," coach Buzz Williams said. "In our program, trust and loyalty are cornerstone beliefs and we are grateful to have Erik join us. He plays in the largest classification in the state of Texas and has played against great competition throughout his career thus far." A consensus top-100 player by nationally recognized recruiting services, Williams is ranked 14th by HoopsScoopOnline.com, 30th by Hoopmasters.com, 96th by Scout.com, 97th by ESPNU.com and 99th by Rivals.com, despite missing most of his junior year because of injury.


Based on reports, Marquette is actively recruiting more players from the 2009 class including Chris Colvin, Jamil Wilson, Darius Smith and Sherrod Wright.

Stay tuned.

*Photos courtesy of Marquette University Athletic Department

4 comments:

Championships Matter said...

Way to go Buzzman!

If you coach as well as you appear to recruit, I'll be waiting to see our guys wearing their "Buzz" insignia just below the "Al" insignia.

Just win, baby! Cause remember, Championships Matter!

Gene Frenkle said...

+1
Never thought I'd see the day we got a top #15 class (unless we paid off some guys big time). This is great for the program.

Again, though, it puts enormous pressure on Buzz to succeed this year with the veteran squad he has. Let's see what the man can do.

Gene Frenkle said...

And one last thing...

Big time props to Erik Williams and his family for sticking with MU. Had he backed out with the rest of Crean's recruits, there's no telling what ripple effect that might have had on landing these other guys.

With Williams announcing he was staying, you are already entering the recruiting period with a committed, top-100 kid. Makes it easier to talk others in joining. And it really helps that he stuck by the new coach and his family came out publicly and said how much they appreciated the eduction he'd get a MU.

I think that could potentially be one of the biggest positive things to happen at MU in the coming years should the team perform as well on the court as they did on the recruiting trail. It's one of those decisions that, at the time, was big. But it could be a two-paths-emerged-in-the-woods-type of moment that really changes where the program goes.

Justin Walsh said...

You are kind of missing the possible blue-chip recruit MICHAEL SNAER, ranked 11th in the nation, Marquette is in his top 3, and today on ESPNU he will make his decision on whether or not he becomes a golden eagle. Here's a video on him: http://slamonline.com/online/media/2008/11/future-plans/