"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

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The offseason snooze

Basketball withdrawal is settling in on Warrior Nation but have no fear, soon enough more substantial news is bound to trickle out of the program. The spring signing period begins on April 14 and we expect Marquette to formally announce the signing of 6'6" junior college All-American Jae Crowder and 6'4" guard D.J. Newbill from Philadelphia at that time.

Yet despite what appears to be a full roster for next season Buzz Williams and his staff are actively recruiting for next year's team. Illinois Prep Bulls-eye reports that Marquette is involved with 6'6" power forward James Siakam from Carbondale, Illinois. 6'8" Davante Gardner (Kings Fork HS, Virginia) visited Marquette several weeks ago and is also considering USF, Ball State, and Virginia Commonwealth. Gardner was named first team all-state this season after averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds per game for the 24-3 Bulldogs.

Marquette is also mentioned with 6'9" Reggie Murphy from Los Angeles (Westchester HS). Murphy led the Comets to the California state title last week finishing with a record of 32-3. Marquette, TCU and Arizona are all said to be in pursuit of Murphy. Marquette is also pursuing 6'4" Patrick Swilling, 6'6" former Louisville commit Josh Langford, 6'10" power forward Gorgui Dieng from Huntington, West Virginia and 6'8" strong man Godwin Okonji from Findlay Prep in Las Vegas.

I'm sure these names are just the tip of the iceberg for MU's spring recruiting push. Given the range of skills Williams is actively recruiting could MU sign two more kids next month? We should expect roster attrition from the program in the next 60 days.

A few more noteworthy items

3 comments:

Oliver said...

Keep the recruits coming. It seems like every year we think we are full and every year we are lamenting our 7-man lineup in February.

For those who don't think we are tall enough, note that our average height went up by graduating the shortest player in the Big East. Also, I think Mbao is still growing.

Unknown said...

We need weight on Mbao not more inches.

Beaver said...

Who's gone if we land more recruits?

I was thinking Mbao, but with all the stud guards coming in....maybe Dwight also?

Let's pray for a big...that doesn't have foot issues.