Recruits set timelimes for decisions

The national early signing period runs from November 12 - 19 and three names linked to Marquette updated their status in recent days.

High school All-American guard Michael Snaer of California will announce his decision on Wednesday and has narrowed his list to Kansas, Florida State and Marquette according to TheShiver.com. Snaer, one of the top 30 players in the nation, has apparently scratched Missouri off of his list of finalists. Gary Bedore from the Lawrence Journal-World spoke with Snaer before filing this report.

Chicago Whitney Young point guard Chris Colvin is no longer considering Marquettte per a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. Colvin is set to decide between Illinois, USC, Washington State, Iowa State and Providence on November 19. Still, you never know with Colvin, who's recruiting has been a wild roller coaster ride -- per a thread at MUScoop citing a Scout.com report, the kid still has MU on his list. Let's wait until the ink is dry on his LOI, one way or another.

Meanwhile, 6'4" shooting guard Sherrod Wright took an official visit to South Carolina last weekend. While Adam Zagoria reports that MU is a "legitimate" player for the latest star from Mount Vernon, no official visit has been set. The State reports Wright has offers from MU, South Carolina, Charlotte and Providence.

Haunted Hoops 2008

UPDATED

I took the family to Haunted Hoops again this year. While the Fish Fry was sold out, the attendance at the scrimmage was way down, perhaps half of what it was in years' past. Either October 31st (Trick-or-Treat for non-cry-baby communities) gave reason for people to skip the scrimmage, or .. there's a lack of enthusiasm for this Top 20 team. -- It was a rough off-season.

Took a few pictures, shot some video for your viewing.

The best picture of the night is this, entitled "Mr. Incredible: Man of Steel"



Here's the slide show:


And the video:


Also, there was plenty of MU action and reporting as well. Here's the official GoMarquette.com release, which includes a nice photo gallery of the event. A poster on MUScoop also has several nice pictures as well. Eric Silver has a nice story at MarquetteHoops.com, where he is impressed by the newcomers. Finally, in one of his three entries over the weekend, Rosiak had his own recap of Haunted Hoops.

In case you weren't aware, Marquette also scrimmaged Nebraska today. Rosiak's article has some nice comments from Tony Benford, who obviously was on the Nebraska staff last year. Rosiak also has some information about the scrimmage against Nebraska. Because of NCAA rules, Rosiak couldn't be there, but he managed to interview Buzz and get his feedback. If you read Buzz' comments, you can get some solid insight into what Buzz is thinking about the team right now. (Rob is particularly happy to hear Buzz consistently mention the value of a possession).

One player who wasn't going to scrimmage against Nebraska was Joe Fulce. Unfortunately, Rosiak is the bearer of bad news as Fulce will be out 2-4 weeks with a knee injury. This means that he could miss anywhere from 1-7 games. Get well soon, Joe.

In some positive news, Roy and Harv Schmidt (Bullseye) have a piece on their Sun-Times blog about Marquette recruiting the Chicago-land area. I really didn't follow their statement that "all the pieces are in place", but their information on Chris Colvin and Darius Smith was fantastic. Bullseye also provides some great information on players in the 2010, 2011, and (are you kidding me), the class of 2012.

Rob Lowe contributed to this post.
UPDATE: Included information and link about the Nebraska scrimmage recap

Brett Roseboro, the new Warrior

Brett Roseboro, a 6'9", 220 pound forward from Quakerstown, PA, verbally committed to Marquette University last night at the program's annual Marquette Madness event at the Al McGuire Center. Roseboro, who just a few months ago seemed destined for a mid-major, showed well last summer and recently delivered strong performances at IS8 in New York City, generating interest from a number of Big East and ACC programs including Maryland, Louisville and Villanova.

Roseboro, a face-up power forward with nice range, joins what should become the most balanced (if not talented) recruiting class in recent Marquette history. Point guard Junior Cadougan, combo forward Jeronne Maymon, wing forward Erik Williams and JUCO combo guard Dwight Buycks are all expected to sign with Marquette during next month's early signing period.

Once again we see that Buzz Williams is a closer, and now he's poised to deliver the balanced, high-ceiling class the program desperately needs. In addition, based on what Williams told a small group of alumni last week at the New York Athletic Club, there's reason to believe the 2009 class is far from complete:

"I will continue to bring in new players until we have 13 kids with All-American talent who are also valedictorians. Until then, we're not done."

Michael Snaer, Jamil Wilson, or Chris Colvin? Time will tell.

A weekend full of updates

Just in time for your Monday time-kill at the office.......

First, a look at recruiting. 2009 Chicago point guard Chris Colvin will take his official visit to Marquette this weekend. Colvin, a senior at Whitney Young, is also considering USC, Iowa State and Providence. Per the Bullseye Brothers each of these programs stands an equal chance of landing him. Colvin will be on campus for Marquette Madness which is scheduled for 6pm on Saturday, October 25 in the Al McGuire Center.

There is a brief blurb about the start of practice at gomarquette.com. Not only that, but MU is rolling out podcasts at a breathtaking rate these days. The previous link has podcasts with Lewis Orr, Scott Monarch, and Robert Frozena. Plus, Dominic James and Jimmy Butler recap the first weekend of practice. (Again, all of the links open up mp3's directly). There's plenty more in this informative series -- here's the landing page.

Over the weekend Bob Wolfley of the Journal-Sentinel filed this report which included updates from MU -- mostly on player reactions to the new coach.

BIG EAST media day will be held this Wednesday in NYC. Ahead of the curve, Adam Zagoria picks MU for an underwhelming 7th in the Big East -- which I suppose speaks to several factors, namely coaching turnover, a much-improved league, and MU's rotten front line.