Updates, updates, updates

The news flow surrounding the Marquette hoops program has slowed a bit in the early stages of the off-season but in the last few days several developments emerged:

• Dale Layer, Buzz Williams' top assistant coach, was announced as the new head coach at Liberty University. Layer was formerly the head coach at Colorado State and an assistant at Liberty before landing at MU. The Buzz Williams coaching tree sprouts, apparently. Talk about it at MUScoop.
• Todd Rosiak recently completed three fantastic updates on the incoming class of 2009 (with more to come). First he updated readers on Junior Cadougan. This week he took an in-depth look at Jeronne Maymon. Then, Rosiak delivered with a look at Dwight Buycks. Seriously, if you don't get a little fired up about the incoming recruits, you probably don't have a pulse.
  
• Looking ahead to the 2009 NBA draft, soon-to-be Marquette graduate Wesley Matthews has been invited to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational.
• Peter Vescey of the New York Post completed a two-part series on the legendary Al McGuire. As you'd expect, these articles are a blast to read. Here's part one. Here's part two.
• Back to the commitment of Darius Johnson-Odom -- check out these videos.
  

........stay tuned.

This week on the Buzz Show...

Here's a couple video clips from the Inside Marquette - Buzz Williams Show on Time Warner Cable in Milwaukee:

Meet Asst. Coach Dale Layer:



Great video of a Warrior practice at the Bradley Center:

Jamil Wilson, UW tickets, Maurice Acker and more....

Morning grinds...........

Racine Horlick's Jamil Wilson narrowed his list to four schools and indicated he'll commit early. Wilson is down to Marquette, Michigan State, Texas and Oregon. The guys at MUScoop are talking this up.

Ballin Is a Habit is running through a preseason top 25 and slots MU in at #16. The guys there did a nice job analyzing MU, so check it out.

.......And hey, if you think being ranked 16th is impressive---consider that USA Today apparently picked MU to win the BIG EAST. The USA Today conference preview is here.

Maurice Acker is the latest to participate in MU's new podcast series. Just a few days ago, MU spoke with assistant coach Dale Layer too -- click here to listen to the Layer podcast. The landing page for the MU podcast series can be found here.

Remember the back and forth we had with the MU athletic department about the ticket policy for the UW@Madison game? Well, the MU/UW ticket limit for season ticket holders is four. Talk about it at MUScoop.

Finally, East Coast MU alums might consider making their way to Manhattan on October 23 for the latest installment of Marquette CIRCLES. The event, hosted by Fr. Wild, will be held at the Harvard Club that evening. Complete details are available here.

Dale Layer named assistant coach at MU

Buzz Williams went with experience and familiarity to fill the final assistant coaching spot on his bench when he welcomed former Colorado State head coach Dale Layer to Marquette.

Layer, head coach of the Rams from 2000 - 2007, led CSU to one conference title and compiled a 103-106 record overall. Buzz Williams served on Layer's staff in Fort Collins for four years. Layer spent this past season as an assistant at Liberty University and has been in the coaching business for 30 years.

Read all the details here at GoMarquette.com

So, Buzz Williams will go to battle with Tony Benford, Dale Layer and Aki Collins. These coaches are an interesting mix given that their strong national footprint as coaches does not include the significant Midwestern flavor that characterize most Marquette coaching staffs.

With this hire, Williams has a decidedly veteran assistant coaching staff considering Layer and Benford combine for more than 45 years on the sidelines. Throw Collins' New York City heritage and recent work at a Jesuit university, and the make-up of the staff appears strong - with only the one glaring weakness:

• Can this group of coaches successfully recruit the Midwest?

Perhaps they don't need to -- well, let's not go that far.

Recently, MU's roster has been built with recruits from outside of MU's home region. Still, recruiting well close to home -- ie, MU's own back yard and Chicagoland -- will be one aspect of the next six months (until National Signing Day) fans will track closely.