Quick updates from all over

Some of us are still recovering from the heartbreaking loss to Missouri that brought an end to Marquette's season and the career of the "Three Amigos" little more than a week ago. While the season is over, there's still plenty of MU news to catch up on that you may have missed:

• First and foremost, great news today as Jerel McNeal was named an Associated Press 2nd Team All American. That makes Jerel the 26th All American in MU history, and the first since Dominic James was honorable mention in 2007.
  

• HoopScoop recently came out with their ranking of the top 20 Up and Coming coaches in college basketball, and Buzz Williams made the list. While the entire rankin requires a subscription, you can check out the Buzz mention on HoopScoop's free page.

• While you're there, be sure to scroll down just a bit farther, and you'll see another Marquette mention. HoopScoop also put together a list of the top 100 Assistant coaches in college basketball, and MU's Tony Benford checks in at #14.

• A week ago, we mentioned the post season accolades received by Jeronne Maymon, but it appears we missed some accolades for one of his future teammates. Back on March 17th, future Golden Eagle Erik Williams was named to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All State Team in Class 5A.

• A couple of quick recruiting updates. First, according to Adam Zagoria, former Seton Hall commit DeAndre Kane has Marquette among his final three schools and is looking to set up a visit. Elsewhere, 2009 combo guard Darius Smith has made his choice and he's going to be playing in the Big East, but it won't be at Marquette. The 6'2 senior from Chicago Marshall has decided to play for the UConn Huskies next year. Lastly, according to the Chicago Tribune, Marquette's coaches have recently been taking a look at Whitney Young senior Marcus Jordan, son of Michael. No offer has been extended yet, but with Buzz still looking for talent in the 2009 class, you never know.

Spiking the Kool-Aid

ESPN The Magazine says, "Don't count Marquette out just yet". Check it out right here.

Despite this loss, we still think Marquette has reason for hope. For one, UConn played one of their best offensive games in the last two years, and A.J. Price simply shot out of his mind. Not every week will Marquette run into such an opponent, and come the Madness, wouldn't have to stop a performance like that until a Saturday or Monday in April. More, the Marquette backcourt is still dynamic.

Need more Kool-Aid? Here's a nifty feature on McNeal and Acker.........backcourt mates since the 5th grade (more or less).

Need more? Signee Dwight Buycks scored 22 points leading his JUCO to a playoff victory.

2009 recruiting target Darius Smith was named first-team all public league in Chicago.

Luke Winn of CNNSI still has MU in his top 16. And he's a fan of Steve Rushin. Thanks, Luke

Smiles all around.



Oh......and Dominic James is having surgery today. All the best for a speedy recovery, DJ.


UPDATED
Andy Katz' latest podcast evaluates the impact of Dominic's injury on MU -- find the latest from Andy right here.

A New 2009 Name...MU among final two schools

With the recent commitment of Monterale Clark, the focus for MU fans may have shifted a bit towards the recruiting Class of 2010, but that doesn't mean Buzz Williams and his staff have shifted their focus from the Class of 2009.

We all know the names at this point: Dashonte Riley, Sherrod Wright, Jeremy Adams, Darius Smith, Victor Rudd, Latavious Williams and of course Jamil Wilson. Now it's time to throw a new name into the mix, because according to The Roanoke Times Marquette is in the final two for Glenn Bryant.

Who is Glenn Bryant and why haven't we heard of him before, you ask? Good Question. The shorter answer is, he's an athletic 6'8", 200 lb Combo Forward known mostly for his highlight real dunks. At this point, we know he great leaping ability and is a good rebounder, but the rest of his game is still a work in progress. ESPN did a nice review a month ago, but there's more to this story than just his leaping ability and shooting stroke.

Bryant is originally from the Detroit area, and through his sophomore year, he wasn't getting much high major love. Michigan State and Syracuse were showing some interest but hadn't offered him a scholarship. In an effort to get more exposure and increase his chances of going to a high major program, Bryant transferred to famed Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. The move worked, and prior to his senior year he picked up offers from programs like Memphis, Syracuse, Michigan, Arizona and Xavier. Additionally, according to ESPN he was receiving interest from Kansas, Texas, and North Carolina.

When MU became involved with him is a bit of a guess, but it's an educated one. Bryant and his Oak Hill teammates were in Milwaukee this past December for the Converse/Eastbay Classic at the Al McGuire Center, and members of the MU staff were seen in attendance at his game. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the recruiting really took off at that time, given that MU is in his final two schools not even two months later.

At this point, we don't know if MU is the leader for Bryant or how close he is to a decision. What we do know is that Buzz and his staff are still tirelessly recruiting the Class of 2009, and we can say for sure that the rest of the year is going to be interesting both on and off the court.

P.S. Thanks to Cracked Sidewalks for the invite.

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

Recruiting Updates

Just a few quick updates regarding recruits.

• Mark Miller reports that "New Marquette University coach Buzz Williams is beginning to show interest in Milwaukee Lutheran sophomore T.J. Kadima." If you don't check it out regularly, bookmark the following site and check it out regularly. Mark Miller does a great job.
• Harv and Roy from Bullseye report that 6'2 guard Darius Smith from Marshall High School in Chicago and 6'3 guard David Brown from Hononegah High School in Rockton, IL are both high priority recruits for Marquette University. Check out the link for more details.
• Per a report from TampaBay.com, MU is expressing strong interest in 6'2" point guard Sheldon Cooley. Cooley was the Hillsborough Player of the Year, averaging 22 points, 9 rebounds and five steals per game as a junior.
  
• NBE Basketball Report has a great rundown of the GBOA North AAU Tournament. There are just a ton of comments about Marquette target Jeronne Maymon in the link, including a detailed breakdown (scroll down). Here's my favorite comment:

"...to a waiting Maymon who passed up an opportunity for a highlight reel finish by laying the ball softly off the glass and in with nary a defender in sight."