The Pursuit of the Perfect 6'5" And Under Team

Over the weekend the news broke that Marquette secured another verbal commitment for the incoming freshman class of 2010. Devonte "DJ" Newbill, a high-scoring 6'4" combo guard from Philadelphia, is the latest thoroughbred to join Buzz Williams' stable.....but he'll have to share a stall with five other guards next season.

Why is Buzz Williams shamelessly continuing the recruiting pattern of his predecessor? The program's relentless pursuit of The Perfect 6'5" And Under Team is once again in full effect.

Adding Newbill to incoming and returning backcourt talents like Junior Cadougan, Dwight Buycks, Darius Johnson-Odom, Reggie Smith and Vander Blue is enough to make the general manager of any Gus Macker squad giddy with anticipation. While these guards are collectively bigger and much more talented than recent Marquette backcourts, these are still guards and none of them can be counted on to score, defend, or rebound on the block.

Making matters more challenging is the logjam MU has at the combo forward spot where no player on next year's roster has the skills or physical attributes to be a consistent baseline presence. While lithe and athletic, the crew of Jimmy Butler, Erik Williams, Joe Fulce and Jamail Jones will provide little resistance to the BIG EAST's cadre of physical forwards and centers. Yet one of these players might be the Warriors' starting center next year.

As it stands now, headed into next season MU is betting the baseline on two centers who can politely be referred to as projects with significant injury risks. And no power forward on the roster, not one.

How did Buzz Williams lead us to this point? Less than a year ago the transformation of Marquette's roster away from a guard-happy group of poorly balanced classes was promising. Unfortunately injuries (Liam McMorrow), departures (Brett Roseboro, Jeronne Maymon), near-misses (Carson Desrosiers), and mistakes (Monterale Clark) sent Buzz Williams back to the well once more, a well that seems to spring forth only guards despite the program's perennially acute need for size and strength.

Does height matter? As we've noted previously Ken Pomeroy completed an in-depth report on this topic and the results were clear. Pomeroy's analysis indicated that taller teams were slightly more effective offensively and substantially improved defensively. It's not just Pomeroy who is on this point. Jay Wright, who's Villanova squad is rightly cited as the inspiration for guard-oriented rosters, has adapted his recruiting in recent classes.

While Buzz Williams has successfully adopted his schemes to fit the skills on his roster this season, MU's inability to defend and score on the blocks and rebound consistently will remain a major hurdle in leapfrogging into the top tier of the BIG EAST. Mercifully Williams has one more scholarship to fill for next season and the pressure is on to land a quality big man who can contribute immediately.