Catching up with the program

After the remarkable pace of news out of the Marquette program for most of last week, things slowed down just a bit - - - but here are few nuggets from the past several days to get you caught up.

Per this article from the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Buzz Williams hired Scott Monarch as his first assistant coach. Monarch, who until recently was an assistant at Tyler JC where he coached MU commits Joseph Fulce and Jimmy Butler, previously served on Williams' staff at the University of New Orleans.

In addition to Marquette, Tyshawn Taylor is now considering five other universities. Adam Zagoria has the list. It is unclear how interested Taylor remains in MU -- but the truth is, with only role players (Cubillan, Acker) in the program to replace the Three Amigos, MU desperately needs a top notch point guard. John Dodds lays out the case in this thread.

Luka Mirkovic, a 6'11" center from Indiana, announced his intention to sign with Northwestern over Louisville and Marquette.

MUScoop puts fans in the Way Back Marchine for an interview with coach Al McGuire. Great find, MUScoop.

Al Goes Out In Style....must read material

Courtesy of a faithful Cracked Sidewalks reader, here is the actual Sports Illustrated cover story recounting Marquette's 1977 National Championship. If that link is slow, here's the landing page.

Good reading and thanks!!

Two quick alumni updates

OK, more content to come later today but in the interim, here are a pair of items passed along from fans of the blog:

• "McGuire," Dick Enberg's one-man play about Al McGuire, will run at Hofstra University's Black Box Theater in Hempstead, NY on Feb. 9 and 10. Here is the blurb from the Daily News.
• Also, if you have the good fortune to live in South Florida perhaps you can jump into the fun when the Miami Heat host the Indiana Pacers game on Saturday, January 26th 2008 at 3:30pm. I should have posted this last week (skiing got in the way!) -- because the MU club down there will host a post game meet and greet session with Dwyane Wade (and hey, maybe Diener shows up too). OK, I am green with envy. For more info click here.
  

Hoops for the Soul: Remembering Coach Al

I am a sucker for Al McGuire retrospectives, and Chris Maynard at Hoops4theSoul filed a terrific post yesterday (which happened to be Jerome Whitehead's 51st birthday).

“I want to keep the pulse of the parking-lot attendant—the country club or golf course is not where it’s at. The pulse is on the cracked sidewalks. If you lose that, life’s not worth living. As a person, I hope I never change.”

Thanks for the nostalgic rush, Chris.

Your birthday present to Al.

Today is Al McGuire's birthday. Still searching for what to get him? Look no further.

Donate to Al's Run. Give up a couple of Starbucks Lattes for a good cause, and remember the guy who brought you the great teams of the 60s and 70s, and that little National Championship banner we have.

Click here, and plop down $5, 10, 20 bucks. Al would want you to: http://www.firstgiving.com/MarquetteFans

We're way behind last year. It's Friday, and you're screwing around at work reading us.

It's time to cowboy up.

Memories refreshed: SI looks back at the 1977 NCAA Champions

Sports Illustrated's 'Where Are They Now' feature jumps into the wayback machine and lands in Milwaukee this week with a look at one of the most memorable teams in the history of college basketball, the 1977 Marquette Warriors.

You know, that Bernard Toone vs. Al McGuire episode never gets old. Nor does that shiny championship trophy, MU's sublime second half run, the picture of Bo piercing through the net at the Omni, or the photograph of this one-of-a-kind team decked out along side a classic car.

The article, which will appear in the July 2 issue of the hard copy, can be found here. In looking at the present-day vocations of these fellas you'd have to say that this truly is one special group of guys.

Al McGuire is everywhere

Al McGuire's legacy has been recounted in dozens of news reports over the last few days.

As the Detroit Free Press said this weekend, "But here's the good March Madness news: When you eventually get to heaven, the late, great Al McGuire will cheerfully be doing all the Final Four games all the time. Sweet."

Check out the links below:

• Mihael Hunt of the Journal-Sentinel.
• NYT's blog, The Bracket, posts on Al -- and there are comments that follow.
• The Atlanta-Journal Consitution on Al's crowning achievement.
• Bil Dwyre of the LA Times offers a nice column here -- Check out the lead.....In one way or another, we are all carbon copies. Except Al McGuire. He was one of a kind. Rick Majerus calls him "an original original." This one is a keeper.

Coach Al McGuire TEES OFF on the NCAA..30 years ago

It was 30 years ago today, March 28, 1977 that Marquette won the national title beating North Carolina in Atlanta. It almost didn't happen. MU was lucky to get a bid and perhaps even luckier to survive a second round game against Kansas State in which MU won by 1.

After the game Coach McGuire blasted the NCAA for a technical foul that was called against him. The 7 minute episode was recorded and provided by the Appleton Post-Crescent. We sure miss this man. Take a listen

Jerry Karpowicz also writes of the event in today's OnMilwaukee online magazine. Nice article Jerry.

Thanks to the boys over at Marquette Hoops for pointing these two items out.

A hat tip to GE1974

Remembering Al McGuire

Thirty years ago today Marquette University enjoyed its greatest athletic achievement when Al McGuire led the Warriors to the 1977 National Championship.

Al's legacy remains strong -- check out this nice tribute over at Stiles Points, an homage to Al. Nice job.

Wonderful Al McGuire Retrospective

In case you missed it, Steve Yanda of the Marquette Tribune penned a wonderful retrospective on Al McGuire this week entitled, 'Walking away a winner'. Steve spoke with Bo Ellis, Jerome Whitehead, Bernard Toone and many others to shed light on Coach Al and his decision to retire back in 1977. Check this out:

The night before McGuire's retirement announcement, Jerome Whitehead had a dream.

In the dream, McGuire announced that he would not leave the team, but Whitehead, then a junior center, knew better.

"I knew it was the opposite," Whitehead said. "I knew it was his way of saying, 'I'm leaving.' "

Nice job, Steve. Read it all right here.