Basketball withdrawal is settling in on Warrior Nation but have no fear, soon enough more substantial news is bound to trickle out of the program. The spring signing period begins on April 14 and we expect Marquette to formally announce the signing of 6'6" junior college All-American Jae Crowder and 6'4" guard D.J. Newbill from Philadelphia at that time.
Yet despite what appears to be a full roster for next season Buzz Williams and his staff are actively recruiting for next year's team. Illinois Prep Bulls-eye reports that Marquette is involved with 6'6" power forward James Siakam from Carbondale, Illinois. 6'8" Davante Gardner (Kings Fork HS, Virginia) visited Marquette several weeks ago and is also considering USF, Ball State, and Virginia Commonwealth. Gardner was named first team all-state this season after averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds per game for the 24-3 Bulldogs.
Marquette is also mentioned with 6'9" Reggie Murphy from Los Angeles (Westchester HS). Murphy led the Comets to the California state title last week finishing with a record of 32-3. Marquette, TCU and Arizona are all said to be in pursuit of Murphy. Marquette is also pursuing 6'4" Patrick Swilling, 6'6" former Louisville commit Josh Langford, 6'10" power forward Gorgui Dieng from Huntington, West Virginia and 6'8" strong man Godwin Okonji from Findlay Prep in Las Vegas.
I'm sure these names are just the tip of the iceberg for MU's spring recruiting push. Given the range of skills Williams is actively recruiting could MU sign two more kids next month? We should expect roster attrition from the program in the next 60 days.
A few more noteworthy items
- Congratulations to Lazar Hayward for being named an honorable mention Associated Press All-American. Hayward is the 27th Marquette player to earn All-American honors from the AP.
- Buzz Williams drew rave reviews for his work as an analyst with CBS last week.
- 2010 commit D.J. Newbill and his Strawberry Mansion teammates came up short in their bid for the Pennsylvania AA State Title, falling 49-47 to South Fayette.
- 2010 signee Reggie Smith will play in the Chicago High School classic on April 9 at the Gentile Center at Loyola University.
- Marquette's all-time assists leader Tony Miller was named an assistant coach to former MU coach Kevin O'Neill at USC.
- Planning ahead? MU will play at the CBE in Kansas City in November -- details and discussion here.
