"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

One night engagement: The LeDaryl Billingsley Festival

Tonight Marquette (6-2) hosts its second buy game in as many outings when it welcomes Texas A&M Corpus Christi to the Bradley Center.

Texas A&M CC is coached by former Tulane head coach Perry Clark. If you are looking for a reason to have a bit more interest in tonight's game, that's the hook: Perry Clark is the man who delivered what became a crucial blow to the Mike Deane era at MU. How so, you ask? Clark wooed Chicago's LeDaryl Billingsley to Tulane after the power forward had verbally committed to MU. Billingsley went on to average 11 points and six rebounds per game during his career at Tulane, which spanned the 1997-98 season through the 2000-2001 campaign. As as a senior he averaged 18 points and 9 boards per game and was a second team All-Conference USA selection.

Had Billingsley signed with MU he would have joined Brian Wardle, DeMarcus Minor, Greg Clausen and John Mueller as freshmen. With Cordell Henry arriving on campus the following year, Mike Deane was thisclose to having what might have been one of the best young groups in Conference USA. In the end Billingsley decided against MU, DeMarcus Minor left for a productive career at Baylor (don't forget about the loss of Alton Mason as well) and Mike Deane's fate was sealed.

Perry Clark -- Marquette hero or villain?

Enjoy the game. Gametime is 8pm CT, broadcast on Sports32, DirecTV 639, 540 ESPN, or you can follow along with the Game Tracker.

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Recaps and memories associated with coach Raymonds. Enjoy

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Perry Clark is a hero.
Mike Deane stays = no Tom Crean = no Dwyane Wade = no Final Four = no Big East invitation.
Also, no Tom Crean = no 3 amigos and no Buzz Williams hired as an assistant = no Buzz now.
Perry Clark = hero.