Marquette Season Preview

Welcome to the biggest time, the BIG EAST Conference. Tom Crean goes to battle this year with a young, talented roster that will take time to sort out. Crean welcomes seven newcomers, many of whom will contribute immediately on a team with much to replace --- realize that MU must replace its best scorer/passer (Diener), its most athletic wing player (Mason), its leading rebounder (Jackson), and the consummate team player, Todd Townsend.

It's clear that incoming freshmen James, Matthews, and McNeal will play significant minutes in the backcourt. Transfers Fitzgerald and Lott will man the forward positions, with Fitzgerald likely to see action at any of the guard and forward slots. Crean also welcomes PF Burke and swingman Mortensen to campus.

Tom Crean will enjoy remarkable flexibility with his roster, and will rely on senior sharpshooter Steve Novak to deliver consistently from the perimeter. Youth in the backcourt aside, MU might just sink or swim based on the performance of the frontline: Chris Grimm, Ryan Amoroso, Mike Kinsella, Ousmane Barro, and Jamil Lott.

With that, here's a game by game breakdown of how we see the season unfolding in 2005-2006.

RICE ^: Mike Kinsella’s former team comes to the Bradley Center sans one of their all-time greats, Michael Harris, who was lost to graduation. The Owls also lost starters McKreith and Gillespie and do not return a starter who averaged double figures last year. Marquette will win this one against one of Conference USA's newest additions. 1-0

WINTHROP/IUPUI ^: Winthrop is perhaps the scariest team on Marquette’s non-conference schedule this year. Seriously. Winthrop returns 12 of their top 13 players from a team that gave Gonzaga a serious first-round scare in last year’s Tournament. Unfortunately, Winthrop is primed to pounce on an upset here, as the Eagles will be licking their chops to face an inexperienced Marquette squad. 1-1

Eastern Washington #: Marquette opens the Great Alaska Shootout against yet another set of Eagles. Despite the high-flying dunks of the amazing Henry Bekkering, Marquette will coast into the second round of this tournament unscathed. 2-1

Oral Roberts/USC #: This will be an interesting second round matchup, no matter the opponent. Oral Roberts is another small conference tournament team, similar to Winthrop, and they could give both USC and Marquette fits with their experience. They return the Mid-Continent POY in Caleb Green and deadly weapon, Ken Tutt, (a combined 37 ppg), as well as dynamic guard, Jonathan Bluitt. This high flying attack might just well get past a USC team that is young and has a new coach in Tim Floyd. Athletic guard, Gabe Pruitt, is the go-to guy for USC, but the Trojans should be no match for Oral Roberts. Marquette will learn its lessons from the Winthrop loss and will match athlete for athlete with a tough Oral Roberts squad. 3-1

Southern Illinois/Monmouth/South Carolina/UAA #: Obviously, it is hard to project who MU would play in the final round, but if Marquette gets to the championship, it’s likely that it will either be Southern Illinois or South Carolina. South Carolina is coming off an NIT championship season and despite losing its leading scorer, Carlos Powell, returns seven key players. Southern Illinois is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance and also loses its best player in Darren Brooks. Both teams are pretty solid and have a lot of experienced players returning. There will be no joy in MU-ville for Marquette in this one. 3-2

@ Nebraska: Marquette plays its first true road game in Lincoln, Nebraska this year, and will take on a team they trounced in the Bradley Center last year. The Huskers return some solid young pieces in scoring guard Joe McCray and Aussie center Aleks Maric and are probably a team on the rise in the Big 12. Having five games under the belt already, Marquette wins this one in a nail-biter. 4-2

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: For the second year in a row, the Jackrabbits will have to deal with a former player’s night at the Bradley Center. Last year, it was Dwyane Wade night (with Shaq sitting courtside). This year, it is Travis Diener night, and the Jackrabbits will leave with their heads bobbling, just like the Diener bobbleheads that fans in attendance will receive. 5-2

VALPARAISO: Dan Oppland, Kenny Harris and the rest of the Crusaders will be gunning for a road win against Marquette and very well could get it here. Valpo will challenge Oral Roberts for conference supremacy this year. We still see Marquette pulling this one out, however, in another close contest against a very formidable foe. Homer Drew might scream about this outcome. 6-2

@ Wisconsin: This will be an interesting one. The Badgers lost a lot of firepower from last year, but also brings back the very talented Alando Tucker, as well as some other key components like Brian Butch and Kammron Taylor. Wisconsin, like Marquette, also had a terrific recruiting class and will count on Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft for instant contributions. As much as it pains us to say it, Wisconsin will pull out a close one this year at the Kohl Hole. 6-3

SAN FRANCISCO: A fellow Jesuit school comes to the Bradley Center for a mid-December chill. The Dons have the best recruiting class in the WCC, but will go back to San Francisco with no flowers in their hair. Marquette wins. 7-3

OAKLAND: No, not the Oakland across the bay from San Francisco… the one in Michigan. The Grizzlies shocked everyone by winning their conference tournament last year and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Rawle Marshall and Courtney Scott and their combined 38 ppg are gone now, though, and Marquette will maul the Grizzlies into submission. 8-3

DELAWARE STATE: The Hornets almost pestered Marquette into a loss last year with their stingy D and ball control offense. They very well might do the same this year. Jahsha Bluntt and Co. will put a scare into MU, but will fall in the end at the Bradley Center. 9-3

LEWIS: DII opponent Lewis comes to Milwaukee behind former MU assistant, Kyle Green. This one won’t count towards Marquette’s record and it’s a shame, as the Golden Eagles will down the Flyers. Still 9-3

CONNECTICUT: Marquette opens BIG EAST play against perhaps the best team in the conference. Point guard Marcus Williams will rejoin the team for this game, and Rudy Gay, Josh Boone, Rashad Anderson, Denham Brown and a host of talented others will visit the Bradley Center on this cold January night. It will certainly be exciting to play such a terrific team, but Marquette will be humbled by the extreme athleticism of UConn in this one. 9-4, 0-1 (conference)

CINCINNATI: If any year can be considered a down year for the Bearcats, it probably is this one. Bobby Huggins is out the door, along with a couple of his recruits. Cincy does return terrific big men, Eric Hicks and Armein Kirkland, as well as key contributors like Jihad Muhammed and James White. This will be a year of ups and downs for Marquette, but on this night, Marquette will upset the Bearcats in a tough defensive battle, and will provide their fans with their biggest victory of the year. 10-4, 1-1

@ Seton Hall: There are no easy road games in the Big East, but this is as close as it gets. Seton Hall is in disarray right now and will have a very tough time making the Big East Tournament. Despite a valiant effort by their talented center, Kelly Whitney, the Pirates will walk the plank in this one. 11-4, 2-1

@ West Virginia: West Virginia is coming off one of their program's most exciting postseason runs. The Mountaineers came within a hair's breath of making it to the Final Four after losing a big lead to Louisville in the Elite Eight last year. Many key returners are present for West Virginia, including Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey. Marquette gets Pittsnogled in this one and the 'Neers will win by double digits. 11-5, 2-2

@ DePaul: Marquette plays its third consecutive road game and does so on the Tuesday after a tough Saturday loss at West Virginia. DePaul should struggle this year, but do have the very talented Sammy Mejia and a couple great newcomers in Karron Clarke and Wilson Chandler. Despite the near home court advantage, Marquette falls here to the Demons. 11-6, 2-3

NOTRE DAME: Chris Quinn and Torin Francis come into the Bradley Center hoping for a win here. Are you kidding me? The place will be packed with anti-Domers and the crowd will "cheer cheer" the Marquette squad "onward to victory." 12-6, 3-3

DEPAUL: Marquette will use its actual home court advantage to get its revenge against Jerry Wainwright and DePaul after falling in Chicago to the Demons. 13-6, 4-3

@ Pittsburgh: Although Pittsburgh should be a little down this year (middle of the pack in the Big East), they’re still a very tough team, particularly defensively. Terrific point Carl Krauser, and a talented group of freshmen will lead the Panthers to a low scoring but decisive win over Marquette. Look for Marquette to get killed on the boards. 13-7, 4-4

ST. JOHN'S: An underrated St. John’s team visits Milwaukee and should test Marquette to the limit. Terrific scorer Daryll 'Showtime' Hill and strong forward Lamont Hamilton will give Marquette all it can handle. However, Marquette will again use the home crowd to quell this Red Storm. 14-7, 5-4

@ Villanova: Three years ago, Marquette played and defeated a group of talented freshmen from Villanova in Madison Square Garden. It’s payback time. Those freshmen are now talented seniors, and despite the loss of Curtis Sumpter, Villanova will use its depth and athleticism to blow by Marquette in this matchup. 14-8, 5-5

@ Rutgers: Rutgers is one of those teams that gives visiting opponents fits on the road, eventhough they don’t end up with a great record overall or in conference. Led by scorer Quincy Douby and Chicago product Ollie Bailey, Rutgers will take Marquette down to the wire, but MU will end up victorious (barely) against the Scarlet Knights. 15-8, 6-5

GEORGETOWN: After turning the corner last season, the Hoyas are probably the biggest sleeper team in the Big East this year, and could end up near the top of the conference standings. Led by athletic forwards Brandon Bowman and Jeff Green, this talented, athletic and deep team will do very well in the Big East this season. Marquette will fall at home to the Hoyas on National Marquette Day. 15-9, 6-6

PITTSBURGH: The rematch against Pittsburgh will be a tough one, especially two days after a difficult defeat to Georgetown. Unfortunately, the Panthers will be able to strong-arm Marquette, once again dominating on the boards and on defense. Pitt will ruin Maurice Lucas night for the Golden Eagles. 15-10, 6-7

@ Notre Dame: Notre Dame seeks its revenge against Marquette in this one, and the long range shooting of Colin Falls and Chris Quinn will be too much for Marquette to handle. Irish eyes will be smiling at the conclusion of this matchup. 15-11, 6-8

@ Louisville: Marquette has had some definite success in Freedom Hall, but this Cardinals team is a buzz saw this time around. A healthy Juan Diego Palacios and David Padgett along with hot shooting Taquan Dean will take it to Marquette and ensure that Marquette finishes with a losing record in conference. This game will also mark four straight losses for Marquette… very bad timing for this sort of streak. 15-12, 6-9

PROVIDENCE: Still reeling from the loss of do everything forward, Ryan Gomes, the Friars come to Milwaukee on Senior Day and get all they can handle from a squad determined to win one for Steve Novak, Joe Chapman and Chris Grimm. The efforts of guard Dwight Brewington and talented freshman, Geoff McDermott, will be for naught as Marquette will end its regular season on a high note, and with plenty to look forward to in the future. 16-12, 7-9

We predict Marquette will fall short of the NCAA Tournament, but will finish 10th in the BIG EAST and will be a solid NIT selection this year.

^ denotes Pepsi Blue and Gold Shootout
# denotes Great Alaska Shootout

Tom Izzo's Coaching Tree

An interesting article on ESPN.com with plenty of Tom Crean mentions.

Excerpt: "Tom Izzo, a former assistant under Jud Heathcote, is entering his 11th season as the Spartans' head coach. In that span, Izzo has helped six of his assistants become head coaches. Marquette coach Tom Crean is the highest-profile one of the group, having led the Golden Eagles to the 2003 Final Four. The other five include Mike Garland at Cleveland State, Brian Gregory at Dayton, Stan Heath (hired by Kent State and then plucked away by Arkansas), Stan Joplin at Toledo and Doug Wojcik, who is beginning his first season at Tulsa."

For the complete article, click here.

Marquette Player Previews

As Marquette prepares to open its season with an exhibition game on Thursday night, our blog takes a look at the current roster and breaks down potential contributions and expectations for each player. In a year when MU welcomes seven newcomers to the roster, we'd expect this initial analysis to look quite different by the start of conference play.

Likely starting lineup to open the season:
PG: Dominic James
SG: Joe Chapman
SF: Steve Novak
PF: Ryan Amoroso
C: Ousmane Barro

Seniors:
Steve Novak: 6’10, forward, Brown Deer, WI, starter… It is sometimes unbelievable how fast time flies. It seems like only yesterday that Novak was a skinny freshman, having his breakout game against DePaul at the AllState Arena in Chicago. Now Novak is a not-quite-as-skinny senior, and is expected to be the leading scorer and perhaps more importantly, the leader on a very inexperienced Golden Eagles’ squad. Novak should certainly benefit from the influx in athleticism at Marquette, as last year, after Diener went down, he was forced to do things outside his comfort zone. This year, Novak will the beneficiary of outlet passes from driving athletes like Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Wes Matthews and Dan Fizgerald, and should put up big scoring numbers. Coach Crean has also mentioned that it is imperative that Steve gets to the free throw stripe a number of times each game—Novak is a 90%+ FT shooter—so expect to see Novak post up or dribble drive into the lane more this year as well. Novak should go down as the all-time leading 3-point shooter at Marquette, and should have a very productive season in his second year as a full-time starter.

Joe Chapman: 6’4, guard, Chicago Heights, IL, likely starter… One of the most frustrating sights for Marquette fans last year was watching Chapman, who is clearly not a point guard, have to handle point guard duties for Marquette last year after Travis Diener's injury. Chapman will be allowed to return to his natural SG/SF duties this year with the addition of point guard James and backup Fitzgerald, and should thrive doing so. Without a doubt, Chapman will be pushed for minutes by Matthews, McNeal and Fitzgerald, but his three years in Crean’s system should gain him the immediate starter’s role. We would not be surprised to see McNeal or Matthews end up as a starter this season, but Chapman is certainly a capable, if unspectacular, player there.

Chris Grimm: 6’10” center, Brighton, MI, reserve… Grimm has never really lived up to expectations at Marquette, but he has always worked very hard. This year, Grimm is trying to return from elbow surgery, and appears to be ready to play a role in the lineup. Chris’ role this year should involve mentoring the younger players and playing as a reserve at center, picking up charges and rebounds and setting screens (having no “moving screen violations” should be a goal, Chris!), and making his putbacks. We do not anticipate Grimm starting, but he certainly will play somewhere between 5-15 minutes at the center position this season.

Juniors:
Mike Kinsella: 7’0” center, Rochester, MN, reserve… Kinsella’s experience at Marquette has been a very disappointing one so far due to no fault of his own. First it was feet problems. Then it was knee problems. After missing a good portion of last year to injury, Mike was ready to go and excited about the season, and had even added 15 pounds in the offseason before the knee problems started. To Mike’s credit, his timetable for return went from questionable for the year to mid to late December to early December. If healthy, Mike can provide Marquette with a unique option at the 5 spot. Kinsella is easily the best shooter among the big men, and has a sweet looking long range jumper. Mike’s defense is suspect, but with the added weight, the hope is that he will be able to add to the center by committee rotation when he returns.

Jamil Lott: 6’7”, forward, St. Paul, MN, main reserve/potential starter… Jamil Lott was a big late junior college addition to the Marquette squad this past spring. He was highly recruited by a number of DI programs, and Marquette's hope was to have him come in and fill the void left by the graduated Marcus Jackson. Early opinions of Lott have been mixed. Lott appears to have a nice offensive game (an improvement over Jackson’s lack of offensive ability), but he also appears lost at times on the court. Lott definitely has a great deal of athleticism and will be used as a low post presence, but time will tell whether he will be a legitimate offensive option in the post while at Marquette. At this point, we project Lott to start the season on the bench, but he may push for the starting power forward position, depending on how quickly he adjusts to Crean’s system.

Sophomores:
Ryan Amoroso: 6’8” forward, Burnsville, MN, possible starter/main reserve… Amo comes off a season that certainly showed the typical ups and downs of a freshman. In some games, Amo was terrific, showing Mike Wilkinson-like potential on the boards and offensively. In others, Amo would miss dunks, draw a costly technical foul at the free throw line, or make other freshman mistakes. Amo has bulked up even more over the summer, and it will be interesting to watch him with a year's experience. We expect marked improvement this year. His potential is tremendous, as he can hit the long range shot and score from the post. If he can stay consistent, we expect Amo to start at the power forward position… at least as long as he plays better than Lott in practice.

Ousmane Barro: 6’10 center, Dakar, Senegal, possible starter/main reserve… Perhaps a better nickname has never been had by a player at Marquette. A native of Senegal and a recent convert to the game of basketball, Ooze literally “oozes” with potential. With his extremely long frame and natural athleticism, Ousmane could be a force to be reckoned with down the road. This year, look for Ooze to improve in many aspects of his game, but still be a raw talent who can’t be trusted with more than 15-20 minutes per game. The good news: at the Marquette Madness event, Ooze scored 10 points in 15 minutes when paired with the terrific driving and passing of Dominic James. He also appeared to have substantially bulked up over the summer. The bad news: at the same event, Ooze also made some of the same silly fouls and did not appear to yet have the instincts of a great player. The likely scenario this year is to pencil Ooze into the starting position, and realize that he, Grimm, Kinsella and Dwight Burke will likely split minutes in the pivot.

Dan Fitzgerald: 6’9” guard/forward, St. Paul, MN, supersub… We finally get the chance to watch in games what everyone has been quietly talking about for the past year... the terrific versatility and overall solid play of Dan Fitzgerald. Fitz came to Marquette as an underhyped transfer from Tulane, and from all accounts, is a true jack-of-all-trades type of player. He has already solidified the duty of backing up Dominic James at the point. He also will undoubtedly see minutes at both the off guard and small forward position. At times, we may even see Dan playing a few minutes at power forward. Fitz can shoot the long ball, has a great handle for a man his size, is a good passer and has already been noted as an excellent defender. So, the bottom line is that even though Fitzgerald might not start this season, he will play starter’s minutes, and will fill a number of important roles for the team.

Freshmen:
Dominic James: 5’10, guard, Richmond, IN, starter… Get ready for the incredible Mr. James. Perhaps never in the history of Marquette basketball has a point guard come in as highly heralded. James is a physical freak (his nickname is even Freak Nique), as witnessed by his trampoline-like dunks at Marquette Madness. Dominic is excellent on both ends of the floor, but as he says himself, the strongest part of his game is probably his passing. Repeatedly at Madness, James was seen breaking down defenders on the perimeter, driving to the lane and making incredible passes to wide open teammates (Steve Novak has to be salivating) or finishing around the rim like a pro. One area Dominic must work at is his long-range shooting. Nique certainly isn’t bad in this capacity, but he is no Diener… yet. Watch out for the little man with the big heart and game for many years to come.

Jerel McNeal: 6’3” guard, Country Club Hills, IL, main reserve… If any player can properly be labeled as “underrated” on this team, it is probably Jerel McNeal. McNeal is (yes, we'll say it) a Dwyane Wade-like defender, even though he is a couple inches shorter than Wade. At a recent scrimmage, Jerel had 27 deflections, which obviously, is an incredible number. Jerel is no Wade on the offensive side of the ball, but who is? McNeal is going to immediately push for minutes, and may very well replace Chapman in the starting lineup just by virtue of his extreme athleticism and work ethic. McNeal still has kind of a corkscrew-looking jumper, but that is something that he is already working diligently on. Jerel is, however, superb at driving to and scoring at the hoop. Look for Jerel to be a major part of this team’s success this year and in the future.

Wesley Matthews: 6’5” guard, Madison, WI, main reserve… Mr. Wisconsin Basketball will be a great player at Marquette, the only question is when it will happen. The safe money is on “sooner” rather than later. Matthews was impressive at Madness and other scrimmages with his scoring ability, defensive prowess, and maybe most importantly, his ability to “let the game come to him.” Maybe the best aspect of Wes is the extreme natural athleticism that allowed him to not only be tabbed as Wisconsin's best basketball player, but also first team all-state in soccer. Some people have speculated that because Wes split his time between two sports in high school, he may be a little behind when it comes to some fundamentals. While Wes does need to firm up some skills over time, he has showed a veteran’s poise on the court to this point, and figures to battle for solid minutes right away, along with his backcourt mate, McNeal.

Dwight Burke, 6’8” forward, Brooklyn, NY, reserve… This Brooklyn native who prepped in New Jersey was an extremely underrated pickup by Marquette late in the spring recruiting season. Originally slated for East Carolina, Burke was let out of his letter of intent when ECU fired Bill Herrion. Marquette snatched him up, and already, Burke has tremendously impressed those who have watched him scrimmage. Dwight’s surprising physical acumen has reminded some of Terry Sanders’ natural athleticm. Unlike Sanders, though, Burke has a nose for the rim, and the bulk and wherewithal to really battle down low.... the "bull in a china shop" type of player that can be so valuable. Burke is without a doubt raw in some aspects of his game. His perimeter shot looks bad and he still has to get a feel for the system. However, his performances in recent scrimmages have really made people think that long-term, Burke will be a starter at the power forward position. This year, expect Burke to find minutes here and there and improve through his apparently tremendous work ethic.

Matt Mortensen: 6’6” guard/forward, Provo, UT, reserve… It is difficult to get a true read on Matt at this point in time. In the early scrimmages open to the public, Mortensen looked overmatched athletically and did not appear to have a chance to contribute immediately to the program on the court. However, in the latest public scrimmage, Mort canned a number of three pointers and looked very solid on both ends of the court. With all the athleticism at the guard positions, it is hard to imagine Matt getting more than a few minutes per game this year, but he may be very valuable in certain games as a zone busting, David Diggs-like assassin from three-point range. Look for Mort to contribute more as time goes by.

Tomorrow, we'll preview the 2005-2006 campaign......

Washington Post Big East Preview

A thorough Big East preview offered by the Washington Post. Coach Crean notes the heightened fan interest in the new league:

Marquette Coach Tom Crean said last month that the Golden Eagles have had more ticket requests for their Jan. 11 game at Seton Hall, which finished 10th in the conference last year and has no nationally recognized star, than any other road game. The reason? Fans can combine a visit to New York City with a trip to the Meadowlands for the game.

"It's phenomenal for our fans to be able to do that," Crean said. "In our time [in Conference USA], we never lost at Southern Miss, so that was a good trip for us. But we'll have a thousand fans at Seton Hall, while we might've had 10 at Southern Miss."

Will anybody miss Hattiesburg?

The Post also picks MU to finish 12th in the league. Here is the rundown.

A Big Week Is Upon Us

After weeks of near-news and simulated game action, a week of legitimate milestones is finally upon us. On Thursday, the new-look Marquette Golden Eagles will take on the Michigan Tech Huskies at the Bradley Center in the exhibition opener. Steve Novak's younger brother Chris is a freshman forward for the Huskies. While MU fans have been treated to a few open scrimmages, it's about time to see real hoops on Al McGuire Court.

Also note that high school seniors can sign letters of intent starting on November 9. Earlier this fall, sharpshooter Lazar Hayward verbally committed to MU. MU also is pursuing combo guard David Cubillan and center Chas McFarland -- are there other possibilities as well? We might know more by the end of the week. The national signing period runs from November 9-16.

David Cubillan Visits MU

David Cubillan, a SG/PG from highly regarded St. Benedict's in Newark, NJ, will arrive at MU this weekend for his official visit. Cubillan was a high school teammate of current MU freshman Dwight Burke last season. According to Rivals.com, he is also considering Rutgers, St. John's, Villanova, Utah and Florida International.

A native of Venezuela, Cubillan would fit in nicely with MU's philosophy of relying on a deep, versatile backcourt. MU has only one point guard on the roster, Dominic James. Cubillan, who looks to be a combo guard based on Internet reports and this video, could fill a slot similar to the one Mike Nardi assumed when he joined Villanova one year after their flagship recruiting class.

For those of you who would like to learn more about David, click here. :-)

Enjoy your visit to MU, David.

Just in Time for Hoops: Bradley Center Improvements

Read all about it at the Bucks Web site. Read all about it in the Milwaukee Business Journal.

New Student Newspaper at Marquette: The Warrior

Check it out. It certainly will not appeal to everyone, then again that can be said about most things.

THE WARRIOR

Welcome to the NBA, Travis Diener

Ask and you shall receive, Mr. Anonymous. Many people were suprised to learn that Travis Diener made the final cut, and will suit up for his first NBA game tonight as the Orlando Magic take on the Indiana Pacers, led by that thug Ron Artest. Perhaps nobody was more surprised by Travis' performance in training camp than the Magic themselves --- Diener's bio didn't appear on their Web site until midday EST. Finally, here's a look at the roster and the Diener profile.

While Diener might have been somewhat forgettable to the Magic's Webmaster, Marquette fans will never forget the leadership, gumption and ability that made Travis Diener one of the greatest to ever lace'em up for Marquette University.

Diener, who signed a two-year contract with the Magic after being selected in the second round of the 2005 NBA draft, will backup Jameer Nelson at the point. With Grant Hill currently on the injured list, chances are Diener will spend his first year shuffling between the active and inactive roster. But we at the blog predict a long, fruitful NBA career for Travis Diener.

Congratulations and good luck, Travis!

Big East Preview: Gregg Doyel of Sportsline

Gregg Doyel steps up to the line to offer a thorough preview of the 2005-2006 Big East season. Doyel predicts a 10th place finish for Marquette, along with an NIT bid. He picks UConn to win the league, followed by Louisville, Syracuse and West Virginia. Villanova is slotted for a 5th place finish --- the loss of Sumpter could be a season-killer for the Wildcats.

Back to Marquette. Unlike assessments from other prognosticators, Doyel expects MU to improve in the paint this year with the addition of Jamil Lott, and the development of Ousmane Barro and Ryan Amoroso.

Its refreshing to see Doyel look beyond MU's much ballyhooed freshmen guards when evaluating the possibilities for TC's squad. To date, much of the pre-season analysis has focused on the deep, talented and young backcourt - - - yet in this blogger's opinion, the emergence of Lott, Barro, and Amoroso will be the key to a productive season. Can this troika defend and force opponents to respect their potential on offense?

Here's Doyel's write-up on MU:

"Marquette:
Top three: SF Steve Novak, PG Dominic James, PF Jamil Lott.
NIT or bust: As if the transition from Conference USA to the Big East wasn't daunting enough, the Golden Eagles must do it at the same time they transition from a senior point guard to a freshman. Dominic James won't be Travis Diener -- nobody could be Travis Diener -- but James will be pretty good. He's a scoring point guard who doesn't shoot like Diener (again, who does?) but who can get into the lane better than his predecessor. That could mean more open looks for Novak beyond the 3-point arc, where he's a 45-percent shooter. The Golden Eagles ought to be better in the post this season, with the arrival of junior college transfer Jamil Lott and the freshman-to-sophomore maturation of Ousmane Barro and Ryan Amoroso. Lott leads a promising group of newcomers that include versatile 6-9 Tulane transfer Dan Fitzgerald and freshman guards Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews IV. "

Freshman To Watch: Duke and Marquette

CSTV takes a look at freshman to watch from around the country, and settles on both Duke and Marquette as programs with the newbies of note (at least if you belive the headline writers): Per reporter Phil Kasiecki:

• Dominic James, G, Marquette: He'll be handed the keys to the offense right away. He can score the ball and distribute well.
• Jerel McNeal, G, Marquette: Along with James, he's a prime reason the future is very bright for the Golden Eagles. He knows how to win and does several things well.

Bo Ellis update: Sweet Home Chicago; Blue Demons Nation Preview

Barry Temkin of the Chicago Tribune offers an update on Bo Ellis in this morning's column.

UPDATE

The folks over at Blue Demons Nation preview MU's 2005-2006 campaign here.

Big East Media Day Recaps

A quick look at what many of the newspapers in Big East country are saying about yesterday's media day in NYC:

The guys over at the Pitt Sports Blather offer a terrific recap/analysis.

Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Malcom Moran of USA Today interviews Mike Tranghese on the state and future of the Big East.

Kim Baxter of the Syracuse Post-Standard talks about Rick Pitino.

Frank Litsky at the New York Times on the Big East's Sweet 16.

Bill Koch of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks about the road ahead for the newcomers.

Joe Gergen of the New York Daily News leads with the injury-prone, preseason favorite Villanova. Jay Wright, "I don't think I'm unfortunate," the coach said. "I feel bad for these kids. Curtis worked so hard all summer to get back to 100 percent. At a time like this, you feel like a parent. I feel good we have experienced guards and that Jason Fraser is healthy. Experience in this league is very important."

Shannon Ryan of the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a preview, including thoughts from a very candid Jim Calhoun, "The bigger aspect is [because of] football....I don't think any sane person could think about a 16-team basketball league and then talk about the... rivalries. A kid can go through his whole season and might never play [a certain team]. I might see someone at the banquet and say, 'Hi, I'm Coach Calhoun. Nice to meet you.' "

Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger struggles to see the wisdom of a 16-team basketball league. Mike Tranghese, "Everybody keeps telling me we're too big,.....Well, everybody in American is too big. We're all too big, we just happen to be a little bigger than the others."

Dave Mackall of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that 'all but one of the 16 teams that are now a part of Big East basketball has played in a Final Four, and 10 of the 16 teams made it that far during the past 25 years'.

And finally, MSNBC ponders the question, 'Who's playing where' with this interactive guide to the conference shuffle.

MU Picked 12th by Big East Coaches

The Big East coaches picked MU to finish 12th in the expanded 16-team Big East conference this season. Here is the breakdown from the pre-season poll:

1. Villanova
2. UConn
3. Louisville
4. Syracuse
5. WVU
6. Georgetown
7. Pitt
8. ND
9. Cinci
10. St. John's
11. DePaul
12. Marquette
13. Providence
14. Rutgers
15. Seton Hall
16. USF

MU Season Preview from NBA Draft Express

A thorough preview of MU appeared yesterday on NBA Draft Express, which is doing a thorough preview of each Big East team. Overall their experts pick MU to finish 12th in the Big East, just behind DePaul and just ahead of Providence. According to Jonathan Watters, "This is one of the tougher teams to figure out in the new Big East. Crean's program has gone through a rough couple of seasons, though it hasn't been for a lack of talent........This year's roster has all sorts of new faces, but the competition level will be a dramatic increase. There is plenty of talent here..."

The preview here is sound and up to date - - - he even notes the recent McFarland visit. Good work.

In their conference-wide preview, MU's Dominic James is the pre-season Newcomer of the Year. Jerel McNeal was selected as a second team all-newcomer.

BTW, since the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel forgot to mention it, please remember that today is Big East media day - - the links from Monday's post can help you view the activities online today, and include a schedule of television and radio appearances by many Big East coaches.

Big East Media Day Approaches

As college football accelerates down the back stretch, college basketball is getting closer to post time. On Wednesday, the calendar is kind for us basketball fans as the Big East hosts its first media day as a 16-team league.

Those of you interested in playing hooky, rejoice - - -the entire event will be broadcast on CSTV Networks. Or for those of you interested in playing hooky while at work, you can watch a Webcast of the event.

Big East media day runs from 11am - 1pm EDT at Madison Square Garden, and should include participation from every head coach in the league. Details on media day can be found here.

Tom Crean and a contingent of senior MU officials will be in New York for media day. Much of the MU brass will stick around for a much-anticipated alumni event in New York City on Thursday night. Area alums - - if interested in attending, get in touch with the Office of Alumni Relations soon.

Potpourri: MU TV, Big East Coaches, Burlison

MU Television Update
MU released an updated schedule of television games yesterday. You can read the article here. Here are a few highlights:

"MU will make three national television appearances – ESPN (Feb. 16 vs. Georgetown) and twice on ESPNU (Jan. 20 vs. Notre Dame and Feb. 25 at Notre Dame) – and eight times as part of the conference’s regional and local packages.

Three of Marquette’s Saturday contests – vs. Cincinnati on Jan. 7, at Pittsburgh on Jan. 28 and at Villanova on Feb. 4 – were designated by the conference as BIG EAST Game of the Week. Those games will reach over 30 percent of the nation and 33 million households, the largest distribution of any syndicated conference basketball package in the country. "

Additional games will be broadcast locally.

Rosiak is back at it
BTW, its great to read so much about MU hoops in October in the MJS - - lets hope the in-depth coverage continues. Since its inception, the Big East has been a conference driven by personable, charismatic and successful coaches. Here is Rosiak's take.

"Crean will be joining the ranks of some talented young coaches in the Big East — most notably Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Villanova’s Jay Wright — but his Final Four appearance in 2003 is a feat that only Boeheim, Calhoun and Pitino have been able to accomplish."

Frank Burlison
The Hall of Famer updated his column based on MU fans' feedback and came up with some well-deserved recognition of the incoming freshman class at MU, James in particular:

"After further consideration (and input from Marquette followers), I should have included Marquette's group of freshmen as one that is close to being one of the 10 most influential classes in the country this season. Watch out for point guard Dominic James. He should challenge for Big East Freshman of the Year."

Rivalry Renewed

Marquette and Notre Dame have played 105 times over the years. Thanks to the expanded Big East, this rivalry will be re-energized with a home-and-home series........just as it should be.

MU and ND have played any number of memorable games, highlighted (from an MU perspective) by Doc's miraculous haflcourt shot to seal a 54-52 win in 1981. Don't forget to visit the ND blog, The Blue-Gray Sky, as well (its also in the sidebar).

In addition to reflecting on the MU/ND rivalry, Todd Rosiak looks at other rivalries that could emerge in the new league. Anybody think that Pittsburgh would like to draw even with MU sometime soon?

The New RPI Formula

It wouldn't be college basketball without an annual education on the changes to the RPI formula. The only guy to pay attention to on this matter is Ken Pomeroy - - so here's his take on the new formula and what it means for scheduling.

The Cliffs Notes version: "I expect that this will push the percentage of home games incrementally higher for the power conferences."

Read all about it here at the kenpom.com blog (highly recommended)

The new mascot debuts

Made his/her debut at Marquette Madness on Friday night.

Complete story here at the Marquette Tribune.

Big East History Lesson

Kudos to the Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for his expansive reporting in this week's series of Big East curtain raisers. Today, Rosiak delivers a history lesson on the nation's finest basketball conference.

The league, dominated by charismatic coaches since its inception, adds a few more this year. As Crean indicates in the article, "the identity was formed early and the common thread has been it's continued to be an unbelievably competitive league with night-in, night-out battles with teams that compete for national championships.......Coaches that were part of the personality of the league are now in the Hall of Fame or on their way, and I think that's what's great."

MU Has This Guy for Four Years

Oh my goodness. Marquette, meet Dominic James. Wow.

Courtesy of our pal TrekYFoil66 (I'll even give him a link to his beloved Trek Bicycles for sharing that picture.), over at Scout's MarquetteHoops site.

Also, Todd Rosiak of the Milkwaukee Journal-Sentinel delivers the first in a series of articles that preview MU's first season in the Big East. Today Rosiak looks at challenges with preparation, youth, as well as the recruiting opportunities created with the move to the Big East.

Marquette Madness Is Here

OK folks, basketball is starting again. Tonight MU ushers in the Big East era with Marquette Madness over at The Al. According to Todd Rosiak, Steve Novak and his running mates had better be ready to handle the speed and skill of freshman point guard Dominic James. Rosiak notes that Chas McFarland, Keaton Nankivil, Korie Lucious and several other recruits are scheduled to join MU for the festivities tonight.

Also, Colin Fly of the Associated Press takes a look at the new mix at MU, highlighted by seven newcomers, many of whom will play prominent roles in the upcoming campaign. Integrating the newcomers has not been easy, forcing Crean to exhibit more patience -- "I've got that count to 10 theory back," Crean said. "You know, when you're ready to blow up and get mad at something, you count to 10 and settle down. That's what you do with a young team, and that will be going on. There'll be times when we count to 20, hopefully we can get it down to five by the end of the year."

McFarland Spurns Friars to Experience Marquette Madness

It's being reported on Marquettehoops.com that Chas McFarland, the 7-foot recruit whose stock is rising like a meteor, has changed his plans a bit. He had been scheduled to visit Providence for their Madness celebration, and was scheduled to visit Marquette in two weeks. Well, stuff happens, apparently.

McFarland has decided to attend Marquette Madness and has scheduled his official Marquette visit this weekend. There has been no indication as to why he has changed his plans, but one can only assume that Marquette must be near the top of Chas' list at this point, as Madness is a premier weekend to showcase a school's program.

McFarland attends Worcester Academy (MA) and is originally from Lovington, Illinois. He is a former AAU teammate of Marquette freshman, Dominic James.

It is unclear as to whether McFarland will be joined on his trip to Milwaukee by his prep school teammate, Ben Eaves. McFarland and Eaves have made simultaneous unofficial visits in the past, and had planned on making officials to Providence this weekend. Marquette is also recruiting the athletic Eaves, who is a 6'8" forward from England.

Marquette Madness is Just a Day Away

Tomorrow night MU will usher in the new basketball season with Marquette Madness -- a program to be held at the Al McGuire Center. Time to get to work, fellas.

Mitchell chooses Gators

Marquette suffered a recruiting setback this morning when Jon Mitchell of NYC chose Billy Donovan's offer at the University of Florida over offers at both MU and Virginia. Mitchell was widely thought to be Marquette's top 2006 priority.

In other developments, Chas McFarland, a rapidly rising 7-foot prospect from Worcester Academy in MA, by way of Lovington, IL, has scheduled an official visit to Marquette. McFarland visited USC this past weekend, and will now visit Providence, BC, Marquette and a fifth school the next four weekends.

This is no time to panic, Marquette fans, as Coach Crean has many irons in the 2006 recruiting fire as we speak.

Playing the Waiting Game

Marquette recruiting is certainly hot right now, with many names of interest surfacing for 2006. What seems clear is that Marquette has placed a high priority on the services of Jon Mitchell, a versatile lefty combo forward from Mt. Vernon, NY. In a recent Scout article, Mitchell seemed to indicate that he currently holds MU, Virginia and Florida in relatively equal standing at this point, but hopes to make a decision by the end of next week. Mitchell visits Florida this weekend and has already visited MU and Virginia.

Jon Mitchell would seem to be an excellent compliment to the already-committed sharpshooter, Lazar Hayward, in 2006. Both are widely regarded as Top 100 players in that class, and both players would help open up the East Coast to Marquette in the recruiting game. It is unclear which direction MU will go in if Mitchell heads elsewhere, but some names currently listed with Marquette are Thijin Moses (6'8" forward from Boys to Men Academy in Chicago), Jerome Randle and JaValle McGee (5'8" PG and 6'11" C from Hales Franciscan in Chicago), Chas McFarland (7-foot C from Worcester Prep in MA, via Lovington, IL), Ben Eaves (6'8" forward from Worcester Prep by way of England) and Ryan Pettinella (a 6'9" forward from NY who played at Penn, transferred to Cincy but wants to transfer again after Huggy was fired).

As Marquette's other 2006 commit, Anthony Green, appears to be headed the prep school route, look for the above mentioned names and others to pop up on the radar screen, as MU tries to stock its 2006 roster.

Big East Television Schedule

With the start of the season a little more than one month away, the Big East Conference announced television schedule for the 2005-2006 men's basketball season. The initial schedule calls for 101 televised regular-season games.

How many of those 101 games involve Marquette University? Unfortunately, only one game -- the home tilt against Georgetown on February 16, will air on ESPN. The conference will announced an expanded list of televised games in the near future. Wanna see your team this year, MU fans? Buy your tickets now.

Here's a link to the article on the television schedule. A .pdf file of the schedule is available at the site as well.

Marquette Part of the 2007 Maui Invitational

The 2007 Maui Invitational was announced today and Marquette University will be a participant. Other invitees will be Duke, Illinois, LSU, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Princeton and Chaminade.

For the complete relase click on the link below.

The 2007 Maui Invitational (click here)

Big East Athletics Spending

Here's an eye-opener for ya.....MU ranks 14th in the Big East in overall athletics spending. MU spends $15,157,774 on athletics, which is comfortably more than Providence and DePaul, and slightly less than Seton Hall University.

As you'd expect, football playing institutions dominate the spending. Regarding 'basketball-only' universities, Saint John's leads the way at $24,072,910 (love those NYC prices!).

Here is how MU compares to other 'basketball-only' schools in the Big East (at least with universities that do not compete in Division 1 football):

1. St. John's, $24,072,910
2. Georgetown, $17,705,058
3. Villanova, $17,007,533
4. Seton Hall , $15,260,330
5. Marquette, $15,157,774
6. Providence, $14,010,397
7. DePaul, $13,497,690

If one factors out Villanova and Georgetown (which play competitive non-D1 football), MU's athletics budget is roughly the median for similar institutions.

Interestingly, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that "in the Big East, all NCAA credits will be combined, and each school will receive an equal share". Basically, MU will receive an equal share of NCAA basketball tournament money going forward -- whether or not it participates. CUSA's formula rewarded individual participants in the tournament. This could mean a boost for MU's athletic budget in future years if the conference remains strong.

Thanks to the Big East Basketball Report for locating this article from the Louisville Courier-Journal. Here's the link to the full article.

Lazar Hayward Commits to Marquette

Marquette secured its first commitment from the class of 2006 when Tom Crean landed fast-rising prep guard Lazar Hayward. Hayward, who will suit up for Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, MA, is originally from Buffalo, NY. Hayward chose MU over UConn, Virginia and Seton Hall.

Lazar Hayward is one of the best shooters in the prep ranks, and will fill an immediate need on the MU roster next season (particularly with Steve Novak's graduation). Hayward's prep school program plays at the highest level, and is laden with Division One talent -- he should contribute early for MU.

Scout.com covers the news here (subscribers only - $ well spent, IMHO)

With Hayward in the fold, Crean can now focus his efforts on securing a commitment from talented forward Jonathan Mitchell, the pride of Mount Vernon, NY.

Welcome to Marquette, Lazar.

Is it game time yet?

OK, OK, the blog has been quiet of late. This is what you can get at a university that specializes in basketball. Specialization rules.

While things are relatively calm right now, the intensity and anticipation are building as MU prepares for not-so-midnight madness in just a few weeks. The open gym last weekend at The Al served its purpose -- fans are excited about a team that enters a great new league, with a roster laden with more talented newcomers than MU has seen in years. Newcomers Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Jamil Lott and Dan Fitzgerald all figure to command big minutes in the MU rotation. And Matt Mortensen and Dwight Burke might just surprise us all (the message boards raved about Burke's play at the open gym).

We're just a few weeks away from what will be one of the more intriguing seasons in recent memory. MU is coming off of two lackluster seasons, and the fandom is hoping to see the trajectory of the program re-established as indisputably onward and upward. To do that, the newbies will have to quickly deliver for MU -- and hopefully bring a quicker, more aggressive style of play than MU has been able to demonstrate in recent years.

The clock is ticking and practice begins soon......I for one can't wait.

UPDATE
Sportsline's Gregg Doyel takes a look at MU in his most recent column - - check it out.

1977 Championship Game Available on DVD

Need some holiday gifts for that special MU fan in your life? Finally, the 1977 championship game is available in DVD format and is available for only $21.95.

Click here to purchase the 1977 DVD from Vintage Sports Video

Big East News and Notes

The newsflow out of MU these days is slow (well, I guess that's a good thing in some resepcts), so here's a look a few issues from around the Big East, with a few MU items of note:

- MU is hosting an Open Workout on September 17 at the Al McGuire Center to benefit Hurricane Katrina vicitims. Details are here.

- Apparently MU expressed interest in 6'10" PF Rockwell Moody of Maryland....Moody committed to Phil Martelli's program earlier this week.

- Louisville is pushing for a new arena to replace the venerable Freedom Hall. Would you pay $40 million for naming rights to the House that Rick Wants To Build? Many observers are skeptical.

- Georgetown might be turning the corner and re-entering Elite Lane. Gregg Doyel offers a perspective on the fine job that John Thompson III is doing with the Hoyas.

- Attrition by subtraction? Cincy lost one of its most talented incoming players when PF Ivan Johnson decided to the leave the program. True to form, the Bearcats are awaiting a resolution on criminal charges filed against another recruit before determining his eligibility.

- Completely OT, former MU player Marc Marotta is stepping down as Governor Jim Doyle's administration secretary later this month.

Big East Schedule Is Out

MU has four of its first six away from home but enjoys one heck of a home schedule in its inaugural Big East season.

Check it out.

Here is Todd Rosiak's take on the MU schedule. Rosiak also offers these tantalizing recruiting tidbits in the same article:

"Recruiting news: MU is scheduled to visit today with swing men Lazar Hayward of Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., and A.J. Wilson of Mount Zion in St. Paul, Minn.; next week with Doneal Mack of Statesville (N.C.) Christian and JeJuan Brown of Biloxi (Miss.); and also with Jonathan Mitchell of Mt. Vernon (N.Y.) and Raed Mostafa of North Dakota State College of Science. "

Updates/Previews: Hayward and Mitchell; Another Big East Preview

According to Mike Sullivan of Fox Sports, MU continues to lead for Jonathan Mitchell, the pride of Mount Vernon, NY. Mitchell will visit UVa and Florida within the next month or so before making a decision.

Sullivan also notes that MU leads for Lazar Hayward, whom he thinks might be "the best perimeter shooter on the prep level." Hayward will visit MU later this month, and will visit UConn for not-so Midnight Madness. Here's the full article.

Also, here's a link to CollegeHoopsNet's Big East preview -- specifically the Midwest programs. Their assessment is fair, and they note that "It might take a year for them (Matthews, McNeal and James) to adjust to a new conference and for the freshmen to adjust to a higher level of competition but expect Marquette to make their presence felt in the very near future."

A look back: 2002 Big East Recruiting Classes

Here's one to read over at the Big East Basketball Report -- a look at the current senior class from each team in the conference.

Recruiting Updates

C/PF Bryce Webster chose Minnesota over MU earlier this week. Good luck, Bryce. While losing Webster is disappointing, MU will return five post players for the '06-'07 season (Burke, Kinsella, Amoroso, Lott, Barro). Nobody knows how effective this bunch will be, however.

Now its onto Lazar Hayward, Jonathan Mitchell, and perhaps Thinjin Moses or Paul Bayer among others for Tom Crean. While losing Webster stings, IMHO MU's biggest needs for this class might be:

- a pure three point shooter;
- a versatile forward who can play the 3/4 slots comfortably.

Losing Novak leaves MU without a great shooter on the roster going into the '06-'07 season. Perhaps Hayward can fill that role. As for the combo forward, MU does not have one on the roster right now, though Amoroso seems like he might be able to fill the role as needed (though he's more of a 4 than a 3).

What Should a Golden Eagle Look Like?

Let your voice be heard.

Take a Look at Marquette's New Mascot Designs.

Welcome to the Marquette University AthleticsGolden Eagle Mascot Preview.

The Big East: What to expect in 2005-2006

The guys over at the Big East Basketball Report started a new series today. They've invited bloggers from about individual Big East programs to offer perspectives on the upcoming season.

Please check out our entry -- we're the first in the series. The format was recommended by the BE blog, so you'll be able to compare the entries as they are filed.

"The person who follows a dictator is always assassinated"

Coach Al accurately sums up the perils of following Bob Huggins as the head coach at UC.

- Per the Cincy Enquirer, a number of coaches already realize this.
- Dustin Dow at the Enquirer offers a list of possibilities.

Bring your body armor, gentlemen.

Jonathan Mitchell Update

Courtesy of the Journal-News in Westchester County:

Mount Vernon star forward Jonathan Mitchell is closing in on making his college decision. The 6-7 senior has narrowed his choices to Virginia, Marquette and Florida. "I'm going to be making a couple more visits," Mitchell said yesterday. "I should have my decision in a few months."

Save Camp Anokijig

OK, this is a bit off-topic but perhaps a few of our readers can help out. MU graduate Jim McIlvaine is leading an effort to preserve a long-running camp in southeastern Wisconsin.

Camp Anokijig sits just outside of Plymouth in Sheboygan County, and has been a successful Wisconsin institution for decades. In this recent Journal-Sentinel article, McIlvaine presents a strong case for a reasonable solution -- one that would preserve the facility as an independent YMCA camp, but at a cost that falls well short of the $8 million sought by the current owner. Currently, the camp is owned by the Racine Family YMCA, which is accepting bids through the end of September.

Anybody interested in supporting the community's bid to save the camp, please visit the Friends of Camp Anokijig site. Here is the official site for the camp.

Bob Huggins gone from UC?

Check out the UC blog for details........what a mess!

MU News and Notes

A few MU related updates for Thursday - -

- Travis Diener signs a contract with the Orlando Magic. The NBA minimum salary is somewhere in the neighborhood of $390,000. Good work if you can get it....good luck Travis.
- Speaking of money, Marquette announced the results of the most successful capital campaign in the institution's history. During the Magis Campaign, MU raised $357 million -- far exceeding its goal of $250 million. The donations came from some 50,000 donors -- an impressive measure of participation. Well done, MU Community.
- Jonathan Mitchell, one of Tom Crean's top recruiting targets, takes the court tonight at the New York Hoops Festival. Mitchell's Metro Hawks will square off against highly regarded Derrick Caracter and the N.Y. Panthers.

UPDATED COACHING STAFF NEWS
The remarkable Trey Schwab is leaving Marquette to become an outreach coordinator for organ procurement for the University of Wisconsin hospital system. Godspeed, Trey, and thanks for your great service to MU.

Trey's departure opens the door for Todd Townsend's return to the program. According to the Journal-Sentinel, "(Schwab's) duties will now be split between three people: former MU player Todd Townsend, whom Crean has hired as his director of basketball operations; Derek Deprey, who will now serve as video coordinator; and Barb Kelleher, who has been named as special assistant to the head coach."

Welcome back, Todd.

FoxSports Big East Preview

Today Yoco Hoops' Yoni Cohen offers a preview of the expanded Big East. With regards to MU, Cohen remarks that "With the exception of Steve Novak and Joe Chapman, the cupboard is all but bare at Marquette". Later he wonders, "Is Marquette's incoming class, purported to be among the top 15 nationally, as good as advertised? Or will Tom Crean's 2003 Final Four seem a decade away at season's end?"

To sum it up, Cohen calls for a Down Year at MU:
"Marquette: The Golden Eagles struggled mightily after Travis Diener suffered a season ending injury. Without Diener and third leading scorer Dameon Mason, no amount of impact freshmen will enable Tom Crean to avoid another disappointing season."

Certainly it's low-hanging fruit to figure that a team which lost its three best players might struggle. Of course, MU does have a tremendous influx of new, high-ceiling talent into the program that is largely ignored in the FoxSports final analysis.

Let's see which teams were ignored when it came to selecting the 'down year' team nominee:

• Seton Hall: Strangely, FoxSports refers to 'Justin' as a point guard for the Hall -- yet Justin Cerasoli transferred out of Seton Hall months ago. Hmmmm. The Hall lost four starters from a squad that finished 4-12 in the Big East last season.
• DePaul, which lost its top two scorers and its best perimeter defender.
• USF, which struggled mightily last season and lost its top three scorers.
• Providence. The Friars lost their best player, Ryan Gomes, after a very disappointing season. They do return a solid (though not deep) backcourt in McGrath and Brewington. However, the Friars endured three transfers in the off-season and have no interior threats.

Will MU have a .500 record in the Big East this year? Probably not, but the trajectory of the program looks good when one realizes that the best talent in the program are all freshman and sophomores.

Down year? Nah.

Transition year -- definitely. Perhaps its just a matter of perspective.

Take a look here.

Maurice Lucas: Back in the NBA

Pittsburgh native and MU alum Maurice Lucas returns to the NBA sidelines this year as an assistant coach with the Portland TrailBlazers. Here's a feature on Lucas from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Steve Novak named to preseason Wooden List Top 50

MILWAUKEE, August 9 - Marquette senior forward Steve Novak is one of the top 50 preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team, the national preseason selection committee announced Monday. Novak averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and shot 46.1-percent from three for MU last season.

The list is composed of 50 student athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most coveted trophy. These top 50 candidates are comprised of returning players, although transfers, freshmen and other players who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for both the Midseason top 30 list and the National Ballot.

“With so many players jumping to the next level and so many standout athletes from last year, the committee had a tough time nominating these candidates from such a wide selection of tremendous players,” said Duke Llewellyn, Wooden Award chairman. “These preseason selections represent the elite of college basketball, and our entire team at the Wooden Award is excited to see the best players in the nation prove their case as college basketball’s player of the year.”

Novak’s nomination marks the fourth consecutive season the Golden Eagles have been represented on the national award ballot. In 2003, Dwyane Wade was selected to the Wooden Award All-American first team, and in 2004 and 2005 Travis Diener was recognized on the award’s preseason, mid-season and final ballots.

Former MU great Butch Lee is the only other player in school history to earn Wooden Award honors. Lee was named to the award’s first team after finishing as the runner-up for national player of the year honors in 1978.

Eleven NCAA conferences are represented, including the Big East (nine players), ACC (eight players), Pac 10 (seven players), Big Ten (six players), Big 12 (six players), Atlantic 10 (four players), SEC (four players), Conference USA (two players), Western Athletic Conference (two players), West Coast Conference (one player), and the Missouri Valley Conference (one player).

In mid-January, the Wooden Award committee will release the midseason top 30 on CBS Sports, and on Tuesday, March 28, the 10-player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced. The 2006 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 8, 2006, and will be broadcast live on a national CBS telecast

Recruiting heats up: Bryce Webster and Jonathan Mitchell Updates

It looks like Dan Monson finally has realized what Tom Crean has known for more than two years: Bryce Webster is a talented post player who can be a difference maker for any program.

From an MU perspective, one hopes that Webster realizes that Crean has long valued his abilities, rather than turning to him after other prospects shunned the coach's efforts -- as Isaiah Dahlman has done with the University of Minnesota. According to the Star-Tribune, "With Dahlman apparently out of the picture, St. Thomas Academy big man Bryce Webster has emerged as the Gophers' No. 1 recruiting priority."

Welcome to the party, Dan.

Being 'in early' on a kid is not a guarantee (see Bobby Frasor), but it appears that TC has done all the right things in recruiting Webster. Now its up to Bryce to decide between MU, Minnesota, and Betting Central (er, Boston College).

UPDATED

As for Jonathan Mitchell, the pride of Mount Vernon, NY, UVa is putting on the full court press. Today, it was revealed that Stephen Kendall will not sign with the Cavs this winter, freeing up a scholarship for Dave Leitao.

According to the Times-Dispatch, "U.Va., which has two scholarships for 2006-07, is in dire need of frontcourt help. Heading the Cavaliers' wish list are Duke Crews, a 6-7, 235-pound forward at Hampton's Bethel High, and Jonathan Mitchell, a 6-7, 235-pound forward at Mount Vernon High in New York. They're rising seniors ranked among the top 100 prospects in the nation's Class of 2006."

Again, it seems that TC has done everything right in recruiting Mitchell (his high school coach indicated this earlier in the summer). Like Monson with Webster, Leitao was late to this recruiting engagement.....but who knows if that will be a factor.

The road in the Big East--not so tough?.

Ken Pomeroy has an interesting analysis on what he calls "Rabid Crowd Theory" which suggests that the road in the Big East won't be as tough as many MU fans believe.

His thesis:
"Most of the home court advantage is the result of simply being able to maintain one's normal routine, play in familiar confines, etc. Sure, it's harder to win at Cameron Indoor, but that has much more to do with the team you have to play there than any intimidation by the fans. "

He then goes on to rank conferences based on home winning percentage in league games.

Here's the amazing conclusion. Of 31 conferences, the Big East is actually has one of the smallest home court advantages of any league!

Using 2004-05 data, the Big East is ranked 26th overall. By comparison, the CUSA is ranked 21st--the home team has a slightly better home court advantage in CUSA.

21. Conference USA 69-43 .616
26. Big East 56-40 .583

The best home court advantage? The Big Sky, where the home team won over 75% of all games. Of the big six major conferences, the Big Ten ranked 8th overall and sports a 66% home winning percentage. See all rankings at Ken's site.

And lest someone think that this is a one year phenomenon, Pomeroy also ranked conferences using the last five years worth of data.

The Big East did show a slight iprovement, coming in at #20. C-USA was middle of the pack, ranking 15th.

His conclusion: the "rabid crowd factor" largely doesn't exist. Home court advantage is driven more by factors that affect basketball as a whole (travel, change in routine, etc.) have more impact than factors specific to any conference (size/intensity of crowds, or "dominant courts").

MU names Dan Panaggio as new assistant coach

Dan Panaggio, a veteran assistant with NBA, CBA and NCAA experience, was named assistant basketball coach at Marquette University. Panaggio joins Jean Prioleau as new full-time assistants with the program.

Panaggio brings a wealth of experience to the MU bench, having most recently completed a four-year stretch as an assistant with the Portland Trailblazers. Panaggio's most recent collegiate experience was as a member of Mike Davis' first staff at Indiana University.

Dan has deep roots in the midwest, having coached the CBA's Quad City Thunder to more than 300 victories. Dan was the league's coach of the year three times, and led the Thunder to league titles in both 1994 and 1998.

Interestingly, Dan's father Mauro Panaggio is the winningest coach in CBA history. Dan Panaggio is the second-winningest coach in CBA history. Dan is a native of Rochester, NY and was a two-time First Team All-Conference selection while starring at SUNY-Brockport in upstate New York.



Welcome to MU, Dan.

Stay in School

The new blogs over at the Sporting News are fast becoming must-reads........the editors there have committed to regular blogs from contributors readers know, recognize and appreciate (of course many of their blogs are teasers for articles about to appear in the print edition, but I'll cut them slack for now).

Yesterday, Mike DeCourcy 'penned' a blog on the need for top prospects to attend college -- and delivered this rather tongue-in-cheek line, "I hope you'll understand the reason for my recent fixation on the very top prospects in prep basketball. You see, it's been a long time since such players entered my world." Methinks Mike is a fan of thee NBA age limit and the reluctant talent that will matriculate to a university near you.

"All love affairs end. Eventually the girl is gonna put curlers in her hair."

Could this be the beginning of the end for the NCAA Tournament as we know it? This week a court will consider whether or not the NCAA is an 'illegal monopoly', and whether or not institutions should have the option of playing in any tournament they so choose. The plaintiff in this skirmish is the once-proud NIT. Currently, the NCAA mandates that any institution invited to their championship tournament is required to accepth the bid.

The genesis of this long-running feud? Marquette's own Al McGuire. Here's an excerpt from today's article in the Winston-Salem Journal:

'In 1970, Marquette's men's basketball team withdrew from the NCAA Tournament and went to the NIT instead, to the embarrassment of the NCAA.

The NIT says that Marquette's decision prompted the start of illegal, anti-competitive behavior by the NCAA, which then passed a "commitment-to-participate" rule, making it mandatory for all schools that qualified for postseason play in all sports but Division I football to participate.'

The NCAA's record in anti-trust cases? 2-2.

Welcome to Cracked Sidewalks

In honor of the late, great Al McGuire, the blogging team here has decided to rename the site -- going forward, we'll welcome you back to 'Cracked Sidewalks'. You'll still find all of the information you've come to expect -- but a tip o'the cap to Al was very much in order.

So, in honor of everyone's favorite "Einstein of the streets and an Oxford scholar of common sense" we'll keep this blog moving.

For kicks, here are a couple of links to memorable Al McGuire quotes
- Al McGuire quotes on Working Humor
- Al McGuire quotes on ESPN

Thanks for making us a part of your virtual Maquette basketball experience.

Dan Gavitt joins the Big East

In an interesting move, commissioner Mike Tranghesee announced that Dan Gavitt will be the conference's first-ever Associate Commissioner for men’s basketball. Gavitt most recently served as the athletic director at Bryant College in Rhode Island.

According to the Woonsocket Call, -- 'Dan Gavitt will be the league’s primary basketball administrator and represent the Big East as the main point of contact. He’ll work strictly with the coaches and athletic directors and will also get the chance to rekindle some of the friendships he built during his days as an assistant at Providence.'

Gavitt's father, Dave, was the founder of the Big East and remains Mike Tranghese's mentor. Perhaps this move was made with an eye on the future......Dan Gavitt, future commissioner of the Big East Conference? I would not bet against it --several years down the line.

'Tis the Season

No, not Christmas... recruiting season. This is the time of year that basketball recruiting really heats up, as AAU tournaments are in full swing and kids are looking to commit to schools before they begin their senior seasons.

Marquette has received one commit from 2006, SG Anthony Green from Beloit, WI, but it also appears there are a number of players they are interested in to fill their final two slots. It seems clear that Jonathan Mitchell, a 6'6" combo forward of Mt. Vernon, NY and Bryce Webster, a 6'10" center, of St. Paul, MN are two high priorities for the staff. Both players are regularly ranked in the top 100 nationally.

There are varying reports on Mitchell, but every report at this point names Marquette as his leader. It seems that the race for Mitchell may come down to Marquette and Virginia, as Mitchell has expressed interest in new Wahoo coach, Dave Leitao, who was the assistant who helped recruit Mt. Vernon product, Ben Gordon, to UConn. Mitchell appears intent on visiting UVa, but from all indications, still loves Marquette. A decision may not be made until late August or early September.

Webster also appears to have approximately the same timeline in mind for his decision, and MU appears to also be at the top of his list. Recently, Bryce crossed Notre Dame off his list of 4, leaving Minnesota and Boston College as MU's main competitors. One article even suggested that Minnesota is off the list entirely.

There are other options out there as well. Tyrone Kent, a Chicago Crane player Marquette really liked in 2005, may be going the prep school route, and presumably, MU will be watching. Paul Bayer, a sharpshooter from Moline, IL, has already visited Marquette and liked what he saw. He is also considering Wyoming, Stanford and Creighton.

A couple other interesting names have popped up of late. Lazar Hayward, a 6'4" SG/SF who will attend Notre Dame prep in Fitchburg, MA. Hayward apparently has great interest in Marquette at this point, and Marquette has reportedly offered Hayward.

Two other big men recruits from Chicago have also been of interest to Marquette. Thijin Moses, a rising 6'7" junior was reportedly offered by Marquette and DePaul. Also, 2007 6'8" big man, Nyal "Mac" Koshwal has been rising up the recruiting ladder (he is expected to be a top 100 player in 2007) also is reported to have an offer from Marquette. Both players attended Marquette's Elite Camp this summer and both will attend the brand new Boys to Men Math and English Academy this year, where they will be coached by current Marquette player, Ousmane Barro's former coach, Loren Jackson.

Some other recent articles with some Marquette mentions for recruiting:

Twin forwards Jerrell and Terrell Williams of Paterson, NJ, announced they were transferring from Paterson Catholic to Northfield Mount Hermon, a prep school in Northfield, MA.

Kimmani Barrett, a 6'5" guard, also from Paterson Catholic.

Josh Guillory, a 6'4" wing who left the rough community of Watts, CA near Los Angeles, to live in Decatur, GA.

Also, keep an eye on Armon Bassett, a talented Terre Haute, IN point guard. There is some mutual interest between MU and Bassett.

Time will tell which athletes end up at Marquette.

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed works.

Gordon Gekko's quintessential 80's movie line still rings true with many kids trying to make their way to the NBA. Randolph Morris, Kelenna Azubuike, Anthony Roberson, Matt Walsh and a host of other talented but not-ready-for-primetime-players sidetracked their careers by letting their dreams of big bucks skew the reality of their situation.

Coach Crean is quoted in this lengthy article by Michael Smith at the Louisville Courier-Journal (which curiously does not address the wisdom of recent Pitino signees Donta Smith or Amir Johnson in an article that appeared one month later than it should have).

TC reflects on how he and Dwyane Wade worked through the process of considering early entry:

When Dwyane Wade exited Marquette, Crean's contacts were unanimous that the star guard would go in the lottery, which he did.

"As Dwyane got better and better, the more we talked about shrinking the circle," Crean said, referring to an athlete's circle of friends. "Kids these days want to ignore the nine people who tell them no and listen to the 10th guy, who tells them yes. They know what they want to hear, but you've got to be honest with yourself.

"You've got to remember that there's a ton of opinion-givers but just a few opinion-makers."

Marquette Program Profile

The Big East Basketball Report takes a look at the MU program in a recent post.

Check it out here.

2005-06 Season Prospectus now available

The Marquette 2005-06 prospectus is now available at www.gomarquette.com.

This information packed PDF featueres biographies and game-by-game career stats for every returning player, biographies for the newcomers, and the final 04-05 statistics.

A must for every Marquette fan.

About the only thing missing right now are the opponent summaries.

Vote in the Best of Wisconsin poll on ESPN

Many Marquette possibilities.

Click here to vote.

Show Me The Numbers

The uniform numbers of the Marquette men's basketball team have been released. The numbers of the new players are as follows: Dominic James has chosen #1, Matt Mortensen #2, Dan Fitzgerald #5, Dwight Burke #12, Jerel McNeal #22, Wesley Matthews #23, Jamil Lott #51.

Dominic James, #1 in your hearts and #1 in your program!

For a complete roster, click here.

3D View of Bradley Center - Marquette Layout

Marquette has released a 3-D view of the Bradley Center to assist people in picking seats. A nice tool.

Click here to view your seats

Hurley Leads St. Benedicts to National Prominence

Check this out....Coach Danny Hurley will lead one of the nation's most talented high school teams into action this winter, the St. Benedict's Gray Bees. Six of his players recently attended the Nike ABCD camp. Tom Konchalski sums it up best, "Don't schedule them unless you want an 'L' on your schedule." Here's a look at what the NY Daily News says about Dwight Burke's Alma Mater.

Prep School Influence: Talent Drain from NYC Hoops

With Marquette University officially a presence on the East Coast, it's interesting to note one of the most significant recruiting trends emerging in the region.

For years prep schools have lingered on the fringes of NYC area basketball, but public and parochial leagues maintained the lion's share of talent. Going forward that might not be the case, as more kids consider prep schools a better option for developing both basketball and academic skills.

Today's New York Daily News takes a hard look at the influence prep schools are having on basketball in the City, and notes that the pool of prep school options are increasing. Dwight Burke's alma mater, St. Benedicts, is cited as a relatively new prep school option.

Clark Francis offers his perspective on the issue:
"In cities all over this trend is getting out of control, and it will get worse," said recruiting analyst Clark Francis. "Poor academics got this thing rolling, but now kids see an Andre Blatche get drafted out of South Kent and everyone wants to go."

St. Benedict's coach Danny Hurley has a more positive perspective on the exodus of talent from the City:
"I think it gives guys an opportunity to get a better education, a better chance to have more college options, (and) the structure definitely helps," said St. Benedict's coach Danny Hurley. "Even in a month at St. Benedict's, (Eugene Harvey) put in more time and effort studying than he did in two years at his other school. So it's not the easy way out."

RSCI ranks MU as 9th best recruiting class

The RSCI, or Recruiting Services Consensus Index, was put together to take the various recruiting experts ranking systems and cross reference them. By pulling in a multitude of experts opinions, an average ranking could be established. For example, one service may have Dominic James ranked 65th in the country while four other services have him ranked 35, 40 45, and 42....thus his RSCI ranking would be 56.75 (the average of the five rankings).

This system is used to take out some of the biases one expert may have for certain players. It is not perfect by any stretch, but fun to look at.

In the final rankings for this year, Marquette's class finished 9th in the country. Click here for a link to the "RSCI winners" and congratulations to Tom Crean for nailing a great class.

Our complete schedule to date (not official)

A minimum of 15 games against teams that went to post-season last year. Nine opponents made the NCAA tournament and another six the NIT. A loaded schedule to be sure.

Home
Oakland (NCAA 2004)
San Francisco (NIT 2004)
Valparaiso
Cincinnati (NCAA 2004)
Pittsburgh (NCAA 2004)
Notre Dame (NIT 2004)
DePaul (NIT 2004)
UCONN (NCAA 2004)
Georgetown (NIT 2004)
St. John's
Providence
South Dakota State
non conference TBD
non conference TBD
non conference TBD
non conference TBD


Away
UW_Madison (NCAA 2004)
Nebraska
Pittsburgh (NCAA 2004)
Notre Dame (NIT 2004)
DePaul (NIT 2004)
West Virginia (NCAA 2004)
Louisville (NCAA 2004 - Final Four)
Villanova (NCAA 2004)
Rutgers
Seton Hall

Neutral
Eastern Washington (Great Alaska Shootout - GAS)
GAS #2 (USC or Oral Roberts)
GAS #3

MU's Big East Opponents Are Finalized

MU'’s 16-game Big East basketball schedule breaks down like this:

HOME GAMES:
Connecticut
Cincinnati
DePaul*
Notre Dame*
Pittsburgh*
Providence
Georgetown
St John's

AWAY:
Seton Hall
Villanova
Notre Dame
DePaul
Pittsburgh
West Virginia
Louisville
Rutgers

SKIPS:
Syracuse
USF

* = MU's home/home mirror opponents

Here is a link to the .PDF of the Big East master schedule.

Marquette recruiting update

OK, the team over at the Big East Basketball Report have posted an analysis of MU's recruiting needs. Please check it out at their new site and comment away. The team there did a nice job on this entry.

Here is the link.

Big East Schedule to be Announced Today

Later this morning, the Big East will announce its 2005-2006 conference basketball schedule. Dates and times for the games will not be announced, but by mid-day we'll know which teams Marquette will play in its inaugural Big East campaign.

Read about it here.

A New Big East Blog to Check Out

On the right margin, we've tried to stay current with interesting and appropriate links for the MU hoops community. Recently, a new blog was started that's worth a look - - The Big East Basketball Report.

We've linked to it under the Big East Blogs section of the links rundown as well. Currently, the bloggers are taking a look at 2006-2007 recruiting priorities for each Big East program. Cincinnati goes under the microscope today.

In addition, we added several new syndication options under the Syndicate This Site category in the right margin.

Part of MU's Big East schedule leaked

Thanks to John Dodds and his site (Marquettehoops.com), it appears some of MU's Big East opponents have been named.

Dodds reports that Marquette's "sister schools" will be Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and DePaul. These are the schools that Marquette will play twice in the Big East conference.

John is also reporting that UCONN and Cincinnati will play at the Bradley Center this year.

Great stuff from Dodds and IWB as usual.

UPDATE
The guys over at the Pitt SportsBlather also note the updates in an entry here.

Marquette's recruiting class ranked 4th in nation

For you recruiting maniacs, one service (Hoop Scoop) has Marquette finishing with the 4th best recruiting class in the country, just ahead of national champion North Carolina. Bear in mind that Hoop Scoop uses a combination of quality and quantity to score their classes. In other words, if you land 5 players that are all top 100, that class can be ranked higher than a class of two top 20 guys if that is all that school landed. Critics point to the quantity part as a hole in their evaluation scheme.

The complete Hoop Scoop list of 285 classes can be found here.

Fraschilla stays with the "Worldwide Leader"

Fran Fraschilla was courted heavily by both Marquette and ESPN the past week or so. Fraschilla has chosen to stay at ESPN after lobbying efforts on behalf of the network convinced him he did not want to return to coaching. Coach Tom Crean has stated he has already moved on in the process and hopes to find a replacment for Jeff Strohm during the recruiting "dead period".

A full article can be found in the Journal Sentinel here.

Marquette in the Big East: Major Challenges for MU Athletics

Courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, here's a good article on MU, athletics, and Bill Cords. A key excerpt:

Since the conference was created in 1979, its schools have won 25 national championships in six different sports. Cords said he learned quickly that member schools have a different mentality when it comes to competition and conference championships from what Marquette had in Conference USA.

"The mentality in the Big East is that, if you win a conference championship in a sport, you are automatically contending for a national championship," he said.

Fraschilla Wavering?

ESPN has made a strong push to keep Fran Fraschilla on their payroll and today's press conference was cancelled at Marquette. Comes down to two things in my opinion, does he want to get back into coaching or not...then there's the money. If we wants back into coaching, Marquette seems to be a slam dunk. He works there for a few years, then takes back a head coaching position. If the television camera and the money are the siren song, then that is the direction he will go but it will probably close any final windows of returning to a major coaching position.

Here is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's latest article about Fraschilla wavering.