Madness

UPDATED - Fulce's dunks

College Basketball is officially back, and last night's Madness gave fans a bit of optimism after a tough offseason.

First, check out the GoMarquette.com recap. The recap includes the full introduction videos for both teams, which you can also check out here . There is also a photo gallery on the official Marquette site.

Rosiak provides more color commentary, with a specific focus on Joe Fulce. Fulce was the winner of last night's dunk contest. Rosiak was also kind enough to provide a full recap of the winning dunk, which evidently was awesome. (We say evidently because the MUTV camera missed the entire exchange. This was disappointing to the large number of people that were watching online. However, we're not going to pile onto whomever was responsible. After all, it's a student operation, and they're probably getting hazed by other people enough. We're sure this will be a good lesson learned and funny story for the future.) We now have a copy of all of Fulce's dunks via youtube (check here) HT: MUScoop poster RoneyEford13. The reaction from the crowd, the judges, Fulce, and the team is outstanding.

Moving on, considering that Fulce was supposed to have more upside than Butler last year, how great would it be for him to be back to 100%? Not just for the team, but for the young man himself after all of his travails in getting to D1. We'll definitely continue to root for Fulce to stay healthy... everything else will fall in place with him if that happens.

As for the scrimmage, the most noteworthy thing from my perspective was that it was really hard keeping track of all the new players and numbers. Butler looked very smooth and more assertive than last year. Erik Williams was less assertive than Maymon, but that may have been a function of being on a team with Hayward and Butler. Otule looked light years better than last year. And, I barely heard Buycks' name during the scrimmage. However, one of the best summaries of how the players looked came from none other than Murffieus.

There were also several recruits in attendance (30 in total), but here were some of the notable ones according to Rosiak (Vander Blue, Tarik Black, Branden Dawson, Keaton Miles, and 2010 commit Jamail Jones).

We asked BMA for the opinion regarding several of these players, and here was the additional info.

• Blue - Nothing I can say that hasn't been said. (Rob's note - According to Rosiak, Blue was dressed head to toe in MU gear and was one of the very last to leave.)
  
  Update: According to this thread, Blue is destined to come to Marquette.
  
  
• Black - Think Trevor Mbakwe part 2 in terms of talent. Small, but very strong and very athletic. Most developed part of his game is defense. Offensively he scores a lot on put backs and dunks. Has some post moves and a nice jump hook. Really though he's a guy that his most impressive thing is effort. Nearly every national scout has talked about it. He's able to out rebound out score and out defend guys that look like they should dominate him because of their bigger size.
• Miles - Has a chance to be really really good if he's able to put it all together. Elite athlete. Can get to the rim with ease but often times decides to settle for three pointers, and he isn't a good enough shooter to do that. Good defender and rebounder. The situation reminds me a bit of Erik Williams. Top kid that no one is talking about pays his own way to come to Marquette's midnight madness. Back then we were all focused on Shumpert, and got a commit from this kid in Texas we didn't know much about. Now we're all focused on Blue and there's this kid from Texas we don't know much about. Maybe this year will be the same?
• Branden Dawson - Thought to be a Purdue or IU lean so it's big to get him here. He's another one that doesn't seem to quite get it yet, but even without putting everything together he's an elite prospect. Great at attacking the rim, great around the basket, excellent rebounder. Has a very good mid range game, and not so good from 3. He had a great summer, and seems to get better every time he plays. Plus, for a top kid he's not afraid to do the dirty work. You don't often see 6'5 SF forwards willing to mix it up for a rebound in the post, but he does.

Thanks for your thoughts, BMA. Buzz figures to secure another outstanding recruiting class if players like this are in the mix. One has to feel confident about the chances right now, and certainly at least optimistic about the prospects for the season.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

UPDATED

(or... a flimsy excuse to link to the "Where the Wild Things Are" Trailer)

After a tortuously long off-season, in which the only news that popped up lately seemed to be bad news, College Basketball is back! Now, with the proverbial "young but talented team", the Marquette community can enjoy the adventure that the 2009-2010 season will be. That's right... tonight is Midnight Madness!

Here's your flimsy link between "Where the Wild Things Are" and this year's basketball season. The classic story, with minimal words, is essentially a tale of how children master feelings. Well, I don't know about you, but I have all kinds of feelings about his season, including hope, fear, excitement, and disappointment. This year could go all kinds of different directions. In addition, as the trailer linked above suggests, inside each one of us is the same hope, fear, and adventure. Flimsy link #1 is that each of us represents Max on our adventure through the season. Midnight Madness is the beginning of our Wild Rumpus. (Plus, I kind of like thinking of this year's team as the Wild Things from the classic tale, but don't have enough hubris to believe that nickname is either valid or going to stick.)

However, after initially posting, MUScoop.com reader dsfire was disappointed that we didn't explain whose nickname was The Wild Rumpus or why he should start... and then suggested it be Frozena. So there you go... flimsy link #2 Rob Frozena is "The Wild Rumpus". Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

Regardless of which Wild Rumpus you want to start tonight, Check out GoMarquette.com for additional details on the Madness. As has been previously stated, the festivities kick off at 6 pm with a Women's Volleyball game, and then continues into Marquette Madness. Doors open as early as 5 pm if you want, and Madness starts no later than 7:30. If you are local, show up and you'll receive a free long sleeved t-shirt and a poster. In this year's twist on the dunk contest, all the judges will be from the Milwaukee Bucks. This includes none other than Assistant coach Jim Boylan, a former Marquette player and member of the 1977 National Championship squad (duh), as well as Charlie Bell, Joe Alexander and Brandon Jennings. Give Alexander a healthy boo. To get yourself ready, check out a sneak preview of the Marquette Madness video.

If you can't make it there, MUTV is streaming the event online. Online fans will need to click on just one link to gain access to the complete event. Here is the link for the web stream. To build some hype for the event, MUTV has introduced a new TV reporter (it's actually a minute-long clip from Joe Fulce and some other guys). In this clip, Fulce calls Frozena "Peter Parker", which is actually pretty funny. Evidently Fulce has not heard that Frozena's real nickname is "The Wild Rumpus".

Andy Katz gives what is one of the better previews on Marquette. It is cautiously optimistic about the season. You've got to read it. Rosiak also mentions it too in his blog post, but his focus is on the Blue Ribbon grades for Marquette (Backcourt: B-minus, Bench/Depth: B-minus, Frontcourt: B, Intangibles: C). If you are an ESPN Insider Subscriber, you can read the full information here.

More on Media Day

Good morning out there in Marquette-land. With one day to go until the basketball season "officially" kicks off at Midnight Madness, yesterday was Marquette's Media Day.

Your first stop of the day should be to scroll down (or click here for the Media Day Videos). Good stuff... I particularly like the first video with Buzz as he addresses questions about the team. If you don't have time, or need to take it on the go, just grab the GoMarquette.com podcast from Buzz.

If you're too impatient or prefer to read the transcript, check out Rosiak's blog entry from yesterday for the full text. Rosiak also delivers a feature story this morning. I found it interesting that the point of this article was about who would play point. However, if you check out the video, Buzz skips directly to talking about who would play the 2 and 3 positions (going big or small). There's also some info in there about Fulce coming back strong and the closed-door scrimmage with Virginia. Just like in previous years, MU is going to go without another exhibition game in favor of a scrimmage.

From the JSOnline, Bob Wolfley discusses Buzz as his own worst critic. Frankly, it's really a good article that shares insights about how Buzz would have done things differently in some of the games last year.

Want to check out pictures from yesterday? Here are the links from GoMarquette.com as well as the photos from the Journal-Sentinel.

As for a few more links... The AP has a story about Buzz' quest to run 244 miles over forty days. Evidently, it was his promise to the team after they completed Boot Camp, and the rest of the story talks about the same Boot Camp. Foulpole2foulpole has a story with Joe Fulce, who is guaranteeing a dunk championship. That would be great, if for no other reason than it signaling Fulce's return from injury. WISN.com also has a small article in which they mis-spell Dominic's name. Seriously?

Finally, and looking forward, IWB has a list of players that will be at Midnight Madness. Hey Buzz... Get yourself some coffee (NSFW)

Media Day Videos

Wish John Wooden a Happy 99th Birthday

Yes, John Wooden did not coach at Marquette, but he was an Al McGuire favorite. Today he turns 99 years old. There is a national campaign to send birthday wishes Coach Wooden. We're more than happy to help in that effort. Marquette fans, send some birthday wishes to an American icon and arguable the greatest college basketball coach ever!

http://happybirthdayjohnwooden.com

Midnight Madness will kick off 2nd best MU decade ever

Most of us are in a funk just four days from the first Midnight Madness of the 2010s decade. The short-term outlook as practices start appears gloomy with Junior Cadougan, Darius Johnson-Odom and Youssoupha Mbao no longer part of the equation for games against Xavier and other November foes.

However, in the long-term a decade has never looked so good since Cobb, Meminger, Brell, Thomas, Chones and Allie McGuire were on campus to start practice for the 1970s. While no program will ever again match the success of that decade, in which MU was clearly the 2nd best program in the country (more on that later), MU is in position to have one of the Top 20 programs in the country this decade.

The key starting point for looking at the long-term potential is seeing how many potential star player-seasons are currently on campus. In other words, if you have a 3-star or higher freshman, you have FOUR potential star seasons left out of him, a great sophomore has THREE potential star seasons left, a junior has TWO and a senior ONE.

Ten years ago at the start of the last decade, there were only 5 potential star seasons on campus – 2 more left for junior Brian Wardle and 3 more left for sophomore Cordell Henry as the team came off a 14-15 season. Those two did a great job, but they didn’t have much support beyond the solid rebounding of Oluoma Nnamaka. However, Dwyane Wade through the Three Amigos combined for enough star seasons that by the end of the decade the Sagarin Rankings placed Marquette as the 32nd greatest program of the 2000s out of well over 300 teams.

Consider how much more potential MU has heading into the new decade. In addition to anticipating one final great year from Lazar Hayward, the long-term prospects include two years of Jimmy Butler and Dwight Buycks, three years of Darius Johnson-Odom, and four years of Junior Cadougan, Youssoupha Mbao, Erik Williams and Jeronne Maymon. That’s the potential for 24 star player-years.

Will we get all 24 great player-years? Of course not. We don’t know which players will truly be stars and stay healthy, and at the other extreme if some will be so good they will leave early for the NBA. However, when we are looking at UP TO 24 seasons from guys who are either three- or four-star players or proven JUCO or MU stars, the sky is the limit not for this year, but for the decade as a whole in front of us.

And when you add in that these potential stars constitute a balanced roster, with three guards, four guys 6-6 or 6-7, and one seven-footer, it gets even more exciting. While it’s terrible to lose Junior for the year, if we get to watch him for four great years it won’t matter down the road that those seasons were 2010-11 to 2013-14.

I am confident when the Sagarin numbers are run again in 10 years, MU will be AT THE VERY LEAST one of the top 20 programs of the decade, so let’s start by getting excited at Midnight Madness, even though we know there will likely be some tough growing pains this season.

Can we dream this decade could be as good as the 1970s?
With such a great foundation, is it possible that MU could even return to the dominance of the 1970s? The simple answer to that is NO – because no future team will EVER be as dominant as MU was in the 1970s. There are too many teams and too much parity for any team – even the current group at UNC – to ever again match what MU did in the 1970s, so don’t even dream about it.

Sagarin’s aforementioned rankings place MU as the 3rd best team of the 1970s. In fact, MU was clearly better than UNC in the 1970s and only behind UCLA in the 1970s. Further, no program will ever again match what either UCLA OR MU did in the 1970s.

To set the record straight in the UNC vs. MU comparison in the 1970s, let’s look at both the regular season and the tournament records of each school:

First, let’s compare the overall body of work – all games played whether regular season or tournament. As I pointed out in the Ultimate Hoops Guide: Marquette University, our record in the 70s was the 3rd best record of any team in any decade:

1. UCLA 1970s 273-27 91.0%
2. Kentucky 1950s 224-33 87.2%
3. Marquette 1970s 251-41 86.0%
4. Kentucky 1940s 239-42 85.1%
5. Duke 2000s 261-53 83.1%

No offense to Kentucky’s current great program, but considering they were avoiding playing teams with black players in the 1950s, I think you can safely say that Marquette in the 1970s had the second greatest decade OF ALL TIME much less the 1970s. The Warriors just happened to do it the same year that UCLA was having the greatest decade of any team ever.

Second, we can look at how MU and UNC performed in the tournament. We start by pointing out the obvious fact that they met only once in the tournament, with Marquette winning the national title.

But as “BMA725” points out on muscoop, MU had better tournament results throughout the decade:

“MU has 1 National Championship, 1 National Runner Up, 1 Elite Eight, 3 Sweet Sixteens, 2 second round appearances, and 1 first round elimination. They also have the 1970 NIT Championship."

“UNC has 1 National Runner Up, 1 Final Four, 1 Sweet Sixteen, and 3 first round eliminations. They didn't even make the NCAA Tournament in 4 of those years, and while they won the 1971 NIT, they also had two first round NIT eliminations.

"How any one could view them objectively and think UNC was more successful that decade, I don't know.”

That argument is solid enough in itself, and the only attempt to counter it was a post that UNC finished 2nd in the ACC in 1971, 1973, and 1974 in years when they were in the Top 15 and only one team per conference went to the tournament. First, when you get eliminated from the first round of the NIT two years, it’s hard to argue you should have been in the NCAA tourney. As for UNC being ranked in the Top 15, MU would not have been invited to the tournament either those three years if they were just in the Top 15. The fact is that MU was in the TOP 4 all three of those years that UNC was in the TOP 15, and in fact MU was ranked in the TOP 8 at the end of every season from 1970 to 1978, and even finished No. 10 in 1979.

The independents did not have an advantage in tournament selection. They had a decided disadvantage because they didn’t get the 1st round byes that UNC and other conference champs could get for winning their conference.

If the current seeding were in effect in those years and based on AP rankings, in 1971 MU would have been a No. 1 seed and Ohio State a No. 3 seed, but instead OSU got a bye while MU had to play a game, then edged out MU 60-59. When UNC didn’t make it in 1973, the No. 1 vs. No. 2 seed matchup between Indiana and MU occurred in the Sweet 16 and MU lost. In 1974 when UNC didn’t make the cut, MU went all the way to the title game against NC State. Worst yet was 1976, when MU was the No. 2 team in the country, and the bracket made the Warriors play the No. 1 team in the country in the Elite 8 rather than in the title game as would have happened this year. That Indiana team is the last team to ever go undefeated.

So not only did MU have substantially better tournament results than UNC, but they would have likely had much better results if the brackets were based on seeding like they are today, or if MU were in a conference and thus earning byes and easier match-ups every year.

Case closed. MU was a better regular season and a better tournament team than UNC in the 1970s, and played at a level of dominance that was only topped by UCLA that decade, and will never be matched again.

However, MU will be back among the best in the 2010s.

So the end message is this. If we don't judge the next 10 years against the 1970s, and don't get too impatient if we fall to the lower part of the Big East for one season as the freshman learn to play together, we may all really enjoy the 2010s.

BE Recruits - Non Top 100 / non-JUCO

Before we even get started, I wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you to everyone that helped Donate to Al's Run. By the way, check out the GoMarquette.com release for their coverage. They've got a write-up, a photo gallery, and even a nice little video clip. Back to the donations, we set two fairly modest goals, and after a reasonably slow start, the incredible Marquette fans did a fantastic job of surpassing both goals. On behalf of Cracked Sidewalks, we really appreciate it.

Moving on to the content from Cracked Sidewalks (instead of our version of a pledge drive)... Originally, we just set out to try and determine what would be a reasonable set of expectations for our talented but young recruiting class. After all, we as Marquette fans are trying to adjust to life after the Three Amigos. Therefore, we started with our three Top 100 recruits (Cadougan, Williams, and Maymon) and looked at the performance of Top 100 recruits in their first year. Then, in order to determine what would be reasonable for JUCOs Buycks and DJO, we took a took at JUCO players in their first year, as also offered some additional thoughts on JUCOs.

However, after some questions and then the suggestion from BMA, we decided to take a look at any recruit that was either not a Top 100 recruit or a JUCO player. BMA was also kind enough to grab the entire list of players and send that to me, so none of this would have even been possible without that support. Therefore, this post is the third part in our series that looks at how Big East recruits perform in their first year.

We again looked at the range of players in the new expanded Big East (starting in 2005). This covered 127 different players across all sixteen teams. Unfortunately, the news for this set of players was not very good in their first year.

• Sixty-five of this set of players get an "Incomplete" in their first year. In other words, they didn't register enough games, minutes, or possessions to even qualify for an offensive rating on Pomeroy's website. That is over half of all players.
• Of the remaining sixty-two players, their average offensive rating was only 93.9 and their average usage was only 17.1%. That means that, on average, the first year player in this group was a Non-Factor (ORtg < 100; Usage < 20%)
  
• Therefore, and not surprisingly, there were very few recruits in this data set (non-Top 100; non-JUCO) that ended up as Studs in their first year. How few? There were three over the past four years (Dominique Jones, Sharraud Curry, and Darryl "Trucks" Bryant). That's two percent total.
  
• Twelve percent of these players (fifteen total) ended up as serviceable role players, with an Offensive Rating > 100 and a usage under 20%. Some of these players include Andy Rautins, Preston Knowles, Craig Austrie, Arinze Onuaku, and Jonathon Peoples.
• Eight percent (ten total) of these players ended up as Ball Hogs. This includes "Greedy" Peterson, Joe Mazzula, Paul Gause, and Weyinmi Efejuku.
• That means that the remaining 78% of the players in this group were Non-Factors. Yeah... basically four out of five players in this set were non-factors in their first year.
  

But wait... there's more news for low expectations

• Almost a third of all players (32%; forty-one total) in this group ended up transferring away from their original team. This was probably the first thing that BMA and I both noticed, and exactly why it was tracked.
  
• Twelve percent (fifteen total) ended up having to redshirt in their first year
• Nine percent (twelve total) ended up with some sort of DNP/eligibility issue... typically from academics
  

How about the Marquette recruits in this group?

• Matt Mortensen - Incomplete/Non-Factor, Redshirt, Eligibility Issue
• Patrick Hazel - Incomplete/Non-Factor, Eventually Transferred
• Scott Christopherson - Incomplete/Non-Factor, Eventually Transferred
• Chris Otule - Incomplete/Non-Factor
• David Cubillan - quality Role Player in his first year (ORtg 119.3, Usage 12.4)
  

What implications do we see from looking at this group of players?

Clearly, don't expect a lot in the first year from a recruit that doesn't make any Top 100 lists. Honestly, don't be surprised if these types of recruits don't stick around all four years. What I found the most surprising was that it's really only plausible to expect solid contributions from a Top 100 recruit. In their first year, JUCOs and other recruits have almost never been serious contributors on the court.

As we continue to dig into the data, we'll undoubtedly be able to do some more comprehensive analysis on a team level. Stay tuned for that as we get ready for the season.

MUTV - MU Basketball Weekly Oct 9

It's Boot Camp Time

GoMarquette.com released their information on the Boot Camp.Checked out the update on this year's Boot Camp. Last year's camp was notable in that it resulted in the first few injuries, which derailed the first seasons of Otule and Fulce. More than anything, let's hope that no one gets a foot injury now. Make sure that you click through to the link and check the video clip. It's worth checking out.

As a reminder, Midnight Madness kicks off in a week. We are about a week away from the triumphant (or something like that) return of Marquette basketball. It really seems like basketball is kind of sneaking up on the season, even though it's been ages since the last time Marquette played. Doors will open at 5 p.m. in advance of Marquette Madness. The AD is opening things off with the MU women's volleyball team hosting Georgetown in BIG EAST action at 6 p.m. If they want to try and drive extra butts to watch women's volleyball, that's alright with me. However, the main event begins shortly after the conclusion of the volleyball match, but no earlier than 7:30 p.m.

Get in the spirit of Midnight Madness with a Team Preview by Villanova By the Numbers. GreyCat has been doing a really good job with previews for every BE team this year (check them out here), so we'll excuse that he gave us credit for making the S16 last year.

Keeping with the Boot Camp theme, if you can make it, why not show up to Al's Run as well. It starts on 12th Street and Wisconsin Avenue... right on the Marquette University campus TOMORROW! And if you're a student, it doesn't begin until 10:30. Check here to register now, or grab some event info.

Thanks to everyone that donated to Al's Run! yesterday, especially our TWO anonymous donors. After a slow start, awesome Marquette fans came together to break through the goal of $1977. There's still time to hit the new goal, so if you haven't donated click here and join the spirit of generosity. Every little bit helps!

AL'S RUN CHALLENGE - DOUBLE YOUR DOUGH

We are woefully behind last year's pace, and far short of our $1977 goal for Al's Run this Saturday.

A donor who wishes to remain anonymous has ISSUED A CHALLENGE!

Donations made today will be matched. (up to $300 for the day.)

The season is just around the corner .. the CS team will be there. -- SO PLEASE .. Show a little love for Al, Cracked Sidewalks, and Children's Hospital.

We don't think it's going too far to suggest that if you don't donate, you hate Al McGuire, Cracked Sidewalks, Marquette, and America. And Children... you don't hate children, do you?

Click here to donate: http://www.firstgiving.com/MarquetteFans

Media updates from around the interwebs

With only nine days remaining before Marquette Madness here are a few media updates:

Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman previews the BIG EAST in his latest effort. Goodman slots MU in as the league's 12th best team but disappointingly leaves Lazar Hayward off of his first-team All-BIG EAST pre-season squad in favor of Devin Ebanks and Greg Monroe.

In case you missed our tweet on this yesterday, Wesley Matthews started and scored 16 points for the Utah Jazz in their exhibition game against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night. Matthews scored 11 points in the third quarter and drew high praise from Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Sloan.

"I think he has a great body for basketball," Sloan said. "Just trying to figure out what he's doing, what we're trying to accomplish and all that stuff will take him a little time. But I like some of the things he's done."

Many thanks to the guys at the NBE Basketball Report for including Rob's stellar JUCO analysis in their league-wide update this morning. Among the notes in their update is the ESPN.com report that MU is now in the final three for Reggie Smith, a guard from Thornton High School, south of Chicago. Smith is also considering USC and UCLA with the Trojans and former MU coach Kevin O'Neill considered the leader.

BTW, here is a video with clips of Reggie Smith -- tip o'the cap to dw3dw3dw3 at MUScoop for finding this.



Don't forget to follow CrackedSidewalks on Twitter -- click here to check it out. We keep a running update of Tweets on the right nav bar too.

Also -- Al's Run needs your support.

A few more thoughts on BE JUCO players

I just wanted to follow up on a few more thoughts about JUCO players in the BE. If you missed it, check that out, or even the original Look at Top 100 Recruits.

We were remiss in posting the information regarding Marquette JUCO players. Basically, Kinsella, Blackledge, and Fulce all received Incompletes / Non-Factors. Jamil Lott technically qualified as a non-factor, but that's a little bit unfair with his ORtg (97.4) and Usage (16.9%). Lott was basically a little bit worse than average, but not egregiously bad.

As previously mentioned, Jimmy Butler was an off the charts role player, with a combination of ORtg (131) and Usage (14%). A question was raised regarding Butler. If he was that good, doesn't it then show that Buzz is better at judging talent (and we can therefore expect more from DJO/Buycks?) I agree entirely with MUScoop.com poster "The Sultan of South Wayne" who says that:

Or it could be that Butler succeeded because of his limited role. He played on a team with three seniors where he could be the "hustle guy." Come off the bench to play a little defense, get some rebounds, score some points, etc.

It will be impossible for him to retain that offensive production with more minutes and his surrounding cast gone. Furthermore, it will be hard for DJO and Buycks to attain that status with one, or both of them starting and counted on to be essentially the only scorers in the guard positions.

Butler was playing with four players that would all qualify as Studs (ORtg > 100; Usage > 20%). As a reminder, there is a clear and direct relationship between the number of possessions a player uses and how efficient they are with those possessions. Elite players can manage to maintain a high offensive rating while still using a large number of possessions. If anything, we should expect Butler to be far less efficient this season than last year. Honestly, his 08-09 offensive efficiency seems like a statistical anomaly.

Not covered in the original analysis was that there was a high percentage of JUCO players that ended up not sticking with programs after year one. (HT: bma) Of the list of 30, there were a full nine players that ended up transferring, or almost a third. This was something that clearly registered, but I wasn't sure how to include initially. When we combine the fact that almost seven out of ten juco players are non-factors on the court in their first year, or that one out of three JUCOS end up even transferring... well you can make your own inferences about the implications on program stability when it comes to JUCO players.

That said, although the issue of recruiting JUCO players boiled to the surface during the Monterele Clark saga, I don't personally have any issues right now. First, although many players get the JUCO tag, it seems particularly relevant that Fulce, Butler, and DJO are all three year players. Honestly, I consider a three year player a lot closer to a four year recruit than a true JUCO. Second, I just accept (for now) that this is an area where Buzz has a lot of recruiting connections. However, this isn't by any means a consensus opinion among other CS contributors, as others feel strongly about the number of JUCOs at Marquette.

A question has also been raised about the notion of guaranteed minutes and what impact that may have. In principle, I definitely agree that there will be plenty of minutes available for the taking. However, when one builds in the possessions already for Lazar, Acker, Cubillan, and Butler, there are not as many possessions as one might think. Using envelope math, it appears that half of DJO, Buycks, Maymon, or EWill ends up with less than 20% of possessions. (ie - a role player or non-factor). I'll try to approach this with more rigor in subsequent posts.

Finally, thanks to BMA (again), we also have the final set of data to look at for incoming players in their first year. This data is for HS / Prep school players that weren't Top 100. Once this is processed, we'll have a full set of information and can then look at broader questions, so stay tuned for more information.

PS - Donate to Al's Run!

The season approaches

....so here are a host of media reports to keep you updated on Marquette hoops:

Marquette's schedule for the upcoming season is now finalized. That BIG EAST slate is brutal -- starting off with a game at West Virginia on December 29. Rosiak has the news here.

Marquette graduate Dominic James will play the game for a living this winter after agreeing to a contract with Mersin in the Turkish basketball league. Former Tennessee All-American Chris Lofton played for Mersin last season. The "super athletic" James could suit up as soon as next week for his new team. Good luck, Dominic!

Jeff Sagarin's all-time ranking of college basketball programs is a mess and shows what can happen when you become a slave to stats. The guys at Deadspin lay into the most egregious errors while Pat Forde picks it apart as well. MU is ranked #24 all-time by Sagarin -- the highest-rated Jesuit university on the list. Looking to other Jesuit programs --- Georgetown inexplicably falls in at #42. SLU (!!!???) lands at #53, St. Joseph's at #56, Xavier at #59, Betting Central at #73, and San Francisco at #75.

Looking to recruiting, the Sports Bubbler updates the status of MU target Vander Blue. Blue is back on the market after de-committing from Wisconsin-Madison during the summer. Meanwhile the top player in New York City, JayVaughn Pinkston, has MU in his top five. Buzz is also looking at Jordair Jett from Notre Dame Prep (where Lazar Hayward laced'em up). The guys at the NBE Report like MU's chances for Blue and SF Justin Coleman from Virginia.

Finally, media day for MU is scheduled for October 14 and Marquette Madness will kick things off on October 16 at The Al.

Oh --- Al's Run....must. donate. Thanks for your support -- click here to join the effort.

Great Buzz Story..

Hat tip to Sir Larry for finding this..

On Gene Mueller's blog on 620 WTMJ he writes the following:

FEELIN' BUZZED:

What I thought was going to be a pep rally turned into a fairly incredible experience Friday night on the Marquette Campus. It's Family Weekend and my wife and I went to "Behind The Boards With Buzz": a session with basketball coach Buzz Williams. There were mascots and cheerleaders who failed to generate reciprocal energy from the lethargic gaggle of moms and dads. There was video, and player introductions, and then there was Buzz. I settled in for what I thought would be a chalk talk and perhaps even a subtle season ticket pitch.

We got nothing of the sort.

Williams spoke of his upbringing--being raised by an illiterate grandfather who gave him quarters for each half-hour he spent reading aloud. He talked of the Marquette mission: the school's, not the team's. Williams said his players are no more important to MU than our children are. And then, he gave us his cellphone number and e-mail address. He told us to call anytime we had a question or a problem--not with getting seats to a big game, but instead if we needed a hand with our kids.

Not a word about hoop. No mention of "plenty of good seats still being available".

Will I ever call the coach if my boy is bombing out in his theology class or has girl troubles? No, but something tells me that if I did, Buzz Williams would be on the other end, or at least be able to put me in touch with someone who could help.

Update: Video from the event

MUTV - MU Basketball Weekly

MUTV is doing a great job producing more and more MU basketball videos.

From the looks of it .. this might be a weekly show. Sorry Dennis Krause, these guys are going to eat your lunch.

MUTV: Erik Williams

Here's a video from MUTV:

JUCO's in the Big East

First things first... have you Donated to Al's Run yet?

UPDATED - Received some additional feedback from BMA about JUCO players
====
Reflecting back on the post on Top 100 recruits, who would have guessed that Junior Cadougan would end up as one of the recruits to get an incomplete in their first year? Tough break for the player.

Anyways, as discussed, I wanted to take a look at what the typical expectations are for JUCO's in their first year. This time, I pulled data from JucoJunction.com and ran that through the ringer. For the data, we went back to 2004-2005, because that was as far back as Pomeroy's database goes.

Quick hits

• Over this period (2004-2009), there were thirty-four JUCOs that committed to BE teams and played in the first year.
• The team with the most JUCO players was Cincinnati (nine). I know that you all find that to be very shocking.
• Number two was South Florida (seven)
• Marquette had five JUCO players... (Mike Kinsella, Joseph Fulce, Lawrence Blackledge, Jimmy Butler, Jamil Lott)

Of course, there are two JUCO players joining the team this year in Dwight Buycks and Darius Johnson-Odom. The hyperbole surrounding both of these recruits has been very high. We've seen Buycks referred to as "one of the best JUCO guards in the nation", and expectations are also high for DJO. Not only that, but Jimmy Butler was outstanding last year, raising expectations even higher.

But what does history tell us?


If you recall the post on Top 100 recruits, the distribution was fairly even between the different categories. About 25% of the players that got playing time ended up in the Stud, Role Player, Ball Hog, or Non-Factor categories. (As a reminder, the breakdown is average number of possessions (20%) vs average offensive rating (100)). However, the story is not distributed nearly as evenly over the past five years.

• Only four JUCO players ended up as Studs (offensive rating > 100 ; possessions > 20%). Four. Their names are Kentrell Gransberry, Rodney Epperson, John Williamson, and Jihad Muhammad.
• Twenty-three of the thirty-four JUCO players were non-factors, with both sub-par offensive ratings and limited possessions. That's the great big group on the bottom left. 68%, if you will.
  
• Only five of the JUCO players were even quality role players in their first year. Top of the list was actually our very own Jimmy Butler, who is the big yellow circle up way up above anyone else. Butler was off the charts good as a role player.
  

Frankly, what this limited set of information suggests is that it is rare for a first year JUCO player to be more than a complete non-factor, let alone a legitimate stud. Given that Butler was so good last year, my fear is that the expectations may be just a little bit too high for Buycks and DJO.

Al's Run .. here we go.

It's that time again. Well, actually it's past that time. Al's Run is under two weeks away, October 10th, moved back a few weeks from its usual date.


Last year was a monster success, as Marquette Basketball fans raised $4,430 for the cause. We've been raising money for four years running, setting a new record each year.

We sucked so much money out of the economy last year, raising money for Al's Run, Lehman Brothers failed.

This year? Well, we don't want to over-reach. Last year was special, with lots of big donations. Let's start with a goal of $1,977, and work our way upwards.

Cracked Sidewalks doesn't sell you stuff here, we don't even show you advertisements, we just give you pure Marquette Basketball goodness.

All we ask for is a few bucks every year, for Al's Run.

So do us a solid, and pony up a few bucks, put a little something something in the tip jar. It all goes to a great cause, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Sure, some will pledge $25, $50 .. but imagine if all our loyal readers gave FIVE measly bucks? Bingo, that's $10k.

So, click here, whip out your credit card and pay your respects to Al, and Marquette: http://www.firstgiving.com/MarquetteFans

Odds-n-Ends

With Midnight Madness just a few weeks away here are a few items to check out:

Earlier this week MU continued its excellent coverage of the program with this conversation with freshman Erik Williams. For additional perspectives on Williams check out our interview with his high school coach, Jon Harmatuk, from earlier this year.

Just one week earlier MU posted this Q/A with sophomore Darius Johnson-Odom.

Erik Schmidt from the Marquette Tribune opines on the Dwyane Wade Effect here -- probably a good read for the incoming freshmen more than anything.

Lazar Hayward won't sneak up anybody this season, and the national press are rightly acknowledging the senior's talents. Mike DeCourcy from The Sporting News slots Lazar in as the 10th best power forward in the nation -- not bad for a guy who will play out of position once again this winter. In addition, Hayward is featured on the cover of the current issue of Basketball Times, the hook The Examiner needed to file this profile of the Golden Eagles' most dependable player.

Looking to MU's basketball alums, Strotty takes a look at the NBA possibilities for the Three Amigos here. McNeal is trying to stick with the Clippers, James with the Bucks and Matthews with the Jazz.

Pico at The East Coast Bias pulled together a virtual panel of Big East bloggers to assess the face of the Big East. Pico also assembled this interesting Cash or Clunkers discussion. Well done, Pico.

By the way don't forget to bookmark the MUScoop Wiki page for the 2009-2010 schedule. A link to the schedule also appears in the right margin.

Also, last week Buzz Williams spoke at the annual Coaches Luncheon in Chicago -- the guys at MUScoop took notes and talk it up here.

The Madness begins on October 16 -- Joe Fulce has details (and it's great to see Joe dunking and apparently healthy)

This off-season can't end soon enough

The injury-marred close to Marquette's 2008-2009 season was sure to give way to an off-season of discontent for Warrior Nation but the past several weeks can rightly be referred to as cruel and unusual punishment.

Other than receiving positive news about the eligibility of incoming freshmen Junior Cadougan and Youssoupha Mbao, Marquette has become Floyd Patterson to reality's Muhammad Ali, held up in the turnbuckle absorbing a barrage of hits and humiliation.

How bad are things for the Golden Eagles? The best news for the program in the last month and a half was the departure of 6'9" freshman Brett Roseboro and the oh-so-convenient reinstatement of the diminutive and unproductive Maurice Acker. While the news of Roseboro's departure validated months of rumors about the possibility some media reports left the impression that the 6'9" Pennsylvanian was run out of the program, at best a 'mistake' by both parties.

Acker clearly isn't a talent upgrade but he has the added benefit of freeing up an extra scholarship for a higher ceiling player in the incoming 2010 freshman class. At the very least this 'swap' reinforces negative stereotypes about what is really valued in college basketball.

More recently the Golden Eagles likely bid adieu to one of its top recruits for the incoming 2010 class when 6'10" Monterale Clark was charged in connection with a sexual assault on the campus of Hill College where he is a student. The details of the alleged sexual assault are gruesome, and while justice has yet to be meted out in the case it would be difficult to envision Clark ever suiting up for Marquette at this point.

Perhaps it's too bad Roseboro already completed his transfer to St. Bonaventure -- he can't take the convenient Acker U-Turn back onto the now depleted 2010 roster.

While Roseboro and Clark figured more heavily into Marquette's future plans, the upcoming campaign is already shaping up to be a long season. Capping off Marquette's 45 days of discontent, highly-touted point guard Junior Cadougan suffered a potential season-ending Achilles injury which is sure to sideline him for four to six months. Adding insult to injury sophomore transfer Darius Johnson-Odom injured his foot and will miss at least a month of action. Good thing Acker is back!?

There are few fates worse than early season injuries for unestablished talent in Buzz Williams' program. Last year early season injuries to freshman Chris Otule and junior college transfer Joseph Fulce stunted the development of these players, marginalizing their contributions for the entire season as the coach shortened the bench during conference play.

At this point one must presume that Cadougan will be fitted for a medical redshirt soon after the national signing period concludes. There's still hope for Johnson-Odom, who figures to be the most talented newcomer to the roster this year and, presuming an on-schedule recovery, would still have time to work his way into the backcourt rotation and take the lion's share of playing time along side Dwight Buycks.

Still, MU is not out of the woods with the current roster. While Mbao was cleared academically by the NCAA, his amateur status is still under review due to his participation on an overseas team that included a few professional players some years ago. Expect Mbao to miss a pair of games this season for each game he was on the roster of that team, compromising his development which, experience shows us, could make him a non-factor this year.

On the recruiting front, 2010 target Aaron Bowen de-committed but MU gained a better prospect when Jamail Jones cast his lot with the program. Bowen's summer performances were less than stellar and with lingering concerns over the health of his shoulder Buzz Williams was right to continue to pursue more talented options.

While Jones is in the fold, Williams has recently missed out on a host of talented kids from the 2010 class including Carson Desrosiers (verbal to Wake Forsest), J.J. Moore (eliminated MU from consideration), and Cameron Clark (verbal to OU). Additional reports indicate that top target Jay Pinkston is a Villanova lean while Doron Lamb is a pipedream.

With three scholarships presumably available who will Williams target next? The tide has to turn at some point for a program that is in desperate need of back-to-back strong recruiting classes. Wisconsin de-commit Vander Blue remains a possibility.

Good news for ...

Good news, for those of you who love loooong seasons.

It just got longer.

Todd Rosiak is reporting that Junior Cadougan ruptured his right Achilles’ tendon and will likely be out for the entire season.

With Darius Johnson-Odom also spraining a ligament in his left foot, he'll miss the next month as well.

That leaves Dwight Buycks, David Cubillan, and Maurice Acker, as the three true scholarship guards who aren't wounded.

And, don't forget Joe Fulce’s continued recovery from knee surgery, which leaves the Warriors with 9 healthy players.

Top 100 Recruits

UPDATED
I realized after this was originally posted that I tried to compare offensive efficiency for a team (points per 100 possessions) to an individual's Offensive Rating (which is a complex formula). That's a no-no. I guess it means that it's been too long since I've done real basketball analysis. guh

====
One of the things I am looking forward to most about this season is that it is completely up in the air. In a somewhat down Big EAST, Marquette could legitimately finish anywhere from 4th to 14th. I'm particularly excited to see how all of the various new players will perform this season, partially for the same reason. No one knows what to expect, especially with such a huge influx of new talent.

The question of what we expect from the new players drove me to take a look at Top 100 recruits in the Big East, and how they performed in their first year.

Thanks to the help from bma and statsheet.com, I tracked down every Top 100 recruit for the Big EAST from 2005 through last year. Because there were a number of puts and takes, this list may have some inaccuracies.

Over this four year period, there were 89 players listed as Top 100 by one recruiting service or another.

• The heavy hitters were exactly what you'd expect: Georgetown (10 players), Louisville (9), Syracuse (9), UConn (8)
• Marquette had five top 100 players. You know their names (James, McNeal, Matthews, Hayward, Mbakwe)
• In somewhat surprising information, Rutgers had six Top 100 players.
• South Florida was the only Big EAST team with zero Top 100 players
• It's important to note that ten of the players in this pool (including Mbakwe) end up as incompletes due to injuries or lack of production. I actually consider this somewhat good news, because I would have expected the percentage to be a lot higher.
  

Over this period, how did these players perform their first year on the team?

Somewhat surprisingly, the average first year player, even as a Top 100 recruit, was... average. Seriously, the average of the remaining 79 players was an offensive rating of 100.4 and a usage of 20.6%. It doesn't get much more average than that. The first point that this brings up is that even Top 100 recruits are most likely not very efficient offensive players.

In fact, 70% of the Top 100 recruits in their first year had an offensive rating of 105 or less. Here is the breakdown of all of the players.


As you can see, I've broken down the players into four quadrants of Stud, Role Player, Ball Hog, and Non-Factor. They are surprisingly consistent across categories (20 Studs, 19 Role Players, 17 Ball Hogs, and 23 Non-Factors.

• Stud - A player that has an above average offensive rating and an above average usage is a first year stud. These are players like Jerome Dyson, Greg Monroe, Samardo Samuels, DeJuan Blair, Jonny Flynn, and Scottie Reynolds. You know every single player on this list
• Role Player - A player with above average offensive rating and a below average usage. They're not the focal point, but they are efficient on the court. In their first year, role players include Jeff Adrien, Kemba Walker, Austin Freeman, Jerry Smith, Kyle McAlarney, and Levance Fields
• Ball Hog - A player that is below average offensively but above average in terms of usage. Guys in this category include Deonta Vaughn, Wilson Chandler, Chris Wright, Derrick Caracter, Mike Rosario, and Paul Harris. These guys put up points but hurt the team.
  
• Non-Factors - Below average offensively and in terms of usage. Many of these players prompted a "who?" when I saw their names. Sometimes the players just need time (like Thabeet), but often, these guys simply become role players later, like Andre McGee or Reggie Redding. Or they don't contribute at all later.
  

Again, this is a view of how Top 100 players perform in their first year. So the second point is that there is a pretty even split as to whether or not these players will be true studs, simple role players, ball hogs, or even just a non-factor on offense.

I'm sure you'll note that I didn't mention any Marquette players in the list above. How did they do in their first year?


James was a legit stud his first year, with an offensive rating of 104.9 and a usage of 27.7%. McNeal was a true ball-hog that first year, consuming almost the same amount of possessions (27.1%) with an offensive rating of 87.7. woof. Lazar and Wesley were basically average players (100.5, 99.1, respectively) with slightly above average usage (22.5% each).

The good and the bad news


Here is how last year's top five players (JB = Jimmy Butler) would have stacked up against the same list of first year players. The Big Four were all studs, with offensive ratings and usage above average. It's no surprise that players improve over time. So even if the guys joining the team next year are sub-par with their offensive ratings, they can still get a lot better. That's the good news.

I previously mentioned that 70% of top 100 recruits have an offensive rating of 105 or below. Well, Marquette had four of its top five players above an offensive rating of 105. The only one of the top five producers not above 105? James, who was right there at 104.0. Heck... even Dwight Burke would have qualified as a solid role player (ORtg 109.9, usage of 9.9%). To put it another way, Marquette was a very good offensive team last year. If you are expecting a team that looks nearly as good offensively on the court as last year's team, well... that's the bad news. Even Top 100 recruits rarely match the level of production we saw last year.

Looking at Marquette's Top 100 Recruits
(I'll look at Darius Johnson-Odom and Dwight Buycks separately)

Barring injury, Erik Williams, Junior Cadougan, and Jeronne Maymon will receive somewhere close to the average number of possessions. The number of possessions they receive will probably be the most important aspect of how they perform in their first year and there are plenty of possessions to go around.

While it's almost certain that their offensive skills will be limited, there appears to be a chance that one (or more) of them will shine as a true first year stud. However, it also appears that one (or more) of them may end up as a ball hog. Regardless, even if these highly touted recruits struggle offensively, we should expect to see them grow into more offensively efficient players in subsequent years.

MU Player Videos .. part 2

More videos from MU:

Marquette releases the 2009-2010 Schedule

Marquette released the 2009-2010 schedule today. Check out the previous link for the details, or download the full PDF to keep. Rosiak checks in with his own coverage of the schedule as well, where he focuses on how the young Warriors will need to grow up in a hurry.

Picking up on some other comments, some of the noteworthy points on the season include

• Kicking off at West Virginia. Do you think a vengeful Huggins is going to cut any slack?
• Playing mirror opponent Villanova twice in seven days.
• Marquette has exactly zero games on Big Monday.
• There are only three BE Saturday games this year.
• Game times are still being worked out.
  

With an opening stretch of @WVU, Nova, Georgetown, and @Nova, Marquette would be lucky to go 2-2, with 0-4 a very real possibility for such a young team. This could be a very long season.

---

OOC SCHEDULE
Sat. Nov. 7 MSOE Exhib.
Fri. Nov. 13 Centenary
Tue. Nov. 17 Maryland Eastern Shore
Sat. Nov. 21 Grambling
Tue. Nov. 24 South Dakota

Old Spice Classic - Orlando, Fla. (All classic games on ESPN/2/U)
Thur. Nov. 26 vs. Xavier
Fri. Nov. 27 vs. Michigan/Creighton
Sun. Nov. 29 vs. TBA

Sat. Dec. 5 NC State
Tue. Dec. 8 Milwaukee
Sat. Dec. 12 at Wisconsin - ESPN2
Sat. Dec. 19 North Florida
Sun. Dec. 27 Presbyterian

BIG EAST SCHEDULE
Tue. Dec. 29 at West Virginia
Sat. Jan. 2 Villanova ESPN2
Wed. Jan. 6 Georgetown
Sat. Jan. 9 at Villanova
Sun. Jan. 17 Providence
Wed. Jan. 20 at DePaul
Sat. Jan. 23 at Syracuse
Tue. Jan. 26 Rutgers
Sat. Jan. 30 at UConn
Wed. Feb. 3 DePaul ESPN2
Sat. Feb. 6 at Providence
Sat. Feb. 13 USF
Thu. Feb. 18 Pittsburgh ESPN
Sun. Feb. 21 at Cincinnatti
Wed. Feb. 24 at St. John’s
Sun. Feb. 28 at Seton Hall
Tue. Mar. 2 Louisville
Sat. Mar. 6 Notre Dame (SENIOR NIGHT)

Mar. 9-13 BIG EAST Conference Championship - New York, N.Y. ESPN

MU Player Videos..

MU has posted a few player interview videos:

Aaron Bowen Decommits from MU..

Todd Rosiak has reported that Aaron Bowen, a 2010-2011 commit, has backed out of Marquette and re-opened his recruitment.

Rosiak writes...

The primary reason for Bowen's change of heart, Rosebrock said, was the departure of Williams' former assistant, Dale Layer, who was hired as head coach at Liberty University on April 8.

Layer had been the point man in the 6-5 1/2, 180-pound guard's recruitment, which began last fall and ended with Bowen's commitment to MU last Nov. 20.

Discuss here ..

Bowen's Wiki page..

Rosey out, Mo returns.

In cased you missed it last week ..

Freshman forward Brett Roseboro decided to leave Marquette before the school year began. Yesterday, Roseboro was picked up off the waiver wire by St. Bonaventure.

In his place, after Mo Acker left the team in June, he has now returned. Who knew there were sabbaticals in NCAA basketball?

Can't remember the roster? Check it here.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Coach Buzz!

Bo Ellis Golf Outing Update

Last month Bo and Candy Ellis hosted the 2nd Annual Warrior Day Golf Outing to honor the memory of their daughter Nikki. This year's event was a rousing success, highlighted by strong attendance from a number of Warrior greats at the Grand Geneva. Off the course, participants enjoyed terrific entertainment from Walter Downing's own jazz band during cocktails and dinner.

The organizing committee is already in the process of setting a date for next year's outing. In the meantime, here's a slideshow from the 2nd Annual Warrior Day Golf Outing, enjoy.

M Club Hall of Fame Videos

Video vignettes of the M Club Hall of Fame Inductions.


2002-03 MU Men's Basketball Final Four Team Induction Video


Dwyane Wade Induction Video



Bill Cords Induction Video

Wade Taping "Homecoming" in Chicago Plus other Links

Want to go see a taping of ESPN's "Homecoming" series with none other than Dwyane Wade? Well, they are taping tomorrow night in Chicago and can accommodate 600 more guests. Details are below (HT: MU Athletic Dept)



Plus, sorry about lack of posting, but here are a few other quick links

7'2" Center Youssoupha Mbao was declared eligible by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Temper this a bit, however, because he still needs his amateur status cleared as well. People are also still waiting to hear on Cadougan's eligibility as well.

In addition, Marquette secured a verbal 2010 commitment from Jamail Jones. Jones is a highly rated (Top 75) recruit that moves the team one step closer to being comprised entirely of interchangeable 6'6" players (kidding)

Speaking of Wade, he's doing a partnership with Marquette in support of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee. What is cool is that Marquette is providing up to three full-tuition scholarships annually to winners of BCGA Youth of the Year program. I'm not exactly clear what Wade is doing as part of this partnership except "promoting it", but his name certainly helps add value.

Go to the "Homecoming" taping!

MU All-Access Media Day

MUTVSports was at Marquette's Media All-Access day and filed this video report:

Pre-Season Q&A w/Marquette's Broeker

Mike Broeker, Marquette's Deputy Director of Athletics, was kind enough to answer some questions about the 2009 program for Cracked Sidewalks. This is the second time he's addressed questions with Cracked Sidewalks in a Q&A... catch last year's version here.

Let's get to it:

Scheduling/Re-seating
Q: The pre-conference schedule didn't contain any surprises. Any commentary on this year's scheduling process?

MB: Our kids will be challenged early with the Old Spice Classic and with games against NC State, UW-Milwaukee and at Wisconsin. The rest of December allows us to focus on getting better each day as we move in to conference play. Confidence is critical for young teams.

Q: Were we close on any other Home & Homes?

This year, our focus is more on building the team than scheduling home and homes. Replacing close to 5,000 points is daunting enough a task for Coach Buzz. Next year we’ll be back in the market for home-and-homes and potentially a neutral site game. Also, we’ll get two quality neutral site games in the CBE Classic. At last check that field includes Duke, Kansas State and Gonzaga.

Looking two-years down the road we’ve signed on to participate in the 2011 Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.

Q: How did re-seating go this year with the new online system?

It was terrific. Nearly 60-percent selected on-line and we will look to see that number grow in future years. Ticket technology is changing so fast and to benefit the consumer. We’d be foolish not to take advantage.

Marquette and the Economy
Q: To what extent has the continuing economic condition impacted expected revenues for the program in 09-10? (for example, signage / marketing rights / selling radio time / associated athletic department sponsorships)

We are really fortunate. The passion and excitement surrounding Marquette Basketball has allowed us to weather this storm. We set revenue records for giving and tickets sales (thank you fans!) and Nelligan continues delivering to budget. The value of doing business with Marquette has never been better. We are thankful.

Q: Does MU expect a revenue decline from the men's basketball program this year? If so, how will that affect non-revenue sports?

We’ve budgeted conservatively and asked all of our programs to be as prudent without compromising competitiveness. Early returns from ticket sales have been promising; a great sign but we need to continue working smart and working together.

Ticket Packages
Q: The $99 ticket package seems to be a big hit. Can you explain the thought process behind releasing this ticket package, and how successful do you think it’s been? Did the package attract new ticket holders or just allow the more price sensitive customer the ability to retain tickets? Ballpark, how many tickets were sold to brand new ticket holders?

We spent a lot of time talking about the economy and whether or not enough diversity existed in our ticket offerings. Our goal is to drive full-season ticket sales. This option has allowed a small number of existing season ticket holders a place to keep their basketball tickets, while at the same time becoming an extremely popular option for younger alums and fans seeking the full Marquette experience. We are very conscious of revenue around men’s basketball. We approach any new concept or idea with great caution because of its larger impact. The concept is similar to the limited number of $10 tickets NBA franchises make available.

Close to 70-percent of the tickets sold in this area are new accounts. The number of tickets available is small in comparison to the overall population. We’ve sold almost 750 in a month.

Athletic Department Initiatives
Q: We note that MU is now on facebook, twitter, and youtube. There’s even a Steve Cottingham twitter feed. Last year seemed to be a big year for Marquette in terms of self-produced content. What other changes has the Athletic Department focused on this year?

Our marketing and media relations staff do a terrific job producing content. This trend will continue. They understand a good way to get your story across is to do it yourself. Our goal is to make gomarquette.com first stop for anyone interested in Marquette Athletics. The media landscape changes daily, almost too fast to keep up. As a department, we have embraced social media such as twitter, facebook and whatever comes next.

Big EAST
Q: Does Marquette expect any policy changes or shifts in strategy with the transfer of power to a new Big EAST commissioner?

No. John Marinatto, like his predecessor, is the Big East Conference. He has worked in and around the league his entire life, as have many of those on his staff. Our conference office is the best in the business. People like Dan Gavitt, Tom Odjakjian, John Paquette and of course the new commissioner is why this league is special. The level of support they extend the membership is remarkable. The future holds nothing different.

Q: You’ve answered our questions. Any additional comments you’d like to add for the Cracked Sidewalks readers?

Your passion and support allows our program to compete at an elite level. You’re an integral part of our success. Thank you!

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Thanks, Mike!

So there you have it. MU will be in the CBE next year, and the Paradise Jam the following year. Online reseating was a big hit. The economy didn't stop MU from hitting new donation and sales records. The $99 ticket package was huge, capturing 500+ new ticket holders and counting.

And Mike ended his email "Go Warriors!" (cough)

Joint post by Rob, Tim, and Kevin.