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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: MARQUETTE

May 27, 2008

COMMITMENT ALERT: Jeronne Maymon, 6'6 (F) from Madison (WI) Memorial HS


Buzz Williams landed a big prize on the recruiting trail on Tuesday morning as in-state prospect Jeronne Maymon committed to the new Golden Eagles head coach. With Hoops Star Maymon Going to Marquette (Capital Times), the buzz at MU is that Williams will keep the ball rolling after Tom Crean's departure on April 1st for Indiana.


Projected 2008-2009 Roster:


Seniors: Wesley Matthews (WG), Dominic James (PG), Jerel McNeal (SG), Dwight Burke (BF)
Juniors: David Cubillan (G), Lazar Hayward (G/F), Maurice Acker (PG)
Sophomores: Trevor Mbakwe (PF), Patrick Hazel (F), Joseph Fulce (SF), Jimmy Butler (G/F)
Freshmen: Chris Otule (C)
Early 2009 Commitments: Erik Williams (F), Jeronne Maymon (F)

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For the second year in a row, and third time in the last four, Marquette lands the state of Wisconsin's player of the year. This time it is Madison Memorial's Jeronne Maymon Committing to MU (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) over schoalrship offers from schools including Baylor, Iowa State, Tennessee, USC, Temple and Providence, among others. Wisconsin did not offer Maymon a scholarship.

As a junior, Maymon averaged 21 points and nearly 12 rebounds a game and he turned it on during the state playoffs, leading Memorial to a 2nd place finish while he averaged 30.0 points, 14.6 rebounds, 4.7 blocks, 3.7 steals and 3.0 assists per game for the Spartans in the WIAA state basketball tournament. Maymon visited Marquette May 20th and has been the top target of coach Williams and his new staff since he was hired in April.

NBE Basketball Report writer Doug Ferguson recently saw Maymon perform with the Illinois Bobcats at the GBOA North AAU tournament and was very impressed with his play. Here is the recap and detailed scouting report on Maymon included: GBOA North AAU Report.

Maymon joins Erik Williams, from Cypress Springs (TX) High School, as players in the Marquette class of 2009. Although both are listed as combination forwards, they compliment each other perfectly. Maymon is a physical bruiser who is likely to play power forward and Williams is long, lean and athletic and could play more of a role on the wing. Williams was a recruit that coach Buzz Williams reeled in as an assistant and he will honor his commitment as earlier in April Erik Williams Reaffirmed Commitment to MU (Milwaukee J-S). The 6'7 forward had heard from Tom Crean since he moved on to Indiana, but his comfort level in Buzz Williams was the deciding factor to stay with his commitment.


In the middle of all the chaos follwing Tom Crean's departure and the sorting out of the aftermatch, MU Moved Quickly and Signed Jimmy Butler (Milwaukee J-S) to a letter of intent as the Spring signing period opened. Butler, a 6.6 JUCO swingman from Tyler (TX) Junior College. The 6'6, 215 lb Butler was a teammate of November signee Joseph Fulce at Tyler this past season.

Butler was Tyler's leading scorer this past season, averaging 18.2 PPG and also added 7.7 rebounds a contest. Butler, like Fulce, will have three years of eligibility at Marquette and was also looking at Kentucky, Iowa State and Mississippi State.

Fulce also re-affirmed his commitment to Marquette, which was never in much doubt as he has long been linked to coach Buzz Williams. Fulce is a 6'6, 210-pound wing from Plano, Texas who, out of high school, Fulce committed to Texas A&M where he was recruited by Buzz Williams, an assistant at the time under Billy Gillispie. However, academic concerns derailed his attempt to join the Aggies and it was off to Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Virginia. In one season there, Fulce averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds and re-opened his recruitment. In last seasons late signing period, Fulce signed with the University of New Orleans, who was coached by Buzz Williams. However, later in the spring, Williams resigned from New Orleans and opted to join the staff at Marquette as an assistant coach. Fulce was released from his letter of intent over the summer and has enrolled Tyler (TX) Junior College where he was once again recruited by coach Williams, this time to Marquette, where he will have three years of eligibility left.


Fulce and Butler joing fast-developing big man Chris Otule in the incoming class as it currently stands. Otule chose to commit to the Golden Eagle program over offers from Baylor, Rice and Nebraska. Otule is an athletic specimen for a 6'10 player, but has a ways to go yet in his basketball development. As a junior at Fort Bend Bush High School, Otule came off the bench and averaged about 5 PPG and 7 rebounds a contest. Another native of Texas, the Richmond (TX) product played this seasn for Ronnie Courtney at Fort Bend Bush. Courtney took over the high school program after a six-year stint as head coach at Division I Texas Southern University.

With Williams and Maymon on board, Buzz Williams and his staff can now move onto attracting guards to play for them after Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Mathews graduate after the 2008-2009 season. Lately, guard targets such as Chris Colvin, Darius Smith, David Brown, Justin Jordan and Johnnie Lacy seem to be getting a lot of attention from Marquette.

Jamil Wilson is another in-state player the Golden Eagles would love to land, but since Tom Crean has moved on, Wilson seems to be looking at programs out of the area more than staying close to home. As the spring moves towards summer, we will also keep an eye out for potential big men that the Marquette staff will be following on the trail as well, too.

As always, for more information on Marquette recruiting and their program, visit Cracked Sidewalks on the blogger network which is a blog dedicated to Marquette basketball.




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Friday, May 23, 2008

MARQUETTE LOOKIN TO REPLACE THREE AMIGOS

May 23, 2008


With the news that Jerel McNeal is Returning to Marquette (Chicago Tribune) and withdrawing his name from consideration for the NBA draft, Buzz Williams will have the dynamic guard trio of McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Mathews in place for their senior seasons.

Now, with that bit of good news, coach Williams will need to go out and aggressively find the new generation of Marquette guards to carry on the recent tradition of the 'Three Amigos.'

In their recent Arizon Cactus Classic Scouting Reports, CollegeHoopsNet.com identified Playground Elite point guard Johnnie Lacy as a top target of the new Marquette staff.

Other potential guard targets receiving strong interest from the Golden Eagles this spring include Chris Colvin, Darius Smith and David Brown, who also has been offered by DePaul.

Another Marquette recruiting note is in regards to target Jeronne Maymon, a rugged 6'6 forward from Madison (WI) that has an offer from the Golden Eagles. Maymon Sets a Tuesday Press Confernece to Announce College Decision (Wisconsin HS Sports) and will decide between MU, Iowa State, Baylor, USC and Tennessee, according to Mark Miller.

Maymon recently visited the Marquette campus earlier this week and has seen a lot of attention from Buzz Williams since he took over for Tom Crean in April.


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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

MARQUETTE LOOKS AT 2009 PG

With Dominic James, Wesley Mathews and Jerel McNeal all seniors next season, new Marquette coach Buzz Williams will be looking for guards in the Class of 2009 to form his future nucleus. One possibility is Fort Wayne native Justin Jordan, a lightning quick 5'10 point guard who is playing this spring and summer with the Speice Indy Heat. Doug Ferguson of the NBE Basketball Report filed this scouting report on the guard from his play at the Bill Henlsey Memorial AAU event in Fort Wayne last weekend. Jordan also has interest from Purdue, Michigan and Butler, as well as Marquette an others:

Justin Jordan, 5-10 point guard in the Class of 2009

Top Interest: Purdue, Michigan, Marquette, Butler, Tennessee Tech

Strong Point: Point Guard whose quickness impacts the game on both ends of the floor.

Area of Improvement: Can be a bit careless and loose with the basketball at times causing unnecessary and untimely turnovers.

Skinny: Jordan is a player who is quickly jumping on a lot of team’s radar recently with his lighting quick point guard play. On defense, he hawks his opponent with his tenacious on the ball pressure. A perfect example came less than a minute into this game when he force a five second call in the backcourt, setting the tone for how the game would be played throughout defensively.

On offense, he is raw, but very talented. One thing he does with great proficiency is quarterback the fast break. He has an array of ways to get it done and isn’t always flashy. The bottom line is that he knows a finisher when he sees one and they are the one’s who see the ball at the rim.

His quickness allows him to penetrate the lane at will where he finds perimeter shooters just a easily as he does transition finishers. He also uses a floater in the lane fairly effectively. He is by no means a finished product. He definitely needs to work on his perimeter shooting. He is given a decent cushion by most defenders and improved shooting would make it close to impossible to stop him from penetrating.


See more notes on Justin and news and notes from last weekend's Bill Hensley Memorial Tournament from Doug Ferguson at the NBE Basketball Report


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