2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 5) MARQUETTE

October 26, 2008


Marquette fans and players were rocked April 1st of 2008 with the news that Tom Crean was leaving the Golden Eagles to take over the head coaching position at Indiana University. What seemed like a cruel April Fool’s joke was real, and it left the Marquette fan base reeling.

With the Final Four coming just days after Crean’s departure, the Marquette administration got the wheels in motion quickly to find Crean’s replacement. After a couple flirtations with some of the bigger names that many speculated would be available, Marquette decided to look within and Brent Williams, better known as Buzz, was promoted to the head coaching position.

Williams had spent just one season on the MU staff under Crean, but he quickly established himself as a top recruiter with strong ties to Texas from his days as an assistant at Texas A&M and other Lonestar State stops. Prior to his season at MU as an assistant, Williams was the head coach for one season at New Orleans, trying to help the program recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that wet their program back. After a 14-17 season at UNO (9-9 in the Sun Belt), Williams resigned as the task to rebuild the Privateers had many factors working against him. Tom Crean was glad to add him to his staff shortly after.

Williams walks into a pretty good situation with the Golden Eagles as they return four starters from last season’s 25-win club that advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. It is the last go-round for the ‘Three Amigos’ in the MU backcourt, they will look to make it work with a new head coach.

Read Rest of Team Preview...Click 'Read More' Below!!!



Comings:

Caught in the middle of a coaching change, Buzz Williams had to go to work quickly to add players in the spring recruiting period and hold together the class that Tom Crean, with his help, was putting together. While the class lost talented guard Tyshawn Taylor, who opted out of his letter of intent and eventually ended up at Kansas, and Nick Williams, who followed Crean to Indiana after being releases from his LOI, Williams was able to add three recruits from Texas to the squad.

Tyler Community College forwards Jimmy Butler and Joseph Fulce, along with Richmond (TX) native Chris Otule, a 6-foot-10 center, signed on with Marquette. Butler averaged nearly 18 points and 7 rebounds in his freshman season at Tyler. A full qualifier out of high school, Butler will have three years of eligibility at MU. Fulce was recruited to Texas A&M when Williams was an assistant, but he failed to qualify. After a stop at prep school, Fulce committed to New Orleans in hopes to play for Williams there. After Williams left UNO, Fulce opted for Tyler CC and, finally, he will get to play for coach Williams at Marquette. Fulce will also have three years of eligibility. Otule is a developing big man that improved by leaps and bounds in his last year of high school.

The final newcomer is mystery transfer Liam McMorrow. The 7-footer is not your ordinary transfer as he comes from Durham College of Oshawa Ontario where he played just his first season of organized basketball as a freshman. McMorrow will sit out this season as a transfer and continue to develop his basketball acumen and hopefully be a major payoff for Williams down the road.


Goings:

Judging by the numbers, Marquette did not lose a lot of firepower through graduation nor attrition following the coaching change. Seniors Ousmane Barro, Lawrence Blackledge and Dan Fitzgerald have moved on and a pair of freshmen, Trevor Mbakwe and Scott Christopherson, have left for different opportunities. While none averaged more than Barro’s 5.5 points or 5.5 rebounds, there is a hole created in the Golden Eagle frontcourt that adds a major question mark to this year’s team.


Net Impact:

It is a large unknown to what kind of impact Butler, Fulce and Otule will have this season. With seniors Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wes Mathews entrenched at the guard positions in the three-guard attack, with Lazar Hayward at the forward position, Butler and Fulce are likely to provide depth this season, but will be asked to step in quickly after the departure of the senior guards this season.

Otule enters a frontcourt picture that is much more unclear. Mbakwe was expected to play a big role in this year’s team and his sudden departure just before school was to begin left the coaching staff shocked. The timing of the departure meant no replacement could be added and with the graduation of Barro, Blackledge and Fitzgerald, there is not a lot of height or depth in the MU frontcourt.


2008-2009 Backcourt Outlook:

There is no denying that the strength in this Marquette squad lies in the backcourt with an outstanding trio of starting guards in seniors Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wes Mathews. The trio also has capable back-ups Maurice Acker at point guard and sweet-shooting combo guard David Cubillan. The new additions of Jimmy Butler and Joseph Fulce add depth to the wing as well.

James is the engine that runs the Golden Eagles. Despite struggling at times the last two seasons with his shooting ability, James is still a factor that needs to be accounted for with his blinding quickness and uncanny athletic ability. Last season James averaged 13 points, 4 assists and nearly 2 steals a game. His assist to turnover ratio was better than 2:1. While his numbers have decreased each year since his elite freshman campaign, some of that is due to the development of the talent around him, especially backcourt mate Jerel McNeal.

McNeal is known as one of the top perimeter defenders in the country. Last season he showed he could be a dominate scorer as well, leading the Golden Eagles with a 15 point per game scoring average and he continued to fill the state sheet adding 5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals a game. McNeal finished the season averaging 23 points a game in the last six contests, which included five postseason contests. That run concluded with a 30-point performance in their 2nd round NCAA Tournament loss to Stanford and had McNeal flirting with the prospect of entering the NBA draft. Now he is back and ready to continue his ascension towards one of the league’s elite players.

The final member of the ‘Three Amigos’ guard trio is Wes Mathews. The do-everything, 6-foot-5 wing also saw his production drop noticeably from the previous season. One thing Mathews continues to excel at is getting to the line and he led MU with 167 trips to the stripe and continues to be a near 80% shooter on his free throws in his career. Mathews is a player that seems to do everything well, but you always feel there is a little more to his game if he was willing to be more assertive offensively.

Acker and Cubillan are a pair of junior guards that are perfect compliments to the three seniors ahead of them. Acker is a true point guard that began his college career at Ball State and after sitting out a season as a transfer student, worked his way into the mix and was playing well at season’s end. Cubillan is a designated shooter off the bench who can strike from three-point range with regularity. A shoulder injury, however, might limit his work this preseason and could linger into the season. Butler could work his way into the mix with a strong offensive potential and ability to score from long-range as well.


2008-2009 Frontcourt Outlook:

Lazar Hayward is not your ideal frontcourt stalwart for a Big East team. If you have followed Hayward’s career, that is definitely something you would have never thought of as he was finishing a high school career in Buffalo and headed off to prep school. However, to Hayward’s credit, he has developed into a forward capable of battling inside in the Big East and still has the skills to cause match-up problems with his diversified game.

Last season Hayward averaged nearly 13 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds a game. While the 6-foot-6 forward may have been traditionally more comfortable on the wing prior to coming to Marquette, he has made big strides in his game to play a position of need and battle some of the big forwards of the conference. He will have to continue that role this season and might be asked to rebound even more as the help for him is slim.

The only returning player with meaningful experience is 6-foot-8 senior Dwight Burke, who averaged less than three points and rebounds last season in 12 minutes of nightly action. Sophomore forward Pat Hazel totaled 48 minutes of game action last season, 14 coming in Big East action, and newcomers Chris Otule and Joseph Fulce round out the front court personnel.

Otule has the potential to be a solid big man in the Big East, but the 6-foot-10 freshman is still quite raw. He might be forced into action early on to team with Burke in the post. Fulce is a smooth athlete that is really just suited for the wing. Even playing in a role that Hayward has assumed will be new for Fulce who is more of a long and lean wing than a player looking to mix it up in the Big East.


2008-2009 Team Outlook:

Well, ready or not, the Buzz Williams era is upon the Big East. For the most part, it is going to look an awful lot like the Tom Crean era to start as the Golden Eagles will be perimeter heavy and, actually, might even be a little less productive in the frontcourt than they were under Crean the last couple years, which was the main item holding Marquette back from advancing higher in the Big East hierarchy.

Luckily, college basketball is a guard’s game and your college basketball odds are heightened by excellent guard play. However, in the Big East, nearly everyone can boast of a good group of guards, at the very least, and many a night, a Big East battle is won in the paint and on the class. The Marquette backcourt will win more than their share of games, rising stars in Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward are a good place to start and excellent senior seasons from Dominic James and Wes Mathews should be expected, too. However, in order to move up in the rankings, or to even solidify their placement just outside the top four, the Golden Eagles are going to have to improve their play in the frontcourt. They are going to have a tough time rebounding against other Big East clubs and, being that they are not the most dangerous outside shooting squad, the lack of second chance opportunities might be the difference in several games.


Still, with a backcourt as good as Buzz Williams has to put on the floor, this is a top 20 team that will make their presence known come March Madness, there will be some bumps in the road along the way with a new coach to answer to on the bench in games, but this group has been through a lot in the Big East in their first three years, they will adjust and could be stronger near the end of the season.





2008-2009 Big East Prediction: 11-7