Posts Tagged ‘Buzz Williams’

JUCO forward chooses Marquette

Published by Source on June 2nd, 2012

2013 JUCO power forward Jameel McKay has made his college decision: he will return home to Milwaukee to be a Marquette Golden Eagle. The big man chose MU over Indiana, Florida, Memphis, Iowa State and others.

Marquette coach Buzz Williams has built up a reputation among the JUCO ranks as a coach that can take prospects to the next level. The 2011-12 Big East Player of the Year, Jae Crowder, came to Marquette as a 3-star JUCO prospect in 2010. Williams also coached Darius Johnson-Odom, an all Big East player who came to the team from Hutchinson CC in Kansas, as well as current Chicago Bulls wing Jimmy Butler, who transferred from Tyler JC in Texas.

The reputation Williams has with JUCO players was a major factor for McKay, as was the opportunity to return home and play in front of friends and family. Speaking with JucoRecruiting.com, McKay said “Nobody is getting any younger and to have the opportunity to have my family see my play during my final two years was very important.”

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Illinois loses assistant Chew to Marquette

Published by Source on May 29th, 2012

New Illinois head coach John Groce scored big when he hired assistant coach Isaac Chew away from Missouri back in March. Unfortunately, Chew’s time in Champaign was short-lived and the coach is already on to his next destination.

Marquette head coach Buzz Williams grabbed Chew to be an assistant for him up in Milwaukee. Chew had originally turned down a spot at MU before taking the Illinois job, so it is assumed that the monetary offer was much greater this time around.

Chew was the recruiter that Groce needed to re-establish the Illini presence in the Chicago prep circuit. The Chicago-native played his high school ball at Wells and was the Chicago Public League Blue West POY in 1994. His Chicago ties will be beneficial to Williams and Marquette, as they continue to compete for the top talent in the city year after year. Williams already has a solid Chicago freshman coming to campus in Simeon big man Steve Taylor.

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Posted in Chicago HS Prospects, Illinois, Marquette
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Duane Wilson (2013) picks Marquette

Published by Source on March 21st, 2012

On Tuesday, Marquette learned that they had picked up a commitment from Milwaukee junior Duane Wilson. Ranked #128 in the class by Rivals, Wilson has emerged as a star point guard at Dominican High School. The junior announced last Friday that he had narrowed his list to Marquette, Memphis and Missouri and that a decision would be coming this week. Marquette has been considered the favorite in this recruitment and on Tuesday Wilson made it official. We will have more on this commitment in the near future.

Head coach Buzz Williams is locking down the city borders, already landing Rivals #45 Deonte Burton from Milwaukee’s Vincent High.

The Golden Eagles are currently out in Phoenix for a Thursday night Sweet Sixteen match-up with the 7-seed Florida Gators (game at 10:17pm/9:17est on TBS).

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The 2012 NCAA Bracket is out!

Published by Source on March 12th, 2012

Congrats to all 68 teams that were fortunate enough to have their name called tonight! Six teams from the B1G received spots in the field, as well as local Big East teams Marquette and Notre Dame. Below, you will find a breakdown of who is playing who, where they are playing, and what day the game is on.

UPDATE: Times/broadcasts have been added at the end of each game description.

Michigan State – The Spartans got the 4th 1-seed in this year’s field after beating the Ohio State Buckeyes in this afternoon’s conference title game. Tom Izzo leads his Michigan State squad into the NCAA Tournament for the 15th straight season and this is the 4th time that they have been a 1-seed in that span. This year, the Spartans sit atop the West Region and will face NEC Champion LIU-Brookyln in the first round (Columbis, OH). A first round win will result in a match-up with either Memphis or Saint Louis over the weekend. [9:20pm/8:20cst on TBS]

Ohio State – Despite losing in the conference title game, the Buckeyes were given a 2-seed in this year’s East Regional (Syracuse is the 1). They will face off with 15-seed MAAC winner Loyola (MD) in the first round and would face either 7-seed Gonzaga or 10-seed West Virginia after that. Those games will be played in Pittsburgh. This is the 6th NCAA berth in head coach Thad Matta’s 8 seasons in Columbus and the 3rd time the Buckeyes have been a 2-seed in that time. They were also a top seed twice, including last season. [9:50/8:50p on TNT]

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Posted in featured, Indiana, Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
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Big East Writers Preseason Poll Results

Published by Source on October 18th, 2011

The Big East writers have spoken and their preseason conference poll results are here. 16 writers, each from a different part of Big East country, cast their votes on how the teams will finish this year, as well as selecting the conference’s top players and newcomers.

CLICK “MORE…” TO VIEW THE RESULTS!

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Posted in Chicago HS Prospects, DePaul, Marquette, Notre Dame
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Deonte Burton chooses Marquette

Published by Source on September 2nd, 2011

Head coach Buzz Williams has landed the first member of his 2013 recruiting class in Brewster Academy wing Deonte Burton. Listed as the #45 overall prospect in Rivals’ new rankings, Burton chose the Golden Eagles over reported offers from Clemson, Illinois and Maryland.

Burton is actually a Milwaukee-native, so the commitment to his hometown Big East school should come as no surprise. The 6-5 prospect transferred to Brewster in Wolfeboro, NH before last season after playing his freshman year at Milwaukee’s Vincent HS. At Brewster, he is a teammate of top-5 prospect and Michigan target Mitch McGary.

Williams is putting together an impressive list of future recruits. Burton joins Class of 2012 verbals Steve Taylor, TJ Taylor and Jamal Ferguson headed to a Marquette team that has not missed the NCAA Tournament since 2005. They snuck into the field at-large this past season as an 11-seed and rode 2 upset victories into the Sweet Sixteen.

Burton is the top prospect in his class to commit to the Big East so far and the 4th-highest ranked player to commit anywhere.

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Posted in Illinois, Marquette
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Marquette Guard-Studded 2011 Recruiting

Published by Source on August 23rd, 2011

By: Cary Kostka, Marquette contributor

 

For as long as I can remember, Marquette has specialized in finding and recruiting quality guards and then grooming them into good college guards that have often developed into NBA prospects. The most notable of these are Dwyane Wade, Travis Diener, Steve Novak, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Mathews. Jimmy Butler may soon join this group after being selected in the 1st round of this year’s NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.

The recruiting class of 2011 reflects the recruitment tradition of Marquette with the additions of guards Todd Mayo and Derrick Wilson, as well as G/F Juan Anderson. The talent in this incoming class, although not highly ranked, fits the Marquette philosophy almost perfectly.

Many Marquette fans, myself included, have been clamoring for help on the inside game. Far too many times over the past decade, the book on beating Marquette has been to close off the lanes, force jump shots on the perimeter, and force physical inside play on the other side of the court. The commitments of Todd Mayo and Derrick Wilson are a good start to negating this thought.

Todd Mayo, the younger brother of NBA guard O.J. Mayo, has a Big East-ready body at 6’ 3”, 190lbs. The Notre Dame Prep star has a great game rhythm and is a confident, smooth shooter with good range and an attack the basket attitude. Mayo possesses an ankle breaking first step, which when combined with his full court running speed will cause plenty of matchup problems for opponents, especially in fast break situations and when attacking the basket.  He will best serve Marquette on the floor if he can adjust to playing off the ball and can tighten up his ball handling skills. Also, his body language on the court will need to improve; he will need to learn to better control his emotions to be an effective starter in the Big East. I project Mayo to begin the 2011-12 season as a member of the Golden Eagles starting five.

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