Dominique Rutledge keeps MU in the mix

Dominique Rutledge, a 6'8" 230 pound forward from New Jersey, narrowed his list to just four schools over the weekend -- Marquette, St. Joseph's, Pittsburgh and Auburn. He'll visit MU this week.

Read the update here on Zags blog, which includes details from Rutledge's AAU coach.

Marquette CIRCLES comes to NYC; Crean to speak

The successful networking program pioneered by Marquette in the Midwest is making its way to New York City next month. On Thursday, October 18 MU will host Marquette CIRCLES in New York -- highlighted by an address from head basketball coach Tom Crean.

The event, a terrific professional networking opportunity, also includes speeches and discussions with a host of notable business leaders. 'CIRCLES' is a first-class program -- so if you live or work in the Tri-State area, why not? You can get your basketball fix with Tom Crean and build some professional relationships on top of that.

Information on Marquette Circles appears below. To register, click on this link. If the link won't work, please register at MU Connect or contact the Marlee Smith in the Marquette Advancement Office at 414-288-4767.

Marquette CIRCLES
Thursday, October 18

University Club
One West 54th Street
New York, NY

$65 per person
(includes attendee directory, hors doeuvres, wine, beer and soda)

6:30 to 7:00 p.m. -- REGISTRATION

7:00 p.m. -- FOCUS SESSIONS
Please select your session preference during your online registration

8:00 p.m.
From Business to Basketball : Leadership Insight from Tom Crean
Hear an exciting update from Tom Crean, Head Coach, Marquette Mens Basketball


FOCUS SESSIONS:

FINANCIAL SERVICES
David M. Darst, CFA, Chief Investment Strategist, Morgan Stanley

David Darst is a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley where he serves as chairman of the Asset Allocation Committee and chief investment strategist of the Global Wealth Management Group, and was the founding president of the Morgan Stanley Investment Group. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, David spent 24 years with Goldman Sachs. David is the author of four books and has lectured extensively at Wharton, Columbia, INSEAD and New York University business schools and served as a visiting faculty member at Yale College, Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School.

COMMUNICATION
Matthew Winkler, Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News is a global news service that Matthew Winkler founded with Michael Bloomberg in 1990 when Matthew joined the then eight-year-old financial information company Bloomberg L.P. He became a member of the Bloomberg L.P. Board in 2006. Bloomberg News, which has grown to 2,350 editors and reporters in print and broadcast media, produces more than 5,000 stories daily. Matthew received the 2007 Gerald Loeb Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing exceptional career achievements in business, financial and economic news writing.

MARQUETTE ON THE CUTTING EDGE
Marquette is headed in an exciting direction! Hear from a panel representing the groundbreaking work taking place on campus.

Justice Janine P. Geske (ret), Law 75
Distinguished Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School
Janine Geske oversees the Restorative Justice Initiative a program that supports crime victims and communities in the healing process by facilitating communication among victims, members of the greater community and offenders.

Dr. Stanley Jaskolski, Eng 62
Dean, College of Engineering
Dr. Stan Jaskolski, OPUS Dean of Marquette University College of Engineering, has also had the distinction of being the former CTO of Eaton, the former president of the Industrial Research Institute and the 2004 recipient of the Engineers and Scientists of Milwaukees Engineer of the Year award. But perhaps his most exciting role is his current position leading a unique engineering college that is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Timothy Keane, Jour 70
Director, Golden Angels Network, College of Business Administration
Tim Keane is the current entrepreneur-in-residence in the College of Business Administration, where he teaches cutting-edge courses in new business formation and growth strategies and is currently directing the cross-campus entrepreneurship initiative. He is also the founder and director of the Marquette Golden Angels Network, a group of investors interested in advising and funding entrepreneurial businesses.

Mookie Jones Visits MU

Mookie Jones, a dynamite 6'6" SF from Peekskill (NY), will take his first official visit this weekend at Marquette. Jones, a clutch talent with a great nose for the ball, is also considering St Johns, Rutgers, Syracuse and DePaul.

You want clutch? Check out his game-winning shot from this winter's Federation Championship - - - a 3-pointer at the buzzer from this past March, aka the 'Mookie Miracle'.




Great stuff, eh?

This link will take you to a terrific video which includes several of Mookie Jones clips from the early spring of 2006. He's the tall kid, skinny and shirtless.

How great is it to be in the Big East? For decades MU never sniffed high-ceiling talent from the NYC area which was a shame considering there are some 2,5000 Marquette alums in the Tri-State area (not to mention that Al McGuire built his program on the strength of his East Coast connections). TC is turning that around.

Travis and Fond du Lac

In case you needed some Travis Diener news .. the FDL Reporter comes through for you today.

(Travis) .. spent most of the summer at his parents' house.

"My mom hears a lot about how I'm staying there, but what else am I going to do?" said Diener, the son of Vicki and Bob Diener, and the subject of a $4.9 million deal with the Indiana Pacers. "I like coming home."

For the Dieners, family is 1-A and basketball is 1-B.

"I still talk to my Mom every day, which for a 25-year-old guy isn't the norm," said Diener, who spent his first two years in the NBA with the Orlando Magic, making $664,209 last season. "But that's just the way our family works."

What a nice boy, calling his mom every day. Puts all us losers to shame.

ESPN's Big East Preview

ESPN takes an early look at the 2007-2008 Big East season today. The main article talks about the difficulty in moving to an 18-game league schedule, and includes capsules on each team. The MU bit is predictable (the standard great guards, lets see if the frontcourt can hold its own logic ). Sigh.

Bilas takes the honors of predicting the league champs -- and pegs MU as the Big East's third-best team behind Louisville and Georgetown, and in front of UConn, Syracuse and Pitt. Surprisingly, Bilas pegs PC as just the 9th best team in the league -- me thinks they exceed those expectations.

Read it all right here on ESPN.com.

Discuss it here at MUScoop -- several good posts in this thread.

Quick hits on recruiting: UPDATED

Here are a few recruiting nuggets that popped in the last day or so:

• The Big East Basketball report -- a must-read site -- found this link yesterday ...... the Washington Post recruiting blog spoke with Frank Ben-Eze's high school coach and it sounds like the big fella will make his college choice soon.
• If Ben-Eze goes elsewhere, maybe MU will turn up the heat on a pair of 7-footers playing in nearby Lake Forest, IL. According to Chicago Hoops, MU has expressed interest in these bigger fellas.
• SF Mookie Jones will visit Marquette University this weekend.
• SIU fans are whining about Josh Crittle's comments on the relatively weak MVC. Hey, the truth hurts. That said, SIU is a very good program.
• UVA's blogger seems convinced that his Wahoos are fading in the race to sign Lance Goulbourne. The 6'7" SF is considering MU, Vandy and UVa.
• Coach Rab is back with the latest installment on his blog, In Rab's Words. Funny stuff this time around.

UPDATED

• Marquette is actively recruiting 6'9" PF Erik Murphy of St. Mark's (MA) Academy. Of course, so are UVa, Duke, UF, UNC, Michigan, UConn and others. MU has been mentioned as an aggressive suitor of Murphy, in the class of 2009, for months. Ray Floriani covers the East Coast basketball scene for Hoopville.net and Basketball Times, and was in the gym to see Murphy play this past weekend at the Hoop Group Fall Jam Fest. Ray just emailed CS his impressions of Murphy's game:
  

Was very impressed with Erik Murphy at the Hoop Group Jam Fest. He showed good mobility, a nice drop step and the ability to run the floor and mix it up inside. Erik also maintained his cool in the semifinal I officiated against a team (Brooklyn Ballers) that got in your face and tried to intimidate.

Erik's dad Jay, a former Boston College star, said a large number of schools were in pursuit but he did mention Marquette specifically and prominently. Erik had a great visit and Florida but I believe all options will be weighed prior to deciding.

Also impressed with Erik's regimen. His dad works with him in the gym but there will be times a basketball is not picked up. Rather, Erik will jump rope and work on other agility , footwork and running drills. A refreshing thing to hear in this day when too many kids practice by only attempting three pointers and 'Sportscenter' moves.

More updates as they appear.....

Josh Crittle sorta likes SIU

Per the SIU Daily Egyptian, 6'8" PF Josh Crittle enjoyed his visit to Carbondale last weekend but identified conference affiliation as a cause for concern.

"The only thing I really don't like is the conference," said Crittle, a senior at Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago. "I feel like they're too good for their conference. I think they should be in a bigger and better conference."

Hmmm. Add in Crittle's concern about the remote nature of Kansas State....

"It's just in the middle of nowhere," he said. "It's just like there's nothing around there, it's just Kansas State in that city."

....and you'd have to figure that MU remains a front-runner for the talented big fella.

Once again Marquette seems to have many of the attributes that Crittle craves from a university. When factoring in the opportunity for immediate playing time as a freshman, the proximity to home, and perhaps his familiarity (and appreciation of?) a Catholic education -- it is plain to see why Crittle has consistently listed MU as a favorite for his signature. He'll visit MU next month.

While Frank Ben-Eze emerged as Crean's priority recruit to replace Ousmane Barro in the middle, Crittle's skills and size would be a welcome addition to a program with only a pair of young PFs, the undersized combo of Mbakwe and Hazel. A group anchored by Ben-Eze, Crittle and Mbakwe, supported by high-energy minutes from Hazel would certainly be an upgrade over the frontline rotations Tom Crean has been stuck with for the last several seasons.

Crittle still lists MU, Oregon, Minnesota, Kansas State and SIU as his final five. Oregon is an interesting wild card here. Ernie Kent already secured verbals from Chicago's Matt Humphrey and Michael Dunigan -- can he complete the trifecta this fall? MU fans hope not.

Zags blog on Marquette recruiting

Adam Zagoria, a must-read for any Big East fan, looks at MU's recruiting slate -- nice work, Adam.

Read it all here.

MU Wiki: September Top 10

Time for another installment of the Wiki Top 10. And to point out the spiffy new Wiki Logo on the right side of this page:

By popularity:

1. 2007-08 Season page
2. Basketball Start Page
3. Marquette Jersey Project
4. Marquette Internet Forum History (Strange no one has edited this.)
5. Men's Basketball Alphabetical Player Directory
6. All-Time Series Records (A new page, burning up the charts!)
7. Men's Hockey (Yes, really.)
8. Women's Soccer 2007 Season Page (wow)
9. MU Football History (high quality)
10. Freeway (Still beating out Tom Crean on the top 10.)

Undiscovered pages that should be in the top 10:

1. Al McGuire Center
2. Abel Joseph
3. Damon Key
4. Men's 1978-79 Season
5. Buzz Williams
6. Tim Buckley
7. Ron Glaser (this page needs some love.)
8. Marquette Gyros
9. Art's Performing Center
10. Allie McGuire
    
11. Aaron Hutchins

And please .. every time I post this monthly update, we get about a thousand people flipping through the wiki. Stay a while. Roam around. And give us a hand, click "edit" and add your knowledge. I know you want to.

Recruiting Updates

While it does not appear that any of MU's targets are on the verge of selecting a college program, there are several updates to report:

• Per Rivals premium, prized big man Frank Ben-Eze narrowed his list to just three schools, and it looks like MU, VaTech and Harvard are the finalists. Ben-Eze visited MU several weeks ago.
• Lance Goulbourne, the 6'7" SF from Princeton, will visit Virginia this weekend according to the Good Ol' Blog at Saber.com.
• The Bullseye Brothers have minor updates on both Iman Shumpert and Josh Crittle here. Shumpert continues to be patient, while the Bullseye guys expect SIU to lay out a convincing pitch to Crittle this weekend.
• Marquette is recruiting Jeremy Leonard, a 6'2" PG from TF North in the Chicago area. Midstate Hoops has been a huge fan of this kid for a while, and updates Jeremy's situation here.
  

From the class of 2009, MU offered PF Bobby Capobianco of Loveland, Ohio. Capobianco is a 6'8" 220 pound banger. Per this report at SalukiTalk.com, MU is the first to offer Capobianco. SIU, West Virginia, and Iowa have all expressed interest. He'll visit SIU on October 15.

UNC investigates possible recruiting violation

The Charlotte Observer reports this morning that the University of North Carolina is investigating possible NCAA recruiting violations during Iman Shumpert's visit to campus last weekend.

Earlier this week Shumpert indicated he played basketball against three current NBA players during his visit -- Marvin Williams, Sean May and Raymond Felton. In NCAA terminology these guys are 'athletics representatives' which limits the type of involvement they can have with prospective recruits.

Still, this may be much ado about nothing because May and Williams are currently enrolled as students on Chapel Hill, which means they can talk to recruits. Felton is not currently enrolled.

Can anybody imagine this one getting legs? I can't see this going anywhere (one can hope) but UNC can't be pleased with any such distraction during a recruit's decision-making process.

Even if the investigation reveals an issue, recent NCAA precedent favors the violator. Mizzou head coach Quin Snyder famously (and repeatedly) violated NCAA rules in recruiting Jason Conley as a transfer student from VMI -- yet the player was allowed to play in Columbia despite the illegal contact. The UNC situation appears to be far less severe than the Missouri case, which is all the more reason to think this will quietly go away soon. But hey, stranger things have happened.

Still, recruiting against Tom Crean must be really tough for a program like UNC, eh? :-)

Shumpert is scheduled to visit Georgia Tech later this month, and complete his final official visit at MU for Marquette Madness in October.

Student tickets on sale now

$70 and the season is yours, students. Here's the news from MU, key excerpt below.

Marquette reserves nearly one quarter of the Bradley Center for student seating, by far the largest percentage in the BIG EAST Conference. The Bradley Center has announced a $1 per ticket increase per event, which the University has agreed to cover in regards to student tickets.

"Marquette students have greater access and pay appreciable less than their peers at similar schools," said Mike Broeker, Deputy Athletics Director.

Student ticket prices will see a slight increase over the course of the next two seasons, moving to $85 in 2008 and $100 in 2009. The increase this season is the first in nearly a decade and still remains one of the most affordable and accessible in the country at this level.

What do you think? Talk about it here with the community over at MUScoop.

Iman Shumpert: not rushing to decide

6'4" combo guard Iman Shumpert completed his official visit to Chapel Hill this weekend and despite a full-court press from the UNC program should complete all of his official visits before deciding. According to this report from the Fayetteville Observer "Williams and his staff may have to wait more than a month to hear" Shumpert's decision.

BTW, this is rich.

The article quotes Prep Stars' Rob Harrington as saying that Shumpert could be "a Marcus Ginyard-type for Williams". How fantastic - -comparing Shumpert to a kid who played 19 mins a game as a freshman, was recruited over, and then played just 16 mins per game as a sophomore to go along with just 4ppg - - down from more than 6ppg as a freshman. Its a familiar story in Chapel Hill.

Heck, David Cubillan put up similar (better?) numbers at MU last season! Of course, Ginyard is far more talented than David - - but aren't you supposed to actually play ball to have fun?

Perhaps UNC is looking for a role player to fit into its system . . . . right along side Larry Drew, Jr. I'd expect that Tom Crean sees a much more substantial role for Shumpert in the Golden Eagles program.

Cracked Sidewalks 2.0

So after 2.5 years with the same template, Cracked Sidewalks has gone "new and improved."

We hope you like the new background, color scheme, and wider layout. We will be tweaking things as the week goes on, getting ready for the new season. If you see something you like, or hate, drop us a line in the comment section!

UPDATE: 15% of you in the poll have selected "No Good". Please write us a comment on what we can change to make it better. Is it rendering correctly on your browser? Don't like the background? Emails can be sent to Hilltopper91@gmail.com

Al's Run Recap

Well, first off, a huge thank you to nearly 5 dozen people who donated to the cause. Final results can be found here.

Our final tally was $1,645, well past our goal. -- I think it's amazing that in two years, our tiny section of the internet has raised over $3,000 for Al's Run. What a great showing!

If ever there's a time for casual interaction with the team and coach .. it's this. They're hanging around in front of the Union for a good hour, mingling, then are on the I-43 overpass, signing shirts, etc.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

All pictures can be found here.

One last push for Al's Run - Tip Cup

Hey.........the 30th installment of the Briggs & Al's Run is coming up on Saturday morning in downtown Milwaukee and there's still time to contribute to the Marquette Fans' charity drive for this most worthy of causes, named for our own Al.

Thanks to the leadership of MU_Hilltopper and the mighty generous wallet of Sir Lawrence, we've nearly equaled last year's total of $1,500.00 dollars raised.

It sure would be nice to meet or beat that number -- and we're oh-so-close.

We've gotten the big donors out of the way. We've got a few thousand readers, and we are holding out the tip cup.

There aren't any ads here, we toil for your entertainment like a smelly guy on a street corner playing a harmonica. Throw us a fiver for the effort. It's for Al and Children's Hospital.

If you are interested, please click on this link. Thanks again for your consideration.

For more information on the Briggs & Al's Run & Walk for Children's Hospital, please click here.

Open enrollment in Wisconsin

Transfers are a fact of life in college hoops -- and on the high school hardcourt too. Transfers are impacting not only private high schools as many would suspect, but public high school programs as well. From today's Wisconsin State Journal:

WIAA associate director Deb Hauser told school representatives 12 of the 16 public schools that qualified for the state boys basketball tournament had players enrolled from other districts through the state's school-choice program. Ten of the 18 public schools in the WIAA state girls basketball had open-enrolled players.

One team had five open-enrolled players among the 14 on its roster, according to Hauser......"The data is there to show that it may not be the non-public schools that have the movement, but our own public schools, too,'' she said.

MU's Scott Christopherson is mentioned in the article. Christopherson switched from Melrose-Mindoro to La Crosse Aquinas midway through high school which raised a few eyebrows. MU target Evan Anderson is cited in this piece as well...he moved from one public school to another, which didn't attract the same level of scrutiny as Christopherson's move according to Hauser.

Recruiting update: Shumpert, Ben-Eze, Mookie and more

OK, we're currently in the middle of a frenzied open recruiting period highlighted by a series of in-home and official visits much of which is noted by Calhoun4Six here on Scout. After the open period passes, maybe we'll get some idea of where the dominoes will fall. In the meantime, here's where things stand with MU on the recruiting front:

6'4" combo guard Iman Shumpert from Oak Park is down to MU, Georgia Tech and North Carolina. MU's in-home visit with Shumpert is today, Thursday.

The Chicago Sun-Times rolled out this great article about Shumpert today -- just in time for TC's visit. Its really a terrific article -- Shumpert is a smart, pragmatic kid. Here is what he has to say about MU:

On Marquette: "Marquette, coach (Tom) Crean, they have no football team, so it's all basketball. The fans, everybody down there is crazy for basketball. Coach Crean, I mean, is crazy about basketball. He'll talk basketball 24/7. The conversations I have with coach Crean are never even about recruiting or me coming there. He speaks to me as if I'm already there. He talks basketball. He talks drills. He talks, 'What are you working on right now? What are you doing? You're laying around right now? You might as well twirl a ball.' He's just crazy like that. Sometimes he's joking, but other times he's just telling me, 'Like every day try and do something to better yourself.' He's just a player's coach. I hear nothing but good things out of them. They say his yelling at practice was pretty bad, but I think (Oak Park coach) Al (Allen) could compete with him on the yelling.

Shumpert visits UNC this weekend and Georgia Tech at the end of the month. Shumpert will be at Marquette Madness next month for his official visit -- that's great timing IMHO. He'll be joined there by MU commit Nick Williams and 6'7" SF Jared Swopshire (Bradenton, FL).

Frank Ben-Eze, a 6'11" C from Arlington, VA via Nigeria took his official visit to MU recently when the team held their open practice at The Al. It looks like UVA, VaTech, WVU, Harvard and maybe Maryland are recruiting the big fella. An erroneous Internet report had Ben-Eze committing to Harvard prior to his MU visit; that report was discredited soon after. You'd have to expect that MU has or will complete an in-home with Ben-Eze this week.

6'6" SF Mookie Jones of Peekskill, NY has MU in his final seven. Jones has not yet taken any official visits and is going through through a series of in-home visits. MU will make it to the Hudson Valley on September 20 to talk with Mookie and his family. MU, Rutgers, Syracuse, St Johns, DePaul, Kansas and Michigan remain in the mix. Mookie Magic would be a hit in Milwaukee. This report from today's Lawrence Journal-World reconfirms Jones final seven, and updates on Tyshawn Taylor (below).

6'7" SF Lance Goulbourne of NJ will visit MU this weekend -- just in time to see Tom and Joani Crean lead the way for Al's run. Cool. Goulbourne's top suitors are MU, Vandy and Virginia. ND is trying to get in.

6'7" PF Josh Crittle from Chicago. Crittle has favored MU for some time and should have an official visit scheduled soon. Oregon, SIU, IU and KSU are also recruiting the big fella. Is there room for Crittle if Ben-Eze commits? What about Mbakwe's status? Crittle is an interesting case.

6'8" SF Renaldo Woolridge (North Hollywood, CA) has a MU in his top five (MU, Gtown, Tennessee, USC and Illinois). Longshot, I say.

Point guard Tyshawn Taylor (Jersey City, NJ) might visit MU on the weekend of September 22. KU is also heavily involved with Taylor -- and was blown away by the Jayhawks' interest several weeks back. That was reconfirmed by today's Journal-World.

"The in-home visit with Kansas was a huge success,” Taylor told Rivals.com. “I don’t know when I'm going to officially visit, but it's going to happen. Kansas is definitely an option for me, and one that I’m going to seriously consider.”

While Ben-Eze appears to be the priority, MU is also after a few other bigs. 6'11" center Garrett Stutz (Kansas City, MO) and 6'11" big man Maurice Sutton (Upper Marlboro, MD) have each listed MU as a leader. Stutz' emergence is really interesting.

Rab blogs

Here's the latest from Coach Rab. A lesson in teamwork, baby!

The Sir Lawrence Challenge

UPDATE: Challenge over. Huge success. Thank you, Sir Lawrence!

We have just 4 days left before Al's Run, to make our goal.

One of our loyal readers, "Sir Lawrence," has thrown down on a fund-raising challenge.

To spark donations, he will MATCH your gift, up to $100 smackers, for a 1-hour blitz. The hour will be from 12-1pm TODAY.

You'd think that everyone would be out enjoying Big Macs over their lunch, but historically, you're reading Cracked Sidewalks in record numbers at that time.

So if you want to double your dollars, remember Al, support Marquette, the Creans, and Cracked Sidewalks, please donate TODAY over your lunch hour!


Just click here: http://www.firstgiving.com/MarquetteFans

Iman Shumpert.....movin' on up

.....to a de-luxe apartment in the sky-high-high.

Hey, maybe Iman Shumpert is in line for a pad on one of the upper floors of Humphrey Hall. In the meantime, the senior from Oak Park/River Forest continues to gain recognition as one of the best players in the class of 2008.

This weekend, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a worthwhile feature on Illinois' two best high school seniors, Shumpert and Michael Dunigan, an Oregon commit from the Windy City. The article cites Bob Gibbons, the sometimes unreliable Van Coleman, as well as the consistent Roy and Harv Schmidt of Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye as experts who were initially surprised by Shumpert's breakout summer but now are comfortable in placing the 6-4 combo guard among the nation's best. For example,

''We never thought he was No. 15 in the country, but he warrants being considered in the top 50,'' Roy Schmidt said. ''Shumpert is a great team player, but he needs to play with more intensity on defense. He tends to coast from time to time.''

Coleman, too, was hesitant about touting Shumpert too early. But after seeing him on four occasions, Coleman said the youngster was a contender for a spot on McDonald's 25-member All-America squad.

In case you were unaware, we're in the middle of an open recruiting period for college hoops. Shumpert and others are likely to schedule in-home visits with Marquette and other suitors this week. We'll let you know about those as information emerges.

In the meantime, we do know that MU has interest in SF Mookie Jones -- but does not have an in-home visit schedule just yet. No word on in-home visits with Goulbourne, Woolridge, Ben-Eze, Swopshire, Taylor, Crittle or Sutton at this time.

************
BTW - - we'll keep you informed on the latest info concerning Marquette basketball here for free......all we ask is that once a year you strongly consider donating to support Al's Run. Please help out if you can, thanks!!

Paid by the word?

Coach Rab's blog kinda hides in the bowels of GoMarquette.com. He needs his own RSS feed, so we don't miss his missives.

He has another fine installment, with a kind hat tip to Cracked Sidewalks at the end.

I sure hope they're not paying him by the word.

Your birthday present to Al.

Today is Al McGuire's birthday. Still searching for what to get him? Look no further.

Donate to Al's Run. Give up a couple of Starbucks Lattes for a good cause, and remember the guy who brought you the great teams of the 60s and 70s, and that little National Championship banner we have.

Click here, and plop down $5, 10, 20 bucks. Al would want you to: http://www.firstgiving.com/MarquetteFans

We're way behind last year. It's Friday, and you're screwing around at work reading us.

It's time to cowboy up.

Big East and JUMP TV

The Sports Business Daily and the SportsBusiness Journal are reporting that the Big East Conference has formed a partnership with JumpTV.


JumpTV To Produce Big East's Web Site

JumpTV Inc. and the Big East Conference have struck a new multi-year pact in which the Orlando-based online video outfit will design and power the organization's newly expanded video content portal, located at BigEast.TV. JumpTV, which in July purchased the broadband business of XOS Technologies for $60.25M, will produce the conference's entire Web site at BigEast.org. But the centerpiece of that effort will be the branded online video channel, marking the first BCS conference to align itself in this fashion with JumpTV. Also in the works for BigEast.org are an official online photo store and auction offerings. The Big East had been producing its online content with CSTV Online for more than two years, but selected JumpTV after an extensive RFP process. Aiding the new structure will be the Big East's new six-year TV contract with ESPN in which the conference retained extensive digital rights for itself once ESPN's live broadcasts conclude. "We weren't unhappy with CSTV, but right now, this relationship better matches up with what our vision is and where we intend to go," said John Marinatto, Big East Senior Associate Commissioner.

MU Releases 2007-2008 schedule

More to come on this -- including game by game analysis -- but here's a quick look at the MU schedule ...... including a bevy of national TV games. I tell ya, the Big East ... this is some kind of gauntlet. After a quick glance, a few key points:

• No more B&G Classic -- thanks to the Maine Black Bears. Mike Broeker explains in Rosiak's blog.
  
• MU closes with its three of its final five conference games on the road. MU closes the regular season at the Carrier Dome.
  
• MU opens conference play with three of its first four at the Bradley Center. Goodness.
• Florida Gulf Coast as a home game in March? OK, well, lets hope nobody gets hurt. But I guess it makes sense to fill the deadspace in the schedule -- and MU fans can thank Maine for this one.
  
• Toughest week: at Ville and at UConn in mid-January. What a league.
• Game I most want to see but probably won't: Marquette hosting Georgetown on March 1.
• Trap game: at SHU on February 12 .... after MU plays at ND and before MU hosts Pitt.
  
• EAST COAST RULES: NYWarrior anticipates sick days on Feburary 12 (Seton Hall), Feburary 20 (St John's), February 25 (Villanova), and of course the five-day flu for the Big East Tournament. cough, cough, cough.
  

Here's the schedule:

Sun., Nov. 4 - 6 p.m. NORTHERN STATE (Exhibition)

Sat., Nov. 10 - 7:30 p.m. IUPUI

Mon., Nov. 12 - 7 p.m. UTAH VALLEY STATE

Mon., Nov. 19 - 1:30 p.m. Chaminade (ESPN2)

Tue., Nov. 20 - TBD vs. Oklahoma St or LSU (ESPN/ESPN2)

Wed., Nov. 21 - TBD vs. Duke/Illinois/Arizona State/Princeton (ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU)

Fri., Nov. 30 - 7:30 p.m. UW-MILWAUKEE

Sat., Dec. 8 - 5 p.m. at Wisconsin (ESPN2)

Sat., Dec. 15 - 1 p.m. SACRAMENTO STATE

Mon., Dec. 17 - 7 p.m. IP-Fort Wayne

Fri., Dec. 21 - 7:30 p.m. COPPIN STATE

Sat., Dec. 29 - 1 p.m. SAVANNAH STATE

Thu., Jan. 3 - TBD PROVIDENCE

Sat., Jan. 5 - 2:30 p.m. at WEST VIRGINIA (ESPN2)

Tue., Jan. 8 - TBD SETON HALL

Sat., Jan. 12 - TBD NOTRE DAME

Thu., Jan. 17 - 6 p.m. at LOUISVILLE (ESPN/ESPN2)

Sun., Jan. 20 - TBD at CONNECTICUT

Sat., Jan. 26 - TBD DEPAUL

Tue., Jan. 29 - TBD USF

Sat., Feb. 2 - TBD at CINCINNATI

Mon., Feb. 4 - 6 p.m. LOUISVILLE (ESPN)

Sat., Feb. 9 - 11a.m. at NOTRE DAME (ESPN)

Tue., Feb. 12 - TBD at SETON HALL

Fri., Feb. 15 - 8 p.m. PITTSBURGH (ESPN)

Wed., Feb. 20 - 6 p.m. at ST. JOHN'S (ESPN2)

Sat., Feb. 23 - TBD RUTGERS

Mon., Feb. 25 - 6 p.m. at VILLANOVA (ESPN)

Sat., March 1 - 1 p.m. GEORGETOWN (CBS)

Tues., March 4 - 7 p.m. FLORIDA GULF COAST

Sat., March 8 - 1 p.m. at SYRACUSE (ESPN)

MEDIA UPDATES:
Rosiak's blog on the schedule.

MUScoop wiki on the schedule.

GoMarquette.com on the schedule.

Mookie Jones lists MU as a finalist

Well, well, well......here's a pleasant surprise. Mookie Jones, a 6-6 SF from Peekskill (NY) High School, pared his list down to six suitors -- Marquette, DePaul, Rutgers, Michigan, Syracuse and Kansas. Zag's blog was all over it, as usual. Syracuse has blanketed Jones for sometime. Head coach Jim Boeheim spoke at the Red Devils' basketball banquet in Cortlandt Manor earlier this year.

Jones might the most clutch player in the Class of 2008. Slowed by an injury the spring and summer of 2006, Jones' play improved as his junior season rolled along along. The wiry wing led the Red Devils to the program's third straight Class A state title and another Federation championship. Jones was largely responsible for the Peekskill post-season dominance, winning two games at the buzzer in the post-season including a game winning three-pointer to claim the Federation crown -- the so-called 'Mookie Miracle'. Jones is carving out quite a spot in Peekskill basketball history which is saying something since alums include Brent Dabbs, Elton Brand and Hilton Armstrong.

The kid has moxie, and is blowing up this summer. We don't have word on any official visits from Jones, but will keep you posted.

Tom Crean continues to surprise on the recruiting front this summer and early fall. In the past, MU has consistently failed to attract strong interest from true SF prospects -- a notable gap on the roster for years in Milwaukee. Between Jones, Goulbourne, Swopshire and Woolriddge it seems that MU is likely to break the cycle at the SF slot.

Al's Run

It's that time again.

Al's Run is right around the corner. Last year was a great success, as Marquette Basketball fans raised over $1,300 for the cause. We're going to crush that figure this year.

How? Well, duh. We're going to guilt you into it. You love Marquette Basketball, Al McGuire, and you remember those huge crowds outside McCormick, waiting for the race to begin.

And you suckle at the teat that is Cracked Sidewalks. Which is free, of course.

So do us a solid, and pony up a few bucks. It all goes to a great cause, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Sure, some will pledge $25, $50 .. but imagine if even half of Cracked Sidewalks readers gave $5 each. Bango, $5,000.

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

Pre-Pre-Season

In case you missed it, Marquette is playing 4 pre-pre-season games in Vancouver this weekend (over two days.) MU has finished the trip 4-0. While Marquette had an easy time with all 4 opponents, the trip was a great deal .. 10 extra practices and 4 scrimmages this early in the year is huge.

In game 1, MU beat the mighty (?) Moult Athletic All-Stars 107-91. That's a lot of points scored, and given up.
Recap
Boxscore
Photo Gallery

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Game 2: Marquette beat Fraser Valley 90-55.
Recap
Box Score
Photo Gallery - Game 2

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Game 3: MU Beat Douglas 92-70.
Recap
Box Score

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Game 4: MU Beats the UVic Vikes 76-65
Recap
Box Score


Todd Rosiak covers these exhibition games in more detail.