UPDATED
After losing out on Iman Shumpert, perhaps Crean landed the player who is ultimately the best fit for the program. Only time will tell, but that's what MU fans realized after Bobby Frasor's trip to Tobacco Road yielded Dominic James. Regardless, this is an important verbal for MU on several fronts:
- As we saw in this video and in this video interview,Taylor brings height and strength to a backcourt laden with undersized point guards;
- Taylor represents the most highly-regarded East Coast recruit to commit to MU under Tom Crean;
- Taylor appears to be a true point guard - an excellent complement to fellow 2008 commit Nick Williams and current freshman Scott Christopherson.
Adam Zagoria spoke with Taylor tonight as well -- and Tyshawn had plenty to say about the campus, coaches and his role as a 'recruiter' of other high-ceiling East Coast talent. Very nice (though I'm not holding my breath for a verbal from Dominic Cheek).
Welcome to Marquette, Tyshawn!
Absolutely fantastic news! Tyshawn is going to be a great one at Marquette. One thing we never seem to lack is a great point guard. Iman WHO?
ReplyDeleteThis is a great get and a phenominal way to follow-up the Iman loss. This is what MU needed to do and they did it. They followed up Shumpert with another highly regarded recruit and did what the big boys do....
ReplyDeleteIf you lose out to one big guy, you go out and get another and we did.
As for MU's needs and potentially crowded back-court, I don't see this as a problem.
Crean said after the debacle of 03/04 that he'd never be with a shortage of guards again. And he's followed through on that. While MU is currently short down low next year, I don't think that means they are doomed to fail. The style MU is running now can be very successful if it's guard oriented. Many teams have won without a standout center. As long as they have some big bodies down low, they are once again set up to be a fun team to watch, and a team capable of winning a lot of games.
I also like everything Taylor has said and the fact his coaching tree is so good.
Being stocked at the point guard position would be the most important in college basketball, and we just landed a big time point guard. Shumpert may have been better for the program perception wise, but I bet Taylor makes a more significant contribution in college.
ReplyDeleteFor a tumultuous recruiting season, Taylor and Williams would be very solid bookends. If only Big Frank would have been allowed to join them.
It's still a blow that MU didn't land Shumpert. However, if they can get Dominic Creek for 2009(Tyshawn's backcourt mate) then all is well. The sad truth is MU cannot get a top 50 recruit and has difficulty recruiting power forwards and centers. I hope Mbakwe can rebound and progresses offensively. Having too many guards is ok but we need big men who can score a little and rebound to make a run in the NCAA. This year will be there best chance to make a run since D. Wade, and if they lose early it will be a major disappointment.
ReplyDeleteWow, you previous poster sounds so negative. The sun is shining. We have a top 15 ranked team. I think we just set ourselves up to be disappointed with Shumpert. All the hype, going head to head with UNC, being a local Chicago product. That's what happens when our expectations are high and maybe not substantiated. Like the popular pretty girl who we have a crush on but has no interested in us, but there are equally beautiful woman who we haven't noticed yet that have an interest.
ReplyDeleteDidn't MarquetteHoops.com's Jim "IWB" Ganzer break the story at least 15 minutes before Rosiak had it up on his blog?
ReplyDeleteWho cares who posted the "breaking news" first? Is that 15 minute interval actually important?
ReplyDeleteRosiak has editors.
hahhaah how funny. why would anyone chose Marquette over a powerhouse like kansas. Good choice Ty. we loved watching you perform.
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