No surprises as signing period opens

As expected Marquette today announced that junior college standout Jae Crowder and Philadelphia prep star D.J. Newbill signed their letters of intent with the university.

Crowder, a dead-ringer for Denver Nuggets forward Rolando Balkman, fills the program's most immediate need -- replacing Lazar Hayward. At 6'6" and 220 pounds, Crowder figures to step into the Warriors' rotation and contribute immediately. Todd Rosiak delivered a terrific feature on Crowder earlier today. The official Marquette news release can be found here.

D.J. Newbill also formally signed with MU today after verbally committing in January. The official Marquette news release can be found here. Newbill will join a talented group of freshmen guards this fall -- Vander Blue, Reggie Smith and Jamail Jones.

....Now things get interesting for Buzz Williams. By all accounts Williams and his staff are aggressively recruiting a number of talented players, one or two of whom could be on campus this fall. Among the names floating around --

• Former N.C. State commit Luke Cothron, a 6'8" forward. Cothron is thought to be a Crimson Tide lean but is considering MU along with Auburn, UConn and Tennessee.
• 6'8" Davante Gardner (Kings Fork HS, Virginia) is reportedly deciding between MU and USF.
• 6'11" Wake Forest signee Carson Desrosiers might be back on the market. The Massachusetts product signed with Wake over MU and others during the early signing period and speculation abounds that he might re-open his recruiting pending a review of the Demon Deacons' new head coach Jeff Bzdelik.
• 6'10" Gorgui Dieng will visit Marquette and Colorado. The Senegal native is also considering Louisville.
• 6'9" Reggie Murphy from Los Angeles is said to be considering TCU, Oklahoma and MU with the Horned Frogs in good position to land him.
• 6'4" guard Patrick Swilling apparently did not sign today and he was very interested in Marquette several weeks ago.
• Josh Langford, linked to Marquette after de-committing from Louisville, appears to have moved onto other suitors.
  

I'm sure there are many other kids in play for Marquette with nearly a month to go in the spring signing period. Of course, as constituted the Warriors are full-up on the scholarship front for next season so if Buzz is out recruiting, somebody is on their way out.