• Sun Prairie's Nick Noskowiak Commits to Marquette

    At the end of an unofficial campus visit on Tuesday, Nick Noskowiak, a 6’3 point guard from Sun Prairie, WI gave a verbal commitment to Head Coach Buzz Williams to play basketball for Marquette University. “I couldn’t be more excited.” said Noskowiak, I love everything about Marquette. It is crazy to think that coming into my visit I had no intentions of committing.”

    But commit he did. The campus visit started out as any normal campus visit. “I had spent a lot of time with Coach Buzz, Coach Autry and Coach Chew. We toured the whole campus. We saw the dorms, the AL McGuire Center, the academic facilities. It was great. We also met with the academic advisers, strength and conditioning coach Todd Smith, athletic trainer Earnest Eugene, really everyone that is involved with the program.”

    Noskowiak becomes Buzz Williams first commitment for the 2015 recruiting class.

    With most recruits, there seems to be a specific time and place where they know they are ready to make a decision. With Noskowiak, it was half way through the visit after dining at Sobleman’s. “We had lunch at Sobleman’s, me, my parents, Coach Buzz, Coach Autry and Coach Chew. When we were walking out of there, it hit me. I knew. I fell in love with the place. I didn’t commit at that time, but after spending time with them I knew. The whole coaching staff, the way they are built from top to bottom, is perfect for me. They are competitive, they want to win. I am the same way. When you get that feeling, when you know, you just know. It’s just crazy to think that I would commit after two weeks, but I just knew it was the right place for me.”

    Most recruitments start with an assistant coach seeing a player, bringing him to the attention of the head coach and things move from there. Nick’s recruitment was the opposite. “It was all coach Buzz. He came to see me and watched me play four games that weekend. He said he knew he wanted me after three possessions.” It wasn’t just that Williams watched him play and offered him a scholarship, Noskowiak read into the coach the players all call ‘Coach Buzz’. “With him, its more than basketball. He is a father figure to the players. He is straight forward, and really easy to talk to. There is his strong faith. It all comes together with the way he recruited me. He has an edge to him, the same way that I do. Everything about him, he is WAY BEYOND BASKETBALL.”

    As the day went on Noskowiak got a chance to spend some time with the team. “I didn’t know them before I arrived, but they took me in right away. I got the chance to play 5-on-5 with them, but before that and after, I got to spend some time with them. They are really good guys, and they answered a lot of my questions. Guys like Davante, Juan – they really told me what I wanted to know. I also spent some time with Derrick, Todd and Chris Otule.”

    Those that know the Marquette players may be surprised that the soft spoken Davante Gardner answered questions with more than a yes or no, but according to Nick, he did more than just answer questions. “I think I really got to know Davante when we were playing and he hit me with a ball screen.”

    Noskowiak said that his family was very excited and supportive of his decision, and despite only being a sophomore, his parents left it up to him. “They were behind me and did not influence me at all. They told me ‘what you want is what we want, if you are happy we are happy’. Playing close to home and in-state did factor into my decision, I can’t wait.”

    On to the basketball side. The one thing that is questioned with every recruit is their actual size. “I am a legit 6’3,” said the future Golden Eagle.

    Strengths: “I think my biggest strength is my desire to win. I hate to lose. I have the work ethic to compete at the next level, I am a gym rat. But above all I think I am a team guy. I have the ability to make my teammates better. I also have an edge to me. Not a cockiness, but a confidence.”

    Weakness: “I need a better shot, but I really need to get stronger. I need to be truly dedicated to become stronger and quicker.” This is something that Noskowiak discussed with strength and conditioning coach Todd Smith. “Coach Todd Smith told me that the confidence will come in the weight room, that I need to see the progress to help drive me.”

    Playing on the AAU circuit with the Wisconsin Playground Warriors will help Noskowiak get experience playing against top level competition, but when you look at some of the high school players in the state right now from seniors down to sophomores, the talent level in Wisconsin is rising. With players like Duane Wilson, Deonte Burton, Jameel McKay and Noskowiak already committed to MU and others like Diamond Stone, Henry Ellenson, Sandy Cohen and a host of others being recruited by Buzz Williams, the proof is there. “The level of players in Wisconsin has gotten a lot better. I am not going to say we are better than any other state, or worse than any other state, but we just have a LOT of really good players.”

    With all recruit commits, I give them a chance to speak to MU fans to close out the interview…..

    “I can’t wait to be there in two years. I just can’t wait to get onto that campus and put a Golden Eagles uniform on!” – Nick Noskowiak, Marquette’s latest commitment.