The Front Page
by Published on 04-19-2013 03:34 PM
By: Zach Klupchak
Marquette Men’s Lacrosse Comes Home For The First Time
The Marquette Men’s Lacrosse team will play their first ever home game this weekend against the Detroit Mercy Titans at Hart Park in Wauwatosa. Lacrosse, a primarily East Coast dominant sport has grown tremendously in the last ...by Published on 04-19-2013 12:34 PM
With today's very awkward, very odd press conference over, Loyola is now a former Horizon League member. So, we move on. Losing Loyola is certainly not the worst thing in the world; it's not like losing Butler, or even like losing UIC would have been. But these are the times, and we move on.
So where to next? With Butler and Loyola gone, it's kind of exciting to think of what schools the Horizon League could be adding to the conference. We've taken a look at it many times before, but the news of Loyola's departure has given me renewed vigor.
I didn't want to come at it completely based on opinion. I've taken JGPanthers' table from the forum and I've decided to put my own scores, based on a scale of 1-10, for each of the categories. At the end, each school will be added up and their scores will give us a determination as to who the Horizon League should add. Our scoring system:
Sports - What sports do these schools have? Baseball needs to find a new member or else it will lose the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Softball just lost Loyola as a member, and we need to make sure the key Horizon sports in basketball, soccer and baseball are available. Do they have a sport that will drag down the rest of their program financially?
Facilities - Loyola would not be going to the MVC without the major upgrade to their facilities. For the Horizon League, we need to make sure we are following the same path and bringing in schools that have good enough facilities.
Location - There's a reason Gonzaga isn't in the Big East, and it has nothing to do with their program. It's about location. The Horizon League needs to add programs that will keep the travel budget within a reasonable number. Airport hubs are important, but land miles are important as well - not all teams will be traveling by plane.
Budget - How much does the school spend in athletics? ...by Published on 04-17-2013 03:15 PM
Milwaukee - Milwaukee Panthers head coach Rob Jeter received a commitment from Iowa Western CC guard JeVon Lyle on Wednesday afternoon.
Lyle, originally from Kansas City, spent a redshirt freshman year at ...by Published on 04-16-2013 09:50 AM
In the last two weeks the Marquette Nation has seen Jake Thomas announce he was transferring because he wanted to spend his last year on a team where he could see significant playing time. Then came the announcement that freshman Jamal Ferguson was transferring to be closer to home, and that he wanted to be at a school where he could contribute ...by Published on 04-09-2013 04:31 PM
The answer is yes, of course, because Mike Reinfeldt played defensive back for the Raiders and Oilers in the 70's and 80's. But the next pro star (besides soccer and baseball) out of Milwaukee Athletics might ...by Published on 04-05-2013 08:51 PM Number of Views: 4236
CHICAGO - Aaron Gordon made the country wait until he was ready to decide where he wanted to play his college ball. The performance he put on at the United Center, April 3, was the reason why he earned the MVP of the 36th annual boys game in a 110-99 West victory over the East.
Gordon announced his decision days before the game. The 6-foot-8 forward from San Jose, CA narrowed his list of schools to Washington, Kentucky, Oregon and Arizona. Gordon took the sunny desert route and chose to play for Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats.
It was not a surprise that Kentucky was out of the picture because the Wildcats already had six of the 24 McDonald's All-American players committed to their school, including the Harrison twins, Aaron and Andrew. Both brothers will compete for playing time and should be immediate contributors.
Somehow, the math didn't add up for me when six guys chose Kentucky. They got two to commit there last year. One of the two, Archie Goodwin, plans to enter the NBA draft. He's projected as a late first round pick. The other MCDAA player, Alex Poythress, decided to stay at least for another year.
Gordon, with 24 points in 24 minutes, took in the surroundings of the United Center before the game. "I like to think of myself as a humble person," he said. "So, just lining up while they're singing the National Anthem, I was just looking around at all the people. It kind of felt like that I made it at this point and time and that I made it to the highest level that I can possibly do right now."
Another highly-regarded player that's on the one-and-done path is keeping the recent Canadian pipeline going. Andrew Wiggins, out of Huntington Prep (WV) school, by way of Thornhill, Ontario, still hasn't made his college choice yet. He has the skills of a guard and a small forward at 6-8. Wiggins' weight of 205 is on the too lean side for his height. If the NBA didn't have the one-year waiting rule in effect, he would've declared for the draft.
Chicago's own Jabari Parker, former Simeon and current Marquette player Steve Taylor's teammate, came to the event fresh off a state championship for the fourth year in a row. He was the best senior in the country and is headed for Duke. If all goes well for him in a year or two, he will be going to the NBA.
This year's group of the 24 selected players aren't NBA ready. As a sidenote, there were better players in Wisconsin than some of the ones that were picked. Maybe next year, there will be a someone from the Badger state that will be picked.
