Greg Elliott Story...

[IWB]

I did talk to Greg Elliott yesterday, great kid. Had story written yesterday afternoon but still having issues with front page so here it is...

Greg Elliott Commits to Marquette

[Nukem2]

Thanks, Jim . Good article.

[MUMac]

Great article. Sounds like a well grounded, impressive young man. Looking forward to watching him. Loved the comment about the uniform number with his sister. Family is important to him.

Only concern was his comment "Their offense & defense are very similar to what I played in high school so it should be a pretty smooth transition for me." Sure was hoping his length and athleticism help to improve the defense!

[Goose85]

Thanks for the article Jim. Once again it seems like Stan was key in the process to recruit another one of our incoming players.

[Phantom Warrior]

IWB,

Terrific article.

Question, though. I've seen Theo listed at 6'9" and even 6'10". If he's actually 6'8", do you think he can play some 5 at MU, or is he pretty much strictly a 4?

As far as the Michael Wilson comparisons, I have to admit that when thinking of past MU players, I usually forget about MW for some reason. He was one of the best, maybe even the best, defender at the 2 we've had at MU. Not only is he second all-time in steals, if memory serves, behind only Jerel, he is also one of the leaders in blocked shots, which is amazing given his height of 6'4". But even more importantly, he was able to absolutely shut down some of the best offensive guards he defended. If GE can be even close to the kind of defender Wilson was, that would be awesome.

That being said, I don't see the comparison to MW on the offensive end. GE is much more fluid, and he is much better at attacking the basket, MW hardly ever drove to the hoop, though the few times he did, he often finished with a resounding dunk. GE is smoother than MW was, and their outside shots are really different. I can still see in my mind that flat, almost zero-trajectory semi-jumper MW had. It always amazed me that shot ever went in. GE's shot has a lot more arc. Plus MW's release was directly above his head, while GE's appears to me considerably lower and in front of his face.

GE's shot kind of reminds me of Earl's outside shot - almost a set shot with a low release and a high arc. In fact, his overall offensive game seems to be closer to Earl's than to Wilson's, especially that fluidity, that smoothness. Earl, too, was a terrific defender. I remember when Al had him match up with David Thompson in the championship game in '74 because, as Al put it, he was the only one who had a chance to slow DT down.

GE, of course, is his own player. He's not Michael, and he's not Earl. But those are two pretty talented former MU players to be compared to,

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Good write-up, Jim. Looking forward to seeing Greg wearing the #5 for us.

[IWB]

I went off of one of the services listing for height, not sure which one. With Theo or any kid, who knows how tall they are until you get them to campus. My guess is that he is taller and will play some 5.

[Nukem2]

Theo was listed as 6'9" in the MU release of his signing in November.

[BLT]

Greg has a unique skill set not seen at MU in a while. Freakish potential. MU getting back to its roots with Wojo's players now all in place. Will be exciting to watch these guys develop.

[Goose85]

We need to stress defense, and it seems like the 4 we are bringing in are expected to be solid in that area. Never know with the jump to college, but sounds promising.