Bad news on Marcius

[bcgruber]

Sandi Marcius, the 6-foot-9, 240-pound center from LaPorte LaLumiere, is expected to announce his intent to play for Purdue during a 6 p.m. EDT press conference Sunday at the Merrillville Fieldhouse.

The press conference is set for the conclusion of the Nike Spring Shootout Tournament, which includes Marcius' CAPS All-Stars/Fieldhouse Elite team.

A native of Croatia, Marcius averaged 15 points and about 15 rebounds in his only season of high school basketball.

Marcius' final three choices are Purdue, South Florida and SMU.

[Mama_Bull]

That was expected:

Not done yet: Once Fitzpatrick is on board, Heath will have one scholarship available, though it looks like Sandi Marcius, the Croatian center from LaPorte, Ind., will stay close to his high school and sign with Purdue -- official word should come Friday. There's a new name in the mix for USF, and I should have more on that Friday as well ...

Posted by Greg Auman at 11:34:33 PM on April 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)

[Velcro]

With the addition of crater, patrick, famous, burwell, dumars, and noriega, we now an influx of size and shooting to complement a good core group of Dojo, Howard, and Gilchrist. 

I'd be happy with any of the following scenarios... in this order

1)  sign another center (depth would be great)

2)  sign a pure point guard

3)  hold the scholly for next period.  we lose rivas and howard next year, so we'd have 3 scholarships to work with instead of 2.

I'm torn on my weighting on 2 and 3.  Looking at the roster, i think we might be best served holding onto the scholly... as we might benefit from this next season's hopeful improvement and be able to grab even better players than we could get right now.

[bcgruber]

Thats not a bad thought, but I think we can pick up another 1-2 with leemow and espinosa leaving to go elsewhere

[Guest AstroBull]

I wouldn't mind number 3. 

[NormalBull]

I am so sick of losing that at this point, if there is a player available that would help the team win games....at ANY position, I would sign him.  I trust Coach Heath to make that adjustment.

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Noriega be a one and done guy.  He committed last summer, way before Dumars committed and we had a ton of schollies available.  It seemed to me that we would have taken just about any reasonable prospect at that point.  Who would have guessed then that we would be able to bring in Dumars, Crater and Burwell.  I am not sure he is strong enough to be a BE player.  He supposedly has a great work ethic, so maybe he can get stronger and work on his defense, but honestly I hope we are pulling in better players as we start to win more games.

Normal

[bcgruber]

I think that noriega is more highly touted then dumars with that I Would then think he has a better shot at staying with the team.  There now will be much better competition, for playing time and in practices.  This is the best recruiting class maybe ever in USF history.  With the BE down from lst year I like teh way we look on paper if not for next yr but in two yrs for sure

[Velcro]

Noriega only is the all time leading scorer at north port ... and the guy behind him is over 700 points behind him.

He can flat out shoot. 

Espinosa won't leave.  And I wouldn't want him to leave.  He has tremendous potential with his size and strength.  We don't have anyone other than famous that i would consider tough.  Well, DoJo, of course... but he isn't a forward.  I am not as sure on leemow.

[Bullpride08]

Noriega only is the all time leading scorer at north port ... and the guy behind him is over 700 points behind him.

He can flat out shoot. 

Espinosa won't leave.  And I wouldn't want him to leave.  He has tremendous potential with his size and strength.  We don't have anyone other than famous that i would consider tough.  Well, DoJo, of course... but he isn't a forward.  I am not as sure on leemow.

Problem is we play in the Big East, and being a 'flat out shooter' doesn't work.  You've got to have the footwork to play defense, dribble penetrate, and provide lots of value.  We'll see on Noriega but the knock on him is he's a very one dimensional kid, and those type of guys rarely work in a league like the BE, unless they're surrounded by AMAZING talent which allows them to concentrate solely on that one aspect.  Not likely the case at USF.

As for Dumars, many people want to discount him, but he is much more skilled than most give him credit for.  This is a kid that played on a team that has possibly more talent than is playing on the USF team currently.  He has no less than 4 other teammates that are high Division one signees, some signig in places like Syracuse, Michigan State, and Miami of FL...and that doesn't include the big dog coming out next year Ray McCullum a top 40 recruit.  Jordan was a starter on that team the last two years, and team captain this year.  As a junior on this high powered, top 10 national team, who plays the best schools throughout the MW, he averaged 14ppg, and 6rbg as a junior, and 4 assists, and shot 82% FT, and 42% treys....as a senior he averaged 12.5ppg, and 7rbg, and 4 assists per game, again 80% FT, and nearly 40% for treys.

The point is Dumars plays on a team that he doesn't have to be the star scorer, rebounder, or assist man.  Yet by all accounts he is a very well rounded kid with an excellent basketball acumen, and a great shooter like his pop.  He's dropped as much as 30-35pts in a few games the past two years, had as many as 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, yet he's also had games where he's scored 4, and 2 rebounds- he usually played his role and when the team needed him to produce he almost always stepped up.  I've been told not to discount Jordan, he's expected to be an early contributor, and the only question mark about him is work ethic, and sometimes intensity on the court.  If he comes in ready to give it everything he's got, then he could be a special type player...a unique wing that can score, but is also aggressive on the boards.  He's very multi-skilled, he won't wow anyone in the athleticism department, but he's disciplined, a full 6-6 guy that will play hard, has enough footwork to defend most BE wings (not the elite ones) and has the pure height and shooting touch to drop it down over anyone.  He's a bit streaky shooting, like his dad, but once he's on, he's on.  Stan will need to encourage him to be assertive but if he can do that, get him to work hard, and play intense all the time then Jordan will be an great addition, with DJ and Gilchrist requiring doubles, and Famous requiring attention it will be guys like Jordan and Burwell who will be left open and where the team can exploit.

The best analogy for Jordan Dumars is he's like a Melvin Buckley type player.  That's where I see Dumars developing into while he is hear.  Two midwest boys.

[The New "U"]

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Noriega be a one and done guy. 

I think Noreiga and Dumars are one and done guys. They both seem pretty one-dimensional. Think, lousy Kyle Korver's.