2012 Center Aaron Durley

[Vega]

NOV 9. 2011

Prep center Aaron Durley has signed a National Letter of Intent with the Marquette University men's basketball program, head coach Buzz Williams announced Wednesday afternoon.

Durley, a 6-10, 270-pounder, will arrive on campus this summer and have four years of eligibility with the Golden Eagles.

"I have great admiration for Ronnie Courtney, Aaron's coach, as a person and as a professional," Williams said. "Coach Courtney has won everywhere he has coached and his opinions on Chris (Otule) turned out to be exactly right, so I have no reason to doubt him on Aaron. Determining the future of big guys is at times, very dicey, but our entire staff has seen Aaron multiple times and similar to where Chris was at this time in his development, I believe Aaron is on that same trajectory."

The 2011-12 campaign will mark Durley's first with the varsity squad at Ft. Bend Bush High School in Texas. He missed the 2010-11 season because of an achilles injury after playing at Houston's St. Thomas Catholic High School as a sophomore. That year he was named second team all-state by the state's private and parochial schools association.

Durley most recently competed on the AAU circuit with the Houston Hoopstars. He is ranked 58th nationally at his position by ESPN.com.

Current Marquette center Chris Otule also prepped at Ft. Bend Bush High School under head coach Ronnie Courtney.

"Aaron comes from a beautiful family and because of who he is as a person, he fits perfectly into our culture," Williams said. "His best days are ahead of him and our daily regimen will be exactly what Aaron needs in order to reach his full potential. Having Chris here to be his chaperone next year will be an advantage Chris didn't have, but one that will be instrumental in helping Aaron."

http://www.gomarquet.../110911aae.html

APRIL 21, 2012

MILWAUKEE—Marquette has released prep center Aaron Durley from his national letter of intent.

The Milwaukee school said Friday that Durley was granted his release and won't join the Golden Eagles basketball program next season.

The 6-10, 270-pounder out of Ft. Bend Bush High School in Texas had signed with Marquette last November.

In a statement, Marquette coach Buzz Williams said it's been "a privilege and pleasure building a relationship" with Durley and his family, and wished him "the absolute best" in his academic and athletic career.

http://aol.sportingn...ley-his-release

Durley just shouldn't have been signed. We should have held the spot open to evaluate him over his senior year. If we lose him to USF, okay. But with our current level of recruiting, that is better than having to be put in this type of position. I know that we are in need of bigs and there aren't many out there, but these Roseboro, Durley, Mbao signings aren't panning out.

http://www.muscoop.c...87432;topicseen

It's hurts... I'm not gonna lie... But it's just Fuel to My Fire thats gonna drive me to become the best I can be{Aaaron Durley}

http://twitter.com/#!/adurley24

[Vega]

This is what Durley's HS coach said about his player this past season in an interview with a MU writer

By the sound of it, Marquette basketball recruit Aaron Durley did not exactly have a stellar senior season at Fort Bend Bush High School in Texas.

“It wasn’t as promising (a season) as I thought it should have been,†said Bush coach Ronnie Courtney of Durley. “I guess it was an OK year for him. He was playing behind an All-American and that was kind of tough for him.â€

Durley played limited minutes off the bench as a backup to Bush’s starting center Cameron Ridley, a high school All-American, who will play in college at Texas. Durley averaged seven points and five rebounds for the Broncos who finished with a 29-6 record.

Courtney called his team’s season “pretty goodâ€.

“I expected more,†said Courtney. “But it is what it is.â€

Courtney said that 6-foot-10, 280-pound Durley did show some improvement late in the season, particularly on the offensive end, but when asked what the strong part of Durley’s game was right now, Courtney paused and said, “I don’t have an answer right now for that one.â€

Is it safe to say that Durley struggled as a player during his senior season?

“I would say for his physique, I think he’s struggling a little bit,†said Courtney. “He needs to work on everything. At 6-10 and 280 pounds, he should have been a force on the inside that somebody has to reckon with and I didn’t get that from him.â€

Courtney also coached Marquette center Chris Otule at Fort Bend Bush and when asked to compare Otule and Durley at this stage of their careers, Courtney said that Otule was further along as a player across the board.

Durley missed the 2010-’11 season with an Achilles injury but Courtney did not think that was not a factor last season.

“I think he recovered totally from that,†he said. “I don’t think that was an issue even though he favored his leg every now and then. I guess that was his way out but I don’t think it was that big of a deal for him.

“He’s a very coachable kid. I think just being in the shadow of Cameron really kind of puts you in the background a little bit.â€

Courtney said that Durley now had to get himself ready for what lies ahead and “the type of rigors that goes on at Marquette.â€

“He doesn’t mind working hard,†said Courtney. “He’s a hard working kid. I just think that the adjustment for him will be kind of difficult because he never had a chance to play a full season at the high school level.â€

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/147756215.html

[Bulls1181]

No brainer, give the kid a chance....Great size....recovering from injury....chip on his shoulder

[Reliable Source]

No brainer, give the kid a chance....Great size....recovering from injury....chip on his shoulder

+1, and he might just be one of those big guys who have to learn how to use their bodies. When you are growing 4 inches or adding 20# every year, you can't really sort it out. Do we have room for another big guy?

[theman123]

Went to AC's school back in the day. Hasn't been mentioned in this thread.

[theman123]

Some of you may remember this kid as the MONSTER that played in the LLWS when he was 12. Swore his name sounded familiar, played for the Saudia Arabian team.

[theman123]

He's going to TCU.

[Triple B]

Good to see he found somewhere that quick ...

[Vega]

I think TCU will get a highly motivated player that will thrive in the new Big 12. He certainly will see plenty of competition.