Before committing to the University of Wisconsin, (opting to pass on lucrative offers from schools all over the Northeast) I never had anything against Marquette. I always heard great stories about their Hall of Fame coach Al Maguire and had seen great plays from their most gifted player, Dwyane Wade. And to this day, I get choced up when I see the scene in 'Hoop Dreams' when the Marquette scout gives the documentary's subject, William Gates, a full scholarship and promises to provide Gates with a free education even if he gets hurt or decides to quit basketball. It's powerful stuff.
But after about a semester in Madison, I had learned to feel differently. We're the Badgers, they're the Golden Eagles, and this state just isn't big enough for the two of us. Because of them, UW doesn't snag every man-child from Madison and Milwaukee or sharp-shooter from Sheboygan. Can you imagine what this year's Badger team would look like with Steve Novak (from Brown Deer, WI.) on the wing? Wisconsin could rule the basketball universe'well not really, but it would be a whole lot better'if we combined our powers. Instead, it's the basketball equivalent of splitting votes and letting a representative from Michigan win a primary.
The Badgers, who are in a small-time city, represent big-time college basketball. The Golden Eagles hail from a big-time city but generally get the second-rate recruits. This recruiting tug-of-war was illuminated in last year's Division I Championship game which pitted Madison Memorial against Milwaukee Vincent. As was expected, UW snagged Milwaukee's premier player, Marcus Landry, while Marquette committed to developing Madison's finest, Wesley Matthews. Saturday night the two top recruits will meet again, however, they won't be the only fresh faces to see the court.
There are some young bucks in Milwaukee and they don't play with Michael Redd. The Golden Eagles have five true freshmen on the roster, but rely on three of them to contribute more than 20 minutes per game. The Badgers have six true freshmen to their credit, but coach Bo Ryan tends to reserve minutes for more experienced guys'only Landry and South Dakota standout Joe Krabbenhoft have played substantial minutes thus far.
Marquette's abundance of youth has yielded an abundance of talent as three of their top four scorers are freshman guards: Dominic James (15.4 points per game), Matthews (9.9) and Jerel McNeal (9.4). James leads the team with 6.7 assists per game and will lead the unproven Golden Eagles into a raucous Kohl Center this weekend to play a Badger team that wants to avenge last year's loss at Marquette.
The Badgers need Landry to continue his stellar play (averaging nine points and 4.2 rebounds in only 19 minutes per game) and fill the shoes of dearly-departed Badger forward Mike Wilkinson. Marquette is also undergoing the season without last year's most reliable scoring option, Travis Diener, so Matthews will have his hands full trying to fill in for Diener's feisty play.
In the Division I championship in March, Matthews got the best of Landry; his team prevailed and he outscored Landry, who had entered the game as the more hyped of the two recruits. Fortunately for Landry, this fall he left for a first-rate program while Matthews left with the fear of never experiencing the same success at the next level. After all, he chose a school that doesn't even field the best team in their city'that honor goes to UW-Milwaukee. I guess the old adage is true (and if it's not an adage yet, it should be): sometimes, even when you win, you lose.
