Big weekend for Marquette. We picked up graduate transfer point guard, Joseph Chartouney (from Fordham) and a traditional transfer point guard, Koby McEwen (from Utah State), solidifying our point guard position for the next three seasons.

Chartouney will bring some much needed perimeter defense, strong assist/turnover ratio and - most importantly - experience to our lineup next season. He has a very strong steal percentage, and will solidify our PnR defense (which was abysmal with Howard/Rowsey this past season). After he graduates, McEwen slides nicely into his role, where he will contribute scoring, size and (additional) experience.

Both additions also allow our staff to put the full court press on some big targets for 2019/2020.

Next year's team will be the second team under Wojo that truly had depth and experience. The staff finally looks to be getting a solid foundation to build on for years to come.

Projected Starters
PG Chartouney (5th - Sr.)
SG Howard (Jr.)
SF S. Hauser (Jr.)
PF Morrow (RS - Jr.)
C Heldt (Sr.)

Marquette, on paper, should be very solid this coming year. No excuse to not make the tournament, particularly with a little room opening at the top of the Big East with major graduations from X and Seton Hall.

(04-23-2018 04:38 PM)Bogg Wrote:  Marquette, on paper, should be very solid this coming year. No excuse to not make the tournament, particularly with a little room opening at the top of the Big East with major graduations from X and Seton Hall.

yeah good point with those 2- and also Butler quite frankly. And Villanova might be losing 4 starters if Spellman and Divicenzo leave for the NBA(I think Spellman is almost a definite to). So that may make it a bit easier for Marquette.

The one thing that may hurt them is their OOC schedule- right now they have a Gavitt Game, Barclay's classic with Kansas/Louisville/Tennessee (2 of 3 teams there), and Wisconsin as good OOC games. Buy games with UMBC and Buffalo. You really need more than that OOC now.

(04-24-2018 07:55 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-23-2018 04:38 PM)Bogg Wrote:  Marquette, on paper, should be very solid this coming year. No excuse to not make the tournament, particularly with a little room opening at the top of the Big East with major graduations from X and Seton Hall.

yeah good point with those 2- and also Butler quite frankly. And Villanova might be losing 4 starters if Spellman and Divicenzo leave for the NBA(I think Spellman is almost a definite to). So that may make it a bit easier for Marquette.

The one thing that may hurt them is their OOC schedule- right now they have a Gavitt Game, Barclay's classic with Kansas/Louisville/Tennessee (2 of 3 teams there), and Wisconsin as good OOC games. Buy games with UMBC and Buffalo. You really need more than that OOC now.

If they take care of business they should be fine so long as the Big East does reasonably well as a whole. Really, it's on the players - they have a tournament-caliber team going into next year (I thought they had one this past year as well, but it didn't pan out) so if they win the games they're capable of they should be fine.

(04-24-2018 01:45 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 07:55 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-23-2018 04:38 PM)Bogg Wrote:  Marquette, on paper, should be very solid this coming year. No excuse to not make the tournament, particularly with a little room opening at the top of the Big East with major graduations from X and Seton Hall.

yeah good point with those 2- and also Butler quite frankly. And Villanova might be losing 4 starters if Spellman and Divicenzo leave for the NBA(I think Spellman is almost a definite to). So that may make it a bit easier for Marquette.

The one thing that may hurt them is their OOC schedule- right now they have a Gavitt Game, Barclay's classic with Kansas/Louisville/Tennessee (2 of 3 teams there), and Wisconsin as good OOC games. Buy games with UMBC and Buffalo. You really need more than that OOC now.

If they take care of business they should be fine so long as the Big East does reasonably well as a whole. Really, it's on the players - they have a tournament-caliber team going into next year (I thought they had one this past year as well, but it didn't pan out) so if they win the games they're capable of they should be fine.

I really disagree. Even if you get in, you're really limited in where you are seeded. It's why Creighton was stuck at the 8/9 seed all year long. OOC really is important now to the committee. Used to be you could have a Georgetown schedule and get away with it. Not any longer. And they could have a ton of pressure in the Barclay's tournament- that week they would have 3 games. A Gavitt game, then the 2 in NYC. Go 1-2 or 0-3, and you're bailing upstream the rest of the season quite frankly.

(04-24-2018 02:32 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 01:45 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 07:55 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-23-2018 04:38 PM)Bogg Wrote:  Marquette, on paper, should be very solid this coming year. No excuse to not make the tournament, particularly with a little room opening at the top of the Big East with major graduations from X and Seton Hall.

yeah good point with those 2- and also Butler quite frankly. And Villanova might be losing 4 starters if Spellman and Divicenzo leave for the NBA(I think Spellman is almost a definite to). So that may make it a bit easier for Marquette.

The one thing that may hurt them is their OOC schedule- right now they have a Gavitt Game, Barclay's classic with Kansas/Louisville/Tennessee (2 of 3 teams there), and Wisconsin as good OOC games. Buy games with UMBC and Buffalo. You really need more than that OOC now.

If they take care of business they should be fine so long as the Big East does reasonably well as a whole. Really, it's on the players - they have a tournament-caliber team going into next year (I thought they had one this past year as well, but it didn't pan out) so if they win the games they're capable of they should be fine.

I really disagree. Even if you get in, you're really limited in where you are seeded. It's why Creighton was stuck at the 8/9 seed all year long. OOC really is important now to the committee. Used to be you could have a Georgetown schedule and get away with it. Not any longer. And they could have a ton of pressure in the Barclay's tournament- that week they would have 3 games. A Gavitt game, then the 2 in NYC. Go 1-2 or 0-3, and you're bailing upstream the rest of the season quite frankly.

Creighton played four ranked teams in their early OOC schedule. Their problem was that the two they beat fell off a cliff after and they lost to the two that were actually good. Creighton's problem was about games they lost, not games they didn't play.

(04-24-2018 04:45 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 02:32 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 01:45 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 07:55 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-23-2018 04:38 PM)Bogg Wrote:  Marquette, on paper, should be very solid this coming year. No excuse to not make the tournament, particularly with a little room opening at the top of the Big East with major graduations from X and Seton Hall.

yeah good point with those 2- and also Butler quite frankly. And Villanova might be losing 4 starters if Spellman and Divicenzo leave for the NBA(I think Spellman is almost a definite to). So that may make it a bit easier for Marquette.

The one thing that may hurt them is their OOC schedule- right now they have a Gavitt Game, Barclay's classic with Kansas/Louisville/Tennessee (2 of 3 teams there), and Wisconsin as good OOC games. Buy games with UMBC and Buffalo. You really need more than that OOC now.

If they take care of business they should be fine so long as the Big East does reasonably well as a whole. Really, it's on the players - they have a tournament-caliber team going into next year (I thought they had one this past year as well, but it didn't pan out) so if they win the games they're capable of they should be fine.

I really disagree. Even if you get in, you're really limited in where you are seeded. It's why Creighton was stuck at the 8/9 seed all year long. OOC really is important now to the committee. Used to be you could have a Georgetown schedule and get away with it. Not any longer. And they could have a ton of pressure in the Barclay's tournament- that week they would have 3 games. A Gavitt game, then the 2 in NYC. Go 1-2 or 0-3, and you're bailing upstream the rest of the season quite frankly.

Creighton played four ranked teams in their early OOC schedule. Their problem was that the two they beat fell off a cliff after and they lost to the two that were actually good. Creighton's problem was about games they lost, not games they didn't play.

Creighton had the #237 OOC SOS. That's no where near good enough any longer. If they had even a top 100 OOC SOS, they would have been probably no worse than a 6 seed.

Creighton has improved their OOC SOS some this year. Have tourney where they could see Clemson in it along with at least 1 of St Bonaventure, Boise St, or Georgia.. Nebraska should be better. Oklahoma will be good. Get Gonzaga at home. That is a better SOS by far and will help Creighton out some...

I think you are still stuck in the era that OOC can be 100% junk and it not costing you much. That's just not the case any longer.

(04-24-2018 08:43 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think you are still stuck in the era that OOC can be 100% junk and it not costing you much. That's just not the case any longer.

You're just going to continue to ignore the whole two of what was supposed to be premier opponents calling off a cliff thing, huh? For the record, I was calling the Big East getting 6 teams in while you were still insisting 4 was possibility.

(04-25-2018 08:54 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 08:43 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think you are still stuck in the era that OOC can be 100% junk and it not costing you much. That's just not the case any longer.

You're just going to continue to ignore the whole two of what was supposed to be premier opponents calling off a cliff thing, huh? For the record, I was calling the Big East getting 6 teams in while you were still insisting 4 was possibility.

4 was a possibility. If Providence and Butler lose in the 1st round of the BET, neither one of them was a real lock at all- both were 10 seeds.

Also, who really fell off of a cliff? Baylor? Still finished top 70 RPI so some cliff. UCLA? Still finished top 40 RPI. Yes, Northwestern was much worse than expected, but then again, did anyone expect Nebraska to be top 60 RPI? I think those 2 are a trade off quite frankly. Creighton expected their OOC SOS to be pretty much exactly where it fell. And they got punished for it.

(04-25-2018 09:04 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 08:54 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 08:43 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think you are still stuck in the era that OOC can be 100% junk and it not costing you much. That's just not the case any longer.

You're just going to continue to ignore the whole two of what was supposed to be premier opponents calling off a cliff thing, huh? For the record, I was calling the Big East getting 6 teams in while you were still insisting 4 was possibility.

4 was a possibility. If Providence and Butler lose in the 1st round of the BET, neither one of them was a real lock at all- both were 10 seeds.

Also, who really fell off of a cliff? Baylor? Still finished top 70 RPI so some cliff. UCLA? Still finished top 40 RPI. Yes, Northwestern was much worse than expected, but then again, did anyone expect Nebraska to be top 60 RPI? I think those 2 are a trade off quite frankly. Creighton expected their OOC SOS to be pretty much exactly where it fell. And they got punished for it.

I mean, if you're assuming they would have won a whole bunch of travel-to-Kansas type games, but as I said - they lost to their two best OOC opponents. I'm not sure that adding additional OOC losses and finishing with like 18 wins helps them any more than what they did. Unless you think there was a four-seed hiding in that roster somewhere.

(04-25-2018 09:13 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 09:04 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 08:54 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-24-2018 08:43 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think you are still stuck in the era that OOC can be 100% junk and it not costing you much. That's just not the case any longer.

You're just going to continue to ignore the whole two of what was supposed to be premier opponents calling off a cliff thing, huh? For the record, I was calling the Big East getting 6 teams in while you were still insisting 4 was possibility.

4 was a possibility. If Providence and Butler lose in the 1st round of the BET, neither one of them was a real lock at all- both were 10 seeds.

Also, who really fell off of a cliff? Baylor? Still finished top 70 RPI so some cliff. UCLA? Still finished top 40 RPI. Yes, Northwestern was much worse than expected, but then again, did anyone expect Nebraska to be top 60 RPI? I think those 2 are a trade off quite frankly. Creighton expected their OOC SOS to be pretty much exactly where it fell. And they got punished for it.

I mean, if you're assuming they would have won a whole bunch of travel-to-Kansas type games, but as I said - they lost to their two best OOC opponents. I'm not sure that adding additional OOC losses and finishing with like 18 wins helps them any more than what they did. Unless you think there was a four-seed hiding in that roster somewhere.

actually by RPI they didn't lose to their 2 best opponents
21 Gonzaga loss
36 UCLA win
56 Nebraska win
68 Baylor loss

Where they have absolutely no excuse is they had 3 games vs the 8 worst teams in the country. USC Upstate, UMES, and Alcorn St. Utah was the only other top 60 team to play even 2 bottom 10 teams. The next team to play 3 teams in the bottom 10- Stephen F Austin.

Creighton has improved their SOS this year from the looks of things.

(04-25-2018 09:26 AM)stever20 Wrote:  actually by RPI they didn't lose to their 2 best opponents
21 Gonzaga loss
36 UCLA win
56 Nebraska win
68 Baylor loss

Where they have absolutely no excuse is they had 3 games vs the 8 worst teams in the country. USC Upstate, UMES, and Alcorn St. Utah was the only other top 60 team to play even 2 bottom 10 teams. The next team to play 3 teams in the bottom 10- Stephen F Austin.

Creighton has improved their SOS this year from the looks of things.

Hm. For some reason I thought Baylor finished the season with a much better record than they did - just looked it up and I must have had them confused with someone else. Even more to my point - they played four teams that were supposed to be top-25 squads and the only one of the four that didn't wind up a big ol' disappointment they lost to. Baylor/UCLA/Northwestern finish the year around where Gonzaga wound and they're fine. Sometimes you just get hit with bad luck.

Anyways, getting the thread back on topic, I'm very interested to see what Marquette gets out of Brendan Bailey this year. Four-star recruit back in 2016 who did a Mormon mission prior to college and will be a freshman this coming year. They're losing Rowsey, but the rest of the roster gets a year of seasoning and they're adding the transfer guards and a pair of four-star freshman. Could be a sleeper pick to win the Big East if everything breaks right for them.

(04-25-2018 09:44 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 09:26 AM)stever20 Wrote:  actually by RPI they didn't lose to their 2 best opponents
21 Gonzaga loss
36 UCLA win
56 Nebraska win
68 Baylor loss

Where they have absolutely no excuse is they had 3 games vs the 8 worst teams in the country. USC Upstate, UMES, and Alcorn St. Utah was the only other top 60 team to play even 2 bottom 10 teams. The next team to play 3 teams in the bottom 10- Stephen F Austin.

Creighton has improved their SOS this year from the looks of things.

Hm. For some reason I thought Baylor finished the season with a much better record than they did - just looked it up and I must have had them confused with someone else. Even more to my point - they played four teams that were supposed to be top-25 squads and the only one of the four that didn't wind up a big ol' disappointment they lost to. Baylor/UCLA/Northwestern finish the year around where Gonzaga wound and they're fine. Sometimes you just get hit with bad luck.

Anyways, getting the thread back on topic, I'm very interested to see what Marquette gets out of Brendan Bailey this year. Four-star recruit back in 2016 who did a Mormon mission prior to college and will be a freshman this coming year. They're losing Rowsey, but the rest of the roster gets a year of seasoning and they're adding the transfer guards and a pair of four-star freshman. Could be a sleeper pick to win the Big East if everything breaks right for them.

But then again, did anyone expect Nebraska to be as good as they were? No way.

Creighton would get more of a pass for it except that this wasn't the first time they had a poor OOC SOS.
2018 235
2017 221
2016 302
2015 189
2014 45

Pretty much, McDermott has shown that he's not going to schedule tough OOC since joining the Big East. Oh, and 2010 while at Iowa St- they were 210. The proof is in the pudding.

As far as the other- you always wonder how the extended time off impacts things. I know for PC Bullock had 2 years off before he played with them, and he started off slowly. And even with Bullock- 1st year he was able to practice with the team(2nd year he had ACL surgery).

(04-25-2018 10:06 AM)stever20 Wrote:  As far as the other- you always wonder how the extended time off impacts things. I know for PC Bullock had 2 years off before he played with them, and he started off slowly. And even with Bullock- 1st year he was able to practice with the team(2nd year he had ACL surgery).

I imagine there will be some rust to shake off, but they also won't be relying on Bailey for more than bench depth next year, and he'll have had time to develop physically for a team that could use some extra bulk inside. As functionally a 2018 recruit, he and the younger Hauser could make a really nice pair of incoming four-stars to add some depth to Marquette. They could come together very nicely.

(04-25-2018 10:57 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:06 AM)stever20 Wrote:  As far as the other- you always wonder how the extended time off impacts things. I know for PC Bullock had 2 years off before he played with them, and he started off slowly. And even with Bullock- 1st year he was able to practice with the team(2nd year he had ACL surgery).

I imagine there will be some rust to shake off, but they also won't be relying on Bailey for more than bench depth next year, and he'll have had time to develop physically for a team that could use some extra bulk inside. As functionally a 2018 recruit, he and the younger Hauser could make a really nice pair of incoming four-stars to add some depth to Marquette. They could come together very nicely.

I wouldn't really consider him a 4 star with the time away from basketball. Also, everyone was saying that same thing with Froling this past year and look what happened there.

(04-25-2018 11:40 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:57 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:06 AM)stever20 Wrote:  As far as the other- you always wonder how the extended time off impacts things. I know for PC Bullock had 2 years off before he played with them, and he started off slowly. And even with Bullock- 1st year he was able to practice with the team(2nd year he had ACL surgery).

I imagine there will be some rust to shake off, but they also won't be relying on Bailey for more than bench depth next year, and he'll have had time to develop physically for a team that could use some extra bulk inside. As functionally a 2018 recruit, he and the younger Hauser could make a really nice pair of incoming four-stars to add some depth to Marquette. They could come together very nicely.

I wouldn't really consider him a 4 star with the time away from basketball. Also, everyone was saying that same thing with Froling this past year and look what happened there.

It doesn't matter if you consider him a 4-star player or not - that's what his ranking was by numerous services. There have been many Mormon athletes that have gone on mission and had successful athletic careers - collegiately and professionally. Brendan is the son of Thurl Bailey, who was on the 1983 National Championship, so he has basketball in his blood. Having said that, there are no guarantees with how productive Bailey - or any recruit - can perform in college. However, it cannot be guaranteed that a player like him will under-perform either. You simply cannot have it both ways. Until they play, it's all just speculation.

With regards to next year's Marquette team, they will have experience, size and shooting for the first time in Wojo's tenure. If Bailey does not contribute, there are many other options the team can look to. If Joey Hauser is unable to contribute like his brother as a freshman, there are other options. The fact remains, with the amount of skilled experienced players on the team next year (all thirteen scholarships will be accounted for - another first under Wojo), not all of them have to turn out to be producers. There are only so many minutes to go around.

It is no guarantee Marquette has a successful season next year, but the odds are in their favor with what they have, and what they have coming in. I am excited to see it unfold.

(04-25-2018 06:05 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 11:40 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:57 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:06 AM)stever20 Wrote:  As far as the other- you always wonder how the extended time off impacts things. I know for PC Bullock had 2 years off before he played with them, and he started off slowly. And even with Bullock- 1st year he was able to practice with the team(2nd year he had ACL surgery).

I imagine there will be some rust to shake off, but they also won't be relying on Bailey for more than bench depth next year, and he'll have had time to develop physically for a team that could use some extra bulk inside. As functionally a 2018 recruit, he and the younger Hauser could make a really nice pair of incoming four-stars to add some depth to Marquette. They could come together very nicely.

I wouldn't really consider him a 4 star with the time away from basketball. Also, everyone was saying that same thing with Froling this past year and look what happened there.

It doesn't matter if you consider him a 4-star player or not - that's what his ranking was by numerous services. There have been many Mormon athletes that have gone on mission and had successful athletic careers - collegiately and professionally. Brendan is the son of Thurl Bailey, who was on the 1983 National Championship, so he has basketball in his blood. Having said that, there are no guarantees with how productive Bailey - or any recruit - can perform in college. However, it cannot be guaranteed that a player like him will under-perform either. You simply cannot have it both ways. Until they play, it's all just speculation.

With regards to next year's Marquette team, they will have experience, size and shooting for the first time in Wojo's tenure. If Bailey does not contribute, there are many other options the team can look to. If Joey Hauser is unable to contribute like his brother as a freshman, there are other options. The fact remains, with the amount of skilled experienced players on the team next year (all thirteen scholarships will be accounted for - another first under Wojo), not all of them have to turn out to be producers. There are only so many minutes to go around.

It is no guarantee Marquette has a successful season next year, but the odds are in their favor with what they have, and what they have coming in. I am excited to see it unfold.

But how many have had an impact right after they got back from the msision? It takes a while to shake off the rust no matter who you are. Being away from basketball for 2 years he's not going to be where he was basketball wise. Where Joey Hauser and Bailey are so big is that they could give Marquette some size that they desperately need. So it's a huge factor for their season.

(04-25-2018 06:57 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 06:05 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 11:40 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:57 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:06 AM)stever20 Wrote:  As far as the other- you always wonder how the extended time off impacts things. I know for PC Bullock had 2 years off before he played with them, and he started off slowly. And even with Bullock- 1st year he was able to practice with the team(2nd year he had ACL surgery).

I imagine there will be some rust to shake off, but they also won't be relying on Bailey for more than bench depth next year, and he'll have had time to develop physically for a team that could use some extra bulk inside. As functionally a 2018 recruit, he and the younger Hauser could make a really nice pair of incoming four-stars to add some depth to Marquette. They could come together very nicely.

I wouldn't really consider him a 4 star with the time away from basketball. Also, everyone was saying that same thing with Froling this past year and look what happened there.

It doesn't matter if you consider him a 4-star player or not - that's what his ranking was by numerous services. There have been many Mormon athletes that have gone on mission and had successful athletic careers - collegiately and professionally. Brendan is the son of Thurl Bailey, who was on the 1983 National Championship, so he has basketball in his blood. Having said that, there are no guarantees with how productive Bailey - or any recruit - can perform in college. However, it cannot be guaranteed that a player like him will under-perform either. You simply cannot have it both ways. Until they play, it's all just speculation.

With regards to next year's Marquette team, they will have experience, size and shooting for the first time in Wojo's tenure. If Bailey does not contribute, there are many other options the team can look to. If Joey Hauser is unable to contribute like his brother as a freshman, there are other options. The fact remains, with the amount of skilled experienced players on the team next year (all thirteen scholarships will be accounted for - another first under Wojo), not all of them have to turn out to be producers. There are only so many minutes to go around.

It is no guarantee Marquette has a successful season next year, but the odds are in their favor with what they have, and what they have coming in. I am excited to see it unfold.

But how many have had an impact right after they got back from the msision? It takes a while to shake off the rust no matter who you are. Being away from basketball for 2 years he's not going to be where he was basketball wise. Where Joey Hauser and Bailey are so big is that they could give Marquette some size that they desperately need. So it's a huge factor for their season.

Neither Bailey or J. Hauser are expected to be "impact" players on next year's team. If they can provide some production, and - in turn - get regular rotation minutes, then there are definitely more options for the team. I think minutes for next year's squad for guys like Eke, Bailey and J. Hauser will be tough to come by once Big East games come around. There's just too much experience and too many upper classmen ahead of them. If one, or any, of them prove their abilities, it would mean lesser roles/minutes for someone in front of them - which would undoubtedly result in a transfer. Unfortunately, that is a big part of the game today. Thankfully, as previously stated, next year's team is deep and balanced in experience, size and skill. This is the first time in Wojo's tenure (year 5) that the team has that. It will be very interesting to see how everything unfolds.

I'd agree with you if they were guards. But given that Marquette struggled inside quite a bit- they really need help inside. They really need one of those 2 to hit.

(04-26-2018 08:44 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I'd agree with you if they were guards. But given that Marquette struggled inside quite a bit- they really need help inside. They really need one of those 2 to hit.

Marquette struggled inside a lot this year. On the surface, that can easily be a knock against our current post/inside players. However, advanced metrics show that the combination of Markus Howard/Andrew Rowsey was the worst combination in all of Division 1 defending the pick and roll and in closing out on shooters. For the first example, in our traditional defense, the post (Heldt/John/Froling) would high-hedge the screen - in order to cut off the drive from the guards. Unfortunately, due to the lack of size in our guards (and defensive skill), it would be easy for teams to make a quick extra pass to the screener cutting to the paint (where we could give up easy uncontested buckets, or wide open wing shots that were made after an extra pass). To compensate, Wojo would often times switch to a zone in order to pack the paint. However, leading to example two, our guards were also bad at closing out. Unfortunately, there was just no prime defense that put our players in position to succeed. We needed to live with both Howard/Rowsey because of their uncanny ability to shoot and score. This is where adding Chartouney is very big.

Chartouney was one of the top graduate transfer defensive guards available this Spring. He has a remarkably high steal rate. He was also one of the top players in all of Division 1 defnding the pick and roll. His addition, replacing Rowsey, immensely helps our defense (and will also help our post play next year). With Heldt and Morrow (the B1G's leading rebounder at Nebraska the season before last) now in the starting lineup, as well as Chartouney, it allows Howard to guard the weaker guards in the starting lineup. There is a tremendous trickle-down effect with Chartouney's addition/Rowsey's graduation.

Next year's post players will be Heldt, Morrow, S. Hauser (who will also play outside) and John, with rotational minutes for J. Hauser/Bailey. Again, it is my belief that neither will be counted on for significant minutes - but if one shows their worth, they will get the time. Summer/Fall competition will determine playing time.