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Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

GOLDSTEIN: Offer “Greek Freak 2.0” before it’s too late

This was supposed to be a relatively quiet offseason of recruiting for Marquette basketball and head coach Steve Wojciechowski.

After signing a much-talked-about five-man recruiting class, Wojo added  transfer guard Andrew Rowsey for 2016 and got a verbal commitment from four-star forward Sam Hauser, also for 2016. Wojo seems to be done making any significant waves for the foreseeable future. After all, the Golden Eagles only have one scholarship spot left to offer to any potential 2016 recruit.

Now, though, an imposing, 6-foot-9, 190-pound figure—one that carries with it a name that is all too familiar to basketball fans in Milwaukee is turning heads. His name is Kostas Antetokounmpo, a forward at Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, Wis., and the best player in the class of 2016 that not many are talking about….yet.

Kostas is the younger brother of Milwaukee Bucks small forward/internet legend Giannis Antetokounmpo, affectionately known as the “Greek Freak” (see: this and this). A gifted athlete himself, Giannis believes Kostas will surpass his skill level someday soon.

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“I think he’s going to be the best of our family,” Giannis said of his younger brother. “He’s the best shooter in the family and he’s athletic like all the Antetokounmpo’s.”

Kostas has also caught the attention of Jerry Meyer, director of basketball scouting for 247sports, a popular website that focuses on college basketball recruiting. In May, Meyer published a glowing blog post about Antetokounmpo in which he called the Greek native “long, athletic, rapidly progressing and a genetic lottery winner.”

When you watch Kostas’ AAU highlight reel, the similarities to his older brother are striking. They’re both explosive, dynamic players with terrific body control. There are a few differences—Giannis is much stronger at this point while Kostas will probably be the better shooter—but those crushing weakside blocks and impossibly shifty dribble moves are cut from the same cloth.

Of course, the skeptics’ response to all of this is: OK, if he’s so great, then why aren’t more people talking about him? Why hasn’t he been on people’s radar for years now? How come he only has one Division I offer in the summer before senior year? Why is he this much of a mystery?

It’s a fair line of questions to ask, and the answer has two parts to it:

1) His first varsity season at Dominican was overshadowed by teammate Diamond Stone, a five-star commit to Maryland. Stone was such a dominant presence at center that Dominican ran everything through him. With every entry pass going Stone’s, Kostas never really got much of a chance to show what he could do.

2) He’s virtually an unknown commodity. His first season of American high school basketball was this past year as a junior and his first exposure to big-time AAU youth events is happening this summer. Even Kostas’ AAU coach, Duane Wilson (not Marquette’s guard) has described his game as “kind of raw,” and while that’s certainly to be expected from somebody making the transition from overseas basketball to America, it’s not reassuring for a college coach to hear.

So, how does Antetokounmpo fit into Marquette’s recruiting scheme for 2016-2017?

As of today, Wojo and his staff have one scholarship left, but that could expand to two or three if Henry Ellenson decides to go to the NBA after one year or if anyone transfers. Marquette is also reportedly pursuing two other highly-touted recruits—shooting guard Amir Coffey of Hopkins, Minn., and point guard Cassius Winston out of Detroit. Still, the recruiting competition to land them will be a challenge.

That is why Wojo ought to be recruiting Antetokounmpo more aggressively than he currently is. So far, Iowa State is the only other school that has even offered him a scholarship, and since they are in the middle of a head coaching change, they won’t be in position to attract anybody until that gets resolved. Marquette has the tremendous advantage of being located in Antetokounmpo’s home city, a city that just happens to be the place where his older brother plays professional basketball. Not only that, but Marquette will be sharing cutting-edge athletic facilities with the Bucks perhaps as early as 2017, which means that Kostas will actually be training alongside Giannis. That’s something that no other school can offer.

Right now, Wojo has the opportunity to lock down the player that could become Greek Freak 2.0 with very little competition. That’s not going to be the case for much longer, though. 247sports has him ranked #21 on their list of 2016 recruits nationwide. His stock has risen dramatically with the limited amount of AAU ball that has been played so far, and offers from other schools are going to come flying in if he keeps it up.

It’s entirely in the realm of possibility for Bo Ryan to convince him to come to Wisconsin. Perhaps his old teammate Diamond Stone will lure him to come to Maryland. His other older brother, Thanasis, plays for the D-League affiliate of the New York Knicks, so a northeast team could come calling. The longer Marquette remains noncommittal about wanting Antetokounmpo, the harder it will be to get him. By the time Marquette sees enough progress that they’re ready to extend a scholarship offer, it may already be too late.

That’s why things need to start happening now. Marquette should offer the last remaining scholarship spot for 2016-17 and Wojo should make personal overtures to both Kostas and his family to convince him to become a Golden Eagle. It’s certainly a risky move, given Kostas’ raw talent, but he has one of the highest upsides in the nation (much like his brother did during his NBA rookie season) and there’s infrastructure in place at Marquette (new training facility, coaching staff with playing experience, well-rounded roster, etc.) to accommodate whatever risk comes with that. Despite how unrefined his game currently is, Kostas has the physical prowess and capacity for growth to be one of the best basketball players to ever attend Marquette. That’s a dice roll that Wojo ought to take, and he needs to take it sooner rather than later.

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  • J

    James PriceJul 22, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    I enjoyed this piece a lot. I saw some footage of Kostas on Youtube and am intrigued to see what position he will play in college and the rest of his prep career. It will also be interesting to see how much influence Giannis has on his younger brother’s college choice, considering he did not get the chance to play college ball & experience it himself.

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