Towards the end of the National Invitational Tournament broadcast Monday, ESPN basketball analyst Steve Lavin commented how the Golden Eagles have an incoming class high on talent. The group includes Wes Matthews, Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Matt Mortensen, all of whom are high on potential but low on height. The tallest players in the class are Matthews and Mortensen at 6-foot-5. Mortensen will not enroll at Marquette until 2007 because he plans on taking a Mormon mission, according to a statement. By that time I should be on my second marriage and third job.

Not to beat a horse before it has even taken its first steps, but aren't the Golden Eagles going to be without Marcus Jackson next year?

The same Marcus Jackson who was the team's leading rebounder and led the team in rebounding 21 games this past season? It might be all corned beef and cabbage to have three highly touted high school seniors coming to Marquette next year, but with the loss of Jackson, the team's collective shot will have to be so accurate it could shoot a watermelon seed in a thimble from downtown.

Now don't get me wrong. This is not a case of the great height flight.

The Golden Eagles still have juniors Steve Novak and Chris Grimm along with freshmen Ryan Amoroso, Mike Kinsella and Ousmane Barro — all tall drinks of water — but none of them emerged as a solid rebounder this year.

Everyone knows that Novak's game is not one in which his success is measured by how well he can play with his back to the basket. However, it was a nice surprise to see him take the ball inside more towards the end of the season. In terms of Grimm, well, he needs to avoid foul trouble if he wants more playing time.

The three freshmen cannot be blamed for their inability to establish themselves as a solid rebounding force; their playing time from this past season can be charted on the same level as the happiness levels of someone with bi-polar disorder.

Someone, anyone has to step up and establish themselves as a "Mr. Clean" next year. I am not necessarily looking for a scorer in the post but someone who could create second chance shots for the team.

You can run and fun and gun all you want but the team needs some type of low-post presence when you go up against someone with the same amount of athleticism the Golden Eagles' opponents are supposed to have next year.

Dwyane Wade was the one who carried the Golden Eagles into that distant place, I think it's called the NCAA Tournament, but it was center Robert Jackson who made the team a Final Four squad.

Without a true post presence next year it will be very difficult to hang with teams in the Big East, let alone win some of those games.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 17 2005.