Marquette basketball has added its second recruit from the class of 2016.
Four-star recruit Brendan Bailey announced via Twitter that he plans to become a Golden Eagle. Bailey, a highly regarded small forward out of American Fork High in Utah, picked Marquette over Michigan, San Diego State, Utah and Gonzaga.
“A couple of days ago, I sat down with my family and we talked about it,” Bailey told Evan Daniels of Scout.com. “It was between Marquette, Michigan and Gonzaga. We just thought the best place for me would be Marquette.”
Even though Bailey is a graduating senior this year, he will not join the Golden Eagles until 2018 due to his plans to do a Mormon mission. Since he will not join the team until then, Marquette still has one scholarship spot open for its 2016 recruiting class.
Bailey had previously given a verbal commitment to Arizona State in November of 2014 when Herb Sendek was the head coach in Tempe. However, Bailey decommitted from the Sun Devils this past March when they fired Sendek. Marquette assistant coach Stan Johnson worked at Arizona State last season and took the lead in recruiting Bailey to the Sun Devils, which may have helped Marquette land Bailey after he reopened his recruitment.
Bailey averaged 14.2 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game as a junior for the American Fork Cavemen. His accurate midrange jumper caught the attention of scouts and sent his recruiting stock skyrocketing, leading to offers from six different Division I programs. He is currently rated as the 67th best recruit overall in his class and the 12th best power forward, according to 247sports.
Brendan is the son of Thurl Bailey, who was a power forward in the NBA for 12 seasons and was also a starter on Jim Valvano’s 1983 North Carolina State team that won the National Championship.
