As Steve Wojciechowski signed his third recruiting class Wednesday, the 40-year-old head coach enjoyed a sense of flexibility, having only one more scholarship to fill for 2017 without any gaping holes on the roster.
6-foot-10 power forward Ike Eke, 6-foot-9 power forward Theo John and 6-foot-7 wing Jamal Cain were the three players to make up Wojo’s class. All three are expected to make up for the void down low left by current senior Luke Fischer.
“We’ll have an immediate improvement in the size of our team, and we’ll have an immediate improvement in the athleticism of our team,” Wojciechowski said. “All three guys have really good positional size and length, and all of them are outstanding athletes.”
“Their best attributes are their rim protection, rebounding and their ability to defend,” Wojciechowski added. “They have things you can’t teach and that we don’t have in our program.”
Cain, a four-star small forward from Detroit Cornerstone, has made a name for himself as one of the best overall 2017 athletes in Michigan. He verbally committed to Marquette Sept. 17 after also considering Michigan, Florida State and Georgia.
“What Jamal gives us is unbelievable length on the perimeter,” Wojciechowski said. “He’s an electric athlete.”
Ike Eke, an AAU teammate of Cain, had a late start to basketball career, but has quickly developed into a double-double player at University of Detroit Jesuit. Michigan State, among other high-majors, recruited him heavily before he committed to Marquette in June.
“His best basketball is ahead of him,” Wojciechowski said regarding the Nigerian-born power forward. “When you talk about a guy with a motor who’s 6-foot-10 with long arms and unbelievable agility and movement ability, that generally is a recipe for success.”
Theo John established himself as an excellent off-ball contributor on Howard Pulley, one of the best EYBL teams in the upper Midwest. At Champlin Park High, John averaged 13.8 points and 8.6 boards per game.
“He looks like a college player and he can defend and rebound at the college level right now,” Wojciechowski said. “His offense will continue to catch up with him.”
All three prospects verbally committed by the end of September, giving Wojciechowski’s staff the luxury of having several options, even as premier talent like Hasahn French and Xavier Tillman committed to Saint Louis and Michigan State, respectively.
“What in fact happens with that last scholarship is hard to say,” Wojciechowski explained. “We’re going to look at high school kids, we’ll look at JUCO kids, we’ll look at transfers. … We’ll look at anybody who’s a good person that can help our program.”
In past years, Wojciechowski has not had that degree of flexibility. In fact, this is the first time in the Wojo era that the early signing period will close with less than two open spots.
“I don’t mean that in any way disrespectful to people that have done a great job for Marquette, but we were playing catch-up on a lot of fronts,” Wojciechowski said. “We’re starting to get our footing.”
The only 2017 name that has consistently surfaced has been Australian-born center Jacob Epperson. Epperson, who is currently playing at LaLumiere School in Fort Wayne, Ind., emerged onto the high-major recruiting scene during the July evaluation periods. He has already fielded offers from powerhouses like Oklahoma, West Virginia and Utah.
Any JUCO transfers would be a first for Wojciechowski since being hired in 2014 and the first for Marquette since Jae Crowder transferred from Howard College in 2010. Per 247Sports, 13 of the top 15 JUCO transfers for 2017 have already committed.
However, a non-JUCO transfer would be far from uncharted territory for Wojo. Transfers to step foot on Marquette’s campus during Wojo’s tenure include Matt Carlino, Wally Ellenson, Gabe Levin, Andrew Rowsey and Katin Reinhardt. To put that in perspective, Wisconsin has not had any transfers in that same time period.
