Back in August, we compiled a list of all the recruits men’s basketball head coach Steve Wojciechowski and his staff were interested in. A lot has changed since then. Many targets have either committed to Marquette or other schools while Wojo and his staff have honed in on other targets since the start of the academic year. Here are the potential Golden Eagles to keep an eye on for the rest of the season.
2017 (Offered)
GREG ELLIOTT (Detroit East English Village Prep, Michigan) — Sandy Cohen and Traci Carter’s departures from the program along with Elliott’s connections to Marquette signees Jamal Cain and Ike Eke make the 6-foot-3 guard a logical choice for one of the team’s final two 2017 scholarships. On the court, Elliott has had one of the most productive senior years in the state despite entering the season ranked only 13th among prep players in Michigan. Prior to his Michigan State offer Jan. 29, DePaul was the only other Power Six team to offer the point guard. Other offers include UW-Milwaukee, Temple, Rice, Toledo and Valparaiso.
JACOB EPPERSON (La Lumiere School, Indiana) — Epperson emerged last summer as a solution to Marquette’s lack of depth down low. However, the La Lumiere prospect’s odds of receiving minutes have gone down dramatically since the arrival of midseason transfer and fellow Australian Harry Froling. Epperson, who is known for his defense and playmaking, did not mention the Blue and Gold in a recent interview with Scout’s Evan Daniels. Epperson also has offers from West Virginia, Creighton, Texas, Virginia Tech and several other high-majors. Michigan State and North Carolina have expressed interest in Epperson but have not offered him yet.
DONNIE TILLMAN (Findlay Prep, Nevada) — Tillman, a 6-foot-7 power forward ranked eighth in Nevada by 247Sports Composite, would give the Golden Eagles another versatile option down low. Tillman has been a dangerous weapon for Findlay, one of the top prep basketball programs in the country, and is a catalyst behind the team’s 20-3 start to the season. He has a litany of offers from major programs including Creighton, Iowa State, California and Utah. Tillman has already either scheduled or taken official visits to California, TCU and Utah, leaving two visits for the Nevada native. As helpful as Tillman would be for the Golden Eagles next year, the odds of seeing him in blue and gold are remote. None of Wojciechowski’s staff are following him on Twitter.
2017 (Interested)
SHAUN DOSS (Marion HS, Arkansas) — Marquette assistant coach Stan Johnson visited Doss at the beginning of the month but has not offered him yet. Doss has not been ranked on a major recruiting site, making him a far from ideal candidate for either of the final two scholarship spots. He also does not have an offer from a high-major program. Johnson also watched Doss’ teammate Timothy Caesar, a forward in the class of 2019.
2018 (Offered)
JOEY HAUSER (Stevens Point Area, Wisconsin) — Hauser hit a slight hiccup in his recruiting, missing the first two months of the basketball season with a lingering ankle injury from football season. Even after the injury, Hauser would be the second-highest ranked commit for Marquette this decade behind current Detroit Pistons power forward Henry Ellenson. Hauser’s ability to score from all three levels while maintaining the humility of a bench player has prompted Marquette, Wisconsin, Duke, Michigan State and Virginia, among others, to closely follow Hauser this summer. Earlier in the year, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Marquette all visited Hauser in the first few weeks of the fall recruiting period.
DE’MONTE NELSON (Bradford HS, Wisconsin) — Nelson, a 5-foot-11 point guard, has been one of the flashiest performers in the state this season. His 20.2 points per game have caught the eye of several schools, including Marquette. Creighton and Kentucky have sent mail to him as well, per his pinned tweet. Nelson faces the obstacle, however, of playing on a struggling high school team, as Bradford has only won one conference game so far in the 2016-’17 campaign.
RACE THOMPSON (Robbinsdale Armstrong, Minnesota) — Thompson, whom 247Sports ranks as the 62nd-best prospect in the nation and third-best in the state of Minnesota, would provide the Golden Eagles with another option down low. The 6-foot-8 big man has been averaging 20.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for Robbinsdale Armstrong this season. Marquette is among several high-majors in the region to be courting Thompson including Kansas State, Iowa State and Minnesota. His father Darrell is Minnesota’s all-time leading rusher and radio analyst.
JARVIS THOMAS (Orono, Minnesota) — Thomas has expressed serious interest in Marquette, even going down to see the DePaul game on his own. The Orono prospect has averaged 15.1 points per game so far this season and has scored 20-plus points in his last three games. He is an AAU teammate of fellow target Race Thompson on D1 Minnesota. Thomas has offers from Oregon State, Iowa State and Arizona State. Other schools including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa have expressed interest but have not offered the power forward yet.
COURTNEY RAMEY (Webster Groves, Missouri) — Ramey, who received an offer from Marquette last July, has proven to be one of the top 2018 prospects in Missouri. The 23rd-best point guard in his class and third-best in Missouri per ESPN has scored at least 13 points in 14 of Webster Groves’ 15 games this season. Ramey also has offers from Creighton, Iowa, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Louisville and several other basketball powerhouses.
TORRENCE WATSON (Whitfield, Missouri) — Watson, an AAU teammate of Ramey, has also put together a strong resume that has caught the attention of high-major Division I programs. The Whitfield star has scored at least 20 points in five of his last seven games and has back-to-back 40-plus-point performances. Watson has also fielded interest from Creighton, West Virginia and Kansas State, among others.
JEENATHAN WILLIAMS (University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men, New York) — The 6-foot-5 guard is 35th among shooting guards in his class, per 247Sports. Williams holds offers from Marquette, Georgia Tech, Providence, Rutgers and Temple, among other well-known schools. He has also received interest from Syracuse. Meanwhile, UPrep has been fighting a demotion in playoff classification that has gone all the way to the New York State Commissioner of Education.
AYO DOSUNMU (Morgan Park, Illinois) — Dosunmu, debatably the top prospect in the Chicago area, has been an integral part of Morgan Park’s success this season. His ability to penetrate offensively without ball-handling issues has impressed enough coaches to have offers including Florida State, Northwestern, SMU and Texas A&M. Dosunmu also took an unofficial visit to Wisconsin in September. The 6-foot-2 guard is 40th in his class, per ESPN.
QUENTIN GRIMES (The Woodlands College Park, Texas) — Grimes, whom ESPN ranks 14th nationally and second at the shooting guard position, has an incredible knack for scoring. The 6-foot-4 prospect is currently averaging 29.2 points per game for College Park. Grimes’ list of offers is a who’s who of recruiting juggernauts: Arizona, Kansas, Texas, Virginia, Florida and Louisville are among his suitors.
TJ MOSS (Memphis East, Tennessee) — Moss, a four-star shooting guard from Memphis, has been a high-priority prospect for Marquette since receiving an offer from MU in August. His scoring prowess is clearly evident, yet his defense is still a work in progress, per multiple scouting reports. The consensus top 100 prospect’s other offers include Alabama, SMU, UConn and Memphis.
PRENTISS HUBB (Gonzaga College Prep, Washington, D.C.) — Hubb, a 6-foot-2 guard and 247Sports’ top-ranked guard in Washington, D.C., has already received invitations to Stephen Curry and Chris Paul’s camps. The Gonzaga star is known for his versatility as a penetrating guard with the ability to also take a jump shot. Hubb, who received an offer from Marquette almost a year ago, has offers from half the schools in the BIG EAST, including perennial heavyweights Villanova and Xavier. Outside of the conference, Virginia, Maryland, Cincinnati, Baylor and USC are all honing in on Hubb.
SIMI SHITTU (Vermont Academy, Vermont) — Shittu is the highest-ranked Marquette 2018 target in ESPN and 247Sports’ rankings. The odds of Marquette landing the five-star big man are remote. Shittu mentioned Arizona, Kansas, UConn and Syracuse as some of the schools that have watched him recently in a recent recruiting video by Ball Don’t Lie.
TIM FINKE (Champaign Central, Illinois) — Finke, whom 247Sports ranks 90th nationally and second in the state, would give the Blue and Gold another scoring option. The 6-foot-6 wing’s offers include Illinois, Vanderbilt, Ohio State, Iowa State, Creighton and Oregon. Finke’s older brother currently plays for the University of Illinois.
2018 (Interested)
RILEY BATTIN (Oak Park, California) — Battin, who is listed at 6-foot-7 on ESPN and 6-foot-9 on 247Sports, has had a highly successful high school basketball season. He’s racked up double-doubles so often that it is assumed that he’ll score one on any given night. Western schools such as Colorado and Stanford have paid attention to ESPN’s 11th-best prospect in California, among others.
KJ HYMES (St. Mary’s HS, Arizona) — Hymes, one of the top prospects in Arizona, has opened many eyes with his impressive slate of performances so far for St. Mary’s, one of the best prep programs in the state. At the same time, the four-star power forward could improve in the weight room, standing at 6-foot-8-inches but only weighing 193 pounds. He has drawn offers from high-majors including Virginia, USC, Arizona State and Washington and interest from Arizona.
DAVID SINGLETON (Bishop Montgomery HS, California) — Singleton, a 6-foot-4 four-star shooting guard, has already caught the attention of several coaches on the West Coast for his all-around game. Arizona, Arizona State, Gonzaga, Oregon, USC and UNLV have already offered ESPN’s 11th-best shooting guard in the Class of 2018.
JAEDON LEDEE (The Kinkaid School, Texas) — LeDee, whom 247Sports ranks as 57th in the country and third in Texas, has been a frequent training camp invitee for Team USA’s youth teams. Wojciechowski’s staff visited LeDee Dec. 14 but has not offered him yet. He already has fielded offers from basketball superpowers Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona and Kansas, making Marquette a long shot.
GRAYSON CARTER (Bishop Dunne, Texas) — Carter was one of five Marquette Madness visitors last October and has been a hot commodity in his home state. Texas, SMU, Texas A&M and Houston have already offered him although he has not generated that same interest outside of the state. His recruitment has appeared to cool down, as 247Sports’ last event on Carter’s timeline was his unofficial visit to Marquette. Outside of the Lone Star State, Iowa State and Kansas State have also offered him.
2019 (Offered)
NOBAL DAYS (Washington Park HS, Wisconsin) — Days, arguably the top 2019 prospect in the state, has not had a sophomore season to remember so far, averaging only 6.1 points per game. At the same time, his team has sported mixed results, winning three of their last four but remaining stuck in the middle of the pack in their conference. Despite Days’ offensive woes, he has proven to be an effective playmaker and defender. The Park prospect has received offers from Marquette, DePaul, Illinois, Wisconsin and UNLV in that order.
2019 (Interested)
MATTHEW HURT (John Marshall HS, Minnesota) — Talent is certainly not an issue for Hurt, who has consistently demonstrated his extensive offensive repertoire while donning a Rochester John Marshall uniform. Hurt has a ton of offers from perennial NCAA powers including Arizona, Kansas, Xavier, Virginia, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Louisville.
2020 (Interested)
JALEN JOHNSON (Sun Prairie HS, Wisconsin) — The top Class of 2020 prospect in the state dealt with some early adversity after missing several weeks of the season with a knee injury. Still, Sun Prairie has not lost any of the five games where Johnson has been in uniform. Marquette and Wisconsin have shown the most interest so far.
JALEN SUGGS (Minnehaha Academy, Minnesota) — Suggs, a relative of Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, is widely considered the top player in his class. Even in a basketball-rich state like Minnesota, Suggs is the first player to receive an offer from the University of Minnesota as a freshman since eventual Duke star Tyus Jones in 2011, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
