As Marquette conducts practices in preparation for the 2021-22 season, the staff is also seeking many of the top prospects in the 2022 class. Here’s a breakdown of some of the players who have committed to or earned a scholarship from head coach Shaka Smart and his staff along with the previous Golden Eagles’ regime:
Commits:
SEAN JONES – Jones picked up an offer from Marquette May 24 and committed to the Golden Eagles Aug. 13. He became Shaka Smart’s first commit since becoming the Golden Eagles head coach.
“I chose Marquette because the coaching staff and players were very consistent keeping up with me and they made it feel like another home when I was there,” Jones told 270 hoops.com following his commitment. “I also loved the energy and the atmosphere.”
247Sports, a prominent recruiting site, ranks Jones as the 137th-best player in the country and 21st among shooting guards. Both 247Sports and Rivals, another prominent recruiting site, lists him as a three-star recruit.
ESPN ranks the 5-foot-10 guard as 83rd in the country and lists him as a four-star recruit. 247Sports has Jones as the 2nd best player in the state of Ohio.
Jones chose the Golden Eagles over Xavier and Pittsburgh.
CHASE ROSS- Ross, a two-way player, adds depth in the backcourt for the Golden Eagles.
Ross, a 6-foot-4 guard from Dallas, is listed as a three-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals.
He made his verbal commitment on Zach Shumaker’s Instagram Live Sept. 24. Ross picked Marquette over Rutgers, Texas A&M and Georgia.
“Shaka is just a player’s coach. We talked almost every day, never went without a day talking to him and it was just the right fit for me. When I went on a visit, it just felt like home,” Ross told Shumaker.
247Sports ranks the Class of 2022 guard as the No. 40 combo guard in the country.
The addition of Ross leaves Marquette with two open scholarships for the 2022-23 season.
Scholarship Offers:
DESMOND CLAUDE– Claude picked up an offer from Marquette June 27. 247Sports Composite ranks the New Haven, Connecticut native as 103rd in the country and 12th amongst point guards. Smart will have plenty of competition from other BIG EAST schools. Xavier, Butler, Creighton, Providence and Seton Hall have already offered him scholarships.
Other schools out of the BIG EAST to offer a scholarship to Claude include Boston College, Kansas State, Maryland and Notre Dame.
TY RODGERS– Rogers is one of the highest-touted recruits Marquette is looking at in the 2022 class. 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN all-list the 6-foot-5 forward as a four-star recruit.
Rogers is 49th in ESPN’s 100 rankings while 54th in 247Sports’ lists. ESPN ranks him as 8th amongst power forwards. There’s no shortage of schools interested in the Michigan prospect. Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Syracuse are among the 11 schools to offer Rodgers, per ESPN.
AJ CASEY– Casey, a 6-foot-6 power forward from Chicago,is 57th i n ESPN’s rankings. 247Sports Composite’s rankings has him 12th amongst power forwards in his class and 2nd in Illinois. He picked up an offer from Marquette June 23.
Miami, Illinois, Gonzaga, Michigan, Kansas, Louisville are among a list of high-major programs also competing for Casey.
ELVIS NNAJI– Nnaji picked up an offer from Marquette June 2020 by previous head coach Steve Wojciechowski and his staff. 247Sports’s ranks the 6-foot-9 prospect 45th among power forwards. He also holds scholarship offers from Arizona and Minnesota.
TICHYQUE MUSKA– Like Nnaji, Muska picked up an offer during the Wojciechowski era. Muska, who hails originally from the Congo, comes in at 118th-ranked prospect in Rival’s rankings.
Georgetown, Illinois, Kansas, Oregon, Providence and Virginia Tech are amongst schools to offer the 6-foot-10 center.
RODNEY RICE– Rice was recruited by former associate head coach and now Albany men’s basketball head Dwayne Killings. He has held an offer from Marquette since early June 2020. Rice, a 6-foot-4 prospect from Clinton, Maryland, is 52nd in 247Sports’s Composites rankings. Louisville, Virginia Tech, UConn and Illinois are some schools to offer the combo guard.
WILL RICHARDSON– Richardson, ranked 23rd amongst combo guards in 247Sports’s Rankings, received a scholarship offer from Wojciechowski’s staff June 2020. He also holds offers from Vanderbilt, Maryland, Penn State, Seton Hall, St. John’s, among others.
BRYCE LINDSEY– Lindsey, 247Sports’ 27th-ranked combo guard, has offers from DePaul, Georgetown, Iona, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and VCU. He holds interest from Arizona, Arizona State, Purdue and others.
The 6-foot-3 combo guard attends Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, the same school redshirt first-year forward Justin Lewis attended before Marquette.
JEFFREY BRAZZIEL– Brazziel is yet to earn a ranking from Rivals, but he has captivated some offers from DePaul, Arizona State, Georgetown, Auburn, Maryland and Auburn, among others.
Marquette extended a scholarship offer to the 6-foot-5 Milwaukee prospect last October from Wojciechowski.
JARET TERAN VALENCIA– Like Brazziel, Teran Valencia has yet to earn a ranking from Rivals. Creighton, Houston, Mississippi State, Rutgers and South Carolina are among the 15 schools to offer the 6-foot-8 power forward a spot according to Rivals.com.
This article was written by John Leuzzi. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JohnLeuzziMU.