Here are known Marquette opponents thus far and their projected 2019 ranking on TRank:

H: UMBC (265)
A: Indiana (19)
N: 2 of KU (2)/Tenn (12)/UL(35)
H: Kansas State (27)
H: Wisconsin (18)
H: Buffalo (86)
H: Southern (351)

lol at Wisconsin being 18 and Indiana being 19. I don't think that's realistic at all. Indiana is a fringe tourney candidate and Wisconsin has a lot of questions still-#1 being if Ethan Happ returns. That could sink Wisconsin really fast....

I think the NIT matchups will be really interesting. My hunch is that it'll be Kansas/Louisville and Tennessee/Marquette.

Seton Hall picked up a nice transfer out of Florida State. Ike Obiagu, top-100 recruit last year, 7' center averaged (I think) 2 blocks a game as a freshman.

Mustapha Heron is supposedly transferring from Auburn. CT kid who can really play, would be interesting to see if he looks to play closer to home this time around. Off the top of my head I think all of St. John's, Seton Hall, Cuse, and Nova are sitting on open scholarships (Nova assuming they have NBA departures). Seton Hall would potentially have a TEAM two years out with Powell as a senior, Heron, Thompson, and Obiagu. Cuse could be a real factor as well. We'll see.

what about Uconn in his home state?

(05-29-2018 10:37 AM)stever20 Wrote:  what about Uconn in his home state?

I'm pretty sure UConn's full up on scholarship players at the moment. Maybe they could finagle something with financial aid because he's technically an in-state kid, but I'd be surprised if he agreed to walk on for a season and Hurley yanking a scholarship from someone else would be a terrible look. Doesn't help that UConn acquitted themselves very poorly against Auburn last year either.

EDIT: Zags posted an update and apparently Heron's mom has been very ill and the family's saying wants to play close to home to be able to see her. Sad situation, but Seton Hall/St. John's should make him a priority.

I do love how St John's fans think that Heron is going to be granted a hardship waiver and get to play right away. The odds of that happening are so remote- the NCAA doesn't want to open that can of worms at all. And that's all it would be.

If you want to see what a good OOC schedule looks like, look at Oklahoma

Atlantis- with Butler, Dayton, Florida, Middle Tennessee, Stanford, Wisconsin and Virginia (3 games)
vs Notre Dame @ MSG
vs Wichita St
vs USC
Creighton
@ Northwestern
Vanderbilt

That's at least 6 games vs P6 teams, and quite possibly 7-8. With of those 6-8 games, 4-6 games away from home.

(05-30-2018 08:59 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I do love how St John's fans think that Heron is going to be granted a hardship waiver and get to play right away. The odds of that happening are so remote- the NCAA doesn't want to open that can of worms at all. And that's all it would be.

Heron will most likely wind up at Saint John's and most likely have to sit a year. That being said, it's pretty hard to argue the move is about anything other than being near his sick mother - he's leaving a program that was the regular season champ in a major conference and on which he was a featured player, and that was projected to be even better next year, for a no-postseason squad with a crowded backcourt. The waiver likely won't be granted, but the intentions seem very genuine.

(05-30-2018 04:13 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(05-30-2018 08:59 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I do love how St John's fans think that Heron is going to be granted a hardship waiver and get to play right away. The odds of that happening are so remote- the NCAA doesn't want to open that can of worms at all. And that's all it would be.

Heron will most likely wind up at Saint John's and most likely have to sit a year. That being said, it's pretty hard to argue the move is about anything other than being near his sick mother - he's leaving a program that was the regular season champ in a major conference and on which he was a featured player, and that was projected to be even better next year, for a no-postseason squad with a crowded backcourt. The waiver likely won't be granted, but the intentions seem very genuine.

I totally agree with you. I just think it's a lot of hope from St John's fans on the NCAA granting the hardship waiver. The problem is, they just do not grant those at all(haven't in like 4 years now). I think he goes there, but won't be eligible until the 2019-20 season.

If the argument is that the NCAA just flat-out doesn't grant hardship waivers anymore, full stop, then we'll just have to wait and see and I actually suspect that that will indeed be the case. That being said, ethically the NCAA absolutely should grant this particular move a waiver. Based on the information available it passes just about any kind of scrutiny that you can throw at it, and if we're going to continue to pretend that the NCAA is about the well-being of the student-athlete and not a for-profit minor league built on the backs of semi-captive unpaid labor then "when my mom is in the hospital I want to be able to go sit with her" is about as good of a reason a young man can give for wanting to move closer to home. The only real logic against granting the waiver is that the programs are more important than the individual players and encouraging this kind of programmatic instability is bad for the bottom line.

(05-30-2018 06:10 PM)Bogg Wrote:  If the argument is that the NCAA just flat-out doesn't grant hardship waivers anymore, full stop, then we'll just have to wait and see and I actually suspect that that will indeed be the case. That being said, ethically the NCAA absolutely should grant this particular move a waiver. Based on the information available it passes just about any kind of scrutiny that you can throw at it, and if we're going to continue to pretend that the NCAA is about the well-being of the student-athlete and not a for-profit minor league built on the backs of semi-captive unpaid labor then "when my mom is in the hospital I want to be able to go sit with her" is about as good of a reason a young man can give for wanting to move closer to home. The only real logic against granting the waiver is that the programs are more important than the individual players and encouraging this kind of programmatic instability is bad for the bottom line.

yeah, I definitely think the NCAA just flat out doesn't grant them any longer. If there was a case for it, this would be it- but I just don't see the NCAA wanting to open back up the can of worms that was flat out abused before.

(05-30-2018 08:59 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I do love how St John's fans think that Heron is going to be granted a hardship waiver and get to play right away. The odds of that happening are so remote- the NCAA doesn't want to open that can of worms at all. And that's all it would be.

Why are you posting about St. Johns/Heron in a topic about Marquette???