All of the recent reports from the college basketball recruiting trail seemed to indicate that Marquette was intent on landing a post player to round out the 2012 recruiting class. Tuesday night word came down that they had done exactly that, as they received a verbal commitment from Aaron Durley, a 6'10" center out of Sugar Land, TX and George Bush High School (the same HS that produced Chris Otule).
They say that everything's bigger in Texas, and Durley certainly appears to support that theory. At 6'10" and 260-275lbs (depending on which website you believe) he is every bit a "true center". Reports indicate that Aaron runs the floor well for a guy his size, but will have to work to get into better shape to be able to do it at the college level. (Paging Todd Smith). He has good hands and good touch around the bucket, while lacking top level explosiveness. Long story short, it sounds like he is going to be something of a project - but what high school big man isn't? And if those same reports are true, then he could very well turn out be an under the radar player with a high ceiling, that winds up being a steal for MU.
Buzz Williams and Co. have had good success recently with the development of Otule and Davante Gardner. That fact apparently wasn't lost on Durley. When asked about his decision he told Brian Snow of scout.com, "I just thought that Marquette was the best fit for me. They do a great job of developing big men and they have a very good program up there."
Aaron chose Marquette over South Florida (Sorry Voodoo Five, we did it to ya again), South Alabama, Rice and others.
Fun fact: If you're a Little League World Series junkie, you may already be familiar with this kid. He made headlines a the 2006 LLWS as a 6'8", 13-year old, first baseman playing for the Saudi Arabia team.
Welcome aboard Aaron! Have a great senior year and we'll see you next fall!