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Class of 2013 recruit Jajuan Johnson, a 6'5" shooting guard from Southwind High School in Memphis, TN, gave his verbal commitment to Marquette and head coach Buzz Williams yesterday. Johnson comes in ranked #33 by Scout, #63 by Rivals and #63 by ESPN.
I could pretend to bring you some kind of insight to Johnson's recruiting, but Paint Touches is bringing the heat on that issue, so I suggest you go read their interview with Jajuan's mother, Shaun Williams.
The one thing that jumped out at me in that Paint Touches article is that Johnson is unsure as to whether he's going to sign a national letter of intent during the fall signing period which starts on November 14. Why is this of interest? Well, here's the list of current Marquette players on scholarship that will be expected to return on scholarship in 2013:
Seniors: Chris Otule has a possible sixth season of eligibility available, and Buzz Williams not taking him to Big East Media Day as he does with all seniors implies that the plan is for Otule to return next season.
Juniors: Vander Blue, Davante Gardner, Jamil Wilson
Sophomores: Juan Anderson, Todd Mayo, Derrick Wilson
Freshmen: Jamal Ferguson, Steve Taylor, Jr.
That's nine guys. That leaves four scholarships in the maximum allowed 13 scholarships for the following guys:
Deonte Burton, John Dawson, Jajuan Johnson, Jameel McKay, Duane Wilson.
That's five. Five guys for four spots. It would appear that someone is not returning or will never actually arrive on campus.
As I mentioned, Johnson is not sure if he will sign a national letter of intent in two weeks. We've talked before about whether recruits should sign letters of intent before, so we can't fault him for that. But if Marquette's other four verbally committed recruits all sign letters, then Johnson may find himself waiting for a current player to transfer or one of the other recruits to be released.
So, let's ask the Big Question then: Who do you want to see cut loose? What do you see as the most likely conclusion to this conflict? As always, your thoughts are welcome in the comments section.