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This past week, Rivals updated their Class of 2016 Top 150 basketball recruiting rankings. The Yahoo Sports system is the third service to make an update to their rankings over the last two weeks.
The important stuff for Marquette fans is the status of Sam Hauser, head coach Steve Wojciechowski's lone verbal commit for next fall right now. The small forward from Stevens Point, WI, comes in on the Top 150 at #134. That's the lowest spot in the rankings for Hauser between ESPN, Scout, and Rivals, as he turned up in the top 100 for both ESPN and Scout.
Hauser is the lowest ranked Big East recruit in the Top 150 with a whopping seven guys coming in front of him. Omari Spellman (Villanova, #22) leads the way as usual, with Quentin Goodin (Xavier, #84) and Joey Brunk (Butler, #99) joining him in the top 100. Between the century mark and Hauser you'll find Kamar Baldwin (Butler, #116), Howard Washington (Butler, #121), Jagan Mosely (Georgetown, #122), and Tyrique Jones (Xavier, #125). I think it's safe to say that Rivals thinks Butler has the best recruiting class in the Big East right now.
The Big East's eight verbal commitments is the fourth highest total for a conference in the Rivals list, falling behind 15 guys set to go to ACC schools, 13 for SEC teams, and 10 for the Big Ten.
Let's turn our attention to uncommitted recruits that have been attached to Marquette and Wojciechowski:
- Brendan Bailey: #49
- Amir Coffey: #54
- Lamar Stevens: #81
I think, at this point, it's important to note that this is the third straight update to a recruiting ranking that has not included Kostas Antetokounmpo in their top 100 or top 150. Between the lack of buzz on the Whitefish Bay (WI) Dominican forward and Marquette turning up as a finalist for both Bailey and Stevens recently, I get the distinct impression that Wojo has no interest in recruiting Antetokounmpo at this point. It's probably not the most surprising thing in the world, but Jerry Meyer, 247 Sports' Director of Basketball Scouting predicted Antetokounmpo to Marquette back in May, and there's been nothing to indicate that Marquette actually has any interest since then.
On the topic of 247 Sports predictions, Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook's Mark Miller predicted Lamar Stevens to Marquette on Sunday. Stevens is scheduled to visit Marquette on September 18th.
As things stand right now, Marquette has one scholarship available for the fall of 2016. Things can change, of course, as that scholarship count considers Henry Ellenson returning for his sophomore season.