Hey, did you see our recent article covering all of the new Class of 2024 scholarship offers that Marquette men’s basketball recently made? If not, you should go check it out before you get too far down the page here.

Those guys in that article were clearly the top priorities for Shaka Smart and his staff when the first day of initiating contact with that recruiting class rolled around last week. However, they’re not the only ones at the top of the list for Marquette. Here, we’re going to make a quick rundown of the names that we were able to track down noting that MU had reached out to them. We should point out that along the way, we’re going to bump into two guys for 2024 that already have offers from Marquette, which is why they’re here and not in the offer article. It’s probably not a coincidence that both are local to Milwaukee.

Let’s drop in a scholarship chart real quick at the start here.....

.... and remember that one of the four open scholarship spots for the fall of 2024 is probably going to a 2023 freshman alongside Zaide Lowery. It’s also possible that Oso Ighodaro, Tyler Kolek, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper could opt to use their COVID bonus year of eligibility and stay at Marquette.... which would then use one of the available scholarships.

Here we go!

Bryce Dortch

247 Sports says that Dortch is a 6’7” forward from Massachusetts... and that’s about it. No ratings or rankings yet in either the Composite or the internal system. He has five offers yet, including Rutgers and Texas A&M from the high major ranks. That height might be wrong though, as New England Recruiting Report had him at 6’8” in June 2021..... when Shaka Smart was in attendance at the NEPSAC Showcase.

Duane Thompson

I can’t track down a 247 Sports page for the Putnam Science Academy attendee, but thankfully, New England Recruiting Report comes through for us again. They’ve got Thompson as a 6’6” forward up in Connecticut. I don’t know about stats or his role, but I can say this for sure: If Thompson is going to be at Putnam, they’re not going to take things laying down next year after going 38-0 in dominant fashion this past season.

Iverson King

I’m not going to lie to you: I’m fascinated by Division 2 Emory & Henry on this list. Let’s be honest to the Wasps: If Arkansas, Providence, and Marquette are knocking on the door, the Division 2 ship has probably sailed.

In any case, King doesn’t appear to have a 247 Sports page yet, but something called SportsRecruits.com has a page for him. They list the North Carolina prospect as a 6’6”, 190 pound small forward.

Caden Wilkins

The 6’6” small forward is already rolling in high major interest, as you can see from the tweet. Given that, it’s probably only a matter of time before 247 Sports gets around to putting him in their internal rankings for 2024. He’s not there yet, but hey, we’re still very early in the cycle.

Right now, Wilkins’ interest list is, well, very interesting. In addition to the schools above, there’s also Butler, Drake, Iowa, and Wisconsin... but so far, the only team to actually offer him is Bryant, allllll the way out there in Rhode Island. That’s a little bit weird, eh?

Calvin Robins, Jr.

When you’re 6’5” tall at the end of your sophomore year, that’s pretty good in terms of your potential basketball future. However, I’m not 100% sure that 247 Sports has things right for Calvin Robins. They’re listing him as a 6’5”, 185 power forward. Sure, he absolutely is that in high school, because good luck finding a lot of guys 6’5” tall. I don’t think being a 6’5”, 185 power forward is going to work out for him in college, though. Feels much more small forward-y to me.

The fact that he has a 247 page is good, the fact that there are no interests listed for him at this point.... well, it’s not bad, but it definitely indicates that things might not have gotten moving for him on the recruiting front yet. App State and Western Michigan knocking on the door seems to indicate a bit of mid-major attention that’s not represented by 247 Sports, though.

Kon Knueppel

And now we have reached the portion of our show where we talk about a guy who already has an offer from Marquette. If I’m not mistaken, Kon Knueppel is the first Class of 2024 prospect to get an offer from Shaka Smart. If nothing else, he’s the first one that we knew about.

In any case, 247 Sports says he’s a 6’5”, 205 pound shooting guard. Remember what I said about Calvin Robins and being a power forward? This is my point. Knueppel isn’t in the 247 Composite yet, but he is ranked #56 in the country in their internal ranking system. That makes him the top prospect in Wisconsin for his class, and until he tells Shaka Smart that he’s not interested, that makes him a priority for the Golden Eagles.

His offer list on 247 Sports looks pretty much like you’d expect it to at this point. In addition to the “well, duh” entries of Marquette and Wisconsin, there’s also Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Notre Dame amongst other high major teams. I see you, Miami.

Rakease Passmore

Can’t ever have enough attention being paid to guys who are 6’5” tall and 180 pounds at the end of their sophomore year of high school, that’s what I always say. Passmore hails from North Carolina, where he attends Combine Academy.

His 247 Sports Interests lists is very mid-major-y at the moment, although Murray State being involved tells you a lot. There’s also Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Wake Forest from the high major department alongside the three other teams mentioned in Justin Byerly’s tweet there.

Will Hornseth

6’8” and 200 pounds at the age of 16 is going to get you a lot of college attention, but it’s not quite high major attention yet for Will Hornseth. He’s got a 247 Sports page, which is good news for him, but he doesn’t have a rating or a ranking in the Composite or the internal systems yet.

Toledo and Green Bay are the only two schools listed as having offered Hornseth a scholarship, but Minnesota and Wisconsin have him on the radar at this point. The inclusion of Belmont as a program that’s reaching out on Day 1 is very interesting, especially with the Bruins moving to the Missouri Valley Conference starting this coming fall.

Keyshaun Tillery

I’m going to trust the 247 Sports page for Tillery and just presume that Tom Keller made a typo in the young man’s first name. Keyshaun is the much more likely spelling, y’know?

Anyway, he’s a 6’1”, 170 pound point guard from Albany, New York, which explains why you’re seeing the Great Danes on the phone, not to mention Siena as well. UMass and UMBC are the only two programs listed as having offered him by 247 Sports, so it seems like Tillery is not quite on high major radars yet. If he’s playing for City Rocks, it’s probably only a matter of time before more high major squads are at least kicking the tires.

Kur Teng

When you look at that list of high major programs on the phone to Teng on Day 1 of contact, then the next thing I’m about to say probably isn’t going to surprise you. 247 Sports rates the 6’4”, 185 pound shooting guard from Massachusetts as a four-star prospect. Ranking? #34 in the country. See, makes sense, doesn’t it? They have him as the #10 shooting guard prospect in the recruiting class and the top prospect in the state, too. Almost seems weird to not see UConn on that list, eh?

God bless you for trying, Longwood.

Nick Janowski

Here’s our other guy with a Marquette offer. Shaka Smart extended the offer in late October last year, which was probably in connection with his unofficial visit, too. At the time, he was not rated or ranked..... but now 247 Sports’ Composite system has him at #53 in the recruiting class. The 6’3”, 180 pound combo guard from Pewaukee is the #5 prospect at his position, and by way of Kon Kneuppel not having a Composite at the moment, Janowski is the top prospect in the state there. Internally, 247 has Kneuppel 16 spots higher than Janowski, although you’re really splitting hairs between #56 and #72. Mix in Tayshawn Bridges (#58 in the Composite), and there’s going to be a lot of high major attention pointed at the state of Wisconsin over the next 15 months or so.

Jack Daugherty

It took me a minute to find it, but Jack Daugherty does have a 247 Sports page. The 6’7”, 195 pound small forward from Brookfield doesn’t have a rating or a ranking yet, nor does he have any teams listed as being interested in him either. He’s attracting a pretty wide range of programs calling him up in terms of geography, so it’s probably a matter of time before he does get at least a rating attached to his name.