to Marquette?  That's kind of a slap in the face to Bo Ryan.  Now let everyone say how the Badgers never really wanted him and  how he doesn't fit into the Badger's system.

Here's what Blue had to say.

 

Playing in the Big East was another key for Blue, as he feels the style of play in the league fits his game. “The Big East Conference is the best conference in the country, and I always thought it would be a challenge to play against schools like UConn, Pitt, Syracuse and Louisville. In the Big East you play those types of teams night in and night out. I feel that playing against the athletes in that conference will prepare me for what’s next, and to have an opportunity to play them in-state – that was something I couldn’t pass up.”

 The game may be passing Bo by.

 This one hurts. Oh well, life goes on.

Good luck Vander.  What you should have said was how great it will be for Marquette to continue to get crushed by the competition in the Big East.

Keep in mind all that was accomplished for the 3 HUGE recruits James, McNeal and Matthews was a 3rd place finish in the Big East and 2 NCAA wins?  Nice.

Lukester454:

Good luck Vander.  What you should have said was how great it will be for Marquette to continue to get crushed by the competition in the Big East.

Keep in mind all that was accomplished for the 3 HUGE recruits James, McNeal and Matthews was a 3rd place finish in the Big East and 2 NCAA wins?  Nice.

 

Not too mention not one of those guys even got drafted in the NBA.

Lukester454:

Good luck Vander.  What you should have said was how great it will be for Marquette to continue to get crushed by the competition in the Big East.

Bitter much?

This is a young man who chose one university to attend over another and we have two fourty somethings ragging on him because of his choice. Why does it matter who got drafted or who did what in the NCAA's. Does Wisconsin have that much of an advantage over Marquette in those areas? No.

Good luck Blue... except of course when you play UW

Just a perfect example of how recruiting at younger and younger ages causes problems. I understand the landscape of the game and why coaches need to recruit earlier, but here's what happens: Coaches must go out and recruit kids who aren't even close to ready to make a decision, and kids who aren't even close to ready to make a decision are enticed and wooed and pushed by those coaches and everyone around them to make a decision.

I'd like to be angry with Vander Blue, but the kid committed verbally to Wisconsin as a SOPHOMORE. How can a sophomore in college be ready to make a decision like that? I guess some kids that age might be ready to pick a school and won't have second thoughts, but that's pretty unlikely, especially when you're a talented athlete at that age and are very likely to get better and more highly-touted.

And I don't want to hear anyone say Bo Ryan got slapped in the face or failed to recruit. What's he supposed to do here? Let's just hope the Badgers that DID pick UW and chose to stay have a little extra motivation to beat Vander Blue when they play Marquette.

stix:

Let's just hope the Badgers that DID pick UW and chose to stay have a little extra motivation to beat Vander Blue when they play Marquette.

 

I agreed with most of your post Stix.  But if a recruit picked Wisky for whatever reasons were important to them and Vander Blue picked Marquette for whatever reasons were important to him, then where would the extra motivation come from?

I don't get it.  You're whole post was excellent up until that last sentence.  It kind of discounted everything else you said.

stix:

Just a perfect example of how recruiting at younger and younger ages causes problems. I understand the landscape of the game and why coaches need to recruit earlier, but here's what happens: Coaches must go out and recruit kids who aren't even close to ready to make a decision, and kids who aren't even close to ready to make a decision are enticed and wooed and pushed by those coaches and everyone around them to make a decision.

I'd like to be angry with Vander Blue, but the kid committed verbally to Wisconsin as a SOPHOMORE. How can a sophomore in college be ready to make a decision like that? I guess some kids that age might be ready to pick a school and won't have second thoughts, but that's pretty unlikely, especially when you're a talented athlete at that age and are very likely to get better and more highly-touted.

And I don't want to hear anyone say Bo Ryan got slapped in the face or failed to recruit. What's he supposed to do here? Let's just hope the Badgers that DID pick UW and chose to stay have a little extra motivation to beat Vander Blue when they play Marquette.

 

Yep.  He made a decision as a sophomore without really thinking about it.  Wisconsin's not really at fault here, there's really nothing more they could've done.  I've heard from a lot of places that alot of this has to do with Jeronne Maymon (his apparent best friend) and Wesley Matthews in his ear about how great Marquette is and how bad Wisconsin will be for him.

Oh well, the Wisconsin program will go on.

stix:

And I don't want to hear anyone say Bo Ryan got slapped in the face or failed to recruit.

Bo Ryan's recruiting failures go a lot deeper than Vander Blue.

And I think we both know that I don't need to be branded with the "you don't understand Bo's system" label. 

Bo capitalized on a weak Big Ten, and for that, he should be commended.  But I think we are going to see a very mediocre Badgers team in the next few years, and I don't think that should have happened given the slobbing that Bo gets nationally these days.

ike1024:

Bo Ryan's recruiting failures go a lot deeper than Vander Blue.

And I think we both know that I don't need to be branded with the "you don't understand Bo's system" label. 

Bo capitalized on a weak Big Ten, and for that, he should be commended.  But I think we are going to see a very mediocre Badgers team in the next few years, and I don't think that should have happened given the slobbing that Bo gets nationally these days.

Wow Ike.  That's quite a thought for a guy who's only been successful.

A.  He took advantage of a weak conference

B.  It's going downhill

 

I'm really not trying to take anything away from him puddy.  He's been wildly successful.  It's simply my opinion that his lack of recruiting talent/athleticism in the past two seasons will lead to a regression.  I was hoping that Diamond Taylor/Vander Blue could maybe add a little something, but that's not going to happen now.

Just my opinion, but I'll bet the Badgers are middle-of-the-pack in the Big Ten for at least a few years.  The Big Ten has all of a sudden become a very good conference, and UW doesn't have the talent to compete at the highest level with Purdue and MSU, and will struggle against Minnesota, PSU, Michigan, Illinois, and even Indiana in a couple of years.