POSTERIZED: Vander Blue does it again

No single player has had a more impressive week dunk-wise than Vander Blue.

Against Washington in the Jimmy-V Classic, he dropped a nasty one-handed dunk on Abdul Gaddy that highlighted a fantastic performance by the Golden Eagles.

While everybody else was watching the Crosstown Brawl and Indiana's amazing buzzer-beating win over Kentucky, Vander Blue was dunking on every single UW-Green Bay player.



After what I've seen from Vander Blue this week, it's become abundantly clear that you do not want to try and stop him on a fast break.


But was it as good as these?

Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26




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POSTERIZED: Marquette gives Abdul Gaddy "a case of the Blues"

The nightcap of the Jimmy-V Classic on Tuesday night featured Marquette and Washington, two teams known for exciting play and scoring points.

While last weekend's game between North Carolina and Kentucky remains the favorite for "Game of the Year", the tilt between the Huskies and the Golden Eagles certainly deserves recognition.

After all, the game was a back-and-forth affair. There were 15 lead changes in the final 12 minutes, a game-winning 3-pointer by Jae Crowder with under 10 seconds left, and even two signature POSTERIZED dunks.

We showed you the first one a couple hours ago.

But here's the other one.

Abdul Gaddy will be singing the blues after being on the wrong end of a POSTERIZED jam from Marquette sophomore Vander Blue.



The best part about this dunk is that Blue initially goes up with a finger-roll, but decided to change plans mid-flight. You can see him turn his wrist as his hand descends on the rim. The average human-being probably can't do something like that.

Marquette is one of the most exciting teams to watch this year. They have the coaching, experience, talent, athleticism, and now with Blue, a play-making guard who can do it all, the Golden Eagles should be considered legitimate Final Four contenders.


But was it as good as these?

Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26



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Vander Blue facing assault and battery charge

Thomas Robinson isn't the only college hooper that is in trouble with the law today.

Marquette's Vander Blue had a hearing on Tuesday stemming from an assault and battery charge that he was cited for back in October. The incident apparently occurred at 1:30 in the morning outside a Qdoba after someone referred to Blue as 'Vander Orange':

Police said Blue punched another student after that student called Blue a name. His attorney, Gerald Boyle, said Blue plans to fight the charge.

"The young man called Mr. Vander Blue, Vander Orange, and he invited the guy to step outside, and the guy said OK, and they both went outside, a little fisticuffs. I think one punch took place and that was it. That, in my opinion is not battery, because in order to have battery, you have to have it without the consent of, and it seems to me the invitation to step outside, which was taken, takes it out of the battery category," Boyle said.

Blue refused an offer from prosecutors to reduce the battery ticket to disorderly conduct.

"I know why he got the ticket. He got the first punch. There was only one punch, and it wasn't a very serious matter. I think the boy said his face hurt a little bit," Boyle said.

I don't know the situation, but I'm not sure that being called a name should result in a fight, especially when you are a student-athlete at a high-profile school with a scholarship on the line.

Blue averaged 5.1 ppg and 2.8 rpg for the Golden Eagles this season after coming in as one of the best recruits Buzz Williams has landed at the school.
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Jeronne Maymon leaves Marquette

Marquette freshman Jeronne Maymon has left the Marquette basketball team according to an emailed press release from Marquette.

"We want to thank Jeronne for his contributions to the program while he was here and wish him the best of luck in the future," head coach Buzz Williams said in the statement.

Maymon, who is 6'6", 250 lb, was a two-time Wisconsin state player of the year at Madison's Memorial High School. He was expected to be a big-time recruit for Williams, especially with sophomore Chris Otule out for the season.

But the loss of Maymon's 4.0 ppg and 4.2 rpg may not be as significant as the possible loss of Vander Blue.

You see, Blue and Maymon were teammates at Memorial, and Blue has referred to Maymon as his "best friend" and "big brother" in interviews. Blue originally committed to Wisconsin, but backed out in part because of comments posted on a Wisconsin blog, but also because he wanted to play with Maymon in college.

With Maymon gone, is Blue still going to Marquette?

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Vander Blue commits to Marquette

You remember Vander Blue, don't you?

He is the top 30 recruit who decommitted from Wisconsin back in May in part because of negative comments Wisconsin fans made on a few online articles.

Well, after attending their Midnight Madness, Blue has now committed to Marquette, one of Wisconsin's fiercest rivals.

Former Wisconsin recruit Vander Blue is now committed to Marquette.
(photo credit: JSOnline)

To be fair, there was more to the decision than just the reaction from the Badgers fan base. Blue, who is from Madison, committed to Bo Ryan when he was just 15 years old. He is a dynamic point guard who now gets the opportunity to play in a system much more conducive to guard play. Plus, his "best friend" and "big brother", former Madison Memorial teammate Jeronne Maymon, is currently a freshman on the Marquette team.

So maybe Blue was never destined to be a Badger.

But I can't help but wonder whether he could have ended up at Wisconsin had he received more positive feedback from Badger fans.

The moral of the story?

Watch what you say online. You never know who may read it.

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Blogs cost Wisconsin Vander Blue

About a week ago, reports surfaced that Vander Blue, a top 30 recruit in the class of '10, was going to decommit from Wisconsin.

This is nothing out of the ordinary. Blue is a local kid (he plays for Madison Memorial) and committed to the school when he was 15. There are a million reasons why Blue could have decommitted. Maybe the point guard didn't want to be stymied in the Badger's grind-it-out offense. Maybe he wanted to follow former Memorial players Wesley Matthews and Jeronne Maymon (the '09 AP Wisconsin player of the year) to Marquette. Maybe he just wanted to see what other schools were an option.

Vander Blue is no longer committed to Wisconsin.
(photo credit: BadgerBeat)

But during a press conference on Tuesday, Blue offered some clues as to why he was re-opening his recruitment. From the Journal-Sentinel:

Blue stressed he didn’t re-open his recruitment because of a published report in which a source raised potential academic obstacles or because some UW fans, after reading the report, used the Internet to criticize his intellect and work ethic.

Listen to what he had to say.

“Just to see how these so-called Wisconsin fans, what they had to say on those blogs,” he said, “it really made me second-guess: Do people really want me here?

“Because I know if I was a fan and I heard about a recruit I’d be more like: ‘What can we do to help him?
“And not: ‘Let’s make him feel like the worst person in Madison right now.’

“That is how I felt. I felt like I was in a corner, trapped and I couldn’t get out…

“I just felt like it was so unnecessary. I don’t think I’m that worse of a guy. Sometimes I might be tired and have a little attitude…I don’t think I’m a horrible person.

“These 40-year-old adults talking about somebody who don’t got their license yet. I just felt it was so unnecessary…

“Picture yourself in my position. Rumors going around, you’re just keeping quiet. And you read the article and 1,000 people throwing you under the bus, trying to find every reason, saying: ‘Good, we don’t want him here.’

“It just made me feel bad like I was worthless here.”

To the best of my internet sleuthing, this is the article that was referenced by the Journal-Sentinel.

Personally, I have two reactions to this bit of news. First of all, Vander, if you ever read this, quit crying man. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you probably dream of playing in the NBA one day. If you want to reach the league, playing major college basketball is all but a prerequisite. One of the things you have to come to grips with is that the top tier college basketball programs have rabid fan bases, and during the off-season (when there is no basketball or football to be found) these fans are going to spend their time breaking down the every move of their school's recruits and potential recruits.

Face it, even as a 16 year old junior, you are a public figure in this day and age. If you can't handle a couple anonymous posters on some Wisconsin blog (who may or may not actually be Wisconsin fans, how do you know they are Marquette students trying to tarnish your view of the Badgers?), how do you plan playing a road game in the Big Ten?

My advice - stop reading the blogs, get in the classroom and make sure there are no academic issues, then get in the gym and work on your game. If you can't handle the scruntiny, go to UW-Stevens Points. They have a pretty good D3 program, and I'm sure they would love a top 30 recruit.

And how dumb do these Wisconsin fans have to be? Anonymous or not, why would you EVER post that you don't want a top 30 recruit to come to your school? Bo Ryan is not John Calipari. He does not have Mickey D's all-americans knocking down his door.

If the academic rumors were true, you really have no idea why he is struggling in the classroom, either. Maybe his parents are going through a rough patch. Maybe his girlfriend dumped him. Hell, maybe his dog died. Go back to when you were 16, and think about how any one of those scenarios could have seemed like the end of the world. Yes, it is just as likely that he was slacking off in class, but my point is that none of you actually know.

My gut feeling on this one? I bet Blue ends up at Marquette. Not because of the blogs, not because of academics, but because Buzz Williams runs a much more guard-friendly offensive attack, and there is a pipeline from Blue's high school to Milwaukee.

Regardless, Badger fans, maybe we want to play nice from this point forward? Just a thought.

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