Out of the blue on Wednesday morning, Marquette basketball announced that prized recruit Joey Hauser would be enrolling early at Marquette. He would redshirt this season and have four years of eligibility left once they hit next season. It’s hard to put into words how much this move helps Marquette next season. While most freshman next season are going to just getting use to college, Hauser will have already been there for 9.5 months before the season begins. The Stevens Point native will be seasoned, and that could be a huge lift to the team.

Hauser is dealing with a foot injury that’s sidelined him for a little while now, and he gets the Marquette training staff to take care of him for the next couple of months versus whatever Stevens Point can offer. That’s pretty big. He also attends the school of Todd Smith, Marquette’s strength and conditioning coach, who is well-regarded in getting guys to game shape like he did with Harry Froling. Hauser isn’t out of shape, but Smith will help him get ready for college basketball.

Once healthy, Hauser will get to practice with the team as well. They have a talented scout team with him, Ed Morrow, a transfer from Nebraska and Brendan Bailey, another 2018 recruit that’s arriving early. Marquette will get better looks from their scout team with those guys leading it. Also, this allows for Hauser to have a better connection with those guys on the court. If you’re a Marquette fan, you should be downright giddy about the chances to be great next season.

I’m sure people in Stevens Point are not taking the news well, and I get it in some regard. He should see out the season and be supportive of his teammates yet this is a high-level basketball. Hauser isn’t going to play for UW-Whitewater, he’s playing for Marquette. Making this move really helps him, and you’d hope his teammates/coaches understand.

Charlie.