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Vander Blue reconsiders Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE — Former Marquette guard Wesley Matthews sees Wisconsin’s methodical half-court style as the wrong fit for fast-paced prospect Vander Blue.

Blue, a 6-foot-4 guard who will be a senior at Madison Memorial next season, is considered the state’s top 2010 prospect and was considered the centerpiece of coach Bo Ryan’s recruiting efforts. But Blue began wavering on his decision recently and said Tuesday he was backing out of his oral commitment for now.

Matthews is in a unique position to offer advice—he went to the same high school as Blue and chose Marquette over the hometown Badgers.

“Not a knock on the Badgers, but I just don’t think that Vander, knowing him as a person and a player, would be his best fit,” said Matthews, after a pre-draft workout with the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. “I’m not even saying Marquette would be his best fit. I just know that his best fit would be being able to get up and down (the floor). He needs to be taught to play off ball screens and make reads and stuff like that.”

Blue said Tuesday that Wisconsin’s style had nothing to do with his decision, but he’s looking for a program that feels “right” to him, without elaborating.

Matthews said he has talked to and text-messaged with Blue several times about the recruiting process, but hadn’t spoken to him since early this year.

“At no point did I tell him (to decommit). I just told him what it was,” Matthews said. “When you’re a sophomore and you’re committed to a college, there’s no telling what’s going to happen in those two years.

“If you’re really happy with the decision, fine, cool, do it. If you’re not, you’ve got to realize what you did. You’re signing up for four years of your life that you’re not going to get back.”

Blue’s decision also might be influenced by Marquette-bound teammate Jeronne Maymon, the 2009 AP Player of the Year in Wisconsin.

Matthews said he was lucky because both of his parents were star athletes and were able to help him navigate through the decision-making process when he was in high school. His advice for Blue is to take his time researching schools, and find somewhere he can be happy regardless of what happens.

“It’s a guess, you’re not 100 percent sure what’s going to happen,” said Matthews, who went through a coaching change at Marquette. “You have to put yourself in the best possible situation, but you always have to think of it in a worst-case scenario. If I’m there, how would I be able to manage in a worst-case scenario?”

Matthews looking at NBA

Matthews shook his head when he talked about a recent psychological quiz he took that asked if he’d rather watch a house be built or painters paint.

“You can’t say ‘neither.’ You can’t say ‘TV,’” Matthews deadpanned on Wednesday. “There was no why, I just did the building.”

Matthews and teammate Dominic James are working to build a reputation that they’re worthy of a draft pick. The pair were in Milwaukee as part of a pre-draft workout for the Bucks. They’re two of the six players who worked out, all considered second-round talents.

Milwaukee’s player personnel director Dave Babcock said he thinks both Matthews and James will play professionally, but it may be overseas.

“They’ll both make money playing basketball. Wes is definitely a potential second-round pick,” Babcock said. “With Dominic’s injury and so forth, I will say it’s going to be tough for him to get drafted, but you never know.”