Most improved player

[MUAlphaBangura]

Couldn't help but feel proud of Vander when accepting his Most Improved Player Award. For a 19 year old kid to get up in front of a crowd in excess of 300 people, and expose himself for some of the errors he has made during his time at Marquette. That took HUGE stones! Talked about how he was not only working to be a better basketball player, but also a better student and better person. He apoligized for screwing up and asked that we be patient as becoming a man is a long process and doesn't happen overnight. From where he came from, to where he is at now- if he can make another step forward, we are going to have one heck of a leader on our team next year. It is absolutely awesome to see his growth, even with the bumps int the road. Maybe his tweet yesterday about "change is good" has everything to do with the process of him maturing. Can't wait to see him next season.

[Gato78]

I agree 100%. Big Vander fan before, bigger Vander fan now.

[IWB]

Van is a classic. I really like him. Two classic moments from the Pro-Am. In year one, game one, Van gets a T for hanging on the rim. He immediately complains to the ref, "What? This is a Pro-Am?" The ref explains, "Vander, its my job to get you ready for the NCAA, and in the NCAA, that is a T." Then the announcer says, "Technical Foul on Vander Blue." Vander runs over to the scorer's table, "No, no, no - you have to say it like this "Techni.....Fou....Va....Bluh...." Basically muffling his voice to make every word to be not understood by the crowd. Pretty funny for a freshman.

Then last year we moved to Greenfield High School. The second gym was their old "Hawk Dome". It was poorly lit, dark, dingy, temporary bleachers etc. Day two he finds out his team plays in the field house. He comes up to me and asks me to change it. "Huh?" I asked. "Man, yesterday the Dome was rocking - I want to play all of our games in the dome!" Of course I did not accommodate, but I thought it was classic that a bigger name like him would prefer to play in the smaller, poorly lit gym.

I will repeat something I probably should not, but at the Elite Camp that MU had a few years ago, when Vander was trying to figure out what to do as far as where to go to school, I over heard him tell Buzz Williams in a private conversation, "I think I need Marquette more than Marquette needs me." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, pretty big statement to come from a confused high school kid.

[JohnnyRev]

I'm really happy to hear this about what Vander said at the banquet. Today I was with Fr. Kelly and Minnesota Jeb at the team's open gym. Vander was one of the first in the gym shooting threes over and over again and making most of them. He came over and greeted us very warmly. The open gym games were extremely lively and hard fought, and the players were really into it. Not only was Vander vastly better than last summer's open gyms, but he also spent some time giving advice to his teammate Juan, and patting his shoulder when he did something good. I saw tremendously good vibes out there on the court (even a couple good arguments to underline how hard they were playing).

[MUMac]

Really happy to hear that Vander took that responsibility. Shows a great deal of maturity for the kid - yes, maturity for the kid. He is still a kid. People forget that. I have always pulled for Vander. Pulled hard. It really bothers me when some of these "basketball experts" attack him.

[2012Warrior]

Vander reminds me a lot of Carlos Gomez (CF for the Brewers for the non-baseball fan). Both have tons of potential, outstanding physical gifts, both great on defense, and are very young for the position they are in (Gomez not as much as before, but he was up at a young age). Both are very frustrating to watch, but not necessarily in a bad way. Frustrating in the sense that they have so much talent and seem to be on the edge of breaking out that you hope it just clicks for them. Both tend to want to make something happen that they end up making some bonehead plays, but the effort is always there.

I really like what Vander's game can be. He improved so much this year, if he can get better at finishing at the basket and his jump shot, the sky is the limit. Those stories are great and it seems like he really is working at it. If he takes another big step forward next year, it could be a fun year.