Buckley transferred from Marian Catholic between his sophomore and
junior year, bringing an immediate perimeter threat to a team already
blessed in the post. Buckley was getting a reputation as a top sophomore
in the state of Illinois, which brought about a meeting between the
coaches and his parents about his future with the team. When the
Buckley family found out the future plan for his son at Marian
Catholic was post play, they went looking elsewhere. They didn't get
far. Buckley lived across the street from Thornwood. The
all-around threat averaged 14.5 points, nine rebounds and three
assists as a sophomore at Marian. Those numbers, along with a growing
reputation as a perimeter shooter in summer basketball, were good
enough to be named a top 150 player by former Prep Stars scout
Dave Telep. Buckley is highly athletic, but needs to get stronger to
improve his finishing around the basket. While at Marian Catholic,
Purdue, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Michigan State began paying
attention. Since then, Illinois, North Carolina, Marquette, and Arizona
have all made the list.
Melvin Buckley verbally committed to the Boilers on July 21, 2001, and signed
with Purdue during the early signing period of November 2001.
11-21-01...Keady's 2001-2002 recruiting class is now officially complete. Purdue
has received an LOI from each verballed player making them official Boilermakers.
Congratulations to the players and the coaching staff for another top 25 caliber
class, rated as such by both Van Coleman and Bob Gibbons.
7-21-01...Purdue landed their third commitment for the incoming class of 2002-2003
when 6'7 wing Melvin Buckley chose Purdue over rival Michigan State. "I like the
family atmosphere that Purdue has," Buckley told Ken Thompson of the
Journal and Courier. "I love the coaching staff. I like coach Keady's
offense." Rated the 94th best prospect in his class by Recruiting USA, he averaged
14.2 points as a junior. Buckley hit 40-percent of his perimeter shots, and 78-percent
from the line. He is also a good student, currently sporting a 3.5 GPA. With the
addition of a wing scorer like Buckley, Purdue will now look to fill one remaining
scholarship with a big man.
6-21-01...Melvin Buckley has narrowed his list to include Michigan State,
Illinois, Arizona, Stanford, Purdue and Marquette, and hopes to get an
offer from Michigan State this weekend. Notre Dame and Wisconsin have been
dropped from his list.
6-12-01...Melvin Buckley's visit to MSU was postponed, moved out to June 20th.
Stanford is the newest school on a list that includes Michigan State, Purdue,
Arizona, Illinois and Marquette.
5-24-01...Thornwood's 2002 wing forward Melvin Buckley tells Russ Blake both
Purdue and Marquette have offered scholarships, but Michigan State might have
the early edge. Additional schools under consideration are Michigan, Wisconsin,
Boston College, Virginia, Notre Dame and Arizona. Buckley is also academically
qualified with a 3.7 GPA and an ACT score of 23.
5-3-01...The Michigan-based AAU team "The Family" won the championship at the
Jerry Watson All-Ohio Great Eight tournament this past weekend. Two players
mentioning Purdue were named co-MVPs -- Ricardo Billings and Lester Abrams --
and Thornwood (IL) wing Melvin Buckley made the all-tournament team. While
The Family isn't scheduled to attend this weekend's Spiece Run 'N Slam
tournament in Fort Wayne, Buckley will be playing for the Illinois Warriors
who will be in attendance. The Warriors' first game will be at 10:00pm Friday
in the Spiece Fieldhouse on Court 8. If you attend that game, you might want to
cruise over to Court 1 during the game to check out prospect Matt Kiefer, who
will be playing for Warrick County AAU.
4-30-01...Midwest Hoops has released their list of the top 25 juniors in the
midwest. Purdue has been heard to be involved with...No.5 Lester Abrams (6'6
Pontiac, MI), No.8 Rick Cornett (6'8 Homewood, IL), No.10 J.R. Morris (6'5
Milwaukee, WI), No.11 Ricardo Billings (6'4 Detroit, MI), No.13 Chris Hunter
(6'10 Gary, IN), No.18 Matt Kiefer (6'8 Evansville, IN), No.21 Melvin Buckley
(6'7 Thornwood, IL), No.22 Robert Hite (6'1 Cincinnati, OH) and No.24 Greg
Brown (6'1 Milwaukee, WI).
3-24-01...Buckley supposedly had a hip injury that dramatically affected his
play in the Illinois state finals last weekend. Which explains why he showed
little to be impressed with for the game. Schaumburg upset Thornwood 66-54 in
the state finals. A player Buckley spent some time defending, ended up having
a career night with 21 points and 10 assists. The outside shooting touch
we've been hearing about was not on display during the game. Buckley did
hit a couple threes, the best one coming off the dribble, but he also banged
a perimeter attempt off the side of the backboard on a shot from the baseline.
A hip problem would definitely explain the lack of movement and quickness on
defense we saw. We'll get some more looks at him this summer.
3-23-01...Junior prospects Ricky Cornett (6'8, Homewood Christian, IL) and
Melvin Buckley (6'7 Thornwood, IL) have been named all-state special mention
players by the Chicago Tribune.
2-22-01...Buckley lead No. 1 Thornwood (24-1) on Monday with 21 points in a
70-57 win over Rich East. Buckley sank five three-point baskets, taking advantage
of Rich East's double-teaming of center Eddy Curry in the post.
Scouting report by Gene Keady..."He's a very athletic player with long arms. We
think he can develop into one of the better players in the nation. He's very mobile
for his size and will be a tough matchup for other teams." (11/21/01, Purdue SID)
Scouting report by Van Coleman..."Melvin Buckley is a jumping-jack. He's raw, but
he's got a lot of upside. It will just take awhile for him to come around."
(11/15/01, Indianapolis Star)
AAU coach Mac Irvin..."If he uses that first step he can beat you, but the more
and more he explores playing big time basketball it makes him do more things that he
wasn't able to do before. He causes a lot of havoc on offense with his outside shot,
but then he could take it to the basket, too." 7/21/01
PrepStars scouts Roy and Harv Schmidt from the Nike MDC..."Buckley started off
slow but got better towards the end of the tournament. Unfortunately, his team did
not make it out of pool play. Buckley is an outstanding pure shooter with big time
range and due to his athleticism is also a solid rebounder. However, he needs to get
considerably stronger and as a result of this he is reluctant to go to the hole."
6/12/01
Prime Time Recruiting..."Several of the BIG 10's were out and about to watch
this young fella play. With 2 years left, all he needs to do is get in the weight
room and get stronger so he can finish on some of his dazzling attempts at the
basket. Very, very athletic with a lovely stroke from the perimeter." 9/27/00
Date Day Time Opponent
---- --- ---- --------------------
Lincoln-Way East Tournament
11/19/01 MON 7:30P Rich Central
11/20/01 TUE 7:30P Chicago Tilden
11/21/01 WED 7:30P TBA
Lincoln-Way East Tournament
11/30/01 FRI 7:30P @ Rich East
12/07/01 FRI 7:00P Homewood-Flossmoor
12/14/01 FRI 6:30P Thornton
Blue Cross/Blue Shield Classic
12/15/01 SAT 3:00P vs Lyons Township
Blue Cross/Blue Shield Classic
12/21/01 FRI 7:00P Shepard
Shootout at the Hill (@ Hillcrest)
12/22/01 SAT 8:00P vs Morgan Park
Shootout at the Hill (@ Hillcrest)
State Farm Holiday Classic (@ Normal)
12/26/01 SAT TBA TBA
12/27/01 SAT TBA TBA
12/28/01 SAT TBA TBA
12/29/01 SAT TBA TBA
State Farm Holiday Classic (@ Normal)
01/11/02 FRI 7:00P @ Thornridge
01/18/02 FRI 7:30P @ Bloom Township
01/19/02 SAT 3:00P New Trier
01/25/02 FRI 7:30P @ Homewood-Flossmoor
01/26/02 SAT 7:30P @ Evanston
02/01/02 FRI 6:30P @ Thornton
02/02/02 SAT 7:00P Champaign Centennial
02/08/02 FRI 7:30P @ Shepard
02/09/02 SAT 6:00P @ Whitney Young
02/15/02 FRI 6:30P Thornridge
02/19/02 TUE 7:00P Rich South
02/22/02 FRI 7:00P Bloom
02/26/02 TUE TBA IHSA Regionals
* Schedule subject to change.
As news organizations move their stories to an archive, some of the links listed above may become inactive
OldGoldFreePress.com is organized & maintained by a group of college sports reporters with the help of Purdue sports fans everywhere. OldGoldFreePress.com is an independent and unofficial Purdue (+ Big Ten Conference/NCAA) sports news site that is not affiliated with Purdue University, the Big Ten Conference, the NCAA and/or any university athletic program.
![[Melvin Buckley]](../icons/pics/melvinbuckley1.jpg){kind=icon}
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