By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Jul 24, 2017 at 5:31 PM

Marquette got its first commitment in the Class of 2018, head coach Steve Wojciechowski’s top-priority recruit and a nationally ranked, in-state player the Golden Eagles lured away from the likes of Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Joey Hauser, a 6-foot-7 forward from Stevens Point Area Senior High School, announced Sunday night on Twitter that he had committed to Marquette, where he’ll join his older brother, Sam, a rising sophomore on the Golden Eagles. Joey Hauser, who will be a senior next year, has helped Stevens Point win three straight WIAA Division 1 state championships.

Hauser had offers from nearly a dozen other schools – including Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Purdue and Virginia – but the three programs believed to be the favorites were Marquette, Wisconsin and Michigan State. The Golden Eagles and Badgers often contend for the same high-profile, in-state players, and the recruiting rivalry has revived recently, as both programs have risen to prominence. Marquette landed the Hausers in back-to-back years, as well as big men Henry Ellenson and Matt Heldt in 2015, while Wisconsin has gotten Brevil Pritzl in 2015, much-hyped 2017 guard Kobe King and 2018 commit Tyler Herro.

A consensus top-50 recruit who’s considered one of the best post players in the country, Hauser averaged 23.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists as a junior last season. He also shot over 35 percent on 3-pointers, which will make him even more valuable in Marquette’s offense. At 6-8 and 210 pounds, Hauser is a versatile offensive player who moves well and is capable on the perimeter, in the paint and at the rim.

Hauser was dominant in the WIAA title game last year against Arrowhead, scoring 33 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in an 85-56 SPASH victory. On the Adidas Gauntlet AAU circuit this spring and summer, he averaged 17.9 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Iowa Barnstormers, with Wojciechowski reportedly attending all of his games in July.

Including Hauser, Marquette will have a full roster of 13 scholarship players in 2018-19. The Golden Eagles went 19-13 last season (10-8 in the Big East), making their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Wojciechowski and since 2013. Hauser will join Brendan Bailey, a 2016 signee who will arrive at Marquette in 2018 after completing a one-year Mormon mission, as the Golden Eagles’ two freshmen. 

Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.