Marquette invested time in an old school recruiting approach and the effort paid off on Wednesday with a commitment from one of the top rising senior prospects in Illinois.
Rolling Meadows senior Ian Miletic announced he’s headed to the Big East and will play for coach Shaka Smart.
With so much focus on the transfer portal among college programs, recruiting high school players intensely has taken a back seat. But Marquette identified Miletic early and let it be known he was a recruiting priority from the start.
Marquette was the first high-major program to offer Miletic after watching him last December at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament. More importantly, they remained persistent in the recruiting process over the past six months.
Both Smart and assistant coach Neill Berry were consistently in contact and made multiple trips to the northwest suburban school. Miletic made four unofficial trips to Marquette for games and practices before taking an official visit last week.
Miletic said he felt a connection right away with the staff and appreciated how they were committed to forming a bond.
“That stood out to me right away – the relationship aspect of it,” Miletic said. “They really invested in me and took the time to get to know me as a person and not just as a player. Over time, that’s what pulled Marquette away from other programs.”
With so many visits to Marquette, Miletic was able to see up close what the city, program and school was all about. He came to really like downtown Milwaukee. He was impressed with the academic side of the school, which is important for the high-academic Miletic, and he saw first hand how the program develops its players.
“The way they compete stood out to me,” Miletic said. “When I was on campus, just seeing how they get after each other and compete was impressive. It’s a great group of guys who seem to genuinely care about each other and also push each other as hard as they possibly can. They seem to have each other’s back. It was good to see that up close. The development of their players is really something that caught my eye.”
The development of the 6-7 Miletic over the course of his high school career has also been impressive. He played a significant role for the Mustangs as a freshman and sophomore before a breakout junior campaign this past season. He was a Sun-Times all-area selection and named to all-state teams as he averaged 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a game while shooting an impressive 45 percent from the three-point line.
The highly-versatile forward is also excited to be a part of a university that’s all about basketball.
Without there being a football team, the guys there said the city and school rallies around the basketball program,” said Miletic, who is one of the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top three prospects in the Class of 2025. “That’s kind of cool to know that you have that type of support from the fans and alumni and the amount of people surrounding the program with continuous support.”
Miletic will lead a Rolling Meadows team that won 22 games a year ago and returns all five starters.