Marquette Basketball: Eagles add four-star forward Al Amadou to 2023 class

Marquette Basketball got a commitment from a talented frontcourt prospect in Al Amadou. What does he provide the Golden Eagles once he arrives on campus?

At the start of the offseason, Marquette Basketball was able to land four-star shooting guard prospect Zaide Lowery to jumpstart the 2023 recruiting class. And now a few months later, they were able to get commitment No. 2 in Al Amadou, a 6’9 forward prospect from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Amadou has flown under the radar as a prospect before this offseason, where impressive performances in the live evaluation periods made him a definite power conference type of talent. One program that was on the power forward early was in fact the Golden Eagles, one of a couple who got Amadou on for a visit.

Amadou fits what Marquette and head coach Shaka Smart like in their frontcourt players. Defensive-first players with plenty of athleticism and skillset that can develop into potential stars long-term. This commit is a quality shot-blocker from the four-spot and projects as a very good defender for Marquette. Amadou also has a growing offensive game, including the ability to stretch the floor and make three-pointers. When he’s able to do that consistently, the Big East program could have found itself a real gem for the future.

Currently ranked around 100 overall in the 2023 class, Amadou won’t be viewed as the biggest commitment in program history but he’s a 3-4 year player with high potential. That’s going to be how Marquette gets to the top-tier of the Big East and stays there. After the below-average success of getting five-stars and “one and done” talent at Texas, I think that Coach Smart will prefer the likes of Amadou that can properly develop under him for multiple seasons.

Considering how young the overall roster is for the Golden Eagles, there’s a chance that Al Amadou wraps up the 2023 class, with a guard and forward now part of it. But don’t be surprised if the team gets one more ball-handler just in case Tyler Kolek may be a pro candidate.