Steve Wojciechowski already boasts one of the nation's best recruiting classes. (Getty)

When I visited Marquette in late August I walked away convinced college basketball fans would soon realize Steve Wojciechowski is much more than the 20-year-old floor-slapping cartoon character people still, for whatever reason, hold onto so tightly.

He's 38 now.

He's married.

He has children.

And, more to the point, he's two decades removed from the day he enrolled at Duke, meaning he's had a long time -- years and years and years -- to transition from player to coach and plan for this moment, i.e., the moment when he finally took over his own program.

To be clear, this could've happened years ago.

Wojciechowski could be the coach at Dayton right now, if he wanted.

But he passed on that opportunity in 2011 -- which cleared the way for Archie Miller -- and waited for something bigger and better. And that bigger-and-better something presented itself in March when Buzz Williams left Marquette for a set of fresh expectations.

Anyway, Wojciechowski has now been at Marquette a little more than six months.

The first noticeably significant thing he did was secure a commitment from BYU transfer Matt Carlino, who will be eligible this season. Then came a commitment from Nick Noskowiak, a four-star point guard from the Class of 2015, and that development was followed by commitments from Matt Heldt and Haanif Cheatham, a four-star center and four-star shooting guard, both from the Class of 2015. So, clearly, things have long been looking good. But Wojciechowski's signature moment to date came Thursday, when he received a commitment from Henry Ellenson, a five-star power forward and consensus top-10 prospect from the Class of 2015. 

And the Marquette family is excited to have him, I'm certain.

According to Mark Miller, editor of the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook, Ellenson will be the highest-rated recruit to play for Marquette since Doc Rivers began his college career in 1980, which is obviously remarkable. I mean, think about all of the accomplished men who have coached Marquette between now and then -- guys like Rick Majerus, Kevin O'Neill, Tom Crean and Buzz Williams. Now understand that none of them ever took a commitment from a recruit as heralded as Ellenson, and then you'll be able to grasp the significance of this moment for this historically strong and enthusiastically supported program.

That might be true, by the way.

Yes, Marquette enrolled Henry Ellenson's brother, Wally Ellenson, in July, and that's worth mentioning, if only because some of you have already mentioned it on Twitter. So, in the spirit of honesty, I'll say this: Wally Ellenson is a transfer from Minnesota better equipped to contribute at the so-called mid-major level than at a Big East program, and it would be naive to suggest Wojciechowski didn't take that commitment with this commitment in mind.

Clearly, the two things are connected.

We don't have to lie to each other about it.

But anybody using Wally Ellenson's enrollment to discount Henry Ellenson's commitment is wildly missing the point, because all Wally Ellenson's enrollment shows me is that Wojciechowski is smart enough to know what he needs to do to secure a program-changing recruit. You get 13 scholarships in basketball, and you really only need eight or nine talented players to compete at the highest level.

So why not spend a scholarship on an inferior prospect to help secure a top-10 recruit?

Wojciechowski shouldn't be criticized for that.

He should be applauded.

And he'll never regret that decision, I promise you.

Either way, the bottom line is the bottom line, and the bottom line is this: Steve Wojciechowski, barely six months into his first head-coaching job, has secured a class that's ranked fourth nationally. It's further proof that the Marquette officials who hired him were smart to see past the floor-slapping reputation, and the rest of the country -- especially fans of rival Big East schools -- would be wise to start taking him more seriously, too.