Justin

[TallTitan34]

Agreed.  I think the rule should be that players have to decide by August 1 if they retain eligibility.  This date is also after the NBA summer league.  That way the drafting team can work with player, their agent and their college coach to determine if they want them to stay in school for the next year or not. 

I get that the coaches want more certainty over who is on their roster, but then I would allow a coach to "oversign" one additional player if they have an underclassman in the draft.  So in this case, Marquette could take in a transfer like Ramey, but still have a place for Justin should he wish to return.

Agree with all of this until the oversigning part.  That would be abused.

[Jay Bee]

Let’s hope the duck nachos are really THAT good.

I have no idea what he’ll do, but it’ll be nice to know (when will that really be?…)

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

How about if a team has 3 underclassmen in the draft? 8? I am sure some coach will try to push the limit.

Which is why I said "one additional player."  I should have added "...regardless of the number of student athletes in the draft."

[GoldenEagles03]

Agreed.  I think the rule should be that players have to decide by August 1 if they retain eligibility.  This date is also after the NBA summer league.  That way the drafting team can work with player, their agent and their college coach to determine if they want them to stay in school for the next year or not. 

I get that the coaches want more certainty over who is on their roster, but then I would allow a coach to "oversign" one additional player if they have an underclassman in the draft.  So in this case, Marquette could take in a transfer like Ramey, but still have a place for Justin should he wish to return.

The MLB was like 40 rounds. NBA should keep it as is.

[Otule's Glass Eye]

Per John Rothstein, Justin has announced he’s staying in the draft. He gone

[TheREALwrk]

John Fanta has also tweeted.

[4everwarriors]

Shockin', hey?

[PJDunn]

Maybe this is the year that Todd Smith finds his way to the gym and our players actually physically progress. That would at least move the needle a bit in filling this gap.

[jfp61]

Per John Rothstein, Justin has announced he’s staying in the draft. He gone

_______ tells me they are staying in the draft.


(no player or half decent agent is ever texting Rothstein).

[GoldenEagles03]

Now that this is over, did this really need its own thread? We have have a recruiting thread already.

[GoldenEagles03]

Per John Rothstein, Justin has announced he’s staying in the draft. He gone

Copied from Rothsteins Twitter

"Maruqette's Justin Lewis tells me that he's staying in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Significant Big East News."

Think that is a different Justin Lewis. Maruqettes?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Best of luck to Justin!  I hope he lands in a good situation. 

Let's see how much guys can improve this offseason. 

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Maybe this is the year that Todd Smith finds his way to the gym and our players actually physically progress. That would at least move the needle a bit in filling this gap.

I mean, you didn't see Lewis or Osa "physically progress" last year?

[panda]

This is a massive blow to next season. As bullish as I was going into last year with the amount of proven talent we had coming in, I feel the total opposite after the Lewis news.

We’ll need significant steps from Omax, Joplin and Jones to be competitive. It’s certainly not out of the question, but there’s much more unknown going into this season than last IMO. Let’s see if Shaka can grab an experienced replacement still available in the portal.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

We’ll need significant steps from Omax, Joplin and Jones to be competitive. It’s certainly not out of the question, but there’s much more unknown going into this season than last IMO.

That's a little ridiculous.

Last year we had only three players who ever put on a Marquette uniform.  We lost our top five scorers and 82% of our minutes from the year prior.

This year, we have eight returnees, seven of whom played in games.  We are returning two of our top five scorers and returning 52% of our minutes from last year.

[Golden Avalanche]

This is a massive blow to next season. As bullish as I was going into last year with the amount of proven talent we had coming in, I feel the total opposite after the Lewis news.

We’ll need significant steps from Omax, Joplin and Jones to be competitive. It’s certainly not out of the question, but there’s much more unknown going into this season than last IMO. Let’s see if Shaka can grab an experienced replacement still available in the portal.

It isn't. This has been well known for some time. The plans have already been designed.

I disagree with your "proven talent" though from last season. Outside of Morsell, there was very little proven talent at the level of being a significant contributor on a Big East team.

[GoldenEagles03]

This is a massive blow to next season. As bullish as I was going into last year with the amount of proven talent we had coming in, I feel the total opposite after the Lewis news.

We’ll need significant steps from Omax, Joplin and Jones to be competitive. It’s certainly not out of the question, but there’s much more unknown going into this season than last IMO. Let’s see if Shaka can grab an experienced replacement still available in the portal.

I still expect Marquette to be better. That's what good coaching does. This should be exciting for us. We have an NBA player in Justin with another possible next year in OMax. This is good for the program.

More depth at PG this year than last. Kolek/Jones/Ellis all capable of handling the ball.

More depth in the front court as well with OMax/Wrightsil/Oso/Itejere/Gold/Joplin.

The question mark is the Combo guard spot. Right now it is Kam, Stevie, and Chase Ross.

[brewcity77]

Best of luck to Justin, but I still think we're better than last year. We knew what this roster was going to be in November of last year. The only changes are Justin out and Wrightsil in. This time of year, everyone focuses on transfers rather than continuity. We have continuity that other programs simply do not have. With a year in the system, the returning players will be better and more comfortable.

[wadesworld]

Bummer for the team but a surprise to nobody.  Hopefully he kills it in the NBA.

Thought last year's team would be a bubble team because of Morsell's defense on the perimeter and Kur's defense at the rim.  Had a better year than I expected overall, so I'm hoping for the same because I just don't know how this roster will be anywhere above 7th or so in the Big East at best.  OMax showed promise, but people cite Lewis's jump as a reason for OMax optimism.  Lewis and OMax both were in their second year of college basketball last season.  Kolek was a pleasant surprise, but was less effective later in the year when teams figured out his game (and the team floundered at the same time).

I see a lot of roll players on this team and not a lot of studs.  Unless 3 incoming freshman who are ranked where you'd expect not a lot of productivity from right away plus a D2 transfer surprise quite a bit, I don't see how this team could be better than last year's, but maybe Shaka really has it and I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[panda]

That's a little ridiculous.

Last year we had only three players who ever put on a Marquette uniform.  We lost our top five scorers and 82% of our minutes from the year prior.

This year, we have eight returnees, seven of whom played in games.  We are returning two of our top five scorers and returning 52% of our minutes from last year.

A core of Morsell, Kolek, Lewis and Kuath led me to believe we would far surpass the majority of expectations laid out by posters here - We did.

This coming season there are far more question marks. A lot of guys who played second, third fiddle with talent that are all very capable of taking big strides, but the jury is still out how they will handle increased work loads.

I hope to be wrong, but I’m more pessimistic this season than going into last. Without knowing who comes in to replace lewis’ roster spot, I’d guess our ceiling for next year is 17-19 wins.

[MUfan12]

Fix the defensive issues from the end of the season and they'll be fine. The scoring will come.

[panda]

Fix the defensive issues from the end of the season and they'll be fine. The scoring will come.

Agree with this - we saw significant buy in on the defensive end last year. Hopefully
Mitchell can continue his intensity on the perimeter with increased minutes.

[GoldenEagles03]

Agree with this - we saw significant buy in on the defensive end last year. Hopefully
Mitchell can continue his intensity on the perimeter with increased minutes.

I think the guards will be fine defensively. Mitchell is an excellent defender and I think we'll come to learn that Ross is as good or better in that regard.

What is really going to help the defense is the amount of capable bodies up front this year.

OMax/Joplin/Wrightsil/Oso/Itejere/Gold

That's a lot of size up front that doesn't have to worry about foul trouble. Just play hard defense, rebound, and next man up if there is foul trouble.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Congrats and good luck Mr. Lewis. Will nice to have another Marquette grad in the Association.

Add me to the group that's still optimistic about next season. If Lewis had returned, I'd be thinking a top 15 team, now I'm thinking we will be slightly better than last season, somewhere in the 6-8 seed range, hopefully without getting falcon punched in the first round.

[panda]

I think the guards will be fine defensively. Mitchell is an excellent defender and I think we'll come to learn that Ross is as good or better in that regard.

What is really going to help the defense is the amount of capable bodies up front this year.

OMax/Joplin/Wrightsil/Oso/Itejere/Gold

That's a lot of size up front that doesn't have to worry about foul trouble. Just play hard defense, rebound, and next man up if there is foul trouble.

I see the potential - Need some significant developmental steps to compete next year.