2023 Team Outlook

[Tha Hound]

Jon Rothstein has Marquette ranked #43
43. Marquette
G Tyler Kolek
G Kam Jones
F Olivier Maxence-Prosper
F Oso Ighodaro
F Justin Lewis (NBA Draft early entrant)
Projected Bench: Stevie Mitchell, Emarion Ellis, Sean Jones, Chase Ross, David Joplin, Keeyan Itejere, Cameron Brown, Zach Wrightstil, Ben Gold
Key Losses: Kur Kuath, Darryl Morsell, Greg Elliott
Key Newcomers: Sean Jones, Chase Ross, Zach Wrightstil (NAIA), Ben Gold

If Justin stays we’re significantly better than 43. You can bet on that.

But Justins not going to stay

[Otule's Glass Eye]

If Justin stays we’re significantly better than 43. You can bet on that.

But Justins not going to stay

My guess is Wrightsil would then take over Justin’s starting spot?

[Tha Hound]

My guess is Wrightsil would then take over Justin’s starting spot?

Yep - unfortunately the NAIA player is the "next man up" behind a potential All-American. Lets hope he's ready

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Yep - unfortunately the NAIA player is the "next man up" behind a potential All-American. Lets hope he's ready

I actually think he will end being an improvement on the defensive side. Unfortunately his offense will be laughably below what Justin's was. Rebounding will probably take a small hit as well.

I think guys like OMax, Kolek, and Mitchell are all in line for significant offensive improvements this season. Ellis is another X-factor. Staff keep saying that Ellis has the most NBA potential on the roster, just needs time to get there. Hope that time is soon!

[MarquetteMike1977]

Team Outlook. Feel the Team will be worse than last year without Justin NIT maybe more.  Feel the Team will be better than last year with Justin Sweet 16 maybe more.

Happy for Justin he is awesome but unfortunately it is probably NIT for Marquette. Marquette has probably lost more this year than Marquette has added.

[DienerTime34]

I predict Marquette will exceed expectations & peak around late January/early February, followed by a swift descent down the standings & into the NIT.

[MU82]

Yep - unfortunately the NAIA player is the "next man up" behind a potential All-American. Lets hope he's ready

What if the NAIA player is Marquette's version of what D3 Ryan Hawkins was for Creighton last season?

I'm staying optimistic because I don't like being pessimistic, especially when there's no reason to be yet.

[Tha Hound]

What if the NAIA player is Marquette's version of what D3 Andy Hawkins was for Creighton last season?

I'm staying optimistic because I don't like being pessimistic, especially when there's no reason to be yet.

More power to you but I think we both know deep down that type of impact is highly unlikely.

[nyg]

I actually think he will end being an improvement on the defensive side. Unfortunately his offense will be laughably below what Justin's was. Rebounding will probably take a small hit as well.

I think guys like OMax, Kolek, and Mitchell are all in line for significant offensive improvements this season. Ellis is another X-factor. Staff keep saying that Ellis has the most NBA potential on the roster, just needs time to get there. Hope that time is soon!

This has been brought up before and can't recall/verify who on the staff said this.  Ellis was parked on the end of bench the entire season and in BE play, he barely played more than a minute and only in blowouts.  You would figure if he had any type of NBA skills, he would of had some playing time.  Never happened. 

Numerous BE teams lost a lot of players after the season.  Many did an outstanding job with recruiting and obtaining players from the transfer portal to backfill the players that were lost.  Shaka did an underwhelming job in that category with two recruits not ranked high, a player from New Zealand whose only skill level anyone knows of is on Youtube, and an NAIA player of the year, not D2, but NAIA.

Kolek hopefully learns how to hit an outside shot, Oso needs 15 pounds, and someone needs to rebound.  Want to see how Kam Jones works out, he was not shy with his shot and on the pace he was would have had like over 20 shots a game. Shaka will have an interesting summer months getting the team together.

Can't say I am optimistic with this roster and next season will be the season of the unknown...

[brewcity77]

My thoughts on next year's outlook...

• PG: I think Sean Jones starts here and has similar impact to Tyler as a first-year point. Will have some great moments and some disappointing ones, but all in all a wash.
  
• SG: I think Kolek moves here to give us a true two-point look. This will improve his scoring and efficiency vastly, and having a second distributor will improve the offense overall. I think this position is upgraded over Morsell.
  
• SF: For now pencil Kam Jones in here. He doesn't have ideal size, but I can live with a three-guard lineup and think he will be an offensive upgrade over Justin while sacrificing rebounding and defense. Overall a wash.
  
• PF: Keep O-Max here and I think he makes a big jump. I don't expect him to put up Justin's scoring numbers (usage won't be there) but I think he'll be an All-Big East caliber player.
  
• C: Oso taking this spot is another upgrade, IMO. He'll stay on the court more than Kur did and while he's not as good of a shot-blocker, he's a much better all around offensive player.
  
• Bench: Last year's top three bench players were Oso, Greg, and Kam. This year I would expect Wrightsil, Joplin, and Stevie to be those names, with Itejere most likely to push Oso for minutes (but I think Oso is a 28+ mpg guy). I think we have a better bench this year, with more experience both collegiately and in the system.

Overall: Better team than last year. Justin's loss will hurt, but I think team defense improves with experience and while we didn't bring a ton of new guys in, we did bring a ton of guys back. I also think anyone worried about "who will score" probably doesn't realize that scoring won't be a problem. I fully expect next year's team to be more efficient overall on the offensive end and could care less who scores, I just know that we will score and losing "go-to" options is not and historically has been a problem in the past. Defensively, we lose key defenders, but last year from the outset it was clear they were grooming guys to be the next Morsell, next Kuath types. The pieces are here and will have an extra year of experience and development. I see this as a top-half Big East team. Most likely top-5, ceiling top-3 alongside teams like Creighton and Xavier that I think are the favorites.

[GoldenEagles03]

Jones (Sean)
Kolek
OMax
Joplin
Oso

That's my early guess as our most frequent starting lineup. 4 capable shooters with probably our best shooter in Kam off the bench. Also brings Stevie and Wrightsil off the bench. I think Wrightsil fits in nicely as an undersized version of what Oso does well.

[Jay Bee]

What if the NAIA player is Marquette's version of what D3 Andy Hawkins was for Creighton last season?

I'm staying optimistic because I don't like being pessimistic, especially when there's no reason to be yet.

Is Ryan’s nickname Andy??

[MU82]

Is Ryan’s nickname Andy??

D'oh! What, you mean that former Padres and Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins didn't suit up for Creighton's basketball team last season? Thanks for the correction. Fixed.

My thoughts on next year's outlook...

• PG: I think Sean Jones starts here and has similar impact to Tyler as a first-year point. Will have some great moments and some disappointing ones, but all in all a wash.
  
• SG: I think Kolek moves here to give us a true two-point look. This will improve his scoring and efficiency vastly, and having a second distributor will improve the offense overall. I think this position is upgraded over Morsell.
  
• SF: For now pencil Kam Jones in here. He doesn't have ideal size, but I can live with a three-guard lineup and think he will be an offensive upgrade over Justin while sacrificing rebounding and defense. Overall a wash.
  
• PF: Keep O-Max here and I think he makes a big jump. I don't expect him to put up Justin's scoring numbers (usage won't be there) but I think he'll be an All-Big East caliber player.
  
• C: Oso taking this spot is another upgrade, IMO. He'll stay on the court more than Kur did and while he's not as good of a shot-blocker, he's a much better all around offensive player.
  
• Bench: Last year's top three bench players were Oso, Greg, and Kam. This year I would expect Wrightsil, Joplin, and Stevie to be those names, with Itejere most likely to push Oso for minutes (but I think Oso is a 28+ mpg guy). I think we have a better bench this year, with more experience both collegiately and in the system.

Overall: Better team than last year. Justin's loss will hurt, but I think team defense improves with experience and while we didn't bring a ton of new guys in, we did bring a ton of guys back. I also think anyone worried about "who will score" probably doesn't realize that scoring won't be a problem. I fully expect next year's team to be more efficient overall on the offensive end and could care less who scores, I just know that we will score and losing "go-to" options is not and historically has been a problem in the past. Defensively, we lose key defenders, but last year from the outset it was clear they were grooming guys to be the next Morsell, next Kuath types. The pieces are here and will have an extra year of experience and development. I see this as a top-half Big East team. Most likely top-5, ceiling top-3 alongside teams like Creighton and Xavier that I think are the favorites.

I like your optimism, brew, and you make a very good case for many players/positions here. I do need to see a lot of improvement from Kolek to think he'll be better than Morsell, and a lot of everything from Kam to believe he'll be "an offensive upgrade over Justin." But I sure hope we see it!

[rocky_warrior]

Based on last years classifications, we've got 4 freshman, 7 guys entering their sophomore slump, and Zach Wrightsil.

I'm going with outlook: Reply hazy, try again.

[MU82]

Based on last years classifications, we've got 4 freshman, 7 guys entering their sophomore slump, and Zach Wrightsil.

I'm going with outlook: Reply hazy, try again.

That's pretty smart thinking on your part, rocky, given that you're only a freshman.

[BCHoopster]

As discussed earlier, I am not sure 15 pounds is going to make Oso a better player.  He has not shown an instinct on rebounding the ball, I hope this summer he develops an offensive game other then a dunk.  I see this happening in the lineup,  Wrightsel, Omax, Gold in the frontline with Kolek, Jones and Jones fighting for the 2 guard spots.  Add Mitchell, Joplin and Oso as first backups.

[MarquetteMike1977]

Marquette no longer in Jon Rothstein’s Top 45. Disappointing. Optimistically MU can make the Big Dance yet but realistically MU has lost more than MU has gained. Frustrating.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Marquette no longer in Jon Rothstein’s Top 45. Disappointing. Optimistically MU can make the Big Dance yet but realistically MU has lost more than MU has gained. Frustrating.

When Shaka came here he stressed he is going to recruit guys who want to be here in his team's vision of culture. The fact that he didn't dip deeply into the transfer drug market is a good sign to me as that tells me he has "his guys" here.

Does this mean that this won't be a rebuilding year?  No. But I expect in my outlook that this team will be better at the end of the season than the team that ended last season.

What "frustrated" me most last season was the team that ended was not a very good one.

[Scoop Snoop]

When Shaka came here he stressed he is going to recruit guys who want to be here in his team's vision of culture. The fact that he didn't dip deeply into the transfer drug market is a good sign to me as that tells me he has "his guys" here.

Does this mean that this won't be a rebuilding year?  No. But I expect in my outlook that this team will be better at the end of the season than the team that ended last season.

What "frustrated" me most last season was the team that ended was not a very good one.

When Shaka came to Marquette. I expected that it would take three seasons to get us in the top three of the BE. If we finish the season stronger than we start it, alleluia! Hopefully, we are at least in the middle of the BE at season's end and we may be much  better than that.

[Viper]

This team will not be lazy. Ball in. Check.

[MU82]

transfer drug market

Really?

As discussed earlier, I am not sure 15 pounds is going to make Oso a better player.  He has not shown an instinct on rebounding the ball, I hope this summer he develops an offensive game other then a dunk.  I see this happening in the lineup,  Wrightsel, Omax, Gold in the frontline with Kolek, Jones and Jones fighting for the 2 guard spots.  Add Mitchell, Joplin and Oso as first backups.

I'd love to see Gold earn a starting spot over Oso. That would mean Gold's pretty darn good, and it would be a positive statement about MU's depth.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Really?

I'd love to see Gold earn a starting spot over Oso. That would mean Gold's pretty darn good, and it would be a positive statement about MU's depth.

When you are trying to build a culture as Shaka said, do you really want to become dependent on the new one and done designer drug?  That's quite a message to returning players who put in the work only to be recruited over every year.

So to answer your question, yes.

[The Equalizer]

When you are trying to build a culture as Shaka said, do you really want to become dependent on the new one and done designer drug?  That's quite a message to returning players who put in the work only to be recruited over every year.

So to answer your question, yes.

Who says they have to be one and dones?  Cooley brought in a redshirt freshman and two sophs among his transfers this year.  Shaka brought in two Covid freshmen last year.  The transfer portal isn't just filled with senior and grad transfers.

As far as sending a message to returning players, I don't see Duke, Kentucky, UNC, etc, backing off on their recruiting in deference to their current rosters. Coaches who want to win simply don't take a pass on a better player out of some sense of loyalty to their current roster.   

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I think the answer is the Shaka believes he can develop someone into a better player, who understands what Shaka wants, than he can get in the portal. 

Time will tell if he is correct.

[MU82]

When you are trying to build a culture as Shaka said, do you really want to become dependent on the new one and done designer drug?  That's quite a message to returning players who put in the work only to be recruited over every year.

So to answer your question, yes.

As a fan, I hope that our coach uses every option at his disposal to make Marquette a contender for conference titles and deep NCAA tournament runs.

So yes, I want him to recruit very good high school players with high upsides who will be around for multiple seasons; I want him to recruit the occasional 5-star or high-4-star who might leave after a year or two; I want him to bring in transfers who are likely to be around for more than one season; and I want him to bring in talented single-season transfers who fit the "culture" he's building (with Morsell being a good example).

I believe that if a coach is to be successful in today's college basketball environment, he needs to be willing and able to operate on all of those recruiting levels.

So far, based strictly on grades (which I know can be inaccurate), Shaka has only been OK in this regard. I have high hopes that he'll do better.

I disagree that it's a "drug" to bring in the right 1-year player, and I trust Shaka to properly define "right" for his system.