D-Wade or Al McGuire?

[NersEllenson]

Legacy..as far overall contribution to the Marquette community..equals Al..sure...I guess though in terms of present day legacy...I believe Wade's name carries more value to the University/basketball program, than does Al's.

HORSE CRAP!

Without the McGuire Money raised in the 1960s and 1970s from a broadening base of alumni and supporters, Marquette would be a fraction of the university it is today. Where do you think the money for the structural improvements on campus, the street closings, the Campus Circle project, the purchase of residence halls at the eastern and western ends of campus,  money for endowed professorial chairs, etc. came from?

The McGuire Money -- in the form of contributions to the Annual Marquette Fund, the Campaign for Marquette, the endowment funds and schorlarships -- made Marquette as we know it possible. There is no way Marquette could have generated that kind of capital without the national profile Al created through the basketball program.

If that wasn't enough, being a Marquette grad in the 1970s, basketball opened doors. People knew Marquette through the basketball program and used that standard of excellence to take a calculated chance on Marquette graduates.

D-Wade was a wonderful flash in the pan. I'm sure D-Wade has made a difference to the university and he's a great representative of who we are (divorce case not withstanding), but there's no way Wade is even close to the contribution Al made to our community.   

I'm not arguing Al's contributions to the university and impact on the university in the 1970s, 1980s, or even 1990s..what I am saying is that D-Wade's name and association with Marquette, present day..has more value..at least from a basketball program perspective.  D-Wade being at Marquette and the program going to the Final Four was a similar catalyst for university pride and large donations coming in.  Pretty much got the Al McGuire center built off of that Final Four.  Marquette has undergond a renaissance in the last decade as well..and I don't think we should undersetimate the role the Final Four appearance played in that Renaissance.

[mu-rara]

The question is whose legacy is most significant to MU? : Al or Dwyane Wade.

It is not: whose legacy is more important to current recruits and students who have only known Marquette as Golden Eagles.

Given how the question is framed the answer has to be Al.  It all started with him.

[mileskishnish72]

Love DWade and what he did @ MU, but it's got to be Al first and forever - he
MADE this program.
Med72