Recruiting as of 6/15/26

[Galway Eagle]

He had a tell-tale smirk on his face a half second before suckering in the defender. Unfortunately, the opponents driving to the basket had the very same smirk when they saw that Rowsey was the only one in a position to stop them have front seats to watch them dunk. 

[Shooter McGavin]

Growth and development and players stepping up as they get a year older has been a staple of college basketball for as long as there has been college basketball.  As well as the occasional disappointing season.

I expect players to get better as they grow, learn, mature.  The circle of life.

Agreed.  There is All Big East talent on this team, especially in the starting five.  There are a couple wildcard bench players who could blossom as well.  Will be fun to see them mature as a team.  Looking forward to the season. 

[Jay Bee]

I don't mean this in the wrong way, but I had Royce pegged (pawz) as a guy who would increase his usage last year.. it climbed a tiny bit.. his %Shots were down but that was due to the goodness of getting to the line more, so all good. Nonetheless, it wasn't as big of a bump as I would have projected a year ago at this time and in conference, he was just a 19% usage guy. Outside of Chase at 23%, we only had Nigel as a guy above 20-ish % usage last year.

It was a concern heading into last season, and I was looking at Chase, Royce and a little Sean to do more... turned out much differently.

Nigel at 30.5% usage was higher than I would have liked, although very fun to watch.

Our offense stunk last year.

Looking ahead, we're in another ... position that leaves question marks on the offense... and for that reason, while I think we can be vastly improved and maybe a top 40 offense... being elite isn't in the cards unless a couple of guys shoot the crap outta the ball from deep.

Nigel I think in the high 20's, say 28%.. is about right. After that, hoping for Royce and Nolan to be a little past 20%.. maybe 21-23%.. "elite scorer" for Royce? Still confused on the definition and refute any ppg metric.

From there, we have a ton of guys who look to be more than quiet, role guys say 12-14% dudes.. but rather 16+-18% guys. Can one or a couple pop up to 20%? Maybe, and if that happens with say a DO, great - X factor time.

But... I don't know that I see it from anyone.. e.g., wouldn't project it today. Alex seems like he might, but I think his minutes will be spotty. Sunny I would love to wind up in the 22-23% range.. and that's possible and could change the outlook on the season's offense for us.. but I don't think it's him.. it may be in him, but it's not him inherently.

Adrien is great, but I see him more as a 16-18% complementary piece.

So.. maybe offense by committee a lot of nights... will be interesting to see who bubbles up. But, this team doesn't have a bunch of guys who you would reasonably expect to be high usage dudes. Nigel is a yes. Question marks abound after that. #pray

[BCHoopster]

Nigel is the key, as a creator with the ball, they have the pick and roll, last year Ben was pick and miss, and the ability to throw the ball
To 3 players who hopefully can shoot the three.  But compared to years before, they have depth in Phillips and DO, and they cannot do it you have Alex and Johnston.  Lots of options.

[MU82]

Nigel is the key, as a creator with the ball, they have the pick and roll, last year Ben was pick and miss, and the ability to throw the ball
To 3 players who hopefully can shoot the three.  But compared to years before, they have depth in Phillips and DO, and they cannot do it you have Alex and Johnston.  Lots of options.

The intention is not to make fun of your phrasing, but to ask what the hell "and they cannot do it you have Alex and Johnston" means.

[BCHoopster]

Ethan Johnston would
Be
My guess

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

The intention is not to make fun of your phrasing, but to ask what the hell "and they cannot do it you have Alex and Johnston" means.

I'm guessing it should read, "and if they cannot do it..."

[muwarrior69]

Agreed.  There is All Big East talent on this team, especially in the starting five.  There are a couple wildcard bench players who could blossom as well.  Will be fun to see them mature as a team.  Looking forward to the season. 

Based on last season that is not saying much. The league really sucked. I hope their better than Big East talent.

[Jay Bee]

Based on last season that is not saying much. The league really sucked. I hope their better than Big East talent.

Hope they're better at English than you, hey.

[DoctorV]

"We pretty much know one when we see one"

So you saw that Tyler would be an "elite scorer" after he averaged 6 points and shot 28% from 3 his first season here? Even then it took until his last season for him to enter "elite" status at 15.3 points per game.

He was Big East player of the year averaging 12.9

Justin Lewis averaged 7.8 ppg and shot 21.9% from 3......before exploding as a sophomore.

I'd argue that Stevens has shown more in his first year..........we will have to see how it plays out.

As far as Rowsey........for every point he scored.....he probably gave up 1.2........

You're focused on the wrong things......15 isn't some sort of magic number......you want efficient scorers......if you have a Markus Howard fine.......but their are other ways to have a great offense.......as we proved in 2023.

I'm not focused on the wrong things.
I know precisely what to focus on and when to focus on it.

For this exercise I asked a simple question- which of this 2/3 crop can be Marquettes next great bucket getter?

You, on the other hand, focused on all the wrong things to deflect from the fact that you don't really see one, or don't want to project one. That's fine, but don't argue that I focused on the wrong thing.

I didn't say a stud scorer can play a lick of defense. I didn't say Marquette needs a stud scorer at that position to have a good season or that they can't score by committee and be ok. I didn't say efficient scorers aren't preferable to chuckers.

I merely said that imo for Marquette to reach a National Championship tier level under this talented young crop it will need a go to scorer at the 2/3 to complement its young blooming stars already in place. If you don't agree with that, ok. Are there other paths to reaching that top Final 4 type level? Likely. Do I feel strongly that grooming or getting a stud that can put the ball in the basket so that Nigel and Royce can do their thing without having to press too hard to carry the team is necessary to getting to that top tier? Yes.
Can Marquette dink and dunk its way to that in a committee fashion and be a good team? Sure. Having one guy pop into that stardom scoring/bucket getter role would get them to the next level though, imo.

Thats all I'm saying.
As for JLewis, yea I saw the scorer. For Tyler- I didn't, but I saw a magician, and Shaka saw the scorer and we had seen the able shooter/scorer at a lower level, a bit like we've seen Nolan at a lower level.

So, back to the premise. It would be great if NM can become a steady nightly bucket getter but I haven't seen it yet. I watched him once at his previous school and turned it off pretty quickly. Adrien would be my early guess from that crop, but as another poster eloquently data drove to completion- in a classic stat scramble don't give me pedestrian ppg stats modern day method- he would have to force himself into more of an alpha role. Or maybe Nigel can help him get there?

And for the record, it would be great for players to learn, grow and mature!

[tower912]

I see the potential for AS, NM, MPII, DO, MM (eventually) to all be bucket getters.  This coming season, none of them will have to be 'the guy'.  MU has their guy.  They also have a big who can finish at the basket.  They have an inside/outside 4.  There may be a different bucket getter from the wing every game.  Certainly the potential is there.

[muwarrior69]

Hope they're better at English than you, hey.

I can take the criticism. Yes, I suck at spelling and the proper use of words but stating the truth about the Big East last season does not change the fact that the league sucked. So stating the team has Big East talent is not saying much either until they, i.e. the league, proves otherwise when competing with P4 teams.

[Uncle Rico]

I can take the criticism. Yes, I suck at spelling and the proper use of words but stating the truth about the Big East last season does not change the fact that the league sucked. So stating the team has Big East talent is not saying much either until they, i.e. the league, proves otherwise when competing with P4 teams.

UConn made the Final 4 and St. John's was in the Sweet 16.  The league doesn't have 20 teams anymore to flood the tourney with mediocre teams.

[muwarrior69]

UConn made the Final 4 and St. John's was in the Sweet 16.  The league doesn't have 20 teams anymore to flood the tourney with mediocre teams.

That does not change the fact that the league sucked and our 4th place team with 21 wins did not even get a bid. Will the league become the WCC of the East Coast with one good team is the question no one here appears to be concerned about.

[Scoop Snoop]

I can take the criticism. Yes, I suck at spelling and the proper use of words but stating the truth about the Big East last season does not change the fact that the league sucked. So stating the team has Big East talent is not saying much either until they, i.e. the league, proves otherwise when competing with P4 teams.

Good! Because ALL you do is criticize. Even the upset over UCONN didn't make you happy. You whined that you would not "concede" that our team had gotten better unless we held Karaban to two points again in a rematch.  To me, that post clearly defined you better than any of your others.

I will "concede" that overall, the BE was not very impressive last season. You have said this repeatedly. That's just you being you.   Always bitching.

[Uncle Rico]

That does not change the fact that the league sucked and our 4th place team with 21 wins did not even get a bid. Will the league become the WCC of the East Coast with one good team is the question no one here appears to be concerned about.

Because it's a stupid concern

[Galway Eagle]

That does not change the fact that the league sucked and our 4th place team with 21 wins did not even get a bid. Will the league become the WCC of the East Coast with one good team is the question no one here appears to be concerned about.

Probably not. coaching turnover trimming some less than stellar coaches at PC and Nova, and us finally reaching into our pockets, SJU will be fine till Pitino drops dead or another prostitute writes a tell all, and UConn is Aok. Idk how X & Creighton look long term but Creighton spends a ton so I wouldn't worry too much there either.

[Jay Bee]

Real question is do X and Creighton lock down Ohio and Nebraska, respectively?

[tower912]

Yes, the coach in Thedford needs a Creighton quarterzip.

[MuMark]

"I'm not focused on the wrong things.
I know precisely what to focus on and when to focus on it."

Well that settles that! lol

[MU82]

That does not change the fact that the league sucked and our 4th place team with 21 wins did not even get a bid. Will the league become the WCC of the East Coast with one good team is the question no one here appears to be concerned about.

I'm concerned that you are gonna keel over due to being overly concerned about stoopid shyte and to never being happy about anything.

[Galway Eagle]

Real question is do X and Creighton lock down Ohio and Nebraska, respectively?

That's the real reason X is blocking Dayton. They're ensuring they lock down Ohio.

[MuMark]

2028 with an MU offer

Derek Swartz talks Georgetown, Marquette & Maryland
GEORGETOWN: "I don't know a ton about their program yet. I know Ed Cooley is definitely a great coach and that they have a great environment there. They like how versatile I am as a wing; that I can do a lot of different things on the court, and that is how they want to play."

MARQUETTE: "I definitely have a great relationship with them. I'm very close with Shaka Smart. I went to a game last winter, on an unofficial visit. We definitely have a great relationship with the staff; I text with them a lot. The environment was crazy. They play in the Bucks Arena, so that was awesome."

[WhiteTrash]

2028 with an MU offer

Derek Swartz talks Georgetown, Marquette & Maryland
GEORGETOWN: "I don't know a ton about their program yet. I know Ed Cooley is definitely a great coach and that they have a great environment there. They like how versatile I am as a wing; that I can do a lot of different things on the court, and that is how they want to play."

MARQUETTE: "I definitely have a great relationship with them. I'm very close with Shaka Smart. I went to a game last winter, on an unofficial visit. We definitely have a great relationship with the staff; I text with them a lot. The environment was crazy. They play in the Bucks Arena, so that was awesome."

"May the Swartz be with Shaka."

[SoCalEagle]

That does not change the fact that the league sucked and our 4th place team with 21 wins did not even get a bid. Will the league become the WCC of the East Coast with one good team is the question no one here appears to be concerned about.

You have not seen much WCC basketball.  Take it from someone who has, BE basketball is light years away from WCC basketball.  We have multiple teams that focus on playing high level basketball, with a fan base that provides support.  The WCC does not.