5th Year, so judge

[Galway Eagle]

Hmm...are James, Stevens and Phillips Shaka's 3 amigos?

Hopefully much better than 8th in the country, 6 seed, and Rd of 32.

I don't think they're comparable as Chase, Zaide, DO, Parham, etc are all talented pieces around them as is the incoming class while the amigos basically only had Novak and lazar

[#UnleashSean]

Hopefully much better than 8th in the country, 6 seed, and Rd of 32.

I don't think they're comparable as Chase, Zaide, DO, Parham, etc are all talented pieces around them as is the incoming class while the amigos basically only had Novak and lazar

Dont do my boy Dan....    Fitzgerald        like that...

Sorry, I almost got through that without laughing.

[MarquetteDano]

Watching the Southern game last night made me smile knowing a majority of the new faces will be around their senior year.

I would love more late March success but my Illini friends have total rebuilds every year with massive roster turnover. Unless you are in the FF every year I prefer what Shaka does.

[DoctorV]

Watching the Southern game last night made me smile knowing a majority of the new faces will be around their senior year.

I would love more late March success but my Illini friends have total rebuilds every year with massive roster turnover. Unless you are in the FF every year I prefer what Shaka does.

I understand this and most of it makes sense.

I'd edit one part though. Very few, if any, teams "are in the FF every year"

I'd say "unless you make the FF in one year then I prefer what Shaka does"

Everything you mentioned is absolutely true- it's great doing things the right way, it's great having guys that buy into Marquette for their entire lives (after all, isn't this what we've all done?), it's great having 0 roster turnover and getting to watch the same group grow and mature as opposed to constant turnover and having no idea who you're rooting for one year to the next...

This is only great with the V part of the RGV triangle though. Without the victory, it's merely a nice way of doing things.
It surely isn't something all of us would praise 20 years from now without the victory.

The victory, on the ultimate stage in the sport, is a trip to the FF and a National Championship.
So, if over let's say a 20 year window X coach at X program makes 2 final 4s and wins one Natty with constant turnover and non-stop portalling while Marquette makes a handful of S16s, a few E8s and no FFs, well then at the end of the day X was the most successful with the ultimately happier fanbase.

We can argue what we want and say what we want about styles, but at the end of the day a FF and National Championship is the goal at a place like Marquette, any given way.

To me it seems like we are on the right track, but getting over the hill to the next step is no easy task

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

2023: Lowery, Jones, Norman
2024: Parham, Owens, Hamilton
2025: James, Stevens, Clark, Phillips
2026: Pearson, Miletic, Egbuonu, Walker, Johnston

I love the shear volume of quality prospects. Not all of them will develop as hoped, and some might have injury riddled careers like Joe Fulce and Greg Elliot.  But by having so many options, Shaka will have more bites at the apple of success.

I also think Shaka wants to have as deep of a roster as possible in order to play intense defense and push the pace on offense.  This roster will give him that option.

It feels like Marquette will be very similar to his VCU teams as far as playing style goes, but with better talent.  Exciting times are on the horizon.

[Pepe Sylvia]

If you want a little piece of what that feels like, go look at what Keeyan Itejere did in his debut for Rhode Island.

Gonna need to do that against better than stetson, feel like he coulda put that up here with 20 min against the dregs of d-1

[muwarrior69]

I understand this and most of it makes sense.

I'd edit one part though. Very few, if any, teams "are in the FF every year"

I'd say "unless you make the FF in one year then I prefer what Shaka does"

Everything you mentioned is absolutely true- it's great doing things the right way, it's great having guys that buy into Marquette for their entire lives (after all, isn't this what we've all done?), it's great having 0 roster turnover and getting to watch the same group grow and mature as opposed to constant turnover and having no idea who you're rooting for one year to the next...

This is only great with the V part of the RGV triangle though. Without the victory, it's merely a nice way of doing things.
It surely isn't something all of us would praise 20 years from now without the victory.

The victory, on the ultimate stage in the sport, is a trip to the FF and a National Championship.
So, if over let's say a 20 year window X coach at X program makes 2 final 4s and wins one Natty with constant turnover and non-stop portalling while Marquette makes a handful of S16s, a few E8s and no FFs, well then at the end of the day X was the most successful with the ultimately happier fanbase.

We can argue what we want and say what we want about styles, but at the end of the day a FF and National Championship is the goal at a place like Marquette, any given way.

To me it seems like we are on the right track, but getting over the hill to the next step is no easy task

I know a different era but not so long ago that is what Jay Wright did at NOVA. Let's see if Shaka can repeat that at MU in this new era of college sports.

[Nukem2]

I know a different era but not so long ago that is what Jay Wright did at NOVA. Let's see if Shaka can repeat that at MU in this new era of college sports.

With the advent of nil and the open portal, Jay kind of walked away from it all. Not an easy process to success.

[Badgerhater]

MU's NIL landscape seems similar to a mid-market MLB team.  It has more spending capability than a small market team, but cannot afford to be the LA Dodgers.  It can find the resources for a certain player, but it can't afford for that certain player to not work out.

Such mid-market teams have to ground the base line of their success in developing their own players.

MU would be just another team battling in the NIL transfer landscape with little to separate it from the rest.

There is room for a contrarian approach like that followed by Shaka.  He appears to have the needed attributes and resources to get the HS players he wants and retain them.

Regarding March, I think an MU team with a fully healthy Tyler Kolek wins some more games.

It may not work, but for now MU hoops is fun and the team has enjoyed a very good run of success.

[The Lens]

MU has been able to retain TKO, Oso, Kam and Ross.

I would imagine all of them were offered competive NIL packages by Power 4 schools.  To me, that suggests, that #mubb is doing just fine in the NIL department.

[Uncle Rico]

MU has been able to retain TKO, Oso, Kam and Ross.

I would imagine all of them were offered competive NIL packages by Power 4 schools.  To me, that suggests, that #mubb is doing just fine in the NIL department.

It is

[MUCam]

There is room for a contrarian approach like that followed by Shaka.  He appears to have the needed attributes and resources to get the HS players he wants and retain them.

This right here is the case, and Shaka has very astutely played up the program's success using that unique approach. He's also shown that Marquette is true and committed to the approach.

I recall a podcast or interview where Shaka basically said, if you're a HS coach or parent of a HS player, and you want to send your kid to a program where some hired gun isn't going to take his place in a year or two, Marquette is your place.

This will resonate with some (not all), but if you're the best known example of such a program (ie Shaka/Marquette) then you're in a really good place with the best of those that are interested in that approach.

[MU82]

MU has been able to retain TKO, Oso, Kam and Ross.

I would imagine all of them were offered competive NIL packages by Power 4 schools.  To me, that suggests, that #mubb is doing just fine in the NIL department.

Absolutely this.

And I would much rather our money be used like this than by renting a player for one year who might or might not be a good fit for the program.

Couldn't he do both? I don't know. He hasn't had to yet.

[The Lens]

Couldn't he do both? I don't know. He hasn't had to yet.

The vast majority of Portal use to is back fill what's been lost.

[1SE]

Process is great - I just wish we'd overperform in March instead of November- but that might be a feature of RGV

[Vander Blue Man Group]

The vast majority of Portal use to is back fill what's been lost.

I'm not sure I'd frame it that way.  It depends on the program.  Replacing what's lost (someone going pro or graduating) is different than pushing guys out with the intention of upgrading through the portal. 

[Farley36]

It's definitely the most successful era since Crean, but I worry there's a permanent ceiling on the team if they can't fill obvious short term needs the way other teams can.

Yes, I'd much rather Shaka's March failures than Buzz's Sweet 16s and Elite 8.   This may be a perfect summary of the Marquette faithful's willingness to embrace mediocrity year after year.  I'm guessing you were equally thrilled with Wojo the whole time.  Most of you were. 

[muwarrior69]

Yes, I'd much rather Shaka's March failures than Buzz's Sweet 16s and Elite 8.   This may be a perfect summary of the Marquette faithful's willingness to embrace mediocrity year after year.  I'm guessing you were equally thrilled with Wojo the whole time.  Most of you were. 

Sure our NCAA record is not great, but I take exception to mediocre. First, at least we made the tournament with a sweet 16. Secondly some of our key players suffered injuries. I would like to see a healthy Shaka team actually compete for once. None of us here are settling for less. We all want a team that can compete for a title.

[muwarrior69]

With the advent of nil and the open portal, Jay kind of walked away from it all. Not an easy process to success.

I disagree. Jay had two titles under his belt. What better way to retire when your on top and a living legend at NOVA.

[Nukem2]

I disagree. Jay had two titles under his belt. What better way to retire when your on top and a living legend at NOVA.

Jay said he retired because he was not 100% "in" the job. A huge part of that was NIL and the open portal. Having 2 titles certainly helped as well.

[The Sultan]

Sure our NCAA record is not great, but I take exception to mediocre. First, at least we made the tournament with a sweet 16. Secondly some of our key players suffered injuries. I would like to see a healthy Shaka team actually compete for once. None of us here are settling for less. We all want a team that can compete for a title.

Dude it's Farley. He's just trolling.

[dgies9156]

I voted on track, love me ssome RGV.

Coach Smart is an incredibly classy person. He and Maya Smart have made a strong investment both in Marquette and Milwaukee, the latter of which cannot and should not be underestimated. We've shown some resilience and even some Alism (Tyler Kolek's "F*** 'em"). I heard that and all I could think was, "we're backkkk."

The only reason I didn't vote higher is I believe the goal of our program should be win the national championship. We've made baby steps in that direction and the depth by class should help, but Coach Smart's success should be measured on how close Marquette gets to a Natty.

I admire his stand on the Portal and hope we can win it all Coach Smart's way. I also think that as time moves forward, if Coach Smart needs one person to get over the top in the Portal, it might possibly happen. But that person will have to fit into the remaining parts of Marquette's culture to work.

[tower912]

It won't be next season unless someone unexpectedly leaves.  I.have a feeling we will say that most seasons.