Shaka Smart 02/18/2026

[MurphysTillClose]

I trust you'll show up here and admit you were wrong if this doesn't come to fruition, right? 

And when you say 4 transfers, my assumption is you mean 4 guys that would be in the regular rotation.

If they bring in only 1-3 players and finish top half of the big east/tourney berth, I'd be ecstatic. Would gladly eat crow for that. I just do not think the roster as currently constructed is built to do that with so little changes. We'd be once again asking true freshman/RS freshman and sophomores to perform at a level they historically don't. I understand you and others disagree, but many were also confident going into this season they'd be much better than what has played out.

What happened to "get old, stay old" that was the foundational piece of Shaka's entire philosophy? Why are we now so confident in relying on youth to compete for top of the BE?

And preferably these hypothetical four would be in the rotation, whether that be starting or off the bench.

[panda]

That it's not an empty chair. Players can practice and help the underclassmen. They can be called upon, if needed, to perform a role.

To be clear, transfers are needed, but kicking players off the team and only carrying 12-13 scholarship players is a mistake.

Shaka has an idea of how many players he wants to fill out the roster. Cutting 5 players and only filling 2-3 is just leaving meat on the bone. If you have 15 scholarships, you should fill 15 scholarships.

It wasn't me who brought it up, but taking the last 2 roster spots NIL distribution and using towards useful players on your roster is far more impactful than running Caedin Hamilton and Tre Norman back one more time for old times sake.

[Its DJOver]

It wasn't me who brought it up, but taking the last 2 roster spots NIL distribution and using towards useful players on your roster is far more impactful than running Caedin Hamilton and Tre Norman back one more time for old times sake.

Would it?  We don't know what those dollar figures are/will be. It's been hinted that the pay structure will be adapting. If they come back, I would bet the farm (not that anyone would have any way to prove/disprove) that Tre and Sean are nowhere near our top earners. If Shaka adjusts to something along the lines of your pay pro-rated to what your expected minutes are and Tre makes less than Sheek would that make you feel better?  I feel like a comment that Shaka made 3-ish off-season's ago is continuing to get a lot of mileage.

[Billy Hoyle]

That it's not an empty chair. Players can practice and help the underclassmen. They can be called upon, if needed, to perform a role.

To be clear, transfers are needed, but kicking players off the team and only carrying 12-13 scholarship players is a mistake.

Shaka has an idea of how many players he wants to fill out the roster. Cutting 5 players and only filling 2-3 is just leaving meat on the bone. If you have 15 scholarships, you should fill 15 scholarships.

IMO, you leave at least one spot open for a mid-year pickup - an international player or an early HS grad (what Shaka did for Walker this year). Maybe it's a Euro or Aussie who can contribute immediately too.

[wadesworld]

I'd be surprised if two of Tre, Caedin, Clark, and Jones are not gone next year.  Would expect 2, would think 3 is more likely than 1 or 0.  Whether Shaka then uses all 3 spots on portal players we'll see, but my guess is yes.

People constantly overrate the need for depth here.  You need 7 good players to be a competitive team.  My preference would be a rotation of 8.

We were a 2 seed two years ago with a sophomore Ben Gold 7th in minutes and a sophomore Sean Jones 8th in minutes, prior to getting injured for the year half way through the season.  Nobody past those guys played more than 10 minutes per game, and Kolek missed a number of games late in the season with injury as well.  We were running a 6 man rotation for a while.  The year before that we won double Big East titles with freshman Sean Jones 8th in mpg at 12.  And people think Gold and Jones are "fat we should've cut" prior to their 4th year in the program, let alone years 1 and 2.

I've consistently brought up Villanova's two national title teams.  6 guys played 27+ mpg, Gillespie played 14, and nobody else was more than 12 on their second title team under Wright, and their first title under Wright they had an 8 man rotation.

Florida won a national title last year with 6 players over 20 mpg, one player just under 15 mpg, and nobody else above 12.  They basically played 7.  You can go on and on looking at how deep national title teams' rotations are.  Some are deeper, but most are 7 or 8.

You don't need 15 Big East rotational players to be competitive in college basketball.  The idea that we need to completely flip the roster is so far from the truth.  Nigel and Royce should be two of the best offensive players in the Big East next year.  Stevens is a proven 3 point shooter, and I trust we'll see an improvement defensively and going to the hoop.  He's definitely a rotational Big East player.  If you get 3 Big East rotational level players, you can easily find Ben Gold/Sean Jones sophomore year level of production from one of Sheek, Egbuonu, Philips, Walker, Miletic, or Owens.

[onepost]

Honestly.... this speach was not good...

Really, the issue with this roster is the lack of Sean Jones? Sean Jones, who made worse when he was playing, that Sean jones?

And the focus is on retention? Of which players? If you are focusing on retaining all, you're doing something wrong.

This staff is poor at self evaluations.

Your inability to grasp any of this is pretty remarkable. Kudos, man.

I've been as critical as anyone of Shaka this season, and found what I felt was his pride and stubbornness with roster building incredibly frustrating in November and December. But this is about as clear a mea culpa as a guy like Shaka will confess in a presser.

The issue is obviously not Sean Jones, it's what directly preceded him talking about Sean Jones: "This year, to be 100% honest, we had some older guys we felt could do more...and they haven't. But the young guys have really stepped forward in a major way." I don't know how much clearer he needs to be for you. Acknowledging Sean's injury is Shaka being a nice guy and highlighting a guy dealing with injury not contributing as opposed to outwardly lambasting the terrible play of Chase Ross, poor play of Ben Gold, vanishing act of Zaide Lowery, irrelevance of Tre Norman. He will literally never do that, ever.

OF COURSE the focus is on our retention of young players...how is that not something you comprehend. He literally says his "evolving" starts with keeping Nigel, Adrien, Royce, and Damarius in the program. "But certainly around them, we have to look at what's best for Marquette basketball and our roster...and I'm excited about that . How we can improve our team in different ways." Like is he speaking a different language here than you?

In my opinion, I think Sean, Tre, and one of Caedin (ideally) or Josh leaves the program: add in Zaide and that leaves 4 openings. I personally think we bring in 3 meaningful contributors to this team and maybe a Nash-type flier as a 4th since we know Shaka likes doing that.

Nigel, Royce, Adrien, Damarius, Michael, Alex, Sheek, Ian, portal guard like Minessale, portal wing like a Leon Bond, portal big man is a team that gives me a LOT of optimism. Thinking that 2026-2027 roster is a bottom dweller is crazy to me. We're led by freshmen and sophomores currently playing blind and with one hand tied behind our back and are taking Nova to the brink twice, St. John's to the brink, Seton Hall to the brink twice, running mid-tier Butler and Creighton out of the gym. Not seeing our growth and projecting a damn good team next year now that we're portaling makes no sense IMO.

[MU82]

It's laughable that is what you took away from his comments and it's very difficult to take you seriously. 

His comment about Jones was innocuous yet you're twisting it to something ludicrous. 

Next, of course retention of your best player has to be a priority this offseason and going forward.  And that primarily means Nigel, Royce, and Adrien.  There's nothing remotely confusing about that comment.

And then you conveniently ignore that he:

1) Said he was excited about the process. He likely feels that he has been freed from his self-imposed restrictions

2) They are going to use metrics to fill gaps.  Understand what the returnees down well and how to best supplement those skill sets in the portal. 

Get some help, dude.

Yup. It's amazing that people watched that and came out of it with anything else.

He is going to keep James and Parham (and likely Stevens) come hell or high water, and he is then going to bolster the roster by using the portal.

Any other take is just kvetching for the sake of it. Jeesh.

[Billy Hoyle]

Is it crazy to suggest the quality of transfers matters more than the quantity?
Two high-quality transfers, preferably a big and a 3-and-D wing who are capable of starting for most good P5 programs, would help this team far more than four depth pieces.

I don't think you necessarily need big money guys. A big like Jones or Traore at Butler would instantly improve our projected line-up for next year (James, Stevens, Parham, not sure who would be a the 3. Maybe Owens). Neither are stars, neither cost Butler a lot, but they'd be a significant upgrade from what we are looking at for experience at the 5 next year (assuming one or both come back) and help Sheek develop. I don't think we need to buy a Tarris Reed, Jr. or Hunter Dickenson type at the 5...but I wouldn't be opposed.

[The Sultan]

Are you kidding? These guys can't win games now. What makes you think they'll win games next season. The in coming class has yet to prove they can play high major D1 ball.

Justin Lewis, Oso and Greg Elliott couldn't win games in 2020-21. Yet Shaka surrounded those players with quality transfers and they made the tournament the next year.

Don't you think that putting some quality around the core of Royce, NJ and Adrien can result in a better team? I sure think so...

[Zog from Margo]

Yup. It's amazing that people watched that and came out of it with anything else.

He is going to keep James and Parham (and likely Stevens) come hell or high water, and he is then going to bolster the roster by using the portal.

Any other take is just kvetching for the sake of it. Jeesh.

James, Parham and Stevens will be priorities for retention. If I had to guess, Phillips and the redshirts would be next. I don't see Owens as being at the same level in terms of priority. Great athlete but plays like Poppin Fresh.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

If they bring in only 1-3 players and finish top half of the big east/tourney berth, I'd be ecstatic. Would gladly eat crow for that. I just do not think the roster as currently constructed is built to do that with so little changes. We'd be once again asking true freshman/RS freshman and sophomores to perform at a level they historically don't. I understand you and others disagree, but many were also confident going into this season they'd be much better than what has played out.

What happened to "get old, stay old" that was the foundational piece of Shaka's entire philosophy? Why are we now so confident in relying on youth to compete for top of the BE?

And preferably these hypothetical four would be in the rotation, whether that be starting or off the bench.

First, what changes the equation to me is Nigel, Royce, and Adrien.  They are proving with each game they can be counted on next season and beyond.

Royce will be an upper classmen. Nigel might be pre-season All Big East 1st or 2nd team next season as a sophomore.  And Adrien has shown a lot as well. 

For me, that's a very nice core to start with. 

In regard to the portal, I think we do need to balance out the classes with a couple of one-year guys that will be seniors, and maybe a guy with 2 years left.  If Sean and Tre are both gone, this team will have no seniors so that is a spot where you can add that experience. 

I'd like to see them add 3 guys via the portal.  A starting 5 with one year of eligibility left, a starting wing (one or two years left), and a combo guard (one or two years left). 

Starters:
C - Portal addition
F - Royce
G/F - Portal Addition
SG - Adrien
PG - Nigel

Bench:
Portal addition (combo guard)
Sheek
Owens
Egbuonu

Plus, Phillps, Miletic, Walker

I get that the bench is unproven but I see depth and upside.  To me, I don't see why this hypothetical squad wouldn't be competitive. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

IMO, you leave at least one spot open for a mid-year pickup - an international player or an early HS grad (what Shaka did for Walker this year). Maybe it's a Euro or Aussie who can contribute immediately too.

With 15 spots, I agree that keeping one spot open for flexibility makes a lot of sense.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I'd be surprised if two of Tre, Caedin, Clark, and Jones are not gone next year.  Would expect 2, would think 3 is more likely than 1 or 0.  Whether Shaka then uses all 3 spots on portal players we'll see, but my guess is yes.

People constantly overrate the need for depth here.  You need 7 good players to be a competitive team.  My preference would be a rotation of 8.

We were a 2 seed two years ago with a sophomore Ben Gold 7th in minutes and a sophomore Sean Jones 8th in minutes, prior to getting injured for the year half way through the season.  Nobody past those guys played more than 10 minutes per game, and Kolek missed a number of games late in the season with injury as well.  We were running a 6 man rotation for a while.  The year before that we won double Big East titles with freshman Sean Jones 8th in mpg at 12.  And people think Gold and Jones are "fat we should've cut" prior to their 4th year in the program, let alone years 1 and 2.

I've consistently brought up Villanova's two national title teams.  6 guys played 27+ mpg, Gillespie played 14, and nobody else was more than 12 on their second title team under Wright, and their first title under Wright they had an 8 man rotation.

Florida won a national title last year with 6 players over 20 mpg, one player just under 15 mpg, and nobody else above 12.  They basically played 7.  You can go on and on looking at how deep national title teams' rotations are.  Some are deeper, but most are 7 or 8.

You don't need 15 Big East rotational players to be competitive in college basketball.  The idea that we need to completely flip the roster is so far from the truth.  Nigel and Royce should be two of the best offensive players in the Big East next year.  Stevens is a proven 3 point shooter, and I trust we'll see an improvement defensively and going to the hoop.  He's definitely a rotational Big East player.  If you get 3 Big East rotational level players, you can easily find Ben Gold/Sean Jones sophomore year level of production from one of Sheek, Egbuonu, Philips, Walker, Miletic, or Owens.

Yep, basically what I just posted and have been repeating.

[The Sultan]

First, what changes the equation to me is Nigel, Royce, and Adrien.  They are proving with each game they can be counted on next season and beyond.

Royce will be an upper classmen. Nigel might be pre-season All Big East 1st or 2nd team next season as a sophomore.  And Adrien has shown a lot as well. 

For me, that's a very nice core to start with. 

In regard to the portal, I think we do need to balance out the classes with a couple of one-year guys that will be seniors, and maybe a guy with 2 years left.  If Sean and Tre are both gone, this team will have no seniors so that is a spot where you can add that experience. 

I'd like to see them add 3 guys via the portal.  A starting 5 with one year of eligibility left, a starting wing (one or two years left), and a combo guard (one or two years left). 

Starters:
C - Portal addition
F - Royce
G/F - Portal Addition
SG - Adrien
PG - Nigel

Bench:
Portal addition (combo guard)
Sheek
Owens
Egbuonu

Plus, Phillps, Miletic, Walker

I get that the bench is unproven but I see depth and upside.  To me, I don't see why this hypothetical squad wouldn't be competitive. 

Yep. Your starting line up is exactly what I am picturing.

[panda]

I'd be surprised if two of Tre, Caedin, Clark, and Jones are not gone next year.  Would expect 2, would think 3 is more likely than 1 or 0.  Whether Shaka then uses all 3 spots on portal players we'll see, but my guess is yes.

People constantly overrate the need for depth here.  You need 7 good players to be a competitive team.  My preference would be a rotation of 8.

We were a 2 seed two years ago with a sophomore Ben Gold 7th in minutes and a sophomore Sean Jones 8th in minutes, prior to getting injured for the year half way through the season.  Nobody past those guys played more than 10 minutes per game, and Kolek missed a number of games late in the season with injury as well.  We were running a 6 man rotation for a while.  The year before that we won double Big East titles with freshman Sean Jones 8th in mpg at 12.  And people think Gold and Jones are "fat we should've cut" prior to their 4th year in the program, let alone years 1 and 2.

I've consistently brought up Villanova's two national title teams.  6 guys played 27+ mpg, Gillespie played 14, and nobody else was more than 12 on their second title team under Wright, and their first title under Wright they had an 8 man rotation.

Florida won a national title last year with 6 players over 20 mpg, one player just under 15 mpg, and nobody else above 12.  They basically played 7.  You can go on and on looking at how deep national title teams' rotations are.  Some are deeper, but most are 7 or 8.

You don't need 15 Big East rotational players to be competitive in college basketball.  The idea that we need to completely flip the roster is so far from the truth.  Nigel and Royce should be two of the best offensive players in the Big East next year.  Stevens is a proven 3 point shooter, and I trust we'll see an improvement defensively and going to the hoop.  He's definitely a rotational Big East player.  If you get 3 Big East rotational level players, you can easily find Ben Gold/Sean Jones sophomore year level of production from one of Sheek, Egbuonu, Philips, Walker, Miletic, or Owens.

Depth doesn't matter unless you're the 24/25 Marquette team

[panda]

Yep. Your starting line up is exactly what I am picturing.

His bench makes me very nervous. But again - I haven't seen the freshmen play on this stage so I'm erring on the side of the unknown.

[JTJ3]

First, what changes the equation to me is Nigel, Royce, and Adrien.  They are proving with each game they can be counted on next season and beyond.

Royce will be an upper classmen. Nigel might be pre-season All Big East 1st or 2nd team next season as a sophomore.  And Adrien has shown a lot as well. 

For me, that's a very nice core to start with. 

In regard to the portal, I think we do need to balance out the classes with a couple of one-year guys that will be seniors, and maybe a guy with 2 years left.  If Sean and Tre are both gone, this team will have no seniors so that is a spot where you can add that experience. 

I'd like to see them add 3 guys via the portal.  A starting 5 with one year of eligibility left, a starting wing (one or two years left), and a combo guard (one or two years left). 

Starters:
C - Portal addition
F - Royce
G/F - Portal Addition
SG - Adrien
PG - Nigel

Bench:
Portal addition (combo guard)
Sheek
Owens
Egbuonu

Plus, Phillps, Miletic, Walker

I get that the bench is unproven but I see depth and upside.  To me, I don't see why this hypothetical squad wouldn't be competitive. 

This is what I expect as well.  And that is a tournament team.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Didn't think I'd be liking a One Post take...

[MU1985]

Don't forget incoming freshman Ethan Johnston next year. His 6'7" athleticism as a wing defender/rebounder may also help the team. Of course, he may also redshirt next year to improve his offense, but I'm surprised everyone seems to be ignoring him when discussing next year's team.

[wadesworld]

Don't forget incoming freshman Ethan Johnston next year. His 6'7" athleticism as a wing defender/rebounder may also help the team. Of course, he may also redshirt next year to improve his offense, but I'm surprised everyone seems to be ignoring him when discussing next year's team.

You're not wrong.  If he can truly defend at a Big East level, there's certainly an opportunity for minutes for him.

[jfp61]

/quote]

This a best case scenario, and this team feel like a 17-18 win team.

And until they run people off, this whole diatribe is aimless. They havn't acted that way towards their players in the past, they likely won't in the future.

Meanwhile, I won't infer competence in a staff. They are now 14-26 in their last 40 games.

[wadesworld]

This a best case scenario, and this team feel like a 17-18 win team.

And until they run people off, this whole diatribe is aimless. They havn't acted that way towards their players in the past, they likely won't in the future.

Meanwhile, I won't infer competence in a staff. They are now 14-26 in their last 40 games.

And 107-59 at Marquette, and 379-201 overall.

But sure, keep hearing reports that Shaka and staff are changing their ways and ignoring it.

[jfp61]

And 107-59 at Marquette, and 379-201 overall.

But sure, keep hearing reports that Shaka and staff are changing their ways and ignoring it.

Without winning out. This is the single worst Marquette basketball season in the 21st century.

Let's see if they will be better than 1990-91.

Culture is how you act, interact, and responed.

They are changing their ways because they failed, not because they are pressing their advantages.

Sorry that this season doesn't make me optimistic

[onepost]

[quote author=onepost link=msg=1794929 date=1771531396
Nigel, Royce, Adrien, Damarius, Michael, Alex, Sheek, Ian, portal guard like Minessale, portal wing like a Leon Bond, portal big man.


This a best case scenario, and this team feel like a 17-18 win team.

And until they run people off, this whole diatribe is aimless. They havn't acted that way towards their players in the past, they likely won't in the future.

Meanwhile, I won't infer competence in a staff. They are now 14-26 in their last 40 games.

You're welcome to hypothesize any win total you want, that roster ^ is closer to a protected seed in the tournament than a Crown participant if you ask me.

"They haven't acted that way towards players in the past"...yet Shaka and the admin are making it about as subtle as a sledgehammer that they are changing up their ways. You're welcome to keep your head in the sand, the rest of us will focus on who we could bring in to supplement the young core we are retaining...you know...like Shaka literally said 16 hours ago.

[Pakuni]

Don't forget incoming freshman Ethan Johnston next year. His 6'7" athleticism as a wing defender/rebounder may also help the team. Of course, he may also redshirt next year to improve his offense, but I'm surprised everyone seems to be ignoring him when discussing next year's team.

Ethan Johnston is the #195 player in his class according to the 247 composite and #225 according to on3.
The rankings aren't always right and there are times a lower-rated prospect comes in and has an immediate impact, but those tend to be exceptions. Expecting him to come in and help the team next year seems a tough ask. He's more likely a long-term swing on upside.