Shaka Smart 02/18/2026

[MU1985]

Yes, I understand that expectations are relatively low for Ethan Johnston due to the various low rankings, but to completely ignore him and not even include his name on the team as a bench player next year doesn't feel right to me due to his athleticism as a 6'7" wing player

[Pakuni]

Yes, I understand that expectations are relatively low for Ethan Johnston due to the various low rankings, but to completely ignore him and not even include his name on the team as a bench player next year doesn't feel right to me due to his athleticism as a 6'7" wing player

Barring departures, this team next year will have no shortage of 6'7"ish wing players.
Again, I have no idea where Johnston ends up on the depth chart and how/whether he helps the team, but expectations should be low.

[The Sultan]

Culture is how you act, interact, and responed.

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

Did you pull this nonsense off of LinkedIn or something?

[jfp61]

Did you pull this nonsense off of LinkedIn or something?

You don't know how much of a self own this is.

It is Shaka Smart's definition of culture in his Culture Document.

[GoldenEagles03]

[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.

How does this team "feel like" a 17 or 18 win team when we

A) don't know our schedule
B) don't know what other rosters will look like
C) don't know what our roster will look like

What if we just add a couple of really good players? It's feasible that we could. In that case I would say the sky is the limit for that roster.

[Jay Bee]

You don't know how much of a self own this is.

It is Shaka Smart's definition of culture in his Culture Document.

Actually the Culture Doc says respond, not responed.

[The Sultan]

You don't know how much of a self own this is.

It is Shaka Smart's definition of culture in his Culture Document.

Self own? I don't give a rip what's in his Culture Document.

I care that he is changing course. He's a smart enough gut to figure it out.

[Jay Bee]

I think JB should be happy that he corrected the "medical redshirt" terminology.

Us professionals like to use the proper terminology at times. Shame on Shaka and I for being righteous.

btw, saw anonymous eagle do a write up re: sean and this situation.. it's factually very wrong.

I've posted about it before.. but, again, the public comments by MU re: Sean last year were D&D. Oh well.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

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

Does it really matter at this point why their roster building approach is evolving?

If you're looking at wins & losses right now to determine your optimism moving forward you're not looking at the right things. 

[muwarrior69]

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. 

How so? They have not played one game of D1 ball. You don't even know the caliber of play of the transfers. I'll reserve judgement until next year's team plays some actual games and performs better than they do in practice.

[Tums Festival]

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.

I'm as mad as anyone with the way the team has played this season, and because of that hopefully Shaka pulls his head out of his a$$ about using the portal. But Shaka clearly brought up Sean Jones only to inform everyone he'd be out the rest of the season with injury, and nothing else. He never said or implied that he was the missing piece this year. How is it even possible to not understand that?

[Jay Bee]

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

Wat r speach?

[The Sultan]

How so? They have not played one game of D1 ball. You don't even know the caliber of play of the transfers. I'll reserve judgement until next year's team plays some actual games and performs better than they do in practice.

Uh...you weren't reserving judgement earlier today...

[#UnleashJosh]

Uh...you weren't reserving judgement earlier today...

Don't you have some freshman to scowl at for drinking?

[The Sultan]

Don't you have some freshman to scowl at for drinking?

WTF are you talking about?

[Small Orange Soda]

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.

Well, he said this six weeks ago:

But Smart is steadfast in his belief that incoming portal players should not be paid more than guys who are already in the program. There's a tier-system that Marquette employs when paying players, and Smart is loathe to depart from it. 

https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/ncaa-transfer-portal-st-johns-marquette-dan-hurley-21277022.php

Any player in the transfer market worth their salt is gonna expect more than several guys already in the program, and they should.

[Judge Smails]

1 stud transfer could make all the difference

[Its DJOver]

Well, he said this six weeks ago:

https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/ncaa-transfer-portal-st-johns-marquette-dan-hurley-21277022.php

Any player in the transfer market worth their salt is gonna expect more than several guys already in the program, and they should.

That's not a quote. A quote is something Shaka actually says. This was a UConn piece where they paraphrased an old Shaka quote, the same one that gets repeated around here a lot, that is from approx. 3 off-season's ago (I can't remember if it was after Justin left early or after O-Max left early). Further, Shaka has had actual real quotes more recently than six weeks ago that very strongly indicate that a change in philosophy is coming.  Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on using the portal, but not his stance on pay structure?

[Small Orange Soda]

That's not a quote. A quote is something Shaka actually says. This was a UConn piece where they paraphrased an old Shaka quote, the same one that gets repeated around here a lot, that is from approx. 3 off-season's ago (I can't remember if it was after Justin left early or after O-Max left early). Further, Shaka has had actual real quotes more recently than six weeks ago that very strongly indicate that a change in philosophy is coming.  Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on using the portal, but not his stance on pay structure?

Well there are quotes from Shaka in that piece about his change in philosophy about the portal, which he told the writer, but you're just going to assume said writer dug up an old quote from three years ago instead of asking him about the pay structure?

That's not how this stuff works, man.

[rocky_warrior]

Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on using the portal, but not his stance on pay structure?

Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on using the portal?

Yes.

Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on pay structure?

Yes

[panda]

Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on using the portal?

Yes.

Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on pay structure?

Yes

Right ? The proof is this season. He rode RGV into the situation we're in now. Either he's married to that philosophy or he's a poor talent evaluator. I don't know which is worse.

[Its DJOver]

Well there are quotes from Shaka in that piece about his change in philosophy about the portal, which he told the writer, but you're just going to assume said writer dug up an old quote from three years ago instead of asking him about the pay structure?

That's not how this stuff works, man.

If there are actual Shaka quotes, why didn't you use them? Is it because they don't actually mention MU? He talks about UConn, Purde and Mich St.

"I think the UConns, the Purdues, the Michigan States, in terms of sustaining success from year to year, that appears to be the way to go about it," Marquette coach Shaka Smart told CT Insider. "What those guys have done through the combination of their high school recruiting, retention and transfer recruiting is they've kept their talent and their culture at a very high level. And that gives you a chance to win."

And again, there are more recent quotes, which is why this thread is titled what it is, why are you ignoring those and focusing on what a UConn article from 6 weeks ago is saying? Things have clearly changed.

[Its DJOver]

Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on using the portal?

Yes.

Is it so hard to believe that he'll change his stance on pay structure?

Yes

Why? His comments seem pretty clear.

[rocky_warrior]

Why? His comments seem pretty clear.

Agreed.  Shaka has always told us what he is is going to do.

[Its DJOver]

Agreed.  Shaka has always told us what is is going to do.

You're right, he's going out of his way to lie to us.