RIP Marquette 2025-2026 Men's Basketball Season

[MU82]

So I doubt players will not receive no payments.

Wut?

[WhiteTrash]

You are drastically underestimating the power of coaching for your job at a P5 level.

IMO, Shaka doesn't need any pressure to make changes to win. I genuinely believe he an ultra competitive guy who will do what he needs to do to win without outside motivation.

[MU82]

Shaka really tries to buy into relationships with his players and there families.  It will be hard to tell juniors to take a hike.  Only person I see leaving is JONES, who might graduate.  One portal transfer is not enough, let's see if Shaka has the balls to get rid of more dead weight

It must be exhausting to be a 24/7 Eeyore.

Also, "their" families.

Also, if JONES leaves as you are speculating, it would be a minimum of two spots for incoming transfers.

Also, your interest in Shaka's genitalia is disturbing.

[WhiteTrash]

The people writing the checks have told them to wake up from their happy little dream.

I fondly remember the slew of "reports" that MU couldn't be happier with Wojo.

[GoldenEagles03]

IMO, Shaka doesn't need any pressure to make changes to win. I genuinely believe he an ultra competitive guy who will do what he needs to do to win without outside motivation.

I would certainly hope he's motivated enough internally. External noise clearly was a motivating factor in this change though. Those with the money want to win and said this version is unacceptable. Adapt or die so they say.

[Scoop Snoop]

External noise clearly was a motivating factor in this change though.

And this is what really gets me. Without "external noise" (weird words, but they work here) I wonder if Shaka would have rerun RGV this coming season without transfers. The money people needed to give him a wake-up call.

[GoldenEagles03]

And this is what really gets me. Without "external noise" (weird words, but they work here) I wonder if Shaka would have rerun RGV this coming season without transfers. The money people needed to give him a wake-up call.

They (very clearly) already did.

[Warrior of Law]

One of the nice parts, and perhaps the only one, of NIL/Portal world is that everyone's on a one-year deal. From a GM perspective, they inform Hamilton and Norman that they may get replaced. MU goes into the portal with 2 spots (Lowery/Jones), and 4 spots if they find the right fits. This is the big leagues, you need to make bid decisions. The point is that MU decides is players come back. They owe nothing to anyone after the season concludes.

[Jay Bee]

One of the nice parts, and perhaps the only one, of NIL/Portal world is that everyone's on a one-year deal.

#FakeNews #Lies

[wadesworld]

And this is what really gets me. Without "external noise" (weird words, but they work here) I wonder if Shaka would have rerun RGV this coming season without transfers. The money people needed to give him a wake-up call.

He didn't need a wake up call. I cannot believe people here think that a guy as competitive as Shaka just wants to sit around and go 12-18 as long as he can sing Koombyah. If Shaka needed to be told how to build his roster by those who write the checks, he'd be looking for a soft landing spot right now.

[Small Orange Soda]

He didn't need a wake up call. I cannot believe people here think that a guy as competitive as Shaka just wants to sit around and go 12-18 as long as he can sing Koombyah. If Shaka needed to be told how to build his roster by those who write the checks, he'd be looking for a soft landing spot right now.

He definitely needed a wake up call. It wasn't, 'you need to recruit this guy or that guy', it was 'you need to not be the only high major coach to not use the portal when you know improvement is necessary'

[MU82]

He definitely needed a wake up call. It wasn't, 'you need to recruit this guy or that guy', it was 'you need to not be the only high major coach to not use the portal when you know improvement is necessary'

Seriously, how do you know he didn't realize that himself fairly early this season? Were you in his meetings with others? Were you in his brain?

It's not just you. We have a lot of Scoopers who claim to know exactly what Shaka was thinking and when he was thinking it and who made him think it.

What we haven't seen is any evidence of any of it.

[Scoop Snoop]

He didn't need a wake up call. I cannot believe people here think that a guy as competitive as Shaka just wants to sit around and go 12-18 as long as he can sing Koombyah. If Shaka needed to be told how to build his roster by those who write the checks, he'd be looking for a soft landing spot right now.

I do not question Shaka's competitive spirit, nor do I believe that he is satisfied with this horrendous season that was the result over more than "one bad year" of his insisting that he could create projects like Hamilton into BE caliber starters. And I do not need yet another recital of his very impressive accomplishments since coming to Marquette to counterbalance criticisms of this past season. I believe that he can once again bring Marquette to prominence, but not if he chose to continue with what I consider an obsession with developing home-grown talent.

The point of my post was that we will never know whether or not he would have tried to go forward without bringing in transfers because of the statement came from the Athletic Department, not Shaka himself. Could he have been planning on transfers from early on this season? Maybe. But the way this played out was not a good look.
 

[Small Orange Soda]

Seriously, how do you know he didn't realize that himself fairly early this season? Were you in his meetings with others? Were you in his brain?

It's not just you. We have a lot of Scoopers who claim to know exactly what Shaka was thinking and when he was thinking it and who made him think it.

What we haven't seen is any evidence of any of it.

Well, he himself admitted that they decided four years ago to not take any D-1 transfers after the first year. So we know he thought that.

It's pretty well known that there were donors who made their voices heard.

Then we get a clearly planted report during a game that things will now change.

Was he literally forced to change? Doubt it. But he had chances to improve this team before that way and decided not to.

We're no different than any college fan base. The people with money matter.

[Scoop Snoop]

Seriously, how do you know he didn't realize that himself fairly early this season? Were you in his meetings with others? Were you in his brain?

It's not just you. We have a lot of Scoopers who claim to know exactly what Shaka was thinking and when he was thinking it and who made him think it.

What we haven't seen is any evidence of any of it.

Fair. We don't know. But we do know Shaka shoehorned the word "growth" into pressers, after the near disastrous Valpo game when he had just a brief moment to comment, after the UW fiasco (We believe in growth"    and a steady stream of RGV talk-"growth" being his favorite word- throughout the season. He didn't need to abandon RGV talk, but I think by not toning it down he seemed to be saying "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" This is my personal take. I heard nothing to convince me that he was recognizing any need to change his M.O. 

 

[#UnleashThePortal]

It must be exhausting to be a 24/7 Eeyore.

Also, "their" families.

Also, if JONES leaves as you are speculating, it would be a minimum of two spots for incoming transfers.

Also, your interest in Shaka's genitalia is disturbing.

Sean being out for the season the same time that Nigel became the starter is kind of telling.

Big coincidence if not

[MU82]

Sean being out for the season the same time that Nigel became the starter is kind of telling.

That's actually false. After being injured, Sean came back and played 5 games as Nigel's backup before getting hurt again.

SOS and Snoop ...

Again, do either of you (or any other Scooper) know exactly what happened for Shaka to change his approach? Did rich alums tell him to change ... or else? Did rich alums tell the AD or president or other university officials that Shaka had better change ... or else? As the horrific season played out, did Shaka realize that not using the transfer portal could no longer work? Was it a combination of sone or all of the above? If y'all or anyone else has evidence of precisely what it was, I'm sure lots of Scoopers would love to see it.

[The Sultan]

Fair. We don't know. But we do know Shaka shoehorned the word "growth" into pressers, after the near disastrous Valpo game when he had just a brief moment to comment, after the UW fiasco (We believe in growth"    and a steady stream of RGV talk-"growth" being his favorite word- throughout the season. He didn't need to abandon RGV talk, but I think by not toning it down he seemed to be saying "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" This is my personal take. I heard nothing to convince me that he was recognizing any need to change his M.O.

I think you are reading way too much into a single word he used in a post game presser.

[willie warrior]

I do not question Shaka's competitive spirit, nor do I believe that he is satisfied with this horrendous season that was the result over more than "one bad year" of his insisting that he could create projects like Hamilton into BE caliber starters. And I do not need yet another recital of his very impressive accomplishments since coming to Marquette to counterbalance criticisms of this past season. I believe that he can once again bring Marquette to prominence, but not if he chose to continue with what I consider an obsession with developing home-grown talent.

The point of my post was that we will never know whether or not he would have tried to go forward without bringing in transfers because of the statement came from the Athletic Department, not Shaka himself. Could he have been planning on transfers from early on this season? Maybe. But the way this played out was not a good look.
 

Thus season should be Never Forget, and not lets forget about it. That will be my motto until I see evidence that Shaka has changed his strategy by bringing in the necessary talent. Never Forget, the gap is widening.

[Scoop Snoop]

SOS and Snoop ...

Again, do either of you (or any other Scooper) know exactly what happened for Shaka to change

Reread the beginning-"Fair. We don't know"- and the last two sentences of my post #364 and you will find answers to your questions.

But we do know that there was a public announcement.

[MU82]

But we do know that there was a public announcement.

OK.

[willie warrior]

Well, he himself admitted that they decided four years ago to not take any D-1 transfers after the first year. So we know he thought that.

It's pretty well known that there were donors who made their voices heard.

Then we get a clearly planted report during a game that things will now change.

Was he literally forced to change? Doubt it. But he had chances to improve this team before that way and decided not to.

We're no different than any college fan base. The people with money matter.

If he has not been forced to change, it is highly unlikely we will see any meaningful change on his part.