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Hope you're all hanging in there and staying home as much as possible! Let's continue with our reviews with the Golden Eagles of Marquette

OUT:
*Markus Howard
*Sacar Anim
*Jayce Johnson

STAY:
*Koby McEwen
*Jamal Cain
*Theo John
*Greg Elliot
*Brendan Bailey
*Symir Torrence

IN:
*Oso Ighodaro
*Justin Lewis
*Dawson Garcia

My 0.02: It's a shame. An absolute shame that Markus Howard won't get to finish off his decorated career in Milwaukee in the NCAA Tournament. Impossible to tell how far they would've gone but no doubt they would've made it. That all being said, it was a very up and down year for the boys in blue and gold. But it ended with a thud with losing 6 of their last 7. I hear Marquette fans are getting sick of Wojo and I don't blame them. Can he recruit? Yes. But his coaching is average at best IMO. Now, they do have a lot of good pieces coming back and they've got a talented recruiting class so don't totally count them out. I think Marquette will be good but idk how good. Losing Howard will be massive loss.

What say you?

Very conflicted times as a Marquette fan.

It is a bitter pill to swallow to realize that Markus will have graduated without a single tournament win while at Marquette, and it is an ever-expanding red flag for Wojo's tenure that we will now be entering year seven without a single tournament win. The frustrations within the MU fan base is that Wojo, by appearance, is the ideal representative/coach for the men's basketball program under its present leadership moving forward. He has a championship pedigree, is young, is an outstanding ambassador and representative of the university, his teams graduate and his players are excellent representatives on/off the court as well. However, none of that has equated to a sustainable winning program that is capable of tournament berths/wins annually. Despite game-changing players and high-ranked recruits in guys like Henry Ellenson, Sam and Joey Hauser and Markus Howard, the team's play continues to rely on one player contributing to an overwhelming majority of the production, while other complimentary players regress and/or fail to meet expectations development-wise. The team's/program's defense, especially coming from a defensive-first coach, continue to underwhelm and disappoint. Another red flag is the said relationships with in-state basketball recruits (like the Ellensons, the Hausers), who have all left the program with very public frustrations with how they were handled and/or utilized. Perhaps the biggest red flag entering year seven is that MU is currently projected to be well-outside the tournament field next year with an immensely young roster, no true point guard and, as of now, no go-to scorer that Wojo has depended on in every season at the helm.

On the positive side, we do have a group of solid complimentary players returning next year in John, Bailey, Cain, McEwen, Torrence and Elliot, and a high-ceiling recruiting class in Garcia, Lewis and Ighodaro (all 6-7 or taller). If we can land Mane, it would be a top-10 recruiting class nationally hands-down. However, with Mane being a well-known one-and-done, I strongly question his addition as helping the program long-term. I doubt we end up getting him anyways. The team desperately needs a transfer to help the guard position, which - given the right one - could help propel the group into a bubble team; however - between Chartouny and McEwen - I have little confidence in finding an immediate plug-and-play option that will work. Assistant coach, Stan Johnson, just got named LMU's head coach yesterday. I am a huge fan of Stan's and wish him nothing but success. He was without question our top recruiter (landed Markus), so it is imperative that Wojo fill that role with an experienced recruiter/coach that can help keep that momentum going. Hopefully, none of our recruits decommit with Stan's departure. Stan is the second Wojo assistant to get a head coaching gig in the past 12 months (Brett Nelson took over Holy Cross this past season). Regardless of the on-court success, it is a great testament to Wojo that his assistants are rising to become D1 HCs. He is obviously preparing them well for the next step.

Ultimately, I think Marquette misses the tournament next year, which would be just two appearances in seven years, and zero wins. I find it hard to envision Marquette firing him, but I also find it hard to believe Wojo would be welcome to stay either. It would be a very tough sell to retain any head coach with our history, spending and expectations on the basketball program with that level of success (or lack there of). Perhaps a mutual separation would be on the horizon, for both sides to save face? Honestly not sure. If our job does open, Brian Wardle would likely be the top-candidate to fill it. His status as an alum, successful and experienced head coach (something Wojo did not have coming in), and ability to take two separate programs to the top of their respective conferences (UWGB and Bradley) to 20-win seasons would be an excelling selling point to the fan base that is starving for a return to the top-half of the Big East, especially coming off the runs from Tom Crean and Buzz Williams.

I didn't see a lot of Marquette games last year, but in my opinion, the team suffered a bit from the star syndrome problem. When Howard was on, they were tough to beat. When he struggled, the team struggled. Creighton had that problem with Doug McD. When he struggled there was no one to step up and take over. Maybe next year the team will benefit from having a more balanced system where everyone can be utilized and they aren't standing around waiting for the star to save them. That is not a dig at Doug or Howard, but just what seems to happen to teams that have players with extraordinary scoring talents. It always takes time for young talent to jell, so I suspect Marquette will be picked preseason at the bottom half of the league.

Spent a decade as a diehard MU fan. I've been fired up for every game since I was 17, would wake up in the middle of the night when I was living in Ireland. This is the first time I just can't care even with a McDonald's all American coming in and two more incredible talents. We know one of them will transfer like all of wojos other great recruits (Hausers, Cheatham)

I see Wojo as the antithesis of Cooley

What MH was able to do, in a major conference, with a lot of teams that pride themselves on D, at his size and physical stature and age (young for his class) is nothing short (pun intended) of amazing. Then you look at his stats...40+% 3 pt shooter with the usage rate that he has put up and you realize what a special offensive player he has been. And all that with entire game plans aimed at stopping him. Wow.

So what way does MU fall with him leaving? Does it clear the deck for others—paving the way for a more collective approach? Or does it leave a team with too few bullets in the chamber? First things first I can’t understand how Woj hasn’t valued the PG position. Markus was never a PG, and yet he would have been even more effective if he had a general out there keeping the team focused. With the team coming back I wonder where the on-court leadership will come from. Will McEwen try to dominate the ball or allow the game to come to him in the flow of the game? Will guys like Bailey and John take big steps forward with no longer having to defer to MH? Will they take on a more scrappy, defensive minded mentality, now that one of their weaker defenders is moving on?

I think more so than any returning team, this is clearly a test of the long term viability of the coach. If MU finishes bottom 3 is it simply time to start going in a new direction? Maybe Woj figures out a way to lock down team defensively, be opportunistic on O and try to grind out wins. I’m rooting hard for this proud, historic program.

Screw this Brian Wardle as next coach. He stinks! Crapped his pants at Green Bay with two NBA players. If he wasn't a former MU player, nobody would bring his name up.

MUPanther wrote:Screw this Brian Wardle as next coach. He stinks! Crapped his pants at Green Bay with two NBA players. If he wasn't a former MU player, nobody would bring his name up.

Wasn't he decent with Green Bay?? He also has turned Bradley's program around. Coming from the MVC, Bradley was a cluster(bleep) when we left. Why not him??

OmahaGuy wrote:

MUPanther wrote:Screw this Brian Wardle as next coach. He stinks! Crapped his pants at Green Bay with two NBA players. If he wasn't a former MU player, nobody would bring his name up.

Wasn't he decent with Green Bay?? He also has turned Bradley's program around. Coming from the MVC, Bradley was a cluster(bleep) when we left. Why not him??

Crap his pants as a #1 seed on their home floor at GB with 2 NBA type players. Never got to the dance.

Still a middle tier program in the MVC with Bradley. If he wasn't a Marquette former player, no MU fan would ever bring his name up.

Nice get by Marquette getting DJ Carton. If hes eligible next season, Marquette may have made themselves a tourney team.