It’s been seven months since the Marquette Golden Eagles dropped their Sweet-16 matchup with NC State in the NCAA Tournament to end the 2023-24 campaign. It’s been seven months since Marquette stars Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro walked off the floor for the final time in blue & gold. It’s been seven months since Shaka has pounded the floor, Kam has hit a three, or Jop has grabbed a rebound. And it’s been seven months since the fans and students at Fiserv Forum have sung “Ring Out Ahoya!” together in hopes of a Marquette victory. That’s all about to change. The 2024-25 Marquette Basketball season is upon us.
Marquette finished last season 27-10, good enough for second in the Big East behind National Champion UCONN. A new season brings new aspirations, and the Golden Eagles enter the new season ranked #18 in the preseason AP Poll, and are picked to finish fourth in this year’s Big East. With a seemingly difficult road through the Big East and a tough non-conference schedule, Marquette has work to do and things to prove with their same-style/new-look team. Let’s dig in.
The Team
Let’s address the elephants in the room. Marquette lost its two biggest pieces in Oso Ighodaro and All-American Tyler Kolek to the NBA. Both of their presences will be missed. The offense ran through Kolek and a large part of that was the pick-and-roll game with Ighodaro. Although much of the on-court playstyle should look the same, the aforementioned vacancies create new opportunities for different players to slide into. And the band is back together. Shaka Smart(75-29 at Marquette) returns for his fourth season as head coach, and continues to dodge the transfer portal. Though no new transfers are coming into Milwaukee, none are going out either. This creates chemistry and depth, two key pillars of the program.
The togetherness that Shaka instills at Marquette returns one of the best guards in the country and Preseason First Team All-Big East member, Kam Jones, back for his senior season. The skills and teamplay of Jones make him a prime candidate for transfer, and as someone who could’ve tested the NBA draft waters last spring, Jones returns with his teammates for the 2024-25 run. Jones handled the ball at the point guard position for much of the time that Tyler Kolek was injured last season, but it has yet to be seen if the same situation will unfold. Marquette will most likely replace Kolek’s likeness at the top of the offense with fellow returning senior, Stevie Mitchell. Regardless, the Golden Eagles will surely depend on Kam Jones for his scoring and leadership on the floor if they want to remain competitive atop the conference.
I mentioned Stevie Mitchell. Everybody loves Stevie. The guard with the million-dollar smile also returns for his senior season, and his toughness and full-throttle style of play should set the tone for yet another scrappy season for Marquette. His additions to the defensive deflection count and turning in consecutive stops will set the tone for the Golden Eagles on that end of the floor.
Opposite Kam Jones in Marquette’s three-guard set is Junior Chase Ross. Ross was consistently touted as Marquette’s most improved player over the course of last season and should play a pivotal role as he moves into the projected starting five. Another high-motor player, Ross fits Shaka’s scheme perfectly. His ability to close lanes on defense and fly down the floor in transition gives Marquette a viable threat that opposing teams will have to plan for.
The experienced backcourt will be joined in rotation by second-year guard, Tre Norman, although he is nursing a shoulder injury that he injured ahead of the team scrimmage last month. His status to begin the season is questionable. Fellow sophomore Zaide Lowery will likely join the rotation on the wing, and we will have to wait for the debut of freshman Damarius Owens, who will spend time in the rotation on the wing as soon as he returns from a toe injury that he suffered in a scrimmage against Oklahoma.
The lightning bolt that is Sean Jones will play a key role in handling the ball this season. At some point. Jones is still rehabbing the ACL that he tore last January and did not take part in any of the team scrimmages leading into the opener. Updates on his status should become more clear in the coming weeks.
The frontcourt continues to be a bit thin, and historically Shaka Smart’s Marquette teams have not rebounded the ball particularly well. This could be another point of contention this upcoming season. Ben Gold, who got plenty of run last season, is more of a stretch-five with great range from the outside. Another player who saw vast improvement over the course of last season, the 6’11” Gold will have to continue to improve around the basket to have the success that Marquette will need against the other bigs in the conference.
Helping Gold get the ball back in the frontcourt will be hometown kid and Milwaukee native, David Joplin. Joplin enters his senior season as a fan-favorite and will have a lot of work to do to keep the rebounding numbers up. Another big that can stretch the floor at 6’8”, Joplin is still best known for his outside shot. His game around the basket improved over the course of last season, especially in the NCAA Tournament, and we will most likely see the focus to continue to grow in that area for Joplin.
The frontcourt rotation will be littered with the hopefulness and uncertainty of youth. Redshirt freshman Caedin Hamilton will most likely play a big role in replacing Ighodaro in rotation, and at 6’9” and 250 lbs, Marquette is hoping that he can consistently position himself to do so. Hamilton could also be joined in rotation by Royce Parham, a 6’8” freshman out of the prestigious Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. Time will tell how the frontcourt will play out and how Shaka intends to use them, but going into the season, this is one of Marquette’s biggest question marks.
The team as a whole brings back a lot of experience, especially in its starting five. Marquette should start three seniors and two juniors on most nights. The skillsets on the floor match Shaka’s philosophy, and we should see a squad that’s eager to play defense and eager to win together.
The Big East
Ah, the Big East. The pure conference. Its eleven teams play out the last true round robin schedule of the high-major conferences. It has heated rivalries, Hall-of-Fame coaches, the two-time defending National Champions, and finishes its season in the greatest venue in basketball. You just can’t beat it.
After receiving a league-worst three NCAA Tournament bids last year(albeit some arguable snubs and despite a National Champion), the Big East looks to be an improved conference in 2024-25. UCONN will once again be led by returning powerhouse head coach Dan Hurley after an offer to head the Lakers was declined, and UCONN should once again take maximum effort to be dethroned from the tippy-top of the Big East. Although they lost four starters from last year’s championship team, there will be plenty of talent for Coach Hurley to dominate with, and add top freshman talent in Liam McNeeley to boot.
Creighton returns much of its core, and might possibly have Big East Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner on their roster. Kalkbrenner opted out of the NBA Draft and exercised his Covid option season to return for the Jays. They could give UCONN a real run at the conference title.
St. John’s also sits high atop the Big East projections. Rick Pitino’s group can defend inside and can flat-out rebound the basketball. They also added one of the nation’s best portal transfers in Deivon Smith from Utah, whose numbers were as good as anyone who stepped through this offseason. Look for some bruising Big East matchups with the Johnnies.
Xavier brings back the most experienced core in the conference, and looks to hunt down an NCAA Tournament bid after being left out the last two seasons. Providence is a similar team, after being snubbed from last year’s tourney, lose Devin Carter to the NBA, but bring back Big East powerhouse Bryce Hopkins in hopes of getting back into the bracket. Villanova projects as a bubble team, in desperate need to get back into the national landscape since the departure of Jay Wright. A likely down-year for Butler awaits, and Seton Hall, although they bring along one of the more exciting coaches in the conference in Shaheen Holloway, still don’t have a full roster that can compete much higher than landing in the bottom half of the conference. Both teams could still put you on upset alert. Georgetown and Depaul round out the conference at the bottom, hoping that you get their best game on a given night.
It’s hard to tell where Marquette fits within the conference as we approach opening night in Milwaukee. The Big East is strong from the top through its middle, and there will certainly be some intense, close matchups in conference play ahead. Marquette also draws non-conference games against Purdue and rival Wisconsin, as well as road tilts at Maryland, Iowa St. and Dayton. Marquette’s experience aligned with their youth, their strength in playing together, and how they stand up to pressure in the big games in the conference will ultimately tell an exciting story for the Golden Eagles in the 2024-25 season.
It’s going to be fun. Let’s predict it.
Knuckleball Prime Time season predictions for the Marquette Golden Eagles:
Record: 21-10
Conference Record: 13-7
Big East Finish: 4th
Marquette opens up the season Monday, November 4th against Stony Brook at Fiserv Forum at 8:30pm ET on FS1.
The Barn 
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