Marquette outlook

[MackNova]

Georgetown has been getting a lot of heat, but Marquette has been worse since the Big East began, and they were even more successful in the years prior to the breakup. Obviously, Buzz Williams leaving was not ideal, but Marquette hasn't gone 3 years without making the tournament since the 1998-2001 tournaments. This isn't something Marquette fans are used to.

Wojo has had 2 years on the job, and he's 1 game over .500. This year is a step in the right direction, and your team is very young, but losing Henry Ellenson means Marquette needs to find a new identity yet again next season.

Cheatham looks like a good young player. Johnson has taken a big step up this season. Fischer has flaws, but he's an efficient scorer and rebounder.

What's the state of the program for Marquette? Out of the Catholic 7 teams, Marquette, Villanova and Georgetown were by far the most successful in the years before the breakup. When are Marquette fans expecting to not only compete for an NCAA bid but actually make an NCAA run? And what is the consensus on Wojo through 2 years from Marquette fans? His record isn't impressive thus far, but it's foolish to make any judgments yet this early in his tenure.

As confused as I am with Georgetown, I would have been more surprised if you told me Marquette was going to miss the tournaments each of the first 3 years in the new league.

[milksteak]

If Ellenson is gone after this year, which I anticipate, how is Marquette going to be any better? Guard play is very weak, and I feel like their team this year is a one-man show. Marquette without Ellenson could very well regress to last year's status. Someone is going to have to emerge to carry them forward.

I like Marquette's program a lot, but they, SJU and DePaul are almost guaranteed bottom-half finishes next year.

This is all coming from a guy whose second-favorite team in the Big East is MU.

[herodotus]

I'm not a Marquette fan, but I think it's too early to judge Wojo. The team took a nice step forward this season. Even without Ellenson, they ought to be a bubble team next year. If they still haven't made the tournament by Wojo's fourth year, then the heat ought to be on. Obviously, any major steps back would be cause for alarm. One thing you have to worry about is that recruits generally haven't been following college hoops for very long. Unlike us old farts who can remember when teams like St. John's, and DePaul were powerhouses, kids will only go back 4-5 years. If you miss the tournament 5 or 6 years in a row, you will be seen as a scrub program. What you did in the 00s, or 90s doesn't mean squat to a 17 year old. To a kid, Wichita St. is a name brand. Marquette will soon not be if they don't start making the dance. Once you really fall off, it can be hard to get back up. Ask DePaul.

[GoldenWarrior11]

If Ellenson leaves, and that is the overwhelming majority opinion, then Wojo needs to land an impact grad-transfer as a starting power forward. Heldt will be backing up Fisher next year, and Amin, Johnson, Cohen et al. are all small forwards at best (not to mention very undersized). We have Bailey (Mormon-mission) and Hauser coming in, with Rowsey becoming eligible - but none are expected to make an immediate impact. As frustrating as certain games were this year, we were a team composed of mostly freshmen and sophomores - but the disappointing fact is that the freshmen (Cheatham, Carter, Ellenson) were still making freshmen mistakes at the end of the season. Carter and Cheatham need to play more under control and Ellenson, as he had all year, always reverted back to jacking up threes when the team got down by a big margin.

Wojo is recruiting very well, and there are absolutely flashes of great potential with the group. It always comes back to consistency, though. I have no insight or inside sources, but I am under the impression that one particular player on the team will be transferring once the season concludes - opening up another scholarship for him to use.

The team also needs to bulk up this summer and add on weight. Every single game this year, the team looked to be at a size disadvantage - despite having Luke and Henry starting all the games. This is mostly due to the freshmen being 18 years old, but gosh - some of the kids looked very small.

I'm going to look back at the losses to Belmont and DePaul as the game changers. If we had won those two games, we would at least be in the discussion (probably on the outside looking in still). If you're Marquette, you can just never lose to DePaul with the way their program is right now. Inexcusable.

[adoraz]

If the league presidents knew Marquette and Georgetown would make the tournament one time combined in the first 3 years, and that's all they knew, there's no chance this league would've been formed. Marquette was the only team ranked in the preseason when the league first formed (at #14).

Fortunately other teams stepped up but it's definitely surprising.

Marquette is a great program and recruiting at a high level so they'll turn it around.

[Jet915]

If the league presidents knew Marquette and Georgetown would make the tournament one time combined in the first 3 years, and that's all they knew, there's no chance this league would've been formed. Marquette was the only team ranked in the preseason when the league first formed (at #14).

Fortunately other teams stepped up but it's definitely surprising.

Marquette is a great program and recruiting at a high level so they'll turn it around.

Its a credit to the league that we have been so good when 2 of the 3 stalwarts of the league have largely disappointed.

[adoraz]

If the league presidents knew Marquette and Georgetown would make the tournament one time combined in the first 3 years, and that's all they knew, there's no chance this league would've been formed. Marquette was the only team ranked in the preseason when the league first formed (at #14).

Fortunately other teams stepped up but it's definitely surprising.

Marquette is a great program and recruiting at a high level so they'll turn it around.

Its a credit to the league that we have been so good when 2 of the 3 stalwarts of the league have largely disappointed.

Definitely. Nobody, and I mean nobody, would believe we'd be sending 15 teams combined in the first 3 years (50%) if only one of those teams was Marquette/Georgetown. Not to mention a bunch of high seeds.

[HoosierPal]

If the league presidents knew Marquette and Georgetown would make the tournament one time combined in the first 3 years, and that's all they knew, there's no chance this league would've been formed. Marquette was the only team ranked in the preseason when the league first formed (at #14).

Come on, you don't really believe this, do you. That would be incredibly short sighted vision for the University Presidents. No way a business plan is put together based on short term success of 20% of the group. This is a long term relationship, not a what have you done for me lately venture. If the vision was that short term, then DePaul would have been cast aside.

[DudeAnon]

If the league presidents knew Marquette and Georgetown would make the tournament one time combined in the first 3 years, and that's all they knew, there's no chance this league would've been formed. Marquette was the only team ranked in the preseason when the league first formed (at #14).

Come on, you don't really believe this, do you. That would be incredibly short sighted vision for the University Presidents. No way a business plan is put together based on short term success of 20% of the group. This is a long term relationship, not a what have you done for me lately venture. If the vision was that short term, then DePaul would have been cast aside.

What he is saying that most people would've presumed that Marquette and Georgetown being the bottom of the NBE likely meant we were a 2 or 3 bid league tops. Instead, a lot of schools have done very well to offset Marquette and Georgetown's temporary lull.

If you had asked me before the conference started which schools of the Catholic 7 were the best, I would've definitely said Marquette and Georgetown as would have most others.

[MUPanther]

Many have said UNC-Ash transfer Andrew Rousey is an excellent outside shooter. MU, has Joey Hauser another great shooter coming in.