Heldt knows his role with Marquette
Matt Heldt’s importance to the Marquette men’s basketball team is hard to quantify.
The numbers show that the senior center from Neenah averaged 3.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 32 starts for the Golden Eagles last season.
Yet the 6-foot-11 Heldt is highly valued for playing within his role, rarely making mental mistakes and his willingness to mentor younger teammates.
“Matt is an everyday guy,” MU coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “And Matt may to the common person lack some things that guys he competes against may have. But he never lacks in controlling what he can control.
“And because he does that, and that’s a very difficult thing to do, he’s put our team in a position to win more than we would without him.”
Heldt doesn’t get a lot of post-up touches with a Golden Eagles offense that has been perimeter-oriented. So he makes the most of put-backs on offensive rebounds and rolls to the rim after setting screens.
Last season, Heldt shot 55 of 85 (64.7%) with the majority of those fieldgoal attempts coming from within a few feet of the basket. He also was 28 of 32 (87.5%) on free throws and committed only 18 turnovers.
Put all that together and Heldt had an offensive rating of 138.2, per the college basketball statistical analysis website kenpom.com, an efficiency mark that was No. 2 in the nation if low-possession usage players like Heldt are included.
“When we’re on the court, when Matt’s been here, most of the times we play better,” Wojciechowski said. “And the times that we may have gotten beat when he’s on the court, it’s not because he wasn’t trying to do the things he’s supposed to do.”
Heldt sees himself as a steward of the team’s culture. He was a freshman on Wojciechowski’s second team at MU in 2015-’16 and is the longest-tenured Golden Eagles player along with redshirt junior Sacar Anim and walk-on guard Cam Marotta.
“I’ve been here just as long as everybody else, longer than a majority of the team,” Heldt said.
“I know more than anybody (about Wojciechowski’s system), so it’s my job that if coaches don’t see something, I need to make sure our team is ready to go and make sure we are doing the right things.”
Heldt knows the ropes. He has reshaped his body to bang in the Big East and has seen his minutes increase every season – from 5.1 per game as a freshman to 13.1 as a sophomore and 21.9 as a junior.
He has been a part of MU teams that didn’t appear in the postseason, lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
He is ready for more success with this season’s promising roster.
“I think we have a securely established culture of guys,” Heldt said. “All our guys are guys Coach Wojo recruited and wanted here. All our guys are guys that we, as older guys, when a guy visited the coaches asked us if we wanted them, how they fit in with us.
“We have a group of guys who fit in really well together. Who like each other. Who like playing with each other. But also compete like hell in practice as well and really go at each other.”
Minutes will have to be earned in the frontcourt with sophomore big man Theo John expected to contribute more after showing flashes as a freshman – thanks to some mentoring by Heldt – and junior forward Ed Morrow eligible after transferring from Nebraska.
“Matt may start for us. Matt may be a guy who plays eight minutes for us,” Wojciechowski said. “I don’t know. That will all be determined based on practice and what group out there gives us the best chance to win.
“But what I do know is that whatever role Matt has, he’s all in it – 100% – for Marquette basketball. And as a coach, you just can’t help but love and root for a guy like that.”