MU alumni in spotlight
Former Marquette players Matthews, Crowder and Butler have big presence in Bucks vs. Heat series.
Like any other men’s college basketball program, Marquette trumpets its former players who have reached the highest levels of hoops.
In the hallway of the Golden Eagles’ locker room at Fiserv Forum, there is a list of every player from the program to log minutes in the NBA or American Basketball Association. In the team’s practice gym at the Al McGuire Center, banners of each exMU player currently in the NBA overlook team members as they work on the skills that they hope one day will get them on the wall.
Three of those former Golden Eagles stars — the Milwaukee Bucks’ Wesley Matthews Jr. and the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder — are squaring off in an intense second-round playoff battle in the NBA “bubble” at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
The series is being watched intently by the MU program. The team
is beginning individual workouts while waiting to see what the college basketball season will look like with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“For all our guys, being basketball fans, to have the NBA back brings a sense of normalcy,” MU coach Steve Wojciechowski said Tuesday. “So it’s been a hot topic around our office.
“And then to see guys that have worn the jersey, that have interacted with our guys at different times, is so fun.”
Matthews was the first of the trio to reach the league, hitching on with the Utah Jazz after going undrafted in 2009. He’s still in demand as a rugged defender and three-point marksman, signing with his home-state Bucks this season in hopes of an NBA title.
“Wes set the tone for us, in the sense that he came into the league as an underdog and showed what it takes to make it,” Butler said. “He’s made a hell of a career out of it at that. You know, going to Marquette, you’re going to be somebody that just plays incredibly hard and definitely prides themselves on the defensive end, that will just constantly get better year after year.”
That’s why MU has a large picture of Matthews outside its practice court alongside a quote from him to inspire current players and visiting recruits: “Marquette isn’t for everyone. I was battle tested because of Marquette through the way we worked and competed on a daily basis.”
Crowder was traded to the Heat in February and reunited with Butler, who has the reputation of being a hard-driving teammate. They played together at MU in the 2010-11 season that ended with a loss to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
“It’s been good playing with Jimmy, alongside my college buddy,” Crowder said. “We played college a year, so it’s good to rekindle that flame a little bit and just push each other and help each other as much as possible on the court.
“And obviously Wes is well-respected with me and Jimmy and within our whole Marquette University. So just to play against an old friend and see a familiar face is always good.”
Butler and Matthews have guarded each other often and that matchup crackles with intensity as they jockey for position. Yes, Crowder confirms, there is also some good-natured banter.
“Same as when Wes was in his first year in the NBA,” Crowder said. “He came back to Marquette when me and Jimmy was in college and played pickup ball. A little trash-talking, that’s never going to change.
“That competitive nature is always going to take over. But it’s all fun and games. It’s all just competitive and for the love of the game and obviously we’re good friends off the court.”
Wojciechowski arrived at MU before the 2014-15 season, so he never coached the trio. But the NBA players maintain their school ties. Crowder attended an MU game last season and met with the team in its locker room. Matthews was honored with a bobblehead game. Butler occasionally pops by campus to visit.
The former Golden Eagles also give Wojciechowski strong examples for his players.
“They’re putting into practice and action things that we preach all the time,” Wojciechowski said. “To be able to point to guys diving for loose balls, sitting down in a defensive stance and guarding the best players in the world, taking that control.
“Just their whole on-court persona is something that anyone can learn from. But for our guys, seeing their pictures on the wall and knowing their accomplishments while in a Marquette uniform, I think makes it even more real.”
Like anything with major college sports, there is also a recruiting component to the attention MU is garnering with this series. During the TNT broadcast of Game 1, commentator Stan Van Gundy guaranteed that Wojciechowski was pointing out to recruits that three former Golden Eagles were sharing the court.
Wojciechowski chuckled when asked if he had already thought of that, then gave a polished spiel.
“To have guys thriving in the NBA, it paints a really good picture for the current generation and the next generation in that their dreams can become a reality here at Marquette,” he said. “That’s something that we’re very proud of and obviously willing to share with anybody that will listen.”