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Marquette’s Stevie Mitchell won’t let up physical effort
INDIANAPOLIS - There are a couple stationary bikes next to the Marquette men’s basketball team’s practice court at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee.
Even they aren’t immune to the relentless, no-regard-for-his-own-wellbeing nature of Stevie Mitchell.
The Golden Eagles don’t adhere to out-of-bounds rules during practice, so battles over loose balls can spill all over Kasten Gym.
“One time, the ball rolled to the bikes on the wall,” MU big man Oso Ighodaro said on Saturday. “And most everyone was going to stop. Like, that’s enough because there’s metal bikes.
“And Stevie just dove headfirst for the ball into the bikes. He does that all the time. But you can see how he plays. He gives it all for us. And we need everything.” Mitchell’s left shoulder is wrapped up and his right wrist is taped, but the junior guard will be flying all over the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday when the second-seeded Golden Eagles (26-9) take on Colorado (26-10) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“How I play, I’m going to play kind of reckless regardless,” Mitchell said. “For me, I feel like it’s just the pain in the locker room after we lost to UConn the Big East tournament, the pain in the locker room last year we lost to Michigan State, that’s worse than any bumps or bruises that anybody’s dealing with.
“So just kind of going off that and having that mindset, just going to every game and just expecting the expected, knowing that I’m not a 100%. But nobody’s a 100%. And just being aware of that, acknowledging it, and then just going out there and just giving it all I got.”
Mitchell sparked comeback against Western Kentucky
After scoring on an offensive putback while getting fouled against Western
Kentucky on Saturday, Mitchell turned to the MU bench and flexed his muscles.
Backcourt mates Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones might get more accolades, but Mitchell is the heart and soul of the Golden Eagles. The Reading, Pennsylvania, native has always been an emotional player.
“I’ve just always been super competitive when I was younger,” Mitchell said. “Like, a loss would result in tears, temper tantrums.
“So I’ve been able to harness that now, but yeah, just my desire to win and just the passion I have playing for my teammates and playing for my coaches and then just everything’s better when you win.”
After his pose, Mitchell hit the free throw to give the Golden Eagles a 7263 lead with six minutes remaining. MU cruised from there to an 87-69 victory, with Mitchell filling the box score with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a career-high three blocks.
But, as MU coaches and teammates always say, Mitchell’s impact can’t be quantified.
“He just battles,” Ighodaro said. “Him being out there, healthy or not, is just a boost for all of us. We appreciate him fighting through everything he’s going through.”
Smart says Mitchell “plays like a bowling ball”
MU head coach Shaka Smart is in a tough position.
He doesn’t want to limit Mitchell’s aggressiveness, but Smart also needs his sparkplug guard to be available to play.
Mitchell suffered his shoulder injury in the Big East tournament semifinals, when Providence’s 240-pound big man Josh Oduro plowed through Mitchell for an offensive foul. He’s been playing through his right-wrist pain since Feb. 25.
“I think that applies to anybody that’s still playing right now, but certainly someone that plays with reckless abandon like Stevie does,” Smart said. “He’s got a variety of bumps and bruises, like most players do when you get to mid- to late- March.
“I think the biggest thing is awareness on his part and on my part and on our part of how he’s feeling and where he is. And when I say awareness, also being present in the moment because that gives you the best opportunity to evade bad things happening to your body.
“That might be a different answer than you were expecting, but I think that Stevie knows as well as anyone how to get through little spaces on the floor. Because he plays like a bowling ball, sometimes he is going to be involved in collisions. But he’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around.”
As Smart noted earlier in the week, someone would have to cut off Mitchell’s leg in order for him not be on the court for the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Eagles are trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 11 years.
“Our mentality is just to continue,” Mitchell said. “Same as what it was coming in, just stay in the moment, just enjoy the moment, have fun, just bring our energy.
“And that will all lead to us being our best us, in which we feel like our best us can give us a good shot to compete with and beat anybody.”