Marquette enters post-Howard era
The Marquette men’s basketball team is going to look drastically different next season.
The Golden Eagles will no longer have the high-scoring services of guard Markus Howard, who is graduating with a MU-record 2,761 points.
The 5-foot-11 guard dominated the offense over the last two seasons. This season, he led the nation in scoring at 27.8 points per game and used 37.4% of MU’s possessions, calculated by how many trips down the court ended in Howard either making a shot, missing an attempt that was rebounded by the opponent or turning the ball over.
“We’re studying some different things,” MU coach Steve Wojciechowski said Thursday. “Markus was such a dominant scorer and things ran through him. As they should when you have somebody that gifted as a scorer.
“I definitely think we’re going to be a lot more balanced. That’s something we’ll have to look at. How we utilize the skill-sets of our guys that are returning and the new guys coming in, that’s an area we have to figure out what’s the best position for them to be in. And it may not be what we necessarily had done while we had Markus.”
MU gets an infusion of talent with a highly regarded recruiting class that includes 6-foot-9 Oso Ighodaro, 6-7 Justin
Lewis and 6-11 Dawson
Garcia.
“I think all three of those guys are very talented and unique,” Wojciechowski said. “And have the ability to help us from the very start. So when we’re making plans for next year, we have to go into it with them being contributors as freshmen in mind.”
Barring any unexpected transfers, MU will bring back rotation players Theo John, Brendan Bailey, Koby McEwen, Jamal Cain, Greg Elliott and Symir Torrence. Each of them had up-and-down seasons.
“Consistency is key,” Wojciechowski said. “One thing we didn’t talk about a lot during the course of the season is we had guys who played this season injured.
“So we have to get Theo (wrist) 100%. We have to get Koby (thumb) 100%. We got to get Greg (ankle) 100%. None of those guys played really the entire season at their full capabilities. Who they are as players, once they get to 100% I think we’ll discover some different things.”
Torrence showed some flashes as a pass-first point guard in his freshman season.
“I think he’s going to be key,” Wojciechowski said. “We’ll be a different team. We’ll be a team where Sy can have a great impact with his basketball IQ and his ability to make people better through the pass, his ability to organize and just be a coach on the floor. I think he’s set to make a big jump as a player.”
MU still has three open scholarships slots. The coaching staff is still heavily recruiting Canadian guard Karim Mane, who is debating between college and entering the NBA draft.
The Golden Eagles could also add a transfer. The NCAA is considering legislation that would allow one-time transfers to play without sitting out a season.
MU has reportedly already reached out to several guards who have announced their intentions to transfer.
“We could look at some guard support, some shooting support,” Wojciechowski said. “We could also look at some backup post support.
“I’m comfortable with our roster as is. However, I don’t want to go through another year where three guys play through injuries the whole year.”
John is the only returning post player, though Wojciechowski said he was OK with the incoming freshmen playing down low.
“They’re position-less,” Wojciechowski said. “They can be multi-dimensional. The way they play the five isn’t necessarily going to look like the way Theo plays the five.”
Regardless of all the changes, Wojciechowski will be entering his seventh season at MU still looking for a win in the NCAA Tournament.
“That’s always our goal,” Wojciechowski said. “Just like it was this year, but because of obvious circumstances (with coronavirus forcing the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament) we weren’t able to have that chance.
“It’s hard for me to set an expectation when you’re still learning and your team may still change.”
Contact Ben Steele at (414) 224-2676 or bmsteele@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenSteeleMJS or Instagram at @bensteele_mjs