Under former coaches Tom Crean and Buzz Williams, Marquette made the NCAA Tournament in eight straight seasons from 2006-13. Despite all of that success, a tumultuous period in program history began just one season removed from a 2013 trip to the Elite Eight. It begin with a sour relationship between Williams and former athletic director Larry Williams (no relation). The latter Williams resigned in December 2013 amid a cloud of uncertainty. The former Williams, for his part, surprisingly left the program for Virginia Tech at the end of the 2013-14 season. In retrospect, the decision was calculated. Williams decided that Marquette, a school with no football program and mired in the thick of a shaky Big East realignment, was not well-poised for future success. The Golden Eagles’ 17-15 record that season certainly wasn’t reassuring.
Steve Wojchiechowski is in the midst of a rebuild at Marquette. (Mark Hoffman/The Journal Sentinel)
Steve Wojciechowski, the associate head coach at Duke at the time, saw Marquette differently than Williams. He saw a school where, similar to his alma mater in Durham, the men’s basketball program is an integral part of the university. He also recognized that the program has a proud and passionate fan base that will not accept mediocrity. In his first season, Marquette finished 13-19 and once again missed the NCAA Tournament, but a top-10 recruiting class that included highly-touted freshman Henry Ellenson brought a rejuvenated sense of hope. Those expectations were tempered very quickly at the start of the season. In the span of a single November week, the Golden Eagles lost their home opener to Belmont, needed overtime to get past IUPUI, and was walloped by Iowa. They bounced back with neutral court victories over LSU and Arizona State in Brooklyn en route to a 10-2 record that also included a surprising victory over Wisconsin in Madison. The beginning of Big East play, however, brought forth some new adversity. After a disappointing home loss by 20 points to Seton Hall, Marquette hit 0-2 in league play after an 80-70 loss to Georgetown on Saturday.
The struggles are not unexpected. Marquette is a very young team, ranking 344th in player experience, according to KenPom. Nearly 77 percent of their minutes played against the Hoyas on Saturday were by underclassmen. “We’re having to learn tough lessons,” Wojciechowski told the media after the loss. In particular, he suggested that his team isn’t yet accustomed to the Big East’s quality of competition. “I don’t know if our guys have made the adjustment to the fact that we’re playing in the best conference in the United States and you have to put [forth] 40 minutes of amazing effort and concentration.” Indeed, Marquette led at halftime against Seton Hall before getting outscored by 21 in the second half. Over the weekend it fell behind by 13 to Georgetown in the first half before using better energy to outscore the Hoyas in the second.
The rookie Ellenson hasn’t been immune to these tough lessons, as he has struggled against quality competition despite leading the team in scoring with 16.2 PPG. He has put together an effective field goal percentage of just 37.3 percent against six KenPom top 100 opponents, a signal that the 18 year-old struggles for post position against bigger opponents. While many observers have discussed the possibility of an NCAA Tournament without LSU superstar and NPOY candidate Ben Simmons, it is likely that Ellenson too will miss out in what is likely to be his only collegiate season. KenPom projects Marquette to finish 6-12 in Big East play this season, but as Wojchiechowski rebuilds the program, there is still plenty of hope for the future. He should not expect to lose any rotation players outside of Ellenson, and he has already received commitments from two top 100 wings in next year’s class. While this season could remain a struggle, there are positive signs on the near horizon and it appears like Marquette is preparing to soar once again.