The Marquette Golden Eagles enter the 2024-2025 season with a different look and a different feel. With Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro no longer with the program, others will need to fill the void this season. One of those players who is looking to leap this season is Ben Gold.
Gold is a junior and he is projected to be in the starting lineup for Marquette. Chase Ross, Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell, and David Joplin are projected to be the other starters for head coach Shaka Smart this season.
Marquette Golden Eagles Ben Gold Makes Announcement About His Offensive Game Entering the 2024-2025 Season
A season ago, Gold played in 37 games last season for Marquette. He averaged 5.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.4 BPG, and 0.4 SPG. Ben Gold also shot 44.7% from the field, and 35.9% from three-land, but he struggled from the free-throw line by just shooting 52.9%.
Gold spoke to 247sports.com writer John Dodds about what his position is going to be this season. Dodds asked him if he was going to be a stretch 4 or a stretch 5. Ben Gold said to him:
“It will be both. I feel like I can be out there against anyone on the court. I feel like I can play the 5 out in the perimeter … play the 4 at the perimeter and even play the 3 at the perimeter if I need to. We will have a lot of different combinations out there on the offensive and defensive ends so whether it’s Caedin Hamilton inside playing at the 5 … me out on the perimeter at the 5 … or maybe we have a big lineup and it’s just me at the perimeter. I feel like I can really play a position less role on the team which will be really helpful for us.”
It will be interesting to see how Ben Gold is useful in this offense. Oso Ighodaro loved to live in the paint and not shoot the three-ball. Gold will be more of a three-pointer shooter for a big man in this offense.
Gold Played For 36 Minutes Against the Creighton Blue Jays On the Road Last Season With Oso Ighodaro Sidelined
Last season, there was a game where Oso Ighodaro was sick and was not able to play for the Marquette Golden Eagles against the Creighton Blue Jays. Ben Gold started and played for 36 minutes in that contest. It was the longest he ever played in a game in his career then. It could very well change this season with Gold being a starter more often.
Ben Gold also added to Dodds:
“That gave me a lot of confidence. Going into the game it was a 50/50 decision whether Oso was going to play or not. We got on the bus and we heard he wasn’t playing but that really didn’t change that much for us. We were also going to go in there and battle and compete. It gave me a lot of confidence because it made me think what could be this year and what this year would be like. Being out there for 36 minutes was tough and I went up and down the whole time … but it’s something I always wanted to do and having that one chance to do it last year was really big for me and gives me more confidence of this year.”
In that game, he scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds, and recorded one assist. Ben Gold hopes to be consistent this season for a Marquette Golden Eagles basketball team that is looking to compete for another BIG East Conference regular season and tournament title this season. Marquette also has not been to a Final Four appearance since 2004. They will be a fun team to watch this season.
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