Shaka Smart’s Marquette Golden Eagles failed to do better than their finish last season after falling to New Mexico Lobos in the first round of NCAA tournament.
The team has at least four seniors who played their last game in the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. That means a squad becoming depleted for the next season.
There’s the transfer portal but that is not is something Smart is already stressing about.
When asked about it, he brought the 2023-2024 season when they were able to get the most out of their senior Oso Ighodaro instead of scouring the market for a new big man.
“I remember after our first year (at MU), Tyler (Kolek) actually said we’ve got to go get a big guy,” Smart said.
“We’re losing Kur (Kuath). Kur was our starting big guy. I said, no, Oso is going to be just fine. And he was.”
The team had no transfers at the end of the 2024 season, a very rare occurrence in the NCAA.
Shaka Smart says every year is different in transfer portal
Top scorer Kam Jones, forward David Joplin, hustle guard Stevie Mitchell, and Chase Ross are the senior members of the starting five.
The team struck a gold with the development of these four, with some of them deciding to stay even if they could have entered the transfer portal themselves.
Smart said he is not closing any doors when it comes to the transfer portal but he would rather invest on the players they have been with in many battles.
“It’s definitely going to stress-test our way of doing things. I tend to err on the side of really, really pouring into the guys we have and focusing on them,” he added.
“There’s a lot of reasons behind that that, again, we don’t necessarily have time to get into now. So, yes, we believe in our way of doing things.”
For more great Wisconsin sports content
Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for the latest and trending news about Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Marquette, and the rest of Wisconsin Sports. Stay updated by reading more of our Wisconsin Sports articles by clicking here and college basketball by clicking here!
