Busting Brackets
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Marquette Basketball: 3 questions facing the Golden Eagles

By Lukas Harkins

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: The Marquette Golden Eagles bench celebrates during the second half of the game against the VCU Rams at Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: The Marquette Golden Eagles bench celebrates during the second half of the game against the VCU Rams at Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 20: The Marquette Golden Eagles bench celebrates. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 20: The Marquette Golden Eagles bench celebrates. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

Marquette basketball projects as a team that should compete near the top of the Big East this year. Yet, what questions still face the program heading in?

Could this be the year that Marquette basketball makes some serious noise in the Big East? As of right now, it looks like it could be the perfect storm for the Golden Eagles. Even though Marquette did not make the NCAA Tournament this past year, they spent almost the entire season balancing on the bubble. Then, during this offseason, every single team in the conference lost at least one extremely important piece and most lost far more than that.

For reference, here is a look at the key losses from the teams that finished ahead of Marquette (or tied with) in conference play last season:

  • Xavier (15-3): Bluiett, Macura, Kanter, Gates, O’Mara
  • Villanova (14-4): Brunson, DiVincenzo, Bridges, Spellman
  • Seton Hall (10-8): Rodriguez, Carrington, Delgado, Sanogo
  • Creighton (10-8): Foster, Thomas, Hegner, Harrell
  • Providence (10-8): Bullock, Cartwright, Lindsey
  • Butler (9-9): Martin, Wideman
  • Marquette (9-9): Rowsey

In my opinion, the teams who came out best after graduations, transfers, and NBA draft decisions were Marquette and Butler. Everybody else lost at least two significant scorers/rotation players during the offseason. Of course, incoming recruiting both for freshmen and transfers matters and will affect the preseason rankings of the league but the Golden Eagles should be in very good shape.

This is especially true when you consider that Marquette did a solid job on the recruiting front as well. Transfers Ed Morrow and Joseph Chartouny as well as freshmen Brendan Bailey and Joey Hauser will be eager to start their time in MKE this season. Even with all of this, though, there are still some serious questions that need to be answered regarding the team.

Here is a look at a few of those.

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