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Marquette Basketball: Projecting Golden Eagles’ 2019-20 rotation

By Brian Foley

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 18: Cortez Seales #15 of the North Dakota Fighting Hawks attempts a shot between Brendan Bailey #1 and Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first half at the Fiserv Forum on December 18, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 18: Cortez Seales #15 of the North Dakota Fighting Hawks attempts a shot between Brendan Bailey #1 and Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first half at the Fiserv Forum on December 18, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 21: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski of the Marquette Golden Eagles yells to Sacar Anim #2 during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Murray State Racers at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 21: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski of the Marquette Golden Eagles yells to Sacar Anim #2 during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Murray State Racers at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Marquette Basketball has bounced through a tumultuous four months. Let’s evaluate the Golden Eagles’ projected rotation entering the 2019-20 campaign.

To project a rotation with as many quality, moving parts as Marquette Basketball could feature in 2019-20 is something of a fool’s errand. In fact, it is nearly an impossible task.

Last summer, I certainly played the part of the fool with my predictions. Grad transfer Joseph Chartouny would average 24 minutes per game as the starting point guard? Nope. He only hit that mark seven times last season, and not once after New Year’s Day. Brendan Bailey would hardly see the floor as a freshman? Guess again. He soaked up 17 minutes a night over the final 17 games and turned into maybe the team’s most critical defensive piece. All told, I was only in the neighborhood on three players in regards to minutes played – Sam Hauser, Markus Howard, and Ed Morrow – two of which were relatively easy as they were the two best players on the team.

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My projections were relatively sound at the time – Chartouny had averaged 34 mpg over three years for Fordham and was playing a position of need for MU, while Bailey was at a crowded spot on Marquette’s roster and coming off a two-year Mormon mission – and unforeseen circumstances limited several players’ contributions (Greg Elliott missed the entire year as a medical redshirt, Matt Heldt never looked healthy after a preseason foot injury).

But it still shows the complicated nature of projecting rotations, especially as the sport moves further into the era of positional flexibility. College basketball is a long season played by highly variable teenagers; a player who looks crucial in June may ultimately be irrelevant in March.

The Golden Eagles have the added bonus of mixing in two transfers and two freshmen (at least one of whom could be up for a redshirt), while losing two of their top three players from a year ago. Steve Wojciechowski has a bevy of guards and a host of centers at his disposal, but is very light at the 3/4 spots. How he irons out his rotation in those areas is anyone’s guess, and will be crucial in determining Marquette’s success.

So, despite all the caveats and potential pitfalls, we’re going to give it another go. Here is Marquette’s projected rotation, along with forecasted minutes for each player, heading into the 2019-20 season.

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