Marquette Basketball: Projecting Golden Eagles’ 2019-20 rotation
By Brian Foley
Center
Minutes Breakdown (40 total): Theo John (22), Jayce Johnson (14), Ed Morrow (4)
John should be the unquestioned starter here after putting together an impressive sophomore campaign in 2018-19. He started every game (excluding the token tribute to Heldt on Senior Day), flashed a burgeoning offensive game, cleaned the boards, and finished in the 100th percentile in block rate. It’s reasonable to assume he can continue to progress as a junior as well.
Fouls are John’s glaring flaw, though, and will likely prevent him from reaching his ceiling. He averaged 8.4 fouls committed per 40 minutes as a freshman, good for 9th worst in the nation. He did little to improve those marks as a sophomore, finishing 23rd in the country at 7.4 FC/40. John can sometimes get hit with a tight whistle, but he also puts himself in bad spots too often. Ideally, Wojciechowski would be able to roll with his best big for at least 25 minutes a night, but here’s guessing he’ll remain in the low 20’s with continued foul issues.
More. Golden Eagles pick up grad transfer Jayce Johnson. light
If/when John gets called for his second foul before the under-16 timeout in the first half, Marquette will have some options off the bench. Morrow will grab some minutes as the lone big, though he can be exposed against bigger players; he is an excellent weak-side shot blocker, but understandably struggles to match up with traditional centers at times.
Johnson will be the primary backup, and though he does have defensive limitations, he has some touch around the basket and stands 7-feet tall. After averaging 7.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game for Utah last season, he will provide a certain level of competence off the bench that few teams possess. Like John, Morrow and Johnson are extremely foul-prone, but Marquette should be able to survive any whistle issues with this deep core of bigs.