NCAA Basketball: Updated way-too-early 2019-20 top-25

25. Marquette Golden Eagles

Marquette was one of the best teams in the country last season prior to Markus Howard suffering a wrist injury. While he played through it, he clearly struggled to maintain his typical levels of elite play. Now that he is returning for another season alongside several talented teammates, the program looks poised for a strong campaign. With that said, though, it would be a mistake to overlook the losses of Sam Hauser (Virginia) and Joey Hauser (Michigan State) due to transfer. The brothers were two of the Golden Eagles’ best players during this past season and will definitely be missed.

Marquette is still bringing back its fair share of talent around Howard. In the backcourt, he will be joined by Koby McEwen, a talented scorer and playmaker who sat out last season due to transfer rules. Over two years with Utah State, he averaged 15.0 points (.427/.367/.726), 5.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. It also is important to mention that Greg Elliott will hopefully return from injury and Symir Torrence is an incoming top-100 recruit in the 2019 class. The wings will then likely be filled out by glue-guy Sacar Anim and potential breakout star Brendan Bailey.

Theo John, Ed Morrow, and Jayce Johnson will round out the frontcourt for the Golden Eagles. Marquette’s roster is quite simply filled with a ton of very solid role players surrounding a star in Howard and another high-volume scorer in McEwen. There is a mixed bag of support surrounding head coach Steve Wojciechowski, but this could be a great year if they remain healthy.