Marquette Basketball: Analyzing transfer DJ Carton’s fit with Golden Eagles

Ohio State transfer guard and former five-star high school prospect DJ Carton is headed to Marquette Basketball in 2020-21.

Steve Wojciechowski’s unrelenting pursuit to land a transfer guard has not gone unrewarded. On Wednesday, April 15 – following weeks of swings and misses with several nomadic guards – Wojo and Marquette Basketball landed one of the biggest fish available: Ohio State’s DJ Carton.

Carton, standing 6-foot-2 and 190 lbs, actually listed Marquette in his final six schools as a highly-rated recruit out of high-school, before ultimately landing in Columbus. Carton averaged 10.4 ppg and 3.0 apg in a little over 23 mpg for a top-25 Big 10 team, but left the Buckeyes’ program in late January as he battled mental health issues. Carton’s familiarity with Marquette and the coaching staff likely carried even more weight during these times of virtual visits, as did the program’s experience with Markus Howard, who has been outspoken about his own mental health.

Carton has three years of eligibility remaining and would have to sit out this coming season, though he seems like a decent candidate to receive a waiver from the NCAA. A pending rule change from the NCAA would also allow all first-time transfers to play right away.

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On the court, Carton is an ideal fit for a Marquette roster that appeared light in the backcourt sans Howard and Sacar Anim. The Iowa native had a near-perfect shot chart as a freshman, as nearly 80 percent of his attempts came at the rim or behind the three-point line. Carton connected on 66 percent of his looks at the basket, which will be a welcome addition to a Marquette team that collectively struggled to score inside the paint.

He also knocked down 40 percent of his three-point attempts, albeit on a relatively small sample size (he averaged just three treys per game). Carton does not have anywhere near the off-the-dribble shooting chops of Howard – no one does – but he is still a competent shooter with room to grow. The Golden Eagles have consistently finished towards the top of the Big East in three-point attempts and three-point percentage over the past four seasons; part of that comes with the territory for a Howard-led roster, but when every role player is also launching treys at an impressive rate, it’s clear that long-range bombs are part of Wojo’s identity. Expect Carton to take and make more threes in a Marquette uniform.

Carton’s turnover rate was noticeably icky in 2019-20, so he already has something in common with his new backcourt mates. However, Carton also flashed incredible passing skills, which should have Marquette’s talented frontcourt group salivating in anticipation. He finished with a 26.5 percent assist rate, good for sixth among high-major freshmen who topped at least 20 minutes per game in 2019-20. He needs to clean up the giveaways, but that seems like only a matter of time for someone who plays with such a high IQ in other parts of his game.

Defensively, Carton was an immediate plus for the Buckeyes. At 6-foot-2, he doesn’t have great size, but his quickness, athleticism, and defensive instincts go a long way. Of course, how he survives defensively outside of the Chris Holtmann ecosystem remains to be seen. Ideally, he will carry what he learned on that end over to Milwaukee, though breaking the poor defensive habits that have been instilled over the years at Marquette is a big ask for any young guard.

If Carton is eligible in 2020-21, he likely slots into the starting lineup right away. Carton did play alongside Ohio State’s starting point guard CJ Walker at times, so he should be comfortable next to Koby McEwen or Symir Torrence. Of course, Carton will spend large portions of the game with the ball in his hands, but when he is off-the-ball, defenses still have to closely monitor him. Carton was lethal on catch-and-shoot threes for the Buckeyes, and he loves to cut back door if the defender is too aggressive. The two-man game between Carton and Torrence, who also showed glimpses of passing wizardry in limited minutes as a freshman, could be something special to watch in the coming years

Even if Carton is not eligible immediately for the blue and gold, Marquette’s 2021-22 roster should be fearsome. Theoretically, that group would include two former five-star prospects (Carton and Dawson Garcia), battle-tested veterans (Brendan Bailey, Greg Elliott, and Torrence), developing sophomores (top-100 recruits Justin Lewis and Oso Ighodaro), plus whomever else Wojciechowski can attract to MU from the transfer or high school market. Speaking of the high school recruiting mill…

The second wave of reactions to the Carton news was that Marquette may be out on five-star HS point guard Karim Mane. Not so, says recruiting maven Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers:

As previously discussed, Carton is perfectly capable of playing on or off the ball, and as every coach knows – the more ball handlers, the better. Plus, it is possible Mane and Carton are never actually active at the same time. Mane has already looked at the professional route, and though he is committed to playing in college right now, he could very well be a one-and-done guy. Should Carton redshirt in 2020-21, we’ll only hear stories of intense practice duels rather than seeing them together in live-action.

Mane did take a physical visit to Marquette back in January as well but does not have a timetable for a decision, according to Weingarten.

TL;DR – Carton is a crucial get for Marquette, as the Golden Eagles’ perilously thin backcourt needed a sizable dose of scoring and playmaking. If eligible, Carton boosts Marquette back into the NCAA tournament bubble conversation this season, but if not, he is still another dynamic piece for what should be a talented 2021-22 core.