Big East Basketball: Updated WTE power rankings for 2022-23 season
By Joey Loose
8. Marquette
The Golden Eagles were back in the NCAA Tournament in Shaka Smart’s first season at the helm, though a season that started with success and promise didn’t exactly live up to those early expectations. All things considered, Marquette had a good season, winning 19 games and looking like a much better team than the year before, but what does the future look like for Smart and these Golden Eagles?
Freshman stud Justin Lewis is off to the NBA Draft, while Darryl Morsell is out of eligibility. Fortunately, the Golden Eagles return a slew of talented sophomores in guards Kam Jones, Tyler Kolek, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper. Forward Oso Ighodaro is another rising sophomore, while junior college transfer Zach Wrightsil likely slides into the starting lineup. There are not a lot of new faces to replace those two lost studs; this team will depend on a bunch of underclassmen to take big steps forward.
Marquette had some really impressive performances last season, sweeping both Seton Hall and Villanova among that success. This season, it’s all about how these younger players improve and come together, filling the holes that Lewis and Morsell leave in the offense. Another big thing to watch is how the frontcourt plays this season; Marquette was one of the nation’s worst rebounding teams last season and that cannot continue if they want to return to the Big Dance.