Big East Basketball: 10 biggest storylines and questions for 2022-23 season

9. Marquette takes a risk by standing pat this offseason

The Golden Eagles only had two players that scored more than 7.5 ppg last season on the NCAA Tournament roster in Justin Lewis and Daryll Morsell. Both have moved on and in a new era where the transfer portal has over 1,000 options to choose from, head coach Shaka Smart opted not to go after any of them. The one veteran newcomer they added was 6’7 forward Zach Wrightsil, who comes from the D-II level.

The team also lost Greg Elliott and Kur Kuath from the rotation as well. This puts pressure on the core of underclassmen, all of whom are set to have much large roles on the roster. Tyler Kolek led the Golden Eagles with 5.9 apg and will be paired with Kameron Jones, a potential breakout candidate and top-returning scorer at 7.4 ppg.

Forwards Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Oso Ighodaro will be the starting frontcourt and there’s plenty of offensive potential with them. But will they be able to score enough to keep them competitive in the Big East? There’s also a trio of freshmen (Ben Gold, Sean Jones, and Chase Ross) that could be impactful pieces as well but in order for Marquette to be in the top half of Big East Basketball, they’ll need several players to take leaps in their respective developments.

If not, it could have been a mistake not to utilize the portal more this offseason.