Since Shaka Smart arrived at Marquette back in 2021, the Golden Eagles have made the NCAA Tournament each season, rebuilding this program back into a Big East contender on a regular basis. They haven’t had the national success of UConn or necessarily made the headlines of a Creighton or St. John’s in recent years, but Marquette means business and has proven this in recent years.
Last season Marquette won 23 games and tied for 4th in a talented Big East race, but this team couldn’t get the job done in the postseason again, this time falling in the first round of the Big Dance. Making Tournaments and averaging nearly 25 wins a season has been the model of consistency under Smart’s leadership but at some point the postseason wins have to come back to Milwaukee.
We’re not dredging up the past but looking to the future and it’s an upcoming season that looks more uncertain than recent years. The Golden Eagles bid farewell to significant talent, losing top scorers Kam Jones, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell, who all ended their careers after brilliant work with this program. Many names return to Milwaukee alongside a few new freshmen, though Marquette strangely enough didn’t add any players from the transfer portal.
With these things in mind, we’re taking a look at what’s to come for the Golden Eagles in the season ahead. The season is still more than a month out, but we’re going to deep dive into a roster, the revealed schedule and what we can realistically expect from Marquette this year. Nobody truly knows what will happen when the games start counting, but this roster certainly has the talent to surprise people yet again.
Projected Starters
Guard – Sean Jones (Junior)
After a season and a half as a reserve guard for Marquette, Jones tore his ACL in January 2024 and has finally worked his way back after missing all of last season. He averaged 5.8 points and 2.0 assists per game as a reserve in 16 games before that injury during his sophomore year. The 5-10 point guard may seem undersized but can affect the game on a number of levels and will have to be at full strength to run the Golden Eagles’ offense.
Guard – Zaide Lowery (Junior)
While an underclassman Lowery served as a handy reserve in the frontcourt for the Golden Eagles. Last year as a sophomore he put up 4.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game but will clearly have a larger role with those offseason departures. Marquette is counting on Lowery, who tracks as a stronger scoring guard who should take up some of that mantle from losing Joplin and the others.
Guard – Chase Ross (Senior)
Ross showed great signs last season as a junior, becoming a full-time starter in his third year with the Golden Eagles. He averaged 10.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and is the top returning scorer from last season. Suffice to say that Marquette will need even more from the crafty Dallas native who showed promise, finish 4th in the Big East in steals and 8th in true shooting percentage.
Forward – Royce Parham (Sophomore)
Last year Parham shined as a freshman, living up to early expectations. A Top 100 recruit from Pittsburgh, he was named to the All-Freshman team in the Big East after averaging 5.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game for the Golden Eagles in his first collegiate experience. He’s not behind Joplin and others on the depth chart anymore and should have a chance to really shine, especially if he can the expected step forward as a sophomore.
Forward – Ben Gold (Senior)
A New Zealand native and 6-11 forward, Gold not only enters his fourth season at Marquette but what’s unquestionably his most important year. It’s not just that he’s a senior, but he showed signs while averaging 7.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game last year, his first as a full-time starter for the Golden Eagles. Not only does he have size, he also made 37% of his long-range attempts and can really spread the court well for a big man.
Key Reserves
Guard – Nigel James Jr. (Freshman)
James is a 6-0 point guard from the state of New York who might carve out a role as the backup right off the bat for the Golden Eagles. He’s just one Top 100 recruit in this new class and his aggressiveness will make him a favorite pretty quickly. James plays hard on both sides of the ball, fills the stat sheets, and has even grown as a long-range shooter over the years.
Guard – Tre Norman (Junior)
Norman came to Marquette from Boston and has been a reserve for his first two seasons in Milwaukee. He’s put up similar numbers in both seasons, averaging just under 2 points a game with less than stellar shooting numbers. Now an upperclassman, there’s a chance for more minutes for this crafty guard, but plenty of other young names clawing to contribute in this rotation.
Forward – Damarius Owens (Sophomore)
While he didn’t secure the league honors like his teammate Parham, Owens had a decently solid first collegiate experience last season. A former Top 75 recruit from New York, Owens averaged 2.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in reserve minutes for the Golden Eagles and should move a bit up the depth chart entering year two. Owens tracks as an athletic wing with great ball skills and if he makes that sophomore leap he could be a serious weapon for this team.
Guard – Adrien Stevens (Freshman)
A 4-star combo guard out of Maryland, Stevens is technically the highest-rated player of this recruiting class. He’s a strong 6-4 athlete who can make offense happen in a number of ways, with the potential to change the game on multiple levels. Stevens showed potential as a rebounder with his size and racked up steals at the high school level.
Forward – Ian Miletic (Freshman)
Grabbing a lefty wing from the nearby suburbs of Chicago, Marquette is hoping that Miletic can develop into a top talent in the coming years. A 6-7 forward from Rolling Meadows, Illinois, he’s got plenty of potential with his size and athleticism, though he still has to build strength. Once he adjusts to the college game and can improve on that, he could be a dynamic player especially with his potential and shooting ability.
Forward – Michael Phillips II (Freshman)
Phillips is a 6-6 small forward from Raleigh, North Carolina who reclassified to the 2025 class and chose the Golden Eagles last fall. He’s a dynamic shooter who does the little things and has built his strength recently as well. Despite being another true freshman, this young wing has a chance to earn significant minutes with the new openings in this rotation, especially if he can become a scrappy defender.
Schedule Outlook
The first circled game on the calendar is a November 9 matchup in Chicago against Indiana, while fellow Big Ten power Maryland comes to Milwaukee just a week later. The Golden Eagles aren’t in a holiday tournament but have plenty of chances to prove themselves, including another Chicago game against Oklahoma later in November.
This schedule is dotted with other home games against mid-major programs, but let’s not pretends like Marquette is just sitting in Milwaukee for two months. They’ll head to Madison to face rival Wisconsin on December 6 and have a significant road test at Purdue seven days later. Those are the final tune-ups before Big East play begins later that month.
Conference play in the Big East still features home and away games against every league foe, starting with a home date against Georgetown a week before Christmas. There’s a notable road game at UConn right after New Year’s and a few other tough road trips, but there are no deadly stretches in this schedule for the Golden Eagles. After that twenty game marathon, the Big East Tournament will be in New York City in mid-March.
Season Outlook
The headline here is that Marquette loses their top three scorers from last season’s team and didn’t really go out and find comparable talent, not adding a single name from the transfer portal. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing for a Marquette roster filled with homegrown talent. It’s certainly exceedingly rare to see a starting five where all the players started their careers with their current program.
Marquette knows what they’re getting from Gold and Ross, the two returning starters from last season, but there are understandably a lot of questions behind them. Parham showed significant promise as a freshman, but can he handle a more significant role in this offense? Can him and Owens, his former high school teammate, both takes great steps forward as second-year players?
A lot boils down to what Marquette gets from its four-pack of freshmen this season. None of them are projected as starters but they all could find important roles off the bench in a rotation replacing some important names from last year. James in particular has a great shot to the backup point guard, while the young forwards Miletic and Phillips might need this season to build their strength for the future.
Smart and his staff are building this roster the same way every team did a decade ago and you have to wonder if that’s a great choice for the Golden Eagles. The program hasn’t shied away from bringing in real talent, but there’s not a ton of experience between those returning starters. Marquette is also expecting a lot from Jones, coming back from a major knee injury.
There remain more question marks preseason for the Golden Eagles than there have been in any season since he’s taken over at Marquette. At the current time, it’s hard to imagine this team getting a ton of national attention unless a few of those underclassmen really shine on the court. Expect strong play from the known quantities like Gold and Ross, though the rest of this roster still feels like a work in progress that might take time to gel.