Significant graduation losses challenge Marquette in its quest for 5th straight NCAA Tournament bid

Marquette (23-11, 13-7 Big East)

Coach Shaka Smart has led the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament each of his four seasons by relying on an old-school strategy for this era. Smart used the transfer portal to rebuild Marquette’s roster immediately after his arrival, but he hasn’t added a Division I transfer since and instead has relied on developing players already on his roster. That approach faces its biggest test this year. Marquette must replace its top three scorers — including Associated Press All-America second-team selection Kam Jones — from the team that lost to New Mexico in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament. He will need his returning players to step up in a big way.

Players to watch

Chase Ross is a preseason first-team all-Big East selection who had 10.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season. The 6-foot-5 guard also had 1.8 steals per game to rank fifth in the Big East.

Ben Gold started each of Marquette’s 34 games last season. The 6-11 forward from New Zealand averaged 7.4 points and 4.3 rebounds.

Sean Jones will be playing again for the first time since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in January 2024. The 5-10 guard was averaging 5.8 points and 2 assists as a reserve in 2023-24 before getting hurt.

Departures and arrivals

Marquette faces a tough task replacing Jones, Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin, who combined to play in over 400 games. Jones ended his college career as the second-leading scorer in Marquette history, behind only Markus Howard. Joplin played a school-record 139 games at Marquette. Mitchell was a prototypical glue guy who started over 100 games while providing leadership and exceptional defense. Marquette’s five-man freshman class includes guards Nigel James Jr. and Adrien Stevens and forwards Joshua Clark, Ian Miletic and Michael Phillips II.

Top games

Marquette closes its nonconference schedule with consecutive road games at No. 24 Wisconsin on Dec. 6 and No. 1 Purdue on Dec. 13. The Golden Eagles head to Chicago for neutral-site games with Indiana on Nov. 9 and Oklahoma on Nov. 28. Marquette has two games each with No. 4 UConn (Jan. 4 away and March 7 at home) and No. 5 St. John’s (Jan. 13 away and Feb. 18 at home).

Facts and figures

Ross and Gold have each played over 100 games for Marquette. … A preseason poll of Big East coaches had Marquette finishing fifth out of 11 teams in the conference. … Marquette opens the season Monday by hosting Albany. Dwayne Killings, Albany’s head coach was an assistant on Steve Wojciechowski’s Marquette staff from 2018-21. … Smart owns a 98-41 record at Marquette.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball