Matt Carlino says he’s comfortable at point, shooting guard

Matt Carlino will likely need to play both point and shooting guard for Marquette this season. (USA Today Sports Images)

Matt Carlino’s biography on the Marquette web site lists him as a guard.

The BYU transfer, who has one year of eligibility remaining, is expected to play both point and shooting guard in coach Steve Wojciehowski’s offense.

In three seasons in Provo, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.6 assists and shot 44.5 percent from the field, including 33.5 percent from behind the three-point line.

Last year, he earned all-West Coast Conference honorable mention honors after averaging 13.7 points and 4.3 assists per game. He also ranked No. 1 in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio.

So will he be a point guard — which could be a position of strength this year with the return of Derrick Wilson and the health of Duane Wilson — or shooting guard, a spot the team is lacking depth after the departure of Todd Mayo?

“With the way we’re going to be playing this year, I feel like either position will suit me,” Carlino said at Thursday’s media day.

Fair enough. The question for Wojciehowski may be where does he need Carlino to play for a team that many expect to endure a transition season before the cavalry arrives next year.

The early returns on Carlino is that Marquette got a scoring guard who will be pivotal to whether this team has success this year.

Wojciehowski has been impressed with Carlino’s leadership in the early stages of practice.

“Matt is a guy who has done it at the college basketball level,” Wojciehowski said. “He is capable of scoring and playing multiple positions. He can play off the ball and be a little bit more of a scorer, which was something we needed.”

The team also needs a point guard to take charge. Yes, Derrick Wilson has the experience. He started 31 games last year and averaged 5.0 points and 4.2 assists.

He said he put up 28,000 shots over the summer to improve his game.

He’s also been the source of disdain for the Marquette fan base, who want to see a player who can score more.

It also has Duane Wilson, the local kid who redshirted last year due to a stress fracture in his leg.

The younger Wilson is out to make up for lost time and prove he is the real deal.

Wojciehowski believes “Duane is going to be a terrific player here. He is capable of running a team or playing off the ball. He has a knack for scoring.”

Sounds familiar.

Carlino said the main reason he decided to come to Milwaukee was Wojciehowski.

“The minute I talked to him, I knew I wanted to play for him,” Carlino said.

His arrival in Milwaukee has been a long one.

The Phoenix native, who went to Bloomington South High School in Indiana, originally committed to the Hoosiers, but backed out and accepted a scholarship at UCLA. He suffered a concussion and never played for the Bruins.

He graduated last year from BYU and wanted a change of scenery.

He’s saying the right things now. But, if Marquette struggles early on, will Carlino regret possibly missing out on a postseason experience after experiencing a lot of success at BYU?

He also considered transferring to Purdue and St. Joseph’s, among other schools.

“We’re inexperienced and with that comes not very high predictions,” Carlino said. “We just need to keep working on getting better as a team and keep building.”