Marquette in the NBA: Ighodaro and Kolek finding late season success

Phoenix

The Suns have had a very up and down season, but the highs of their season seem to coincide with Oso Ighodaro being a part of the rotation. Since being inserted back into the rotation, wins have started to add up and Oso has had some incredible results, including a Phoenix Suns franchise rookie record +39, against the Toronto Raptors last Monday.

A few days later Oso played 44 of the games 48 total minutes where he racked up 6 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Most important of all for his chances of staying in the rotation, are the results in the win column, and Phoenix has won 5 of 6 with Oso being a huge reason why. During that span he has averaged 27.3 minutes per game while going 17-26 from the floor.

Playing like he is, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where coach Budenholzer takes him back out of the rotation with Phoenix clinging to a play-in spot and starting to win again.

New York

The former Big East Player of the Year and All-American, Tyler Kolek, has found his way into the rotation for the New York Knicks due to an injury to All-Star Jalen Brunson. On Saturday he had 7 assists by halftime and finished with 8 assists and 0 turnovers.

seven assists for tyler kolek ALREADY 😤🤝

that's his career-high and it's only the first half. pic.twitter.com/3QLhGubtf6

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 23, 2025

On Tuesday night it was a lot of the same. 19 minutes with 9 assists and 0 turnovers. If it sounds good for a rookie point guard, it is because it is!

It remains to be seen what kind of role he will have the rest of the season, but it is very evident that Kolek’s ability to see the floor and control a game as a distributor has translated to the highest level. Even garnering some comments from his head coach, Tom Thibodeau, in the postgame.

“Steady improvement. Learning, getting better every game. Made a lot of good plays. Good movement. His ability to read…He had 9 assists and when the ball moves like that it’s hard to defend.”

Postseason Outlook

As it stands Kolek and the Knicks hold the 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with 11 games remaining on their schedule.

In the Western Conference, Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors sit one spot out of the play-in games as the 6 seed while Oso Ighodaro and the Phoenix Suns are the last team in the play-in spot at the 10 seed. Each team has 10 games remaining.