Paint Touches

It’s remarkable how quick college basketball players go through the system, arriving as high-profiled freshmen, improving as sophomores and finding their respective roles–large or small–as junior and seniors. Vander Blue’s time as a lanky first-year reserve seemed like just days ago while watching him drop 30 points on South Florida, hit clutch shot after clutch […]

The departure of Vander Blue to the NBA draft presented brand-new questions Buzz Williams must address this offseason. With their top scorer, best perimeter defender and locker-room leader gone, the Golden Eagles must once again–for the fifth straight season, in fact–find an identity while replacing their go-to player. Their best player. In his junior season […]

Vander Blue has taken on the daunting task of transitioning to point guard at the NBA level. The decision has been criticized by many–perhaps more so than the decision to declare early itself–but only Blue and those helping him in the months leading up to draft really know if this is the right call for […]

The art of hyperbole has been perfected by the lauding of freshmen who make an impact early in the non-conference season and are suddenly the second coming of Kevin Durant. With brand-new players arriving on campus each season on the heels of dominant high school careers, it’s easy to get carried away in the 4-minute […]

When Jamil Wilson arrived on Marquette’s campus three seasons ago, the physical specimen—all 6-foot-7, 210 pounds of switchable—was unlike anything Buzz Williams had ever had at his disposal. Jimmy Butler, Joseph Fulce, Erik Williams and Jae Crowder before him provided Marquette different particulars of the skill set Williams looked for in his face-up forwards. But […]

After perhaps its most impressive performance of the season, and certainly its most clutch, Marquette will face fourth-seeded Syracuse with a chance to earn a trip to the Final Four in Atlanta. The Golden Eagles implemented a perfect defense against Miami’s pick-and-roll action, limiting Miami to 16 first-half points on their way to a 71-61 […]