Paint Touches

WASHINGTON — During Vander Blue’s first chance to speak with the media at the East Regional at the Verizon Center, the junior guard made it clear that making the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive year wasn’t good enough. He wanted more. So after leading the Golden Eagles into their first Elite 8 since 2003 […]

WASHINGTON —  Often times it’s said that NCAA Tournament games are won and lost during the July open AAU period, the idea being that you need to recruit well to win the big games. While you will never get anybody to totally dismiss that notion–every team needs talent–it clearly takes more than just 5-star recruits. […]

  I posed this question late last night on Twitter, and it’s certainly a good thing to be able to debate: Vander Blue vs. Butler or Jae Crowder vs. Murray State? Marquette is in the Sweet 16 for the third straight season–something only Kansas, Florida, Ohio State and the Golden Eagles can say. And while […]

A young, lanky Vander Blue had been on campus as a Marquette freshman for just over two months when he entered his first ever “Life Lessons” sessions, led by his new head coach, Buzz Williams. Williams frequently holds the lectures for his team to talk about life, teach every-day skills and to grow as a […]

With the emotions of the immediate aftermath of the best game of the tournament behind us, it’s time to look back on a gutsy performance by the Golden Eagles and see where the individual players grade out. Vander Blue (29 pts, 9-15 FG, 8-8 FT) Vander was the best player by far for Marquette, and maybe […]

In case anyone needed more reassurance, Vander Blue proved Saturday night against Butler that his transformation to clutch scorer is complete. After two seasons of disappointing fans’ expectations, Blue is now the Golden Eagles go-to-scorer. The junior guard, who shot a combined 40.5 percent from the field in his first two seasons at Marquette, is […]