24. Kansas State Wildcats

25. Miami Hurricanes

26. Ohio State Buckeyes

27. Xavier Musketeers

28. BYU Cougars

29. Maryland Terps

30. St. John’s Red Storm

31. UCLA Bruins

32. Oregon Ducks

33. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

34. Florida Gators

35. Ole Miss

36. USC Trojans

37. Grand Canyon Lopes

38. Providence Friars

39. Mississippi State Bulldogs

40. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

41. Memphis Tigers

42. McNeese Cowboys

43. Michigan State Spartans

44. Michigan Wolverines

45. VCU Rams

46. Dayton Flyers

47. St Mary’s Gaels

48. Washington Huskies

49. UCF Knights

50. Louisville Cardinals

51. Boise State Broncos

52. Clemson Tigers

53. New Mexico Lobos

54. Arizona State Sun Devils

55. Utah State Aggies

56. Colorado State Rams

57. Seton Hall Pirates

58. SMU Mustangs

59. South Carolina Gamecocks

60. Nevada Wolfpack

61. TCU Horned Frogs

62. Villanova Wildcats

63. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

64. Saint Louis Billikens

65. Syracuse Orange

66. Nebraska Cornhuskers

67. Pittsburgh Panthers

68. Iowa Hawkeyes

69. NC State Wolfpack

70. Butler Bulldogs

71. Princeton Tigers

72. Virginia Cavaliers

73. Saint Joseph’s Hawks

74. Oklahoma Sooners

75. West Virginia Mountaineers

76. Georgia Bulldogs

77. UAB Blazers

78: Wisconsin Badgers

79. San Diego State Aztecs

80. Missouri Tigers

81. Northwestern Wildcats

82. Loyola Chicago Ramblers

We are in the midst of unprecedented times in college athletics; the era of NIL has completely transformed the game of college sports and, more specifically, college basketball. For plenty of coaches in college basketball, NIL spending and the transfer portal are their make-or-break for finding success, even before the hoops on the hardwood. For Shaka Smart, player development and personal investment into his players and coaches have carried Marquette back to the top of college basketball since around the turn of the decade…the Golden Eagles land at number #23 overall in our preseason rankings!

Steven	Maxwell	Kam	Cody
36	21	20	33

Shaka Smart enters the 2024-2025 college basketball season without Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek, but Marquette brings back nearly the rest of its team from 2023-2024. With no added transfers, the Golden Eagles will be looking toward Kam Jones to take another step in his leadership and on-court development.

To be transparent, I love Kam Jones…he is my pick for Big East player of the year heading into the 2024-2025 campaign. Per CerebroSports, Kam Jones was one of two players to(Boogie Ellis)post two consecutive seasons of >9.2C-RAM, >74PureScoringProwess, >853PointEfficiency, >59FloorGeneralSkills, >52AroundTheRim, >74DefensiveStatisticalImpact and a Usage% of 23% or greater(minimum 30 games played per season). At the end of last season, Jones was in contention for an NBA draft spot but opted to return to Marquette, where I believe his stock will only rise this season. Jones will be Marquette’s best player and counted on to be the guy for Marquette to have serious Big East and NCAA tournament aspirations.

Kam Jones is not alone in the backcourt. Chase Ross and Stevie Mitchell also return to wreak havoc for Shaka Smart…You rarely see a backcourt with this much continuity in college basketball these days, and Marquette will surely use this to its advantage. Chase Ross is a Shaka Smart-style guard and will bring size and plus-rebounding from the wing. Ross’s jump shot has improved year over year at Marquette, as has his defense; I expect that trend to continue. Stevie Mitchell is the glue that holds together Ross and Jones, and Stevie Mitchell is going to be a turnover machine this year with the absence of Tyler Kolek on the wing. With Mitchell and Ross together, they play a perfect complement around Kam Jones. When you look at the progression year over year in all three players’ statistics, it seems almost guaranteed that all three players will see an increase across the board for their numbers, and I am sure that is Shaka’s vision for this trio.

If you aren’t a Marquette fan, don’t be surprised to learn that Marquette returns the two players who will start in the frontcourt for them from last season’s team, David Joplin and Ben Gold. Joplin will be Marquette’s second-best player this season on the hardwood, and I expect Joplin to contend for All-Big East honors this season. Joplin shot over 35% from behind the arc last season on over 200 attempts and has shown measurable year-over-year improvement in nearly every statistical category. Defensively, Joplin’s toughness and versatility will be a significant boost for this roster after losing Oso Ighodaro, and Ben Gold will be tasked as the man to replace Oso in the starting lineup. Gold provides an interesting change from Oso as Gold is more versatile on the offensive end, while Ighodaro provided a versatility advantage on defense. Playing Gold alongside Joplin will give the Golden Eagles two different stretch bigs on the floor together, and Gold, Like Joplin, is also a +35% three-point shooter.

The depth for Marquette is a question mark this season for Shaka Smart, as he has invested in-house to supplement his needs on the bench, but this strategy has proven successful for Marquette before… Tre Norman and Zaide Lowery are guaranteed contributors off the bench heading into 2024-2025. Sean Jones will also bring solid contributions when he returns from his injury. Al Amadou will bring experience and depth to the frontcourt for Marquette this year, while true freshmen Damarius Owens and Royce Parham should both have chances to contribute off the bench. 

Marquette may not be on UConn’s tier on paper. Still, the development is the reason to invest…and I am a believer in the established player development that Marquette has displayed under Smart. Behind Kam Jones and David Joplin, expect big things once again from the Golden Eagles in 2024-2025!