2025 Big East Basketball Previews: Marquette Golden Eagles
The most accurate Marquette Golden Eagles preview written by a staff entrenched in Big East basketball.
Coach: Shaka Smart– 5th year here (98-41). Prev; VCU 2009-15 (163-56), Texas 2015-21 (109-86)
2024-25: 23-11 (13-7), 4th Big East, first round NCAA Tournament
2025-26 Big East Rank: 4
Returning Starters/Players: 2/11
Returning Minutes (Torvik): 53.8%
*This series was inspired by fellow UConn Report writer Cole Stefan*
Pangs of fleeting success have populated Shaka Smart’s four-year tenure in Milwaukee.
The highs of a program-record 29 wins in 2022-23 were deflated by a second round belly flop in the NCAA Tournament.
Likewise, 27 wins the following year pushed the Golden Eagles to the Regional Semifinal before the NC State backcourt plowed through its defense.
A polling as high as No. 5 in the nation this past December was overshadowed by four losses in its final five games, which included a first round bouncing courtesy of spunky New Mexico in the NCAA Tournament.
But the consistency is starting to accumulate. Marquette has finished in the top third of the Big East standings and has recruited in the top five of the conference each of the past three seasons.
Smart will be banking on in-house talent to develop – and fast – for a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAAs. It’ll be the first year without one of Tyler Kolek, Oso Ighodaro, Kam Jones, David Joplin or Stevie Mitchell since he took over.
Off Season — Additions and Losses
Smart parted ways with three of the leading contributors from last season, a nucleus that accounted for over 57% of the scoring and 63% of the team’s assists.
Kam Jones, who was selected with the 38th pick in the NBA Draft, finished as the program’s No. 2 all-time scorer and a second-team All-American. David Joplin led the team in three pointers made (72) and anchored one of the team’s leadership roles. Stevie Mitchell, considered one of the best on-ball defenders in the country, spearheaded a defense that ranked first in the Big East in turnovers forced.
That may seem destabilizing, but remember, Smart has fortified Milwaukee into a bastion impenetrable to the attacks of the transfer portal era.
The Golden Eagles return seven of its top 10 players in minutes played from a year ago – making it the only team in the conference to return at least half of its top 10.
Chase Ross heads the group after starting all 34 games last season. He’ll be joined by Ben Gold in the post, who also started every game, as well as five bench players who appeared in at least 29 games.
Royce Parham and Zaide Lowery will step into the starting shoes of Joplin and Jones while Sean Jones will handle ball-handling duties after missing the entirety of last season with a knee injury.
Rounding out the roster is a quartet of freshmen, the most anticipated of which being point guard Nigel James Jr., who should see time immediately. Michael Phillips II, and Adrien Stevens should also work their way onto the court, respectively.
Ball Handlers
Mitchell took on the bulk of facilitating duties in the wake of Kam Jones’ scoring outbursts last season, which gave the Golden Eagles a well-rounded punch from the point that could score, pass and – perhaps most importantly – play defense.
Both depart, taking with them nearly 30 points and eight assists per game. Luckily for Smart, Sean Jones (no relation to Kam) spent the entirety of last year learning under the tutelage of the premier scorer and fiery on-ball defender.
Will he match their production from a statistical standpoint? It’s safe to assume not, but Sean Jones has been praised all off season by Smart for his leadership qualities and physical edge, which he displayed in 2023-24 before he tore his ACL in January.
Sean Jones ranked in the 87th percentile nationally in two-point percentage (.545) two seasons ago, with his career-high 15 points keying in a win over Creighton in late December.
He’ll be spelled by Nigel James Jr., a top 100 prospect from the high school ranks who made hay at Long Island Lutheran as an unrelenting defensive pest – sound familiar?
James averaged 11.3 points, 4.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game off the bench for the Crusaders and was rewarded handsomely for his efforts with the EYBL Scholastic Sixth Man of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards.
With a potent combination of athleticism and grit, he’s a candidate for Big East All-Freshmen honors, although he’ll need to develop a consistent three point shot to fill out the stat sheet.
Other Guards
The Golden Eagles will be the most experienced at the two and three spots, with senior and returning starter Chase Ross and junior Zaide Lowery stepping into primary scoring roles.
Ross will be Smart’s top offensive option — the true senior eclipsed 10 points 18 different times last season. He’ll be the straw the stirs the drink this year after finishing first on the team in free throws and free throw attempts, second in assists (72) and steals (61) and third in effective field goal percentage (.542) last season.
Lowery doubled his playing time from his freshman to sophomore season, seeing the court for 10 or more minutes in 27 of his 31 appearances last year. He’ll be expected to score consistently from night one.
Replacing the production seen from the program’s No. 2 all-time scorer on a nightly basis will be tough, but leading the team in three-point percentage last year (.375) is a good place to start.
Depth will be provided by Tre Norman and Adrien Stevens. Norman averaged nearly nine minutes per game last season and offers a big frame and multi-faceted skillset. Stevens, a true freshman, is a thick, strong guard that loves to play in straight lines.
Wings/Forwards
Similarly to Sean Jones, Royce Parham had the privilege of learning from a program-great last year. Unlike Jones, Parham had the ability to convert those lessons to the floor. He did so to the tune of 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and a selection to the Big East All-Freshman team.
Parham will now step directly into Joplin’s role as a true sophomore. He’ll be efficient inside (finishing fourth on the team in two-point percentage a year ago) and won’t turn the ball over, but will need to develop some form of an outside shot to evolve as a scorer.
Behind him a fellow sophomore and pair of true freshmen provide depth. Damarius Owens was a top 70 rated prospect in the 2024 class and saw action in 30 games last season, hitting on 11/32 three pointers from the wing. He’ll be tasked with shaping that shooting into consistent scoring in 2025-26.
Michael Phillips II and Ian Miletic will compete for whichever minutes are left to hand out. Phillips is an excellent athlete with a nice blend of length to pair with it.
Post Players
The return of Ben Gold rests the Golden Eagle frontcourt on a bedrock of experience. The New Zealand native started all 34 of Marquette’s games last year, reaching double-figures 12 times while shooting over 37% from behind the arc.
He’ll need to progress as a rebounder, especially offensively, if the Golden Eagles are to enjoy life post-Kam Jones. Gold nearly averaged as many three pointers attempted (4.2) than rebounds (4.3) per game last season, failing to reach the five rebound mark on 16 occasions.
He’s an adept stretch-five, hitting the third-most three pointers on the team last season (53), but a development on the glass is a necessity. Gold ranked in the 23rd percentile nationally in offensive rebound percentage (.054) last year.
That’s where the room’s depth can fill in. Caedin Hamilton appeared in 29 games last year as a redshirt freshman and, in games when he saw the court for eight or more minutes, grabbed three or more rebounds nine times.
Flanking Hamilton is the monstrous 7-foot-1 Joshua Clark, who redshirted last season after averaging 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game as a senior in high school, and Sheek Pearson, who reclassified to the Golden Eagles’ 2025 class this summer.
The room is scoring-oriented at the top and defensive-minded at the bottom. Expect Clark to see the floor against larger teams but Hamilton and Gold to rotate as the team’s primary post player.
Playstyle
The Golden Eagles’ up-in-your-face, pressure defense and conservative offensive philosophy, which have been mainstays through Smart’s first four seasons in Milwaukee, will again buoy the team in 2025-26.
Smart has tailored his recruiting strategy to fit the system – and the suit fits well. Passing lane poltergeist Stevie Mitchell was replaced by the hardy James Jr. in the backcourt while uber-reliable David Joplin was swapped out for four-star freshman Phillips II down low.
This iteration of the Golden Eagles will be younger than each of Smart’s last two, but that doesn’t mean it won’t play the same. Expect a lot of turnovers to be forced and not a lot to be surrendered. Expect the three ball and transition opportunities to hold heavy weight offensively.
Improvement on the glass and less isolation scoring (considering Jones’ departure) could be the factors that differentiate this group from last year’s.
2025 Projection
Confidently stating your beliefs in the world of college basketball is like swinging from a tree branch with a chainsaw. But Smart has shown that his system – which he has remained steadfastly confident in – can work in the Big East.
A coach doesn’t serendipitously stumble upon four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (two of which being top 12 overall seeds). He’s built a rigid, old-fashioned machine deeply rooted college basketball’s core principle; relationships over riches.
Although the roster is young and relatively inexperienced, especially from a scoring standpoint, its ceiling remains firmly in the NCAA Tournament and at the top of the Big East.
Reaching 20 wins and punching a ticket to the NCAAs has become the benchmark in Milwaukee. They’ll meet that again, but winning a game in March will depend on the development of last year’s bench players that now step into larger roles.
I’d expect between 20 and 22 wins, a top four finish in the Big East and a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
