Can Shaka Smart and Marquette continue to thrive by staying in-house?

Who are we to doubt Shaka Smart at this point? He took over Marquette four years ago when they were at perhaps their lowest point since joining the Big East — and all he’s done is win since.

Smart’s resume at Marquette speaks for itself: he is 31 games over .500 in Big East play, cracked the AP Top 10 in each of the past three seasons, has won league regular season and tournament championships, and earned a two-seed in both the 2023 and ‘24 NCAA Tournaments.

And even after losing Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro to the NBA, Marquette raced off to a hot start in non-conference play (8-0 with wins over Purdue, Maryland, and Georgia) and in Big East games (a 9-1 start) before his group stumbled a bit down the stretch last season.

They were upset by 10th seed New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA Tournament — continuing the only real blemish for Smart during his Big East tenure: it was the third straight season in which they fell to a lower seed.

Smart has famously won without fully diving into the transfer portal like so many of his contemporaries. It’s only fair to note that both Kolek and fellow NBA draft pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper transferred into the program soon after Smart was hired. Without those two, Marquette doesn’t sniff the levels it eventually reached.

This coming season, Smart puts his faith in his eye for high school talent to the biggest test.

Gone is All American guard Kam Jones. Jones exploded last season, putting up 19 points, five boards, and four assists per game following the departure of Kolek.

Marquette also lost its second and third-leading scorers from a season ago. Forward David Joplin had his detractors, but he was a veteran who averaged over 14 points per game and hit more than 70 shots from three.

Stevie Mitchell was their third-leading scorer, but his biggest impact came on the defensive end, where he was likely the best backcourt defender in the league. His loss is significant.

Smart doesn’t appear to have a star ready to grab the baton that Kolek left for Jones, so he’ll have to lean on more of a collective effort, the emergence of two sophomores, and potentially playing bigger at center than in recent seasons.

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