Despite a tough loss to DePaul last night, the Marquette men's basketball team is still on pace to receive an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.
A mid-season seven-game win streak gave the Golden Eagles a number of impressive wins for their tournament resume this month (vs #16 Providence, vs #20 Seton Hall, @ #11 Villanova, vs #20 Xavier). Forward Justin Lewis is playing very well this year averaging just under 17 points a game.
And it's all been under the watchful eyes of first-year head coach Shaka Smart. The Oregon, Wisconsin-native took over the program from Steve Wojciechowski, and objectively it seems like new life has been injected into the system.
Since his first year at VCU in 2009-10, Smart has amassed a 290-153 record, including a College Basketball Invitational championship that first year, an N.I.T. title with Texas in 2019, and eight NCAA Tournament appearances (including a Final Four run in 2011).
Smart joined The Wendy's Big Show this morning, and talked more about last night's loss while looking ahead to St. Johns this weekend. We also asked Coach Smart about his work with local high school coaches when it comes to recruiting, what it's like to run a men's basketball program at a school with no football team, and even about the rise of the Wisconsin basketball team and Johnny Davis.
